The Weekday Brides 04 - Single by Saturday (8 page)

Zach jumped back, shocked at what had nearly happened between them.

Acting as if nothing had transpired, he opened the door with more force than necessary and freed her sweater.

She mumbled a quick thanks, and fled.

Karen stumbled into her room, shaking. She’d run like a frightened child, and like a teenager, she had no intention of facing Zach again. Not without interference. She’d nearly kissed him. Could feel the weight of his lips against hers with only a thought.

What the hell is wrong with me?

Her head told her not to be attracted to Zach, but her body had other thoughts.

She could only imagine what must be going through his head about her. What wife kisses, or almost kisses, her husband’s brother?

“You’re a fool, Karen.”

There wasn’t protocol on how to deal with the situation now. There was no way she could avoid visiting Zach’s family. Not without causing serious issues for Michael, and she couldn’t tell Michael about her attraction to his brother. Damn, even though their marriage was as fake as most of the breasts in Hollywood, chances were Michael would feel betrayed by his brother…and by her.

Karen rubbed her temples and made her way into the bathroom to scrub away Zach’s scent.

She glared at herself in the mirror. “You didn’t kiss him.” Maybe they could both just forget the moment ever happened.

If they didn’t talk about it…and they didn’t end up alone again…

It could work.

It was only two weeks in Hilton, and Zach didn’t live with his parents, so she’d probably only see him with the rest of the family.

It could work.

She fell into bed and woke in the morning with a raging guilt-ridden headache that only became more painful when she realized that Zach had left before dawn.

Chapter Six

When Zach had straddled his motorcycle, turned over the engine, and headed west, he was reminded that he was young enough to make changes in his life whenever he wanted to. The past few years he’d been restless, ready to make a move in his life. But each time he’d considered what that move would be, another job would come up, another way to build his construction business, another reason to stay in Hilton.

Being on the open road, with the wind blowing him around and the sun shining on him like the lone freaking ranger, Zach wanted just to keep riding.

Driving around with Mike for the half a day he had with his brother made him want a different life even more. Not that he wanted Mike’s life…just something more.

Then there was Karen.

Dammit. He’d almost kissed her, almost tasted the most forbidden fruit of all. His brother’s wife. He’d seen the spark of passion in her eyes, felt the way her body had swayed into his. So he ran.

Ran back to what he knew. Utah.

Only as he steered his motorcycle down Main Street and parked it along the curb by the hardware store, he realized how ready he was to move on. Rena’s life was in this small town, Mike had found
a life in California, and he didn’t think Judy would stick around when she graduated from college the next year. So why did he stay?

Family.

His father had expected him to stay and he had. For a while, he told himself it was because he wanted the small-town life. But now he realized that wasn’t true any longer. He wanted something more.

Zach slid his helmet off his head and shook out his hair.

Inside the store, he waved to the kid behind the counter. “Hey, Nolan, my dad here?”

Nolan nodded toward the back.

“Thanks.”

Sawyer Gardner was a strong man full of hard edges and inflexibility most of the time. His disgust about Mike getting married and not bringing Karen home to meet the family brought heated conversations every time Mike ended up in the paper.

Sawyer tossed a box full of plumbing supplies onto a dolly when Zach walked into the room. “Hey, Dad.”

Sawyer glanced over his shoulder and kept right on stacking boxes. “You’re back quick.”

“California isn’t that far away.” Even on the back of a motorcycle.

“Did you remind your brother of that?”

“Yeah. I did.”

Zach grabbed a box alongside his father and helped him stack them.

“So, did you meet her?”

Zach swallowed, hard. “Yeah.”

“And she’s real? Not some made up TV version of a wife?” Sawyer never had approved of what Mike did for a living.

“She’s real.”
Very, very real.

Sawyer stood now, looked Zach in the eye. “Are we going to meet her?”

“Yeah. Mike’s arranging some time off and Karen insisted they finally visit.”

The stoic expression on his father’s face didn’t change with the news. He simply turned on his heel, pointed toward a box, and said, “Grab that, will ya?”

No thanks for driving hundreds of miles on behalf of the family, not one word of happiness about Mike’s impending visit…nothing else was said on the Mike subject.

Although his father’s reaction didn’t surprise him, it still pissed him off.

Michael cleared his schedule for ten days. Not an easy task when everyone wanted a piece of him. They waited until after graduation ceremonies for the seniors that Karen watched over at the club so they could attend, and then they boarded their chartered flight for a direct route to St. George and from there rented a car to drive the next hour to Hilton. Between the wait at the airport and the rental car delay, by the time they’d hit the highway, Karen was convinced it would have been faster to drive the distance instead of taking a plane.

Karen used the last hour to talk about their overall plan of attack with his family when it came to their relationship.

“I feel guilty enough duping your brother. It’s going to be harder with your parents.”

“My parents are going to love you.”

“And we’re planning our divorce.”

“So?”

“Michael, these are people we’re talking about here. They have feelings.”

“I know. I would have avoided the interaction altogether if Zach hadn’t shown up.”

Hearing Zach’s name had dread rolling over her. “You’re the actor, Michael. I’ve been trying, but your family is going to be the hardest to convince.”

He looked at her over the brim of his sunglasses. “Having second thoughts? Aren’t you the one who insisted we do this?”

Yes, she had. She watched the landscape as they drove by at seventy miles per hour. “I don’t want to blow it.”

He reached over and touched her leg. “You’re going to be fine. The whole world thinks we’re a couple.”

She rubbed her sweaty palms together. “Maybe I’m just nervous about meeting your parents.” It was so much more than that.

He squeezed her leg until she glanced up at him. “They’re going to ask you about your parents.”

That thought left her cold. “I’ll tell them what I tell everyone. They’re gone and my aunt raised me.”

Michael knew there was more to it, but even he didn’t have the whole story.

Michael returned his hand to the steering wheel. “My father won’t probe, but my mom might.”

“I’ve had a whole year of passing off half truths about us. I’ve spent over a decade pretending they’re dead. If I didn’t know me, I’d think I was a pathological liar.”

“Or a better actress than any I’ve been on screen with.”

She laughed at that and used the mention of his work to switch the subject. “So when will you know about the final contracts for
Blue Street
?”
Blue Street
was the feature film he was signing on for the following year, which would line him up for production for the next two years. He didn’t think the contracts would be drawn up until fall. With the push forward on contracts, it appeared that
their marriage contract was ending faster than they expected, not that they had to divorce right away, but the option would be there.

“It could be a few months.”

“Hmm.”

“Are you thinking about the divorce?”

She shrugged. “Yeah, I guess. It was easy showing the world we were into each other. The breakup worries me.”

He nodded. “How did you deal with breakups in the past?”

“I didn’t. I was to the point and moved on.
Hey, dude, it’s not working for me.
What about you?”

He tapped a finger on the steering wheel. “
Hey, dude, it’s not working for me.
”

Laughter shook both of them. “We’re both gonna suck at the breakup.”

“We’ll be all right. We don’t need to think about that today. Might be different if either of us were into
someone
.”

Just the mention of
a someone
brought her thoughts to Zach.

Inside, the car grew silent. She glanced over and saw Michael looking at her. “You need to tell me if there’s someone.”

“Oh, good Lord, Michael, the only men I’ve been around since we’ve gotten married are your costars, producers, and your management team. And most of them are either married or gay.”

He grinned.

“Except that Philippe guy last Christmas.” She shivered. “The creep.”

“It felt good to put a fist through that guy’s nose. Can’t believe he propositioned you in my own house.”

She fanned herself and offered a fake smile. “My hero.”

“Damn right,” he said with a quick nod.

“I might not say no to Ben Affleck, however. Or Bradley Cooper.”
Yum!

“Ben, really? I can see Bradley…” He lifted his eyebrows a few times showing his mutual admiration for the man.

They were sizing up the attributes of both men as Michael pulled off the highway. The sign said, H
ILTON,
4
MILES
. “I’d drive you around and point out the sights, but you’ll see all five of them fifty times while we’re here.”

“It can’t be that bad.”

She noticed the smile on his face as they drove down what must have been a familiar road.

“Excited?” she asked.

He gave a slow nod. “Yeah, I am. It’s been a long time.”

“What time are your parents expecting us?”

“Three.”

The time on the clock radio said three fifteen.

The two-lane road housed farmland on both sides. The occasional cow glanced up from her afternoon grazing to watch as they drove by. Hilton itself was at the base of two mountain ranges. According to Michael, his family owned a cabin in one of them that the family visited and played in during the summer.

They turned left after the stop sign, and houses started slowly dotting the landscape. “There’s another town eight miles behind us. A little bigger than Hilton with a hotel and a Walmart.”

“Good times,” Karen teased.

“Hey, it was a huge deal when the big box store moved in. Half the town was like, hell no. We don’t need it. The other was all for having more options for shopping.”

They dropped their speed to twenty-five miles an hour as they drove down Main Street. Kids were riding bikes without helmets and a few women were pushing strollers. Flowering plants hung in pots off the streetlights and there wasn’t a sign of graffiti anywhere. “It’s so clean,” she told him.

“And my dad doesn’t have to lock up the spray paint like they do in LA. The local sheriff would scare the shit out of us as kids with just a look.”

“I’m sure there are still kids getting into trouble.”