Page 35 of Treat Her Right

“Show any hesitation at touching your behind? Yeah, I noticed. I also noticed that you don’t seem to mind.”

Her lips tightened as her temper rose. “He treats me like a kid sister most of the time.”

“Uh-huh.” Zack turned to face her, his expression set. “I don’t know why I’m even surprised, considering…” He made a disgusted sound and turned away again.

Her heart thumped hard and her stomach roiled. “Considering what?” When he didn’t answer, she said, “Zack, don’t you dare be a hypocrite. I wasn’t the only one out there that night. We both got carried away.”

He ran a hand through his hair. “I’ve never in my life done anything like that, so it had to be because of you.”

He said that so casually, casting the blame without hesitation, that she wanted to throttle him. “Yousnuck up onmethat night!”

“I did not sneak,” he grumbled.

“Ha! I was asleep.”

“Yeah, and what woman doesthat?” He jerked around to face her, looking angry and befuddled and very much like an attentive male. “What woman sleeps out in her backyard at night, exposed?”

“I wasn’texposed,you ass. You make it sound like I was naked or something.” She shook her head, realized she’d just insulted him again, and wanted to bite off her tongue. She drew a breath and tried to sound reasonable. “Zack, I was just—”

He didn’t let her finish. “I don’t get carried away like that. Ever.”

To Wynn, he still looked accusing, and all she could think to say was, “You did that night.”

His eyes narrowed, then his gaze flicked over her. “Yeah. Bad judgement on my part.”

Wynn sucked in a breath.Damn, that hurt.She wasn’t sure if she wanted to punch him or cry. She wasn’t much of a crier and seldom indulged, but now she felt dangerously close to giving in to tears. Her bottom lip even quivered before she caught it between her teeth.

For a brief moment, Zack looked guilty. “Look, Wynn, it’s really none of my business what you do.”

“I want it to be your business,” she admitted softly.

His spine stiffened—and Bo shoved a sandwich into his face. “I figured you had to be hungry, too.”

Zack studied Wynn a second longer, then warily looked up at Bo. “Thanks.”

“No problem. ‘A friend of Wynn’s,’ and all that.” Bo pursed his lips and continued to glare down at Zack. “Youarea friend, right?”

Wynn quickly stood and placed herself between the two men. “Back off, Bo. I mean it.”

In the next instant, she yelped as she found herself yanked back down onto the soft settee. Zack had grabbed the waistband of her shorts and literally jerked her off her feet. She sat gawking at him while he stood and met Bo eye to eye. Zack wasn’t as bulky as the bodybuilders, but he was all lean hard muscle.

“Actually,” Zack said, “I’m more of an acquaintance at this stage.”

“A friendly acquaintance?”

“You got reason to think otherwise?”

The male posturing had Wynn on edge. She would definitely strangle Bo later, and what in the world was wrong with Zack? She thought him to be a sweet, considerate, passive man. Not one to indulge in games of male one-upmanship. Yet he’d brought on as much attitude as Bo, and that was saying a lot.

A new voice intruded, full of good humor and mocking concern. “Making yourself the center of attention again, Zack?”

Wynn twisted in her seat, and found herself almost face-to-belt buckle with Josh, who stood just at the end of the patio, right behind the settee. He wore tight faded jeans and a white T-shirt that read: Firefighters Take The Heat.

Zack, too, turned to face him. “What are you doing here?”

Josh smiled and leaned down, bracing his arms on the settee back, looming over Wynn. She wanted to scoot away, especially with the dark frowns Zack sent her way, but she was a bit too surprised to move.

“I came to let you know that lunch is cancelled for today,” Josh said. “Mick insists on escorting Del to a coroner’s for some research she’s doing.” He nodded at the sandwich still squeezed into Zack’s hand. “But I see you’d forgotten all about our lunch.”

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