Page 53 of Treat Her Right

Watching Zack, Wynn thought he might have jumped her mother if she hadn’t shown what he considered adequate care. “I brought my paints with me, Dani. It’ll be lovely, you’ll see.”

Beaming, Dani said, “Thank you!”

Artemus waltzed in with the phone. “Found it!” He handed it to Wynn, along with her small phone book, then turned to Dani. He patted her hair with pride. “Lovely.” Then to his daughter, “Wynn,” he said, “wouldn’t you like for me to do something with your hair while you make your call?”

Wynn said, “No,” and her father’s face fell with comical precision.

Zack scooped Dani and her blanket into his arms. “We have to run. Wynn, remember what I said.”

“Me and my big feet will follow doctor’s orders.”

There was a general round of farewells, and five seconds later, Zack was gone. Wynn fell back against the couch. Her foot throbbed and ached, her ribs pulled, she itched from all the shrub scratches and now her parents were standing there staring at her with tell-all expectation.

The day had started out being so promising, but now…

She doubted it had dawned on Zack yet, but after all they’d just witnessed, no way would her parents believe a simple visit to the hot tub. Nope, they were eccentric, but they were not dumb.

And they knew sexual chemistry when they witnessed it.

Her mother, pretending a great interest in Wynn’s bruised and swollen toes, said, “My, my, my. What a hottie.” She slanted Wynn a look and an I’m-onto-you grin.

“Quite virile,” her father agreed, while tugging distractedly on his earring and eyeing his wife’s legs. Despite years of marriage and the fact that he was more colorful, Artemus remained highly attracted to her mother. He made no effort to hide his sexual willingness, which pretty much started from the time Chastity woke in the morning and ran until she fell asleep at night. It was almost comical.

He visibly pulled himself back to the subject at hand. “I, ah, take it he’s single?”

Wynn sank further into the cushions. “Yes.”

Silence reigned for only a few seconds, and then her father clasped his hands together and sighed. “Well, the little girl hasfabuloushair! Or at least she will when I finish with it. All in all, I say they’ll be a wonderful addition to the family. What do you think, dear?”

Chastity smiled. “I think we got here just in time to watch the fireworks.”

* * *

ZACK HEARDthe noise from Wynn’s house the second he stepped out of his car. Blaring music competed with laughter and the din of loud conversation.

It was six-thirty and he was tired, hungry, worried and rushed. It seemed he’d been running late from the moment he woke that morning, and there’d been no letup since.

He’d started the day by oversleeping. After the excesses of lovemaking the night before, he’d slept like the dead and hadn’t even heard his alarm until it had been ringing for almost half an hour. When he got over that disquieting phenomenon, he’d washed his face and brushed his teeth in two minutes flat, then gone for coffee before attempting to put a razor to his throat.

He never had gotten around to shaving, he realized, and now he felt scruffy and unkempt. He rubbed his rough jaw, remembering the trials of the day.

It was as he’d measured coffee that he glanced out the kitchen window and spied Wynn precariously balanced on an old wooden ladder, attempting to clean her gutters. His hair had been on end, his eyes still gritty, his feet bare on the cold linoleum floor, and he lost his temper.

He ran upstairs to awaken Dani, hastily pulled on pants, then ran back downstairs and outside to confront Wynn before she fell and killed herself.

He’d been too late.

It still made him tremble when he remembered opening the door just in time to see her wildly flailing the air as she plummeted to the ground. His stomach cramped anew.

Damned irritating, irrational, provoking female! She was lucky she’d only broken a toe!

He thought about her parents and cringed. “Flaming heterosexual,” she’d called her father, and now he knew the description was apt. He’d never met a more flamboyant, dramatic man; his every word and gesture had been exaggerated.

But he’d done a wonderful job with Dani’s hair. She’d looked so cute…

Zack shook his head.

Wynn’s mother was, as she’d claimed, a hippie. Her long blond hair had streaks of gray, but her figure was still youthful. Wynn had likely gotten her beautiful legs from her mother. Chastity’s legs weren’t nearly as long, and the rings on her toes were a distraction, but all in all, she was an attractive woman. Loony, but attractive.

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