Page 24 of Playing for Keeps in Starr's Fall
Her startled gaze flew to his, and then darted away again. “What is that supposed to mean?” she asked uncertainly.
“I don’t know.” He hoped honesty was the best policy here. “Just that the last time I saw you, at Laurie’s, I felt like we got along. Now I feel like we don’t.”
“I barely know you…” Maggie protested as a flush rose to her cheeks.
“Yeah, I get that. But I think you know what I mean.” His words seemed to settle between them. Maggie took another sip of coffee, clearly stalling. Was he stupid to push this, Zach wondered. She was right; they did barely know each other. And he knew he could get carried away in any kind of relationship with a woman, even one as tenuous as this. It was why his dating history was so poor… and prolific. He just never seemed to learn his lesson, that not everyone was looking for forever, and those who were weren’t necessarily a great fit. He had yet to find a woman he’d wanted to go the distance with, or even, frankly, a short way… but he kept trying. Hence his reputation.
But despite all that, he reminded himself, Maggie had asked him to be her son’s friend, and had seemed like she’dneededhim, and like a chump he’d been grinding RQ for two or three hours a night, which wasnothis usual MO, and all for Ben’s sake. ForMaggie’s.
So maybe he would push it.
“What have you heard about me?” he asked quietly.
“What—” she began to bluster, and now her cheeks were fiery. “I don’t know what you’re talking about?—”
“Maggie. Come on. I saw you with those women at the diner. I’m guessing one or all of them were talking about me.”
“This is ridiculous…” she murmured and started to rise from the table.
Without thinking about what he was doing, Zach caught her hand in his. She stilled, and he realized it had been a bit presumptuous to touch her like that… just as he felt the electric charge run up his arm and twang through his body, and he could tell from the way her breath hitched that Maggie had felt it, too. The chemistry between them was real… and strong.
Her hair had fallen out of its clip and was tousled about her shoulders, and with her face flushed and her lips slightly parted she looked beautiful… and sexy. For a second, the moment spun out, turned into something else. Unthinkingly, Zach ran his thumb along her palm and a shudder went through her before she jerked her hand out of his.
“Don’t,” she said in a taut voice, “toy with me, please.”
“Toywith you?” he repeated. “So you have heard something. What did they say?”
“All right, fine, some of the women I did Pilates with mentioned that you’re… something of a player,” she confirmed with a stiff nod, not quite meeting his gaze. “Not,” she continued quickly, “that that sort of thing has anything to do with me. Your dating profile is… I mean, I’m old enough to be your mother.”
Zach let out a huff of laughter. “Only if you had children when you were about ten.”
She lifted her chin. “How old are you?”
He met her gaze squarely. “Thirty-one.”
“Well, I’mforty-one,” she shot back, as if that proved something.
“So ten years’ difference,” he replied, unfazed. He’d figured she was around that, anyway, and he really didn’t care. “Hardly a parental kind of age gap.”
“Speak for yourself.” Her voice trembled and she took a deep breath, clearly striving to keep her composure. “I’m only mentioning it at all because you asked and also because of Ben. I need to be careful who has influence in his life, and you’ve been playing online with him a lot recently, so naturally I’m concerned about the sort of things you might be saying to him…”
She trailed off, as if realizing the gross offense of what she was insinuating, while Zach struggled to keep his tone level.
“So you think while we’re gaming, I’m bragging about all the notches on my bedpost or something?” he surmised in derision. “That’s pretty rich, considering the reason I’m playing online with him at all is because youaskedme to be his friend. Or did I misread that part? Somehow I don’t think I did.” He didn’t wait for her to reply as he continued recklessly. “As for what you heard… you could have asked me outright. Yes, I’ve gone on a lot of dates. That doesn’t make me a player. In fact, it’s the opposite, if anyone in this town cared to ask about it or believe that people can change. I thought someone who was new here might reserve judgment, but clearly I was wrong.” He was working up a full head of steam, his voice throbbing with emotion, and not just anger. If he had the self-control to stop and think for a second, Zach knew he’d reel it back in, but the truth was, he was just too worked up. Hell, he decided, he’d just keep going for it.
“As for Ben… he’s a good kid,” he told Maggie, “but he’s clearly been through alot, stuff neither of you have ever said to me, so I have no idea what any of it is, but it’s clearly there and it’s a thing and I’ve just been trying to be a friend to him, shooting the breeze while we’re online. Sorry to have exerted some of myinfluence.” He was tempted to storm out right there and then, but he didn’t normally do drama, and Maggie’s face had drained of color, which concerned him. She looked both shocked and mortified.
“Sorry to dump all that on you,” he finished gruffly, “but I’ve kind of had it up to here with the jokes everyone makes about my dating life, especially when they don’t know the first thing about it.”
“It’s none of my business…” she whispered, still looking mortified. “I shouldn’t have said anything?—”
“You’re right to be concerned about Ben,” Zach cut across her wearily. All the rage he’d felt seconds ago was now gone, leaving him feeling flat. “Especially since we’ve been spending so much time together online. If I were a parent, I’d have the same concerns. In fact, I’d be wondering what the heck a thirty-one-year-old guy is doing, playing RQ with my teenager. I don’t normally play it that much,” he continued with an attempt at wryness. “I do have a little more of a life than that.” It was one thing for a fourteen-year-old boy to grind a game every evening, another for a grown man.
“Well, you do need time to go out on all those dates,” Maggie replied with a small, weak attempt at a smile.
Zach let out a huff of tired laughter. “I’ve actually given up on dating,” he told her. “Tinder let me down.”
Her cheeks were pinkening again, no doubt at the mention of Tinder. “Oh? How so?”
