Page 27 of Playing for Keeps in Starr's Fall
“Yes, and what I know, I like.” He made it sound so simple when Maggie already knew it was anything but. “Is that a problem?”
“Yes, it is,” she burst out. “For a lot of reasons.”
“Okay.” Zach leaned back in his chair, seeming to enjoy this little exchange. “Name them.”
“Namethem?” Maggie spluttered. Her mind had, predictably and stupidly, gone blank. And even if it hadn’t, she was pretty sure she didn’t want to have this conversation.
“Yes.” He folded his arms, the knowing smirk on his face not annoying so much as adorable, which in itself was annoying. “Name them.”
“I… I don’tneedto name them,” Maggie blustered. To this, Zach merely arched an eyebrow. “I mean, it’s obvious,” she continued, her tongue tumbling over the words. “You’re so… and I’m not… and it’s just…”
“Care to finish any of those sentences?”
“Zach.” Maggie leaned forward, her embarrassed outrage dropping away as she stared at him with more honesty—and vulnerability—than she’d meant to. “Please don’t flirt with me. I know it’s fun for you, but…” She shook her head, her throat thickening. “I’m just not in that place,” she admitted wretchedly. “I’m too… raw. From everything.”
Zach leaned forward too, taking her hand in his. Maggie knew she should probably pull away, but she liked the feeling of his strong fingers encircling hers, the warmth of his palm against hers, far too much. “Maggie, I’m not flirting,” he said quietly. “I mean, yes, okay, maybe I am, but it’s not without… I mean it. This.Us. This isn’t… this isn’t justfunfor me, although, I have to say, it’s that, too.”
“What is it, then? This?” Maggie forced out of a throat that felt painfully tight.
“Like I said,” Zach replied, his gaze steady on her, his hand still holding hers, “I like you. I’d like to get to know you. Go out on a date, if you feel you might be ready for that, but if not, then just hang out.”
“Is that why you want to help with the boardgame café?” She wasn’t sure if she meant it as a joke or not; she’d sounded a cross between uncertain and outraged.
“In part, yes.” Zach grinned, giving an unrepentant shrug. “Is that a bad thing?”
Maggie stared down at their clasped hands. Her mind was whirling. She hadn’t expected so much honesty from him… if that’s what it was. “I don’t… I don’t even know,” she admitted in a low voice.
“Look, if you’re not ready for romance, that’s fine,” Zach told her. “I’m not in a rush. We can just be friends.” He gave her hand a little squeeze and then released it as he sat back. “No pressure.”
She looked up at him, taking in his tousled hair, the bright blue-green eyes, thatjaw. He was so ridiculously good-looking, and she was… she was a mess. In more ways than one. “Why?” she blurted. “Why me?”
Zach’s brows drew together in a frown. Even then he looked sexy. “I told you, I like you?—”
“Yes, butwhy?”
“Do you really need to ask that question?” His tone was so gentle that it made Maggie’s eyes sting. For the last year, she’d been beating herself up for being a bad mom, a bad wife, a badperson. She couldn’t keep herself or her son together, and she hid from the world because it felt safer. Yes, she really did need to ask that question.
“Okay, for starters,” he began, “because you’re beautiful. But not to be shallow, you’re also funny and clearly kind, and you did something most people don’t do, which is take a huge leap out of your comfort zone, and more importantly, you did it for your son. Plus you can make fun of yourself, an essential quality in my mind, and you don’t mind eating gross pizza, although clearly I still have to convince you of the merits of chorizo. But beyond that…” He shrugged. “I guess I don’t know you well enough to reel off a laundry list of your amazing qualities. My point is, I’d like to.”
Maggie shook her head slowly. She couldn’t remember the last time someone had said so many nice things about her. She was blushing again, but in a good way. “I don’t know what to say,” she whispered.
“Say you’ll go out on a date with me. A very low-pressured, no-expectations kind of date, just to see if you might like me back.”
Oh, but that was tempting, and yet… she knew she wasn’t ready. She shook her head again, with some regret. “That sounds… nice,” she offered hesitantly, “but I don’t think I’m ready for that just yet.” What on earth would the good people of Starr’s Fall say, Maggie wondered, if they knew she and Zach, the town’s infamous player, had gone on adate? What wouldBensay? They really shouldn’t even be having this conversation.
“Okay,” Zach replied equably, completely unfazed. “No date. Let’s just get to know each other through me helping with the café and see how that goes.”
Maggie stared at him. Could it really be that simple? That…nice?
“Okay,” she agreed at last. “Although now that we’ve had this conversation, working together might feel weird.”
Zach laughed. “We’re not in high school, thank God,” he told her. “I don’t think it will be weird.” He pushed himself up from the table. “How about I move those sofas for you now? Come downstairs and tell me where you’d like them to go.”
“Okay.”
It seemed it reallycouldbe that simple. That nice. They headed downstairs, and Maggie directed him, discreetly enjoying the sight of Zach’s biceps rippling as he hefted the sofas. He’d shrugged off his button-down shirt, so he was dressed only in faded jeans and a fairly fitted t-shirt, and Maggie had to admit it was averynice view.
Within fifteen minutes, he had the sofas scattered around the space, creating inviting little nooks and alcoves with the furniture. “You’ll want to buy some smaller tables too, I think,” he told her once he’d finished and they were both surveying the welcoming scene. “For two-player games. You could get high ones with bar stools, maybe, but you want to create spaces for different sized groups—the big families or parties, but also the couple or pair of friends who want the space and time to play a long game.” He slid her a laughing glance. “You know something like Wingspan can take two or three hours to play, minimum?”
