Page 38 of Heart Thief

“The wind has made it all snarly.”

“I can get them out for you.”

“Um...”

“Don’t overthink it, Mila.”

I look deep into his eyes and see sincerity. “Okay, thank you.”

I turn in my seat, my back facing him. He sections off a piece of hair, starts at the bottom and works until he reaches the top. He runs his hand over the section of hair several times, smoothing it out, before moving on to the next piece.

“How do you know how to brush a woman’s hair?”

“I’ve had a few girlfriends in my time.”

A flash of jealousy takes me by surprise. I don’t know where it came from and I brush it aside. He’s thirty-two. Of course he’s had relationships in his life. “Any of them serious?”

“Not enough to want marriage.”

“Do you want marriage and children one day?”

“I do. I’d love a houseful of little urchins that get crumbs everywhere and call me dad.”

I hide a smile, close my eyes and enjoy his ministrations. I’ve always loved when someone brushes my hair for me. Of course, it has always been my mother who did it in the past.

This is entirely different.

His touch is so gentle, I never even feel a tug from the snarls. He takes his time, in no hurry at all.

“You have beautiful hair. I love it long. I hope you never cut it.”

“I don’t plan to.” I cringe. My voice came out ridiculously high. How embarrassing. I might as well have announced that his touch does something to me, that it affects me in ways I can’t control.

And I think to myself,I like Zane. I like him a lot.

That’s as far as I allow my thoughts to go.

chapter fourteen

~

AFTER ZANE RETURNSfrom visiting his father, we catch the cable car at the corner of Powell and Market.

“Hop on,” Zane says, holding out his hand.

I grasp onto his hand, his warmth invading me. He helps me step up into the iconic cable car San Francisco is known for. All at once, we’re face to face, and there’s nowhere else to go, no way to step backward.

He looks down at me, his eyes half shuttered. “We can get off anywhere between Bush and Jackson,” he says, his face close to mine, the closest it’s ever been.

I hold onto his hand tighter as the cable car starts to move, trying to keep my balance.

“From there we walk downhill one block and we’ll be in Chinatown on Stockton Street. It’s filled with produce markets. The next block is Grant Avenue. That’s where you find the gift shops.”

“Okay.” I feel his breath on my face and it makes me dizzy. Nothing he said has registered. “I take it you’ve been there many times,” I say, my voice breathy.

“Oh yeah. The perks of growing up in Fog City.”

He turns and moves into the cable car. We forego the bench seats and stand on the sideboards, hanging onto the poles. Zane leans out as far as he can, letting the wind rush on his face.

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