Rebecca Zanetti: Against the Wall

He bit back a growl and forced himself to relax. They were fully clothed, in a parking area next to headquarters, and he’d never wanted a woman more. But this was neither the time nor the place. Definitely not the place.

And he knew he’d have her–without question. But he wanted all night from dawn to dusk to explore whatever this was.

Awareness slid across her face, and she yanked her hands away. “I, ah, have to go.”

He’d grant her a brief reprieve. Jake leaned in and pulled the seat belt between her breasts before clicking it firmly in place. “Go ahead and run, Sunshine. I caught you once before.” The door closed, but he made sure she could still hear him. “And I will again.”

Jake’s warning echoed through her head for the rest of the day until she finally gave up and tried to get some sleep. The sheets tangled around her restless legs as she struggled to find a comfortable position. What in the hell had happened earlier? She had never reacted so mindlessly to a kiss, especially a first kiss. She didn’t even like the man.

Except she did like him—wanted him more than she’d thought possible. That pissed her off even more. She didn’t have time for romance.

Jake Lodge had better keep his damn lips to himself when they met the following day. Plus, what was up with the veiled threat that he would catch her again? The fluttering in her stomach was from her late dinner. It had to be.

She rolled and punched the pillow into a better shape. Then she punched it again and groaned while throwing an arm across her eyes.

Sleep finally claimed her in the early morning hours.

Sophie found herself wandering through the forest where Jake had rescued her on horseback. Birds chirped, trees swayed in the breeze, and an unexpected peace filled her. The forest opened into a small clearing against a large hill set with rocks. Below her, Mineral Lake twinkled in light blue solitude, its peace undisturbed and placid. Sophie strolled to one thick rock and sat down, tipping up her face to the sun for warmth. She sighed deeply, her eyes closed, her limbs slowly relaxing

Then she opened her eyes and yelped.

“Hi there, Sophie.” A grin met her yelp. He was old. Ancient, even. Long white hair, deep black eyes, and weathered skin. Wisdom surrounded him like a fine mist, even with his pink lips tipped up in humor. He sat on a thick rock across from hers.

Okay. She was dreaming. It was all right. Black cowboy boots, faded Levi’s, and red-checked Western shirt contrasted with his likely mystical heritage. A scent of honeysuckle wafted around her on the wings of wizardly mist. Was he here to guide her? “Hi, er, ah…”

“Bob.” He was about her height and softly rounded.

“Bob?” Sophie huffed out a laugh.

A vigorous head nod came in response.

“Okay…Bob.” Sophie looked around the forested area and placid lake. “Are you some type of spirit guide or something?”

“Nope.” Bob grabbed a blade of grass and gnawed on it.

“Mystic?”

“Nope.”

“Medicine man?”

“Nope.”

“Guru? Swami? Leprechaun?”

“Nope, nope, and nope.”

Sophie mused for a moment. “Oh geez. You’re not the land, are you?”

Bob chuckled. “Do I look like land?” He shook his head in unison with her.

Sophie wrinkled her forehead. “Well then, who are you?”

“I’m Bob,” he said in exasperation, dark eyes roaming over her, obviously speculating about her intelligence.

“Fine.” Sophie rolled her eyes. “Why are you here, Bob?”

“Why are any of us here?” At her low hiss, Bob lifted his hands, palms up. “It’s your dream. Not mine.”

“That’s true,” Sophie said slowly. “But I’ve never had a dream like this.”

“Like what?” Bob coughed after accidentally swallowing some of the grass.

“Clear. Real. Bright.” She gazed suspiciously at the elderly man. “Are you sure you aren’t here for a reason?”

“Oh, we’re all here for a reason.”

“Damn it, Bob,” she snapped. Heat flared in her face. She probably shouldn’t swear at whatever Bob was.

“Damn it, Sophie,” Bob countered with another grin.

Her lips lifted at his sarcasm. Two could play at that game. “Guide me.”

“Maybe you’re here to guide me.” Bob leaned back against the rock face and sighed in contentment.

“Then you’re in a heap of trouble.” Sophie copied his pose, letting the sun warm her through. The wind caressed her hair, and the sun heated her just under the skin. The sharp tang of honeysuckle tickled her nose, and she opened her eyes. Bob was gone.

“Figures,” Sophie muttered before closing her eyes again.

The morning sun poked through a light gauze of clouds while Jake maneuvered his truck across town.

“Why can’t I come on the picnic and meet the golf course lady?” The litany of questions continued from the backseat.

Jake drove the Dodge pickup around a pothole, then glanced in the rearview mirror and met piqued feminine eyes. Eyes so much like his own. “Because you have plans to bead necklaces with your grandmother, pumpkin.”

“I don’t wanna bead necklaces. I wanna go on the picnic.” Irritation turned to sweetness. “Please, Daddy? I want to meet the city lady.”

“Nice try, Leila.” His grin matched hers.

“I bet she has Manolo Blahniks.” His daughter’s expression turned dreamy.

“Manolo what?” He turned down a narrow dirt driveway lined with lodge pole pines.

“Ah, Dad,” Leila huffed in pity. “Blahniks. Shoes. Really pretty shoes.”

“You’re six years old. Since when do you care about shoes?”

Midnight black eyes widened on his before Leila gave a delicate shrug and stared intently out the window.

“Leila?” He used his best no-nonsense tone. The one that promised a lack of ice cream in the future if she didn’t answer.

Leila sighed before turning back to meet his eyes. “Since me and Grets and Sally watched Sex and the City .”

Jake gaped at his daughter. His baby with her long dark hair pulled into two pigtails and her pert little nose. “ Sex and the City ?”

“Yep.” The grin showed a gap from a missing tooth.

Jake’s lips tightened. “Where?”

“At Sally’s house after school last week.”

“Her mother let you?”

“Well, not zactly.”

“Meaning?” He stopped the truck before a two-story log home surrounded by wild purple, yellow, and red flowers. He shifted in his seat to face his daughter. She looked innocent and pretty in her blouse and light jeans with tiny tennis shoes.

“Um, well, her mom thought we were watching a cartoon about kittens in her room, but we kind of put in the other movie instead.” A guilty flush stole across Leila’s olive skin.

“Well, I will call Madeline later today so she knows what you three were up to,” Jake said sternly before jumping from the truck and opening the back door. He released the seat belt and helped his daughter out of her car seat before shaking his head. “And you get no television for a week.”

“A week?” Leila wailed just as Jake’s mother opened the door and gracefully crossed the faded deck.

“Want to make it two?”

“No.” Leila took off at a run toward her grandma the second Jake put her on her feet.

Jake turned in exasperation as the two women in his life embraced.

“Daddy’s being mean,” Leila whined.

“Men,” his mother agreed, a twinkle in her dark eyes.