Danielle forced a smile. “Of course. Let me go get it. I mean, it’s the least I can do for the guy who comes over to fix my faucet.”
She glanced toward the bathroom just to make sure that was indeed correct. From the lack of a spraying sound coming from that direction, her hope was confirmed.
When she turned back to Zach, he had his arms folded across his chest and he was watching her. The look in his eyes caused her heart to pound just a tad bit harder. Which frustrated her.
Giving him a small smile, she nodded as she made her way into her room and shut the door. Now alone, she leaned against the wall and took a breath. She was rapidly losing control of her emotions and she needed to get her mind straight. Right now. Before he suspected what she was hiding and her secret was no longer her own.
Chapter Seven
Zach stood in the bathroom, staring at the Looney Tunes t-shirt that Danielle had brought out for him. For some reason, he was having a hard time slipping it over his head. Instead, it sat on the countertop, mocking him.
He growled as he pressed his fists down on either side. He dipped his head down as he let out his breath.
What was he doing here? Was he crazy?
Glancing down at the faucet he realized the answer to that question.
Yes. Yes he was crazy. That was the only way to explain why he would get into his car and drive over to his deceased brother’s ex-girlfriend’s house to help her fix her broken faucet. Only a crazy person would do that.
He closed his eyes for a moment as the pain of the past washed over him. He thought of Isaac and how nothing seemed to be right in his life since Isaac passed. Everything changed that night. The person Zach thought he was flew out the window the moment the cops showed up on his doorstep to tell them about the accident.
Isaac had been speeding. The other man was drunk.
Zach squeezed his eyes shut as he focused his mind. There was no way he could break down while he was here. That was the last thing he needed to do.
There was a soft knock on the door, pulling Zach from his thoughts. Tipping his face in the direction of the sound, he asked, “Yeah?”
Silence.
“I’m just wondering if you want some coffee? I was going to make a pot.”
Zach pushed off the counter and slipped on the shirt in one swift movement. Determined to get his head on straight, he decided that it might be best not to glance in the mirror. Instead, he opened the door only to find Danielle’s wide eyes as he stood a few inches away from her.
His heart pounded in his ears as he glanced down at her. His mind told him to back away, but every other part of him told him to stay. There was so much familiarity wrapped up in Danielle and he couldn’t help but be drawn to her. There was this need that burned inside of him. It was the need to hold her once more. To hear her laugh. To see the relaxed way she looked up at him…to feel her lips on his again.
Zach swallowed as he forced those thoughts from his mind. They weren’t going to help him get through this. They weren’t going to help him forget her.
“Coffee would be great,” he said once he was sure that his voice wasn’t going to give him away. He held his stance as he smiled at her, hoping that the protective shield he put up in front of his heart would hold true.
Danielle’s lips were parted and she looked stunned for a moment before she closed her lips and nodded. “I’ll get right on that,” she said, turning and making her way to the kitchen.
Zach watched her retreat, getting lost in the familiar way she moved. It was like hearing a song again that you’d grown uplistening to your entire life. It was like he already knew what she was about to do before she did it.
A smile played on his lips as he watched her flick her hair over her shoulder as she reached up to open the cupboard. Or the way she scrunched up her nose as she glanced inside of it. Everything she did was like a dance that he’d forgotten for a moment, but then came rushing back to him once he saw it.
Every memory he had of her felt as real as if it had happened only days before. And there was this dense ache in his chest when the realization dawned on him that he missed this. He missed her.
He didn’t realize he was staring until she peeked over at him and her cheeks reddened.
He cleared his throat and pushed his hand through his hair. That was the last thing he needed. Getting caught ogling his brother’s ex. He should know better. Kissing her had been one of the best and worst things he’d done in his life. And from the stunned look on her face when she’d pulled away that night, she felt the same. They should have never kissed no matter how right it felt.
Feeling like a bumbling idiot, Zach settled down on the chair by the table. Not sure what to do with his hands, he lifted one up and began to drum his fingers on the table.
He was anxious and he needed to stop being anxious.
If Danielle noticed, she didn’t mention it. Instead, she set a mug down next to him and then the coffee pot in the center of the table. Then, she pulled out the chair next to him and settled in.
After each mug was poured, Danielle slipped a packet of sugar and some cream into her own and then held it with two hands as she blew on the steam rising up from the liquid—just as Zach remembered.
