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Maybe after he’d slept for a few days he’d test his still-sore side and go surfing, something he hadn’t done in years.
One thing he didn’t have to do was work, not for one more week, when his leave time would be up. He’d already had nearly two months off, but he could drag it out even longer if he needed; everyone would understand. Being shot took a lot out of a cop.
But Zach loved his work, and wanted to get back to it. It was his life. His only life, he admitted ruefully, given the hours and energy he put into it. Besides, the wild, hustling, packed L.A. still gave him a rush.
At the moment though, even his bones hurt, and he had to wonder if he’d really be ready to go back so soon. A ruptured liver and two shattered ribs were harder to get over than he’d even imagined.
Maybe he was just tired. In fact, his eyes were so gritty he could hardly see, and just concentrating on driving was almost more than he could handle. All he wanted right now was a good meal and a bed.
Actually, skip the food, he’d head straight for the sheets, with or without the warm female body.
The Norfolk Woods I
Alexi. He missed her. They visited too infrequently, and only when she made the trip to Los Angeles around his work schedule. It’d be good to see her. She’d give him a room and let him sleep around the clock, the entire week if he felt like it. He could contemplate the cosmos, catch up on television.
Hell, he could watch the grass grow.
After the life he’d led for the past year, it sounded decadent. Slow. Leisurely. That it was the opposite of everything he’d ever wanted didn’t escape him, but for now it was perfect.
As he pulled up, half dead on his feet, he realized that things were not going to go quite as pla
The No Vacancy sign was lit.
CHAPTER 1
BUSINESS AMONG FRIENDS was rumored to be a bad idea. Before today, Ha
Alexi, her best friend and business partner, nodded and bit back her laughter. “You’re right, let’s get serious.”
“Only if we have to.” Tara, second-best friend and also business partner, sighed dramatically.
“We have to.” Ha
Much to her private vexation, she’d failed miserably there.
“Okay, then.” Alexi sent her an i
Tara laughed. “Oh, definitely correct.”
Ha
“At least get one really good date,” Tara decided. “With a rich guy. Yeah, now there would be a nice change.”
“I’d settle for him being employed,” Alexi muttered.
Ha
“Nah, catching a man is far more important.” Tara fluffed her perfectly sculptured chin-length blond hair. “Three of them to be exact, one for each of us.”
“Absolutely.” Alexi shoved her own darker, longer, unruly curls out of her eyes and gri
Ha
“I know. I know,” Tara said mournfully. “It’s just that I’m in the mood for a good romance, that’s all.” If Alexi was the rebel, then the willowy and elegant Tara was easily the sophisticate of the group.
Which left the goody two-shoes position for herself, and Ha
The understatement of the year.
“Complicated, yes. But lots of fun.” Alexi looked to Tara for support. “Right?”
Wrong.
For Ha
No boy her age had compared to him, but she’d given it a try. In seventh grade she’d nearly drowned Eddie Bachman in the pool during swimming class because he’d tried to kiss her and she’d panicked.
In eighth grade she’d given Peter Horn a black eye when she accidentally fell on him as he tried to maneuver her beneath the mistletoe during a Christmas dance.
By the time she’d wanted a boy to make a move on her, she’d garnered the reputation of hurting any male unfortunate enough to give her a second glance.
The bad rap had stuck.
She’d had dates since then, but exactly one per guy. Just enough to warn them their life was in dire danger if they dared ask her out a second time.
She’d never figured out why she was such a big klutz around men. Her brother Michael said it was because she spent too much of her time worrying about things other kids didn’t have to, things like having enough money to eat that week. Or was their mother depressed again. Michael said as a result of those worries, Ha
Ha
But her heart had never gotten the message. It continued to yearn and burn to know what she was missing.
Which had nothing to do with this meeting, darn it. “Guys, come on now, we—”
“Romance...” Tara said dreamily. “Sweet nothings, slow dancing, and long-stemmed roses. I want the whole enchilada.”
“Try a good steamy novel then,” Ha
But really, who was she to begrudge her friends needing more, just because she’d always failed at it? Just because her whole life was the Norfolk I