“Z?”
I looked behind me in surprise.
“Lake.”
A warm smile popped on his lips as he stepped off the curb, walking in my direction.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
“I should ask you the same thing. We had a meeting here today, and I’m on the board.”
“Here?”
Shock settled inside me, and I wasn’t sure why, but I hadn’t seen this coming. I’d forgotten that he used to volunteer here as a teen, too. It was just a natural progression as the businessman he had become that he would hold a seat on the board.
“Yes. But what are you doing here?”
“I just started back volunteering again.”
“Volunteer.”
I couldn’t decipher what that smirk turning into a full-fledged smile meant, nor the sparkle in his eyes. I hoped it wasn’t anything bad.
“How long have you been on the board?”
“The last four years. I didn’t know you were volunteering again.”
“Yeah, it’s something that I’ve missed since being gone.”
Hunching his shoulders and dropping them, Lake turned his lips down before he asked, “Didn’t they have one in New York that you could volunteer at?”
“Not enough time. There was so much required of me in New York that I barely had time to breathe.”
Rather than respond, Lake frowned and gave a brief but firm nod of his head.
“How did you get involved again?”
“Ariel,” I said in response to Lake’s question.
Laughing, he shook his head and pulled a finger down the side of his nose, “Yeah, she can be very persuasive.”
Instantly, the thought popped into my mind that he’d been involved with her. The streak of jealousy that flashed through me like a lightning strike surprised me.
“Ariel’s husband is a good friend of mine, and he works for my organization,” he said as if I had voiced my concern aloud. “That’s how I met Ariel.”
“I didn’t ask,” I said, shaking my head and shrugging my shoulders.
“You wanted to,” he challenged, his eyes flashing with humor.
“No, I didn’t. Um, I’d better get going. I’m already running late.”
“Or running from me?” he asked.
“No, just late.”
“For what?”
“I’ve got a thing.”
“What kind of thing?”
“A thing,” I persisted.
“You’re lying, Z. Your eyes always go wide when you’re lying,” he said, stepping closer to me.
I hated that he was so confident that he still knew me and was determined to prove me wrong. Ever since our night at the ball, I’d been trying to avoid him. No matter how much I’d pretended that I wouldn’t, he’d pulled me into him again. Caught up in my feelings, I knew that I had to space things out with us.
Getting my sexual needs met had to be with someone I didn’t have these types of feelings for, but someone I had sexual chemistry with. The problem was...that was an impossibility in Sunset Harbor.
“I have an appointment that I have to be at, Lake.”
“Hm.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Just wondering how you’re going to get there when your vehicle doesn’t start,” he said, pointing at the hood of my car.
“How did you know that?” I asked scowling.
“I witnessed your frustration from just inside the building. I was on a call when I noticed you arguing with your car or someone,” he said, pointing back to the tinted glass windows before turning back to me.
“I’ll be fine. Someone’s on the way.”
“That wonderful fiancé of yours?”
Crossing my arms over my chest, I asked, “What business is it of yours if he is?”
Lake’s hand reached out and caressed the side of my face. “The way your body responds to mine makes it my business, Z.”
“It was just sex,” I said, glancing at the pavement and shaking my head.
“I think you’re lying again.”
Lake took a step closer to me, and I felt my heartbeat increasing, banging around in my chest like it was trying to get out.
“I think the feelings that always existed between us are waiting for us to explore them on a deeper level, Xiomara.”
“I think you’re crazy, Lake.”
He tugged the ends of my scarf. “I think you want to know why your heart speeds up when I come around. You want to know why you’re always defensive in my presence. You want to know why I make you question everything that you’ve always taken for granted. We never had that between us, Z.”
“That’s because you’re forcing something that’s not, Lake. Our friendship was easy, and then you...I think things are just complicated now!” I said, throwing my hands in the air.
“We complicated nothing, love. We simply uncovered what’s been brewing under the surface. That night didn’t complicate things. It cleared up a lot.”
Scoffing, I tugged my scarf free from his hands. “Lake!” I ground out through gritted teeth, scowling at him. “We promised not to talk about that again. That night...I promised. You promised!” I emphasized.
Pulling a hand down the shadow of his beard, he replied, “I’m not that fresh-faced teenager trying to see how many women I can attract, or that young college student with all these ideas about the way the world should be. I’m a grown man who knows when a woman wants him. And you want me, Z,” he said, brushing his fingertip across my chin. “Just like I want you.”
I hated that my tongue was growing heavy in my mouth, and I was growing all warm inside.
“If you don’t mind, I think I’ll sit in my car and wait for my ride.”
“I mind. And I don’t like the idea of you waiting out here for an unlimited time while you hope someone will come from Sunset Harbor to save you.”
“They will come!” I argued futilely.
“Okay, so you won’t mind me sitting here waiting with you. I mean, I’ve got nothing else to do, and I just want to ensure that you stay safe. This isn’t the greatest area of town for you to be sitting here and waiting alone in. It’ll be dark soon, and everyone will have left. Or, I could call up your father and ask if he’d like for me to bring you home. Or maybe I should contact your mother and get her
