Summer Love by Piper Rayne

Chapter Seven

Zoey had everything planned. Today was going to serve a couple of purposes, because every working woman knew the power of multitasking. One, she was gathering friends to help her get the food truck sparkling clean. Two, Gwen was bringing along a test batch of some of their possible menu items to reward everyone and also get feedback. Three, Zoey was going to show Mack exactly what he was missing.

Incompatible, her arse!

Mack was simply too tangled up in his own risk aversion to see how great they could be together. Frankly, sitting around and waiting for him to come to that conclusion had gotten her nowhere. She needed to take the approach with him that she took with every other aspect of her life—jumping in with both feet.

And yes, she knew he wanted to settle down and have a family. It had been the major bugbear between him and his ex, according to her brother. But the truth of it was… Zoey also wanted those things. Running a successful business wasn’t her only goal in life. She wanted to be a mum and a wife, too.

She wanted to have it all.

And while she might not have come from the best family situation, she had tried to find the silver lining. A bad upbringing meant she knew what things to avoid. She’d never neglect her children’s needs like her mother did. She’d never leave her family to struggle alone like her father did. And she’d never avoid communicating with her partner the way both her parents had.

Something good could be found in even the darkest of situations.

By eleven a.m., her wonderful helpers had arrived. Sean was already out the front, dismantling anything that would come loose from the inside of the vehicle so it could be cleaned on the lawn, and Gwen had set up a trestle table and an Esky for drinks and snacks.

“What did you bring?” Zoey asked, rubbing her hands together.

“So many things.” Gwen’s eyes sparkled with excitement. The woman lived to feed people. “I’ve got a batch of ANZAC biscuits, a Cherry Ripe slice, vanilla cake balls and a salted macadamia tart.”

Zoey’s mouth popped open as Gwen arranged all the items on the table, carefully covering them with fly nets. “You have outdone yourself.”

“Make sure people grab a bite before we get started, okay? It’s going to be a hot one.” Gwen’s eyes skated over Zoey’s outfit. “Which I can see you’ve dressed for.”

She grinned. Okay, so maybe wearing her tiniest pair of denim shorts and a strappy white bikini top was a little on the nose, but if that didn’t break Mack she had no idea what would.

“I don’t want to ruin any of my nice tops cleaning out the green beast,” Zoey replied with a cheeky shrug.

“Sure.” Gwen laughed, not buying the story one bit. “Although it’s not a bad idea. I have my bathers on under this because I was going to head to the beach after. I may follow your lead.”

“Don’t forget to put some sunscreen on. I put one of those big pump bottles by the front door.” As much as Zoey liked getting a tan, all Aussies knew the importance of sun protection because it was way too easy to go from zero to lobster before you knew what was happening.

“Good reminder.” Gwen ditched her T-shirt and showed off the adorable palm tree printed one-piece underneath. She too wore denim shorts and a pair of brightly coloured Havaiana thongs on her feet. “Let’s do this thing!”

Zoey’s father’s work van and Mack’s ute pulled up at the same time and they both got out and awkwardly shook hands. Zoey bit down on her lip. She knew what Mack thought of him—that he was a deadbeat dad—but he really had been trying to make amends. In fact, he’d spent a whole three days away from his mechanic business to work on the Westfalia, and now it was running! Her father might not have won any World’s Greatest Dad awards when she was growing up, but she meant what she said about second chances. Everybody deserved them.

At that moment, another car pulled up on the other side of the road, and Gwen’s older brothers piled out to join them. It warmed Zoey’s heart to see people pulling together to help her and Gwen, even if they might have reservations about the idea. That was Patterson’s Bluff in a nutshell—folks helped one another. They cared about one another.

“Hey guys!” Zoey waved and went over to greet the group gathering in the driveway. She caught Mack’s eyes narrowing at her and in her peripheral vision, Gwen clamped a hand over her mouth, stifling a giggle.

Oh yeah. Today was going to be fun.

* * *

Mack spent the entire afternoon trying his hardest to ignore Zoey and that ridiculous scrap of fabric she called a bikini. In truth, people wandering around in swimwear was not unusual in a town like Patterson’s Bluff. They lived by the credo of “always be ready for the beach” and readily embraced the surf-to-street way of life.

But that’s not why Zoey was wearing a bikini.

She was doing it to taunt him for walking away after their almost-kiss. For saying they were incompatible. For years of putting her in a box she didn’t want to be in. Oh, he knew that she’d crushed on him for years—because she was as subtle as a ton of bricks—and it had taken every ounce of willpower not to give in.

Just like it was taking every ounce of willpower right now…

He crouched by one of the food truck’s tires, cleaning the rims with a sponge and a bucket of soapy water. The sun beat down relentlessly on his back and he dragged his free hand across his forehead. At the front of the truck, Zoey was cleaning the headlights. The angle gave him a perfect view of her. Her blue, purple and green hair fell over her shoulders and there was plenty of opportunity to admire her surfing-fit body. But it was the hint of smugness in her smirk as she glanced up at him—catching him staring again—that got under his skin.

Didn’t she know he was trying to save them both a lot of heartache?

He threw his sponge into the bucket of water, sending suds over the edge, and then stood and walked over to her.

“I know what you’re doing,” he said under his breath. The group had started dissipating—Zoey’s father had helped for a few hours but had to leave for an appointment, and Sean had left for work. Gwen was packing up the leftover food and drinks, and her brothers were inside the van fitting the refrigerator back in after the whole area had been scrubbed.

“Cleaning?” Zoey asked innocently. She stood and Mack kept his eyes straight ahead.

“I’m not an idiot,” he growled.

He was standing close to her so nobody would overhear their conversation, but that in itself might have been a misstep. She smelled like coconut and sunscreen and something vanilla-sweet, and pink gloss highlighted her lips. His throat tightened and every muscle in his body coiled in preparation, but for what he had no idea.

For nothing, because this isn’t going anywhere.

“It sounds like you have something on your mind, Mack,” she said, smiling up at him. A pair of sunglasses hid her eyes, but he could read the rest of her face—she was having fun with this.

“I don’t appreciate you pushing my buttons for sport.”

“If you actually listened to me, I wouldn’t need to push your buttons at all.”

Her words were like burrs under his skin. “You have my attention. It’s impossible for you not to have my attention because you’re as loud as a fucking police siren.”

“Good.” She squared her shoulders. The last thing anyone could ever accuse Zoey of was being a shrinking violet—the woman was loud and proud and never shied away from something she wanted. He respected her for that, usually. But right now, it was a giant pain in his arse.

“Why are you taunting me?”

“I wanted to show you what you’re missing,” she replied. “Because the truth of it is… I want you, and I’m sick of being ignored because of your stupid rules.”

“You think all rules are stupid.”

“I do. But yours are especially stupid,” she replied without missing a beat.

In spite of his frustration, Mack laughed. That was something he did a lot around Zoey—he laughed, and he smiled, and he enjoyed himself. She had the kind of buoyancy and effervescence that he only saw in others and never in himself.

“Rules protect people.”

“Your rules don’t protect people, Mack. They protect you.”

He blinked. That’s what she thought? That he only cared about safety and security for himself? “That’s not true.”

“Isn’t it? Because I know how you felt when we almost kissed—it wasn’t for show. It wasn’t to avoid hurting my feelings. You wanted it.” Her face was tilted up to his, and he wished he could see her eyes. Or maybe he wished for the opposite, because to see all that passion burning up…

“Of course I wanted it,” he said under his breath, hoping that the others couldn’t hear them sparring. “I wanted it more than anything. But that doesn’t mean I should give in to you.”

“But it would feel so good.”

The softly spoken words wrapped around him, tightening his muscles and stirring his desires. Lust gripped him in a chokehold. For a moment, he couldn’t move, rooted to the spot with the desperate need to kiss her. To finish what they’d started.

He fought against it—trying to tell himself not to fall for her attempts to unsettle him. But his senses were overwhelmed. Her scent, her heat, the testing pressure of her hand coming up to his chest… he wanted more. He wanted everything.

“Stay,” she whispered. “When the others go, stay with me.”

He closed his eyes, feeling the last vestiges of his control unravelling like frayed rope. When Zoey wanted something, she threw everything she had at getting it. Would he regret it all tomorrow? Would she? Would it ruin things?

Fear had held him at bay for so long, but her question needled at him. Who was he protecting? Was he less selfless than he thought, only worrying about his own heart?

“I’m not asking for forever, Mack. Just tonight.”

Just tonight.

No strings. No commitments. No consequences.

He nodded, already wondering if he’d made a terrible mistake.

“Tonight,” he repeated with a nod.