Down by Contact - A Seattle Lumberjacks Romance (26 page)

Andy was new to his little group, about
eight years old, and stick thin. His family was newly homeless. His
sister had been in and out of Children’s Hospital with cancer.
Their family spent every penny on her treatment, the mother and
father worked when they could. They’d recently lost their home. It
was a sad situation all around.

Zach slid onto the chair next to him.
“Aren’t you going?”

Andy rolled the ball around in his
hands.

“Hey, buddy, don’t you want to see all those
planes?”

Andy stared at his hands and nodded.

“They’ve got a space shuttle flight
simulator.”

The little boy twisted the sleeve of the
tattered coat draped across his lap.

“Do you like space? I do. I wish I could go
there someday. Don’t you?”

Andy shrugged.

Zach dug in his pocket and found the
individually wrapped Frango mint chocolates—the best chocolate on
earth—he carried with him every Tuesday. He held one out to Andy.
Andy grabbed it from his palm like a hungry dog diving into a bowl
of food. He tore off the wrapper and stuffed it in his mouth. The
look on his face was pure heaven.

“Good chocolates, aren’t they?”

“The best. My grandma used to buy them every
year at Christmas time, but she’s gone now.” His face fell at the
memory.

This was the most Zach had ever heard him
speak. “Is she gone to heaven?”

“Yeah. She gave us a home. Then she died. My
uncle kicked us out of the house and sold it.” The sadness in his
tone almost undid Zach. “That’s why we don’t have a place to
live.”

“Hey, I’m sorry about that. You’ll get
another house. Soon. I’m sure.” Zach clapped a hand on his bony
shoulder.

“Before Christmas? If we don’t get one
before Christmas, Santa won’t be able to find us.”

“Santa will find you wherever you are. He
doesn’t need a house.” Zach stood and picked up the child, standing
him on his feet.

“Let’s get a move on. Everyone’s waiting for
us.”

Andy wrapped his tiny cold hand around
Zach’s. “Do you have any more chocolate?”

Zach laughed, causing the boy to smile. He
gave him another. “Here you go, but don’t tell the other kids.
They’ll be jealous.”

The boy nodded. “It’ll be our secret.”

“Absolutely.”

Zach walked to the bus with the little boy
holding his hand, warmed by the fact that he could bring joy to a
small boy, even if only for a moment.

He wished he could share such simple joys
with Kelsie, the kind money could never buy, wished they could be
like other couples and work side by side to help these families. He
needed to be careful of expectations that would not happen.

They weren’t going to be a normal, loving
couple.

But the sex would be damn good.

* * * * *

The next week flew by with all the wedding
preparations. Kelsie worked night and day until she fell into bed
exhausted at night, which was a good thing or Zach’s self-imposed
celibacy might not have made it to their wedding day.

They’d planned the wedding for the bye week,
a week and a half away. Rachel had volunteered their ranch house in
the country, and Kelsie gratefully agreed. Zach wanted it to be an
intimate affair, if you could call a wedding with every member of
the Lumberjacks team and front office intimate.

Zach mostly kept to himself, working even
longer hours than usual and sleeping on the couch while Kelsie took
over the master suite. He avoided her as much as she avoided him,
while the sexual tension in the house grew to unbearable
proportions. Kelsie spent some lonely nights in that tub, but
nothing relieved the need building inside her.

There’d been no trench-coat man sightings
since the night of the proposal, and the newly installed security
system gave Kelsie a measure of comfort. Even so, she never went
anywhere alone, always inviting the girls to join her.

Zach still hadn’t gotten over what he saw as
her betrayal by forcing him to work with Tyler. At least Kelsie
managed to convince the coach to wait until after the wedding
before Tyler and Zach served their sentence together.

Kelsie spun in front of the mirror at the
bridal shop, oddly excited about her upcoming nuptials. Regardless
of the circumstances, she wanted to make this wedding a memorable
occasion for Zach. In a few short months all that would be left of
their short union would be the memories. She wanted him to remember
her fondly.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Lavender
frowned at her, her carefully plucked brows in a grim, straight
line. The woman was going to be a hard sell. In the corner, Rachel
madly texted someone—had to be Derek—probably their version of
phone sex, especially considering the look of rapture on her face.
A twinge of envy slid through Kelsie. Even back in their honeymoon
stage, Mark never enjoyed that kind of closeness or bantering. Ever
serious and critical, he paraded her around like a soulless Barbie
doll whose only purpose was to serve him. But Zach, now there was a
man who would practice fifty shades of phone sex. She didn’t know
how she knew that but she did.

Kelsie stared at herself in the mirror. The
classy off-white dress off the sales rack was the perfect dress for
a woman’s second marriage—especially when the marriage happened to
be a sham. Well, except for the physical part. She wanted to drop
her panties and feel Zach sliding inside her and—

Lavender snapped her fingers in front of
Kelsie’s face. “Hey? You sure you want to do this?”

Kelsie blinked a few times and met
Lavender’s concerned gaze. After considering her words, she chose
the truth. “I don’t deserve Zach, but he thinks I do.”

“I love that dress.” Rachel joined them and
slipped the cell phone in her purse. Kelsie expected to see smoke
curling out of the purse any moment.

“It works for the circumstances.”

“And what are the circumstances?” Lavender
pushed, not the type to give up easily. How could she be if she was
with Tyler?

Kelsie didn’t respond. Rachel and Lavender
exchanged a glance, and Kelsie braced herself for a lecture.

The lecture didn’t come. Well, not
exactly.

“Zach’s a nice guy. He’s had a tough time of
it. He needs a woman in his life for all the right reasons.”

Kelsie bristled and fought the defensiveness
bubbling inside her. They were concerned about Zach. Nothing wrong
with that. In fact, it was admirable. Kelsie couldn’t pin that
trait on herself. How admirable was it of her to marry a man
because she’d reached rock bottom, and he offered to bail her
out?

Self-loathing curled inside her, but she
pushed it away. She was a survivor. Survivors did what they had to
do to survive.

“Zach will love you in this dress. You look
like a princess.” Rachel walked around the dress, examining it at
all angles. Kelsie had already figured out Derek’s wife was the
queen of denial. She liked everything in her life neat and tidy,
and all her friends to be happy and content.

“Thank you.” Her gracious southern charm
kicked in. She could do southern charm ad nauseam with the best of
them.

“Just treat him well. He’s a good guy.”

“I know.” And how would that work? Zach had
worshipped her for so long, how would he deal with the real Kelsie,
warts and all. Kelsie would break the poor man’s heart once again,
not by choice but because she wasn’t any good for anyone. Her
talents consisted of setting a gorgeous table and smiling for the
judges while walking her walk. Not much to set her future on. Not
much to start a marriage on. But then this wasn’t a real marriage.
Well, except for the sex part, and she couldn’t wait for the sex
part.

Lavender interrupted her thoughts. “So the
Tuesday after the wedding the boys will be working together on this
fundraiser.”

Rachel nodded. “Derek wasn’t exactly happy
that he’d been enlisted as referee.”

“Tyler was beyond pissed, but he loves a
good fight because he lives for the making up.”

They both looked to Kelsie. She couldn’t
quite say the same. In fact, she suspected Zach had briefly
entertained booting her out on her ass and ending their entire
farce of a marriage.

But he didn’t. He needed her party planning
expertise as much as she needed a place to live. And maybe just
maybe, they actually needed each other.

If only—

CHAPTER 18

Zach stared at himself in the mirror hanging
on the wall in one of the Ramseys’ spare bedrooms. He didn’t
recognize the pussy-whipped guy who stared back at him. Was this
what marriage did to a guy? Made him look like a sissy boy. Zach
hated looking like a sissy boy. Hell, he hadn’t even put a ring on
her finger yet. That came in less than an hour. Damn. He was nuts
to be doing this if she’d changed him this much already.

Other than their weekly Tuesday lesson, Zach
barely saw Kelsie. She was busy running up his credit card balance
with wedding preparations. He’d quit checking the account online
after it hit five figures.

Yet, he’d been the one who’d insisted on a
real wedding for his fake marriage. He couldn’t see marrying Kelsie
at the courthouse, despite the circumstances. He should’ve known
she’d take the opportunity and run with it, including tuxes,
bridesmaids, and the entire team as guests. Even Kelsie admitted
she’d gotten caught up in the moment and gone a little overboard.
Not that he’d deny her anything. His penis was making all the
decisions right now.

Zach ran his hand through his now short
hair. It’d been cut and styled this morning and girlie smelling
stuff had been massaged into it. He’d never live it down if his
defensive line got a whiff of him. They’d brand him a wimp, and
that’d be the end as he knew it. Oddly enough, he didn’t really
give a shit as long as Kelsie liked it.

“Don’t muss up your hair. It looks
wonderful.” Horatio, the flamboyant little guy Kelsie hired to
dress him and do last-minute preparations, assessed him, needle in
hand. Zach considered him a man-sitter, an insurance policy that
Zach would conform to her idea of how a groom should look.

Zach rubbed his clean-shaven skin. He’d
drawn the line at a manicure and pedicure. Next thing he knew
Horatio would be trying to paint his nails or pierce parts of his
anatomy.
Good luck with that, buddy.

Horatio flitted around him, pinning the suit
in places, sewing up a storm, then standing back and saying
“tut-tut” every few minutes. Finally the little pest stood back and
grinned. “You look gorgeous.”

Zach clenched his jaw. “Uh, thanks.”

“You two make a handsome couple.” The guy
tugged on Zach’s suit pants getting a little too close to Zach’s
package for his comfort. He shot Horatio a warning glance
threatening enough to send the man scurrying back.

“That’ll do. You look fabulous. Your bride
will be falling at your feet.” Zach groaned at the mental image
conjured by that statement. By the look on Horatio’s face, Zach’s
bride wasn’t the only one falling. Zach crossed his arms over his
chest and glared down at the guy.

Tyler sauntered in looking like Mr.
Spit-and-Polish to Zach’s spit. It didn’t matter how much you
dressed Zach up, he still felt like what he was, a poor boy from
the wrong side of the tracks. He tugged on his bow tie and refused
to acknowledge the quarterback.

“Damn. Is that you, Murphy?” Harris walked a
circle around him, chuckling the entire time.

Zach grunted and swiped sweat off his
forehead. You’d think this was a real marriage with love and all
that crap, as nervous as he was. Even Harris wasn’t getting to
him.

“Wow. You clean up pretty good.” Tyler
stopped in front of him and sniffed. “Whoa. You smell better than
Lavender. Maybe you two can share perfume tips.”

Zach said nothing, too nervous to give
Harris’s needling much credence. “Hey, Horatio, help Mr. Harris out
here. He’s a little disheveled.” Zach mentally slapped himself on
the back for his use of a word like “disheveled” and for the
horrified look on Harris’s face.

“Oh. Oh. Oh.” Horatio gestured wildly with
his manicured hands, just about peeing his pants as he feasted his
eyes on the quarterback. The little guy rushed to Tyler’s side and
fussed over him. To Harris’s credit, he didn’t preen like a peacock
or kick the little guy to the curb. Instead, his eyes bugged out,
and he backed up a step as the pesky Horatio straightened Harris’s
tie.

When Horatio raised his hands toward
Harris’s face, Harris shook his head and fended the guy off. “Do.
Not. Touch. My. Face. Or. My. Hair. Comprende?”

Horatio’s shoulders slumped and he stepped
back. Zach almost felt sorry for him. Harris didn’t. Zach frowned,
feeling a little protective of good ol’ Horatio.

Lavender poked her head in the door. “Zach.
You look incredible.”

Zach shuffled his feet and felt like saying
“Ah, shucks,” as the heat rose to his face. Lavender crossed the
room and kissed his cheek. She wore a sexy black dress showing a
lot of skin in the back and cleavage in the front, yet still
managed to look classy, not tacky. Harris swallowed and gripped the
back of a chair as he stared at her. The man had it bad. Really
bad.

“Ty, we need you in the living room to help
move some chairs around.” With a final wink at Zach, she left the
room. Harris just about fell all over himself following her.
Pathetic to see an alpha male reduced to a mega wuss.

Zach couldn’t stop himself. “Harris.”

Tyler turned, his hand on the doorknob, even
as he cast a longing look in the direction Lavender went.

“Man, she has you whipped. I’d never let a
woman tell me what to do.”

Harris chuckled. “Just wait asshole, I used
to say that. You day is here, and I’ve got a front-row seat.”