Broken Promises Read Online Free Page A

wanted to smile, but she was so unsettled by the feel of Zak's hand on her arm that she could barely remember to breathe. But that was only because of the newness of seeing him again.   Whatever there was between them before was irrelevant now because her father's health took priority. Which meant, the matter with the trees had to be settled before Zak's father made a legal issue out of it. "I'll come," she said, "but I won't be finished at camp until late."
    Zak gave her arm a squeeze and released it. "Then I'll see you when you're done."
    Tess's nodded and turned toward camp. She almost welcomed the diversion of dealing with a bunch of obstinate men, if only to keep her mind off the fact that a man she'd once lusted after, and whom she'd been unable to scrub from her mind, was living not more than a few hundred feet from her, and time had done nothing to temper the white-hot flame that was once again building.
    ***
    It was dusk by the time Tess and the men finished moving equipment and setting it up for cutting pole timber. When she dismissed the crew, she felt relieved. After seeing Zak, it had been difficult concentrating on the job. She had so many questions, the primary one being why he'd left without a word. But unless he volunteered the information, she wouldn't ask. Pride would not allow her to do so. She also wondered how long he'd been staying at the cabin, and why he was there. It had always been understood that he'd eventually live with his family and work at the winery, which was sixty miles away. She also felt uncomfortable knowing he was so close, and she couldn't shake the feeling that going to his cabin was a serious mistake. If she was ever to rebuild her relationship with her father, Zak could not be a part of her life. Yet the subject of the property line had to be addressed.
      Feeling weary and emotionally drained, she closed camp for the weekend and returned to her cabin. But instead of a bath intended to strip off dust and grime and forest debris, she immersed herself in a tub of warm water and leaned against the sloped porcelain back of the footed tub, and inhaled the fragrance of jasmine. She'd never used colognes or bath salts when she was seventeen because Zak didn't want her to wear scents of any kind, claiming he liked the smell of warm fresh woman, and he'd prove it to her by nuzzling her all over.
    Adam checking out Eve, was the way he explained it.
    And she'd lay back and let him do his exploration until neither of them could stand it any longer, at which time they'd settle into serious lovemaking.
    But Zak wasn't a consideration now, and she liked the hint of flowers on her skin. It also gave her a feeling of empowerment, going against what she knew Zak would expect of the Tess O'Reilly he'd left behind.
    After her bath she sorted through her clothes, debating what to wear. Seven years ago she would have worn tight jeans and a snug fitting shirt that emphasized her figure, because Zak liked her dressed that way, calling her his little logger lady. But he also liked it when she wore nothing but maple vines, or fern fronds, or garlands of flowers when dressed like Eve. Her face flushed hot when she remembered how Zak looked the last time they were at the grotto, when he was naked and aroused, and she'd draped a garland of columbine around his hips and teased him with the flower petals until he'd pulled her down on the mossy floor of the forest and finished the job she'd started...
    Shoving that image back into the recesses of her mind, she held up a black jersey with long sleeves and smoothed it against her chest as she peered into the mirror. Although Zak liked her dressed as his logger lady, David encouraged her to emphasize her femininity, claiming he liked her in black because, with her black hair, it made her look mysterious.
    Without further deliberation, she tugged the jersey over her head, put on a pair of black slacks, and slipped her bare feet into some fake alligator flip flops.