Page 30 of The Cowgirl's Secret Love
She turned and walked off, head down as she examined Karen’s slips of paper.
Karen wasn’t much for the dramatic, but she owed it to Lisa to give it some effort. She pulled out her phone and set an alarm, choosing the classic duck ringtone.
Then she sat on the couch next to Josiah. “I’m so glad you’re in charge of that one now, because she is more trouble than a barrel of monkeys.”
Josiah blinked. “Come again?”
“Lisa. She’s your problem, sweetie, and it couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.”
Karen leaned back on the couch, placed the duck on her chest, then set off the alarm. She closed her eyes and gave her best gasping, gurgling, death knell as an insistent quacking echoed through the room.
Finn wandered,watching with interest the various games that had been pulled out of nowhere.
On one corner of the deck, a group was bouncing ping-pong balls into cups. But unlike the classic pong version, no beer was involved. The red cups were lined up on the back of a Roomba that was constantly changing position, and the shrieks of laughter rising from the group rivaled any drunken revelry.
“You’re not joining in.” Zach stepped beside him. “There’s a wicked game of pin the tentacles on the octopus going on in the kitchen.”
Dear God. “I’m saving my strength for whatever twisted masterpiece Lisa has for the grand finale.” He glanced over his shoulder and unerringly found Karen.
She hadn’t been out of his thoughts all evening. And damn it if she hadn’t been within eyesight the entire time. He was trying to give her space, but it was as if after all those years of being apart, they instinctively kept rotating into each other’s gravitational force.
When she glanced up and looked directly at him, he hummed contentedly. She was as bad as him.
Her cheeks flushed, and she returned to the conversation she was having with the Fields sisters, Tansy and Rose. They were joint owners of a coffee and knickknack shop in Heart Falls that was doing well enough it had caught Zach’s attention.
Although Finn wasn’t one hundred percent certain it wasn’t the dark-haired beauty, Rose, that Zach was keen on studying.
Finn tilted his head toward where the women stood chatting. “Saw you had a meeting on the books with Ms. Fields. What tangled webs are you weaving?”
Zach managed to look surprised and shockingly innocent at the same time. “I was playing with ideas for future adventures of the brewhouse, but that’s on hold for now. After tonight, it’s full-on concentration until the ranch is ready.”
“No need for you to swear off all entertainment while we’re working. Bruce would never have approved of you acting the saint.” Their mentor had enjoyed an amiable divorce from his first wife followed by a stream of women who all left his company contented. The man had been a miracle worker in more than just the business field.
Zach glanced around at the partygoers, but his gaze kept returning to where Karen stood, now with Rose, Tansy, and Julia. “You just go on with your bad self and let me worry about my sources of entertainment.”
“Hey, Zach.” It was Julia, calling across the distance.
Zach glanced at Finn and spoke softly. “She’s murdered at least seven people I know of. This has got to be a setup.” He raised his voice and offered a cocky grin. “What’s up?”
“Toss me that ball beside you?” she asked sweetly.
Zach folded his arms across his chest and gave her his patented poker grin. “Sorry. I don’t play with my balls in public.”
Finn pinched the bridge of his nose and attempted to not die laughing. “Bad wording, man.”
Feminine laughter agreed with him, drifting on the air and becoming louder as Karen and Julia closed in on them.
A small hiccup escaped Julia, and she covered her mouth briefly before eyeing Zach boldly. “That suspicious nature doesn’t look good on you, baby.”
“Youhaveproven to be a load of trouble,” Karen pointed out.
Julia released a hefty sigh. “I’m so misunderstood.” She tipped her head in farewell and went to step around Zach. She staggered, stumbling toward him, her nearly full glass teetering precariously.
Zach caught her and her drink before they all crashed to the floor. “Watch it. You might want to go lighter on the liquor, darling.”
She popped to her feet and grinned, completely sober and obviously pleased as punch. “And you might want to practice your death throes, because I got you. Zach, by a table, with a glass.”
Zach stood motionless for a second before rolling his eyes. “Well,damn.”
