With that, he stepped from the room. The door gently clicked shut and with an astonished head shake, I stepped beneath the hot spray. Closing my eyes, I buried my head in the water, letting the droplets wash over me. As six week's worth of filth inched its way off my body, my insides began to tremble.
I knew I shouldn't feel safe right now. If my past caught up to me, which it inevitably would, I was putting the guy I loved in unbelievable danger.
Guilt wrestled with relief as I reached for the soap.
I didn't deserve Zach Schultz. He was way too good for me.
But now that I was with him again, I didn't think I could just walk away.
In spite of the looming danger, I felt safe.
I just needed to figure out a way of keeping him that way too.
Chapter 2
ZACH
Zach's hands shook as he placed the towel on the vanity and quietly closed the door behind him. Leaning his head against the wood, he drew in three deep breaths. He couldn't believe he'd just done that...stripped her naked...and she'd let him.
Even skinny and stinky, she was still gorgeous. He could drown in those blue eyes of hers and although her body needed some serious fattening up, he had still felt a strong spike of arousal shoot through him. But that's not what his undressing routine had been about. He'd just wanted to care for her. She looked like a lost little kid and his protective instincts were on overdrive.
She'd come back...to him.
The thought was as exhilarating as it was scary. Would she leave him again without a moment's notice? Would he have to live through losing her again?
No. He couldn't do it.
Besides, she wasn't going to run. He nodded, trying to reinforce the idea.
She'd told him her real name. That was huge. That said more than any apology she could ever utter.
Lucy.
Lucy Tate.
He thought of the three files Uncle Alex had handed him. Lucy Tate's was among them, but he'd flicked it to the bottom of the pile because it told him she was a parent killer and that could not be true of the girl he'd spent the first half of the year falling for.
He could hear Dani...Lucy's...voice finally admitting her real name to him, his insides sizzling. Running a hand through his hair, he squeezed his dark locks and pushed off the door. He walked to his room and started hunting for some clothes that would fit her. For the first time in his life, he wished he had a sister. At least Dani was nearly the same height as him.
Dani. He just did it again. Lucy. Her name was Lucy. Is that what he was supposed to call her now?
Pulling out a pair of jeans, he held them up and instantly realized they'd slide right off her skinny frame. He yanked open his bottom drawer and searched for his dark grey sweat pants with the drawstring waist. He then grabbed out an orange Nike t-shirt.
"Underwear," he mumbled.
She'd just have to go commando.
He rolled his eyes, knowing what that would do to him, but he wasn't about to go hunting through his Mom's underwear drawer. She may be out of the country with his father for the summer and she probably wouldn't mind one bit, but the thought of the girl who could turn him on with one look wearing his mother's underwear was just a little too much to handle. He'd just have to take Dani...Lucy...shopping tomorrow.
Bundling the clothes up, he placed them just inside the bathroom door. Dani was still soaking in the shower. He thought he heard her crying, but couldn't be sure. With a heavy sigh, he silently closed the door and shuffled down the stairs. What he wanted to do was head back to his room and yank out those files, pull Lucy Tate's free and scour it for every piece of information he could absorb. When Zach had been trying to figure out who Dani really was and what had happened to her, his Uncle Alex, a reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle had done some digging for him and brought him a few potential candidates. There was no way his girlfriend was a murderer, but now she was at his door...giving him a name he knew was true.
It couldn't be possible. There was just no way she murdered her own parents. Yes, she was an expert liar...but not with him.
Not with him.
He had to keep believing that.
In spite of his need to pull it out, that tempting file on Lucy Tate would have to remain in his closet for now.
That girl in his shower needed food. She was scared and hungry. Right now, he didn't give a rat's ass who she really was or if she had killed someone. He just needed to take care of her. He could deal with the rest later.
Striding into the kitchen, he opened the refrigerator and stood for a few minutes trying to decide what he was capable of making. He grabbed bacon and eggs, placing them on the counter before tugging out a cardboard slice of bread from the freezer. His mom had left everything well stocked, plus given him a stash of food money so he could look after himself. He'd planned to spend most of it on take out. He knew basically nothing about cooking, but he could scramble a couple of eggs, fry up some bacon, and no doubt burn a piece of toast.