I grinned as he winked at me and left the room.
With a reluctant sigh, I finished untangling myself and shimmied out of the sheet. I always thought being naked with someone would be so uncomfortable. Talk about feeling vulnerable! I looked like a skeleton with flesh, something everyone around me was rapidly trying to cure. But the way Zach watched me with that gleam in his eye, just made me feel so beautiful that I almost felt free to walk down the stairs in nothing but my skin. I wouldn't of course, but I loved that I felt that way.
This was what I wanted...for the rest of my life.
Grabbing a baseball shirt from Zach's closet, I threw it on and pulled out a pair of his blue striped boxers, not even thinking about the statement it would make until I descended into the dining room.
Jaeda and Elliot were already at the table while Zach fluffed around the kitchen making coffee...something he actually did pretty well.
"So, she stayed then?" Elliot asked Zach. "You took so long to answer the door, I thought you might have run off with her."
I leaned against the wall and crossed my arms, feeling a touch nervous. What was Jaeda doing here?
"I stayed." I tucked a lock of hair behind my ear, needing something to do with my hands as they both spun to face me.
Jaeda's green eyes lit with a cheeky grin, her lips quirking to the side. "I can see that."
She looked back at Zach. I couldn't see her face, but the way he blushed gave me a good idea of how she was looking at him.
I cleared my throat and stepped into the room, trying to avoid Elliot's droll stare. It flicked towards Zach and my boyfriend mumbled, "Shut up, man."
Running my hand along the kitchen counter, I came to stand by Zach. His smile was too cute as he kissed me briefly and handed me two mugs of coffee. I walked back to the table and placed one in front of Jaeda.
"Thanks, Lucy."
My fingers froze, locked on her mug as she tried to take it from me. I braved a glance at her face and noticed her expression. Her eyes were etched with a look of deep sympathy as her lips quirked to the side. "Don't worry. You're secret's safe with me...with all of us."
I threw an accusing look at Elliot.
"I'm sorry!" He raised his hand. "She broke me."
"Yeah right." Jaeda gently tugged her coffee out of my grasp. "He was at AJ's less than five minutes before he broke down and told us everything."
Sliding into my chair, I wrapped my fingers around the hot mug, suddenly feeling cold. I didn't know what to say.
"We talked about it for like three hours straight. Elliot filled us in on everything he knew, so we know it all." Again with the sympathy. I looked away from it, because it hurt for some reason and felt more like pity than understanding. "We get it. We get why you didn't want to say anything." Her sympathy eased into a soft smile, but then her nose wrinkled. "I mean, I'm still annoyed that you put these guys in danger in L.A., but it was their choice to go. Elliot was pretty clear on that." Her eyebrows disappeared beneath her bangs as she threw a look across the table.
I nodded at Elliot, whispering my thanks before finally taking a sip of coffee. The warm liquid simmered through my insides, settling the jitters mounting within me.
Zach gave me a wink and leaned back in his chair, his gaze still a little hungry. I matched his expression, my eyes felt like they were on fire.
"Okay, would you guys stop. You're grossing me out. You're as bad as AJ and Liesl." Elliot glared at Zach. "If I'd known we were going to be interrupting a love-fest, I wouldn't have come." He threw his glare to Jaeda who just laughed at him.
My cheeks were on fire as I watched the exchange. I dipped my head and focussed on the black liquid in my cup.
"We tried to call you guys, but I can see you were pretty busy." Jaeda wiggled her eyebrows. "The reason we came over was to one...check you were okay and two...ask if you went to a party last night."
I caught Zach's gaze and gave him a stiff nod.
It was time.
"Yeah, we went," Zach said.
"How'd it go?" Elliot shifted in his seat, leaning into the table with an eagerness that surprised me. "Did you find a safe? What'd you manage to get?"
"We didn't find a safe, but we found a locked box." Zach glanced at me. "Things didn't go exactly how we planned and we had to kind of scramble in the end so we don't know exactly what we have yet." Reaching forward, Zach touched the bag in the center of the table. "But I think it's time to find out."
Chapter 27
ZACH
Zach kept a careful eye on Lucy as he reached for the bag. Her eyes were glassy as he pulled the bag towards him. Stretching out his leg, he ran his foot up her calf. She flinched and then gave him an apprehensive smile.
Opening the bag, he took things out, one by one, laying them on the table.
"Do you think your uncle should be here for this?" Elliot tapped the table.