Page 21 of Here & Now

Six

Bree stared at him for a moment and then seemed to remember why he was there. “C’mon in.”

Zane stepped inside and glanced around the cottage, noting that it was small, clean, and smelled faintly of perfume.

He returned his gaze to Bree, who looked and smelled like sunshine and flowers. “So, lead the way.”

“You really don’t have to do this.”

“I don’t mind. Besides, it’ll only take a few minutes.”

She nodded. “Follow me.”

From behind, he noticed her hair looked a lot longer down. He wondered if the curls were natural or if she’d styled it that way. He hadn’t seen her this dressed up before. Did she do it for me? No. She must be going somewhere afterward.

He followed her through the kitchen and into the garage. She flicked on the light and pointed. “There she is.”

The bike was a vintage Schwinn, and it was in great shape, minus the flat tire. The frame was cherry red with a red and white seat and wire basket on the front.

“Wow, you don’t see many of these around anymore, at least not in this good of shape.”

“It belonged to my grandmother.”

Something clicked. “Is this her house?”

She nodded but looked pained.

He would have liked to know more, but he sensed her discomfort, so he turned his attention to the bike. He lifted it, flipped it over, and set it back down so the tires were in the air. Then he spun the rear tire around, looking for rips or holes.

“Are you doing anything else tonight?” he said as he ran his hand over the tire.

“No, why?”

“You’re dressed up, so I thought maybe…”

“I just felt like wearing something other than shorts and a T-shirt,” she said somewhat defensively.

He nodded like he understood perfectly, though he really didn’t. He’d been around a lot of women, but he didn’t claim to understand them. Still, he appreciated the effort. “You look nice, not that you didn’t earlier…”

She shifted uncomfortably. “What about you? Are you going out tonight?”

“Nah, I thought I’d have a quiet night in for a change.” Marco had asked if he’d wanted to go out with him, Callie, and Gina, but he’d turned him down. After what happened (or more accurately, didn’t) with Callie the other night, he doubted she wanted him to come, no matter how hard Marco tried to convince him otherwise.

“For a change?” she prompted.

At the same time, he found a hole in the tire. He reached into his tool bag and pulled out a patching kit.

“I go out most weekends, but tonight I wasn’t feeling it.”

She nodded and averted her attention to the tire.

“I’m going to patch up the hole and put in a new innertube. That should hold you for a while, but you might want to order a new tire.”

“Oh. I don’t plan on being here very long, and I might end up selling the bike.”

“If you decide to sell it, I’d be interested.”

“Really? What would you do, rent it out?”