Down by Contact - A Seattle Lumberjacks Romance by Jami Davenport Page A

her deception.
    “I thought I’d drop by for a quick
bite.”
    Again that silent look between friends. A
hesitation. Kelsie held her breath, praying they were as nice as
she guessed they were.
    Rachel smiled up at her, a friendly, open
smile. “Please join us.”
    Lavender nodded her agreement as she sipped
on a yummy looking foo-foo drink.
    “I’d love to.”
    Rachel moved her purse out of the way, and
Kelsie slid into the booth seat next to her. “I was in the area
meeting with Coach Jackson and Ms. Simms to discuss my progress on
a special project.”
    “Zach’s manners class? Tyler told me all
about it.” Lavender made a face, as if she didn’t quite agree with
Tyler spreading dirt about Zach.
    “Tyler talks too much, and he holds his
grudges near and dear to his heart.” Rachel sighed.
    “So does Zach.” Kelsie knew that better than
anyone. No sense denying the obvious.
    “Tyler says you have Zach all tied up in
knots. Mr. Invincible might not be so different from the rest of
us.” Lavender winked at her.
    Kelsie shook her head, hoping to chop that
rumor down. “Not those types of knots. He has good reason to
dislike me, and he wallows in his grudges.”
    “Zach won’t let it go with Tyler either.
Their childish war is dividing the team. I don’t understand why the
coach allows it to happen.”
    Kelsie resisted the urge to defend Zach for
the second time in a week. No reason to get her panties in a bunch
over the truth. Zach did hold onto things long past their
usefulness. “Zach’s a bit of a stubborn, proud man.”
    “You knew him from high school?” Rachel
signaled the waiter and a moment later one of the incredible drinks
showed up in front of Kelsie.
    “What is it?”
    “Root beer float, only with alcohol instead
of ice cream. It’s our lunch tradition.”
    Kelsie sipped the drink and licked her lips.
“Heavenly.” She held her hands to her heart and looked upward.
Rachel and Lavender laughed.
    “Hey, sister, you’re not distracting us that
easily. Spill. You and Zach have a history,” Lavender prompted.
    Kelsie hesitated, not willing to tell all
and paint herself in such an unfavorable light. “He hasn’t changed
much, except he has more money. In high school, he stayed to
himself, looks like he still does.” Thanks to her. She’d taught him
a valuable lesson when it came to trusting people, and she felt
like crap about it.
    They ordered lunch, sipped their drinks, and
made small talk. Kelsie had so missed female interaction. Her ex
all but cut off her friends over the past ten years. He’d embraced
her family because both her parents worshipped him as if he walked
on water. She could do nothing right in their eyes and his.
    A lull in the conversation gave Kelsie the
in she needed. “Have you ever done something so stupid you can’t
figure out how to rectify it?”
    “Of course.” Lavender paused in mid-chew and
studied her.
    Rachel laughed. “All the time. I can’t even
walk on a flat surface without stumbling.”
    “I could help you with that.”
    The both stared at her, mouths open.
    “You learn how to walk correctly in beauty
queen school.”
    “Beauty queen school?” They said in
unison.
    Kelsie waved them off. “It’s a long, boring
story and not important to my problem.”
    “And that is?”
    “When I accepted the job working with Zach,
I wanted to sweeten the pot, go above and beyond, give the Jacks
more than their money’s worth.”
    “And you did what?”
    “I agreed to help Zach host a black-tie
fundraiser at his home on Queen Ann Hill with proceeds going to
Veronica’s favorite charity.”
    “You took on Veronica’s Hearts for Homeless
campaign? You’re a brave woman. Isn’t she, Rae?”
    “You’ll never do it well enough to please
her.”
    “It’s even worse than that. Have you seen
Zach’s home?” Kelsie picked up a breadstick and gnawed on it.
    “Zach is a loner. No one’s been invited to
his place.”
    “Good thing. If they wandered