Gone With the Nerd (Nerds, #4)(13)
Author: Vicki Lewis Thompson

She opened her door, cutting off his protest. "I’m going. I’m supposed to be observing you, remember?" She’d changed out of her ugly beige suit into a ragged gray sweatshirt and faded sweats the color of bile.

The new outfit did nothing to calm his libido. He wanted to grab the hem of her sweatshirt and yank it over her head. "I don’t see how following me around outside applies to your research."

"Sure it does. Vera is a scientist, which means she’s curious about everything. Just like you, she’d want to look for clues about whatever it was that ran past here a while ago."

"So you heard that?" He thought maybe her outfit was mismatched on purpose as part of her nerd wardrobe. The sweatshirt had a picture of Einstein on the front, along with the Theory of Relativity formula. Flynn envied the old guy his venue. Draped over Zoe’s br**sts, Einstein looked almost three-dimensional.

"I’d have had to be deaf not to hear it," she said. "Sounded like an elephant jogging on its hind legs." She threw out the comment with bravado, but she looked a little nervous. "And the thing was smelly, too."

"You really can stay here. You don’t have to go with me."

She swallowed. "I’d rather go with you than stay by myself, okay?"

"Okay." He couldn’t very well force her to stay. He’d just have to watch himself and not get into any cozy situations.

"Flynn, we can handle this," she said, as if reading his mind.

He gazed at her and wondered if she had any concept of her sex appeal. She wouldn’t have to do anything more elaborate than stand there to drive a guy insane. He couldn’t believe he’d never realized how vulnerable he was to that, but then again, they’d always been in his office or at a crowded restaurant. Here in the middle of the woods was a whole different story, a test of willpower he hadn’t counted on.

Her breathing changed as she held his gaze. "You don’t think we can?"

"Yeah, we can." He didn’t want to admit he was losing control. He’d get it back. She was an international star who lived in a galaxy far, far away from him. He gestured with the butane lighter. "Let’s go see what we find."

Zoe wasn’t crazy about going outside, but she was even less willing to be alone inside. She hadn’t pictured this weekend turning into some scary thing like Friday the 13th, but that’s how it was shaping up. She hadn’t figured on the sexual aspect of the trip, either. But she was on top of that problem, ready to call a halt at the slightest sign of trouble. She would not compromise Flynn’s relationship with Kristen.

She followed him outside and closed the door. "It’s getting chilly out here."

"Want to go back for a jacket?" "No, that’s okay. It feels good." He sighed. "Sure does."

She felt terrible. Because of her, he was in an unwelcome state of arousal. Too bad he was taken, though, because standing in the forest with the great smell of pine all around them, an almost full moon, and about a billion stars overhead, she had the urge to start hugging and kissing.

Nature had that effect on her and she hadn’t combined Flynn and nature before, so she hadn’t realized how well he fit into the mix. Making film after film in the past few years, she hadn’t taken vacations. Any time she’d been in a natural setting like this, she’d been working.

"I want to make this search systematic," Flynn said.

"Right." She was working now, she reminded herself, working to understand the thoughts and actions of her chosen nerd. He wanted a systematic search. When she got back inside, she’d write that down. Good info. "Meaning what?" she asked.

"The sound came from over there." He pointed the butane lighter to his left. "So we’ll conduct a grid search, walking a pattern of lines lengthwise and then crosswise, so that we cover the area."

She glanced at the wooded section he’d pointed to and tried to picture walking in a line through any of it. "I don’t get the idea. It’s full of trees."

He gazed at her. "So you walk around them."

"Well, I know that, but which way?"

"All the way around."

"Hm." She glanced doubtfully at the forest and back at Flynn. "This could take a really long time. We’re talking tedious."

"I know. You should probably go back inside. I don’t mind doing it by myself."

She wasn’t keen on that plan. "What about postponing this until morning? Then you’d be able to see what you’re doing."

He adjusted his glasses and looked up into the night sky. "Now that the moon’s up, I think I’ll be able to see okay. By tomorrow morning the evidence could be gone, compromised in some way."

"Wouldn’t want that." In point of fact she’d love that. No evidence would mean she could convince herself she’d imagined the sound of that lumbering giant. She was helping him look for something she hoped he wouldn’t find.

He blew out a breath. "Zoe, just go on inside. In fact, go get the key and bring it back to me. That way you can lock yourself in and feel safe."

"No way, Jose. If those things are aliens, a silly old lock won’t keep them out." Out here in the dark she was ready to believe every creepy story she’d ever heard.

"I don’t know that Bigfoot’s an alien species. It’s only one theory. If you locked the door you’d be perfectly fine, and then I can conduct this search without putting you through a boring ordeal."

She shook her head. "Nope, I’m staying and I’m walking."

"That makes no sense. I’m probably less protection for you than a locked door, when it comes to that."

"So I’m not being logical. We both know that’s your strong suit. Lead on, Flynn. Let’s walk that line."

"Okay, if you insist. Come on over this way."

She followed him several yards away from the cabin. Glancing back at it, she wondered if she’d made the right choice. She could be inside that cozy little place where lights glowed and doors locked. Instead she’d thrown her lot in with Flynn out here in the wilderness.

She realized that she loved nature, but she liked it best when it was on the tamer side. Like city parks. When they’d been standing next to the cabin, nature had seemed a little friendlier than it did when she was face-to-face with the forest primeval.

"We’ll walk side by side about three feet apart, until I tell you to stop," he said. "If you see anything, we can use the lighter to see it better."

Zoe tried to quiet the jumpy little squiggles in her tummy. "What am I looking for, exactly?"

"Anything unusual. Recently broken branches. Footprints."

"What kind of footprints?"

"Like a human’s, only bigger. Maybe around twenty inches or so."

"Twenty?" She gulped. "How b-big are these guys supposed to be?"

"Some have been reported at fourteen feet, but that’s…" He paused and took a closer look at her. "You’re scared to death, aren’t you?"

She shook her head and tried to stop shaking.

"You are so. Don’t torture yourself. Let’s go back to the cabin and I’ll get the key so you can lock yourself in."

"No. I want to do this." She clenched her hands into fists and willed herself to be calm. Flynn wasn’t afraid. Instead he was fascinated. That’s what she had to go for—total fascination. She’d had no idea learning to be a nerd would be so scary, though.

Okay, she had the answer. She would pretend this was a scene in her latest film, not reality. That would be the reverse of her usual thought process, where she had to convince herself that the scene was real. Funky. She could do this.

Stepping about three feet away from him, she started walking, keeping her eyes on the ground. Twenty-inch footprints. Oh.. .my… God. If she saw one, she’d freak out, scene or no scene.

Of course she saw one. "Flynn!"

He came quickly and snapped the lighter to produce a tiny flame. Then he drew a quick breath and crouched down with a murmur of delight.

Zoe was not delighted. Pressed into a patch of soft dirt was a humanlike footprint, but no human had made that print. Her entire forearm and hand would fit lengthwise inside it, no problem.

She stood staring at it in the wavering flame of the butane lighter. The longer she stared, the more light-headed she became trying to process what she was seeing. She didn’t realize she was squeezing Flynn’s shoulder until he doused the flame, stock the lighter in his pocket, and stood up.

"It’s okay," he said, drawing her into his arms.

Her whole body was stiff with shock and she could barely make her lips move. "What… what is that?" It was a silly question. There was only one answer.

"Don’t be afraid." He pulled her close. Then he took off his glasses and slipped them into his other pocket

"What are you doing?" Another silly question for which there was only one answer.

"I’m commemorating the moment." He leaned down, his breath warm against her mouth.

She wasn’t supposed to allow this. For some reason it was a very bad idea. But in the face of a twenty-inch footprint, she couldn’t remember why.

Flynn had promised himself not to kiss Zoe, but she looked paralyzed with fear. If he could distract her, then maybe she’d be able to share his excitement in finding the footprint. Besides, he really did want to celebrate this huge discovery, and kissing Zoe seemed like the only move that would satisfy the demands of the occasion. It beat a bottle of champagne by a country mile.

He’d never kissed a frightened woman before, and at first it was a challenge. She was literally petrified. Her mouth had no give to it, and when he opened his eyes to check, he discovered hers were wide open and staring back at him. But she wasn’t resisting, either, which she would have if she’d been her usual spunky self.

So he decided to keep going and hope for the best. Closing his eyes again, he put more effort into the kiss. Eventually her lips started to thaw. Encouraged by the small bit of warmth and movement, he tilted his head and went deeper, exploring gently with his tongue. He peeked again and discovered her eyelids were drifting downward.

After that, the shift to full participation came quickly. One second she was a plaster mannequin from a window display and the next a fiery lover in an X-rated movie. She ignited with a groan, grabbing his head in both hands and taking his breath away with a no-holds-barred kiss.

He figured this was her way of dealing with fear. Because he’d wanted to calm her fears, he had an obligation to go along. Any guy would do the same, especially if that guy happened to be flying high on his first personal evidence of the existence of Bigfoot. Besides all that, Zoe smelled terrific, like flowers and honey and sex. Definitely like sex.

She kissed him as if she couldn’t get enough, so he kept on giving. She inspired him to shift position and discover different and wonderful ways to connect mouths and tongues. The pace was more frantic than his usual style, but Zoe’s energy seemed to demand that. He didn’t mind at all.

Gulping for air, she stopped long enough for a breathless question. "Do … all nerds … kiss like this?" Then she cut off any possible answer by zeroing in again.

He knew the answer to her question, but it brought up a subject he didn’t want to think about right now. Kristen was a passive kisser. She didn’t like to get too carried away. He’d told himself she was withholding her full-throttle response until he’d fully committed to her. Apparently Zoe didn’t need that kind of reassurance.

She was completely into this kissing business, and consequently, so was he. As his control slipped even more, he began to consider whether he dared explore what lay behind Einstein’s Theory of Relativity. To reach under that portrait of Einstein and touch her br**sts would commemorate this moment even more completely. And damn, she smelted so good!

While still maintaining the mouth-to-mouth, he created space between his body and hers so he could slip his hand under the hem of her sweatshirt. She didn’t stop him. In fact, he heard a distinct sigh. Sighs were good.

His heart beating even faster than when he’d first seen the footprint, he explored her cotton-covered, fully insured br**sts. Each one filled his cupped hand to overflowing. How she’d ever convince a director she could pull off the flat-chested thing was a mystery to him.

As he teased her nipple through the cotton, she moaned and arched toward him. Oh, happy days. With that kind of gold-plated invitation, he searched for the catch of her bra. A sexy woman like Zoe would definitely be wearing a bra that hooked in front. But he, normally proficient with front-fastening bras, couldn’t find it.

She lifted her mouth from his long enough to murmur, "Nerd bra, back hooks," before she returned to kissing him with enthusiasm.

Nerd bra? He’d had no idea there was such a category. Reaching behind her back, he undid the hooks easily. And then… nothing but glorious sensation. Her skin was silk, her n**ples tight and begging to be sucked. Did he dare?

Hell, yes. He might never get a chance like this again. He started bunching the material of her sweatshirt to gain access.

Leaning away from his kiss, she lifted her arms over her head.

Such a vulnerable gesture of surrender. He went crazy with lust. In seconds he’d whipped both the sweatshirt and bra off and tossed them on the ground. For all he knew they’d landed right on top of the Bigfoot print.

He’d thought earlier of making a cast of it, but who cared now? He was gazing at Zoe, topless in the moonlight. Nothing was more important than that. Her n**ples puckered in the cool night air. If this were a movie scene, primitive drums would be beating in the background.

He fought back an intense urge to back her up against the nearest tree. You didn’t do that with a multimillion-dollar star. The bark would scratch her skin.

But he wanted a better angle. "Come here." Slipping his arm around her waist, he managed to maneuver them both to their knees without falling over. The pine needles crackled, and somewhere in the distance an owl hooted.

"We could go inside," she murmured.

"I know." He kissed her with all the longing he felt. Inside were condoms. Out here he had a built-in chastity belt. Breaking off the kiss, he sat down and managed to pull her, laughing, into his lap.

"We could go inside," she said again.