Out of the Blue by Jill Shalvis

what?" Alexi - the - super - hearing - woman wanted to know. "And why are you just standing there, Zach? I'm not going to serve you way over there."
    Zach didn't take his eyes off Hannah. "We should talk, don't you think?"
    "Talk?" Tara's eyebrows disappeared into her bangs. "About what?"
    "Let me get you something to drink," Hannah said quickly. She headed toward the counter for a mug. She picked up the pot of coffee, mind racing. What was protocol for this morning-after stuff, because though they hadn't actually done it, they had slept together, and she was clueless.
    Was there some special ritual? Some special code?
    She could ask Michael, but she was beginning to think he didn't have a clue about his own species. Music, candles and a condom? That was all he'd had to offer? And anyway, she could have figured out the condom part by herself.
    She held the mug up to Zach. "Condom?" she asked, then gaped at him, horrified. "I mean coffee! Coffee!"
    "Wait, did you say … condom?" Alexi asked her in disbelief.
    Hannah didn't dare look at her, or at Tara for that matter, who was now bent over, practically rolling with laughter.
    Denial, she decided quickly. "No," she said with as much dignity as she could muster. "I most definitely did not say … say … that."
    "Condom?" Tara broke in oh-so-helpfully. "Is that the word you're looking for?"
    "I think that's the one," Alexi said, grinning and nodding.
    "I did not say that word," Hannah said, giving up on dignity because really, after this, there was none to be had.
    "Oh, but you did," said Tara with a wide smile. "You most definitely did. Didn't she, Alexi? Say the word condom?"
    Zach just looked at the mug, his mouth twitching suspiciously.
    Hannah had to hand it to him. Other than that twitch, he remained completely cool, and despite her blunder, some semblance of relief filled her because he wasn't going to add to her misery.
    But then he spoke.
    "Thanks," he said easily, blowing into the steaming coffee before speaking again. "Oh, and if you don't mind, I'll take it extra large— Er, I mean with sugar."
    He shot her an innocent smile while her supposedly best friends roared with laughter.

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    Chapter 6
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    Z ach didn't know what to think. He'd come back to Avila to heal, to recover, to regain his strength, and yes, to get his first mental break in far too long.
    He'd actually needed the mental break more than he'd thought. Sleeping, eating, healing. More sleeping. This had been his plan.
    After a good amount of that, he'd head out of this sleepy town and go back to Los Angeles, refreshed and ready to rock and roll. Ready to take on his job.
    No attachments.
    But all that had been before last night, and though nothing had happened between him and Hannah—nothing could happen between them—it had been a most incredible, erotic night.
    Suddenly, he didn't recognize his plan anymore.
    He should shrug it—and Hannah—off, just enjoy the rest of this vacation. But he couldn't seem to do that. For one thing, he was confused about last night and his feelings for Hannah. He'd assumed he'd feel brotherly toward her, but brotherly had been the last thing he'd felt.
    Distance. He needed it. To help him get it, he went for a walk through the grounds. The lodge was beautiful, with the cabinlike architecture made famous in the early 1930s. High wood-beam ceilings, log walls, and beautiful, polished hardwood floors. Every room was a masterpiece. The garden, too, with its lush and wild colors, so beautifully bordered by the Pacific Ocean.
    It all called to him on some deep level he hadn't expected; the salty breeze, the wide, open beach, the crashing waves. He'd lived here, had grown up here. Back then he couldn't wait to get out. It was all he'd wanted.
    So why did it feel so good to be back?
    Whatever the reason, he renewed his promise to himself to dig up a surfboard and revisit his wild adolescence.
    "Psst."
    Zach turned around. Mrs. Schwartz was leading her husband out of