Hot as Hall

Chapter Forty Six

Tanner

"Wow." Zoe moans, eyes closed as her head drapes over the edge of the hot tub. "This must be what heaven feels like."

I can't help but smile because I just had the same thought as I watched her bikini-clad body sink down deep into the bubbles. She's an absolute goodness, those curves stealing the air from my lungs every damn time I see them.

"Not perfect quite yet..." I grab the two Whiskey Sours I made us and I climb in beside her, handing one glass to her as I settle in. "There we go..."

She smiles, pressing her lips to the rim of her glass and drapes her legs across my lap. "Whiskey, huh?"

"I thought we could both use it after the day we had." I chuckle, sweeping a piece of runaway hair behind her ear.

"It must feel really good on your knee, too." Zoe's lips curl into a smirk despite her best effort to hide and she's very obviously proud of herself.

"Well, that's not subtle at all." I chuckle. "Although you're right. It does feel nice."

"Are you going to tell me about your appointment or do I have to suffer through the anticipation a little more?"

I roll my eyes, not quite ready to admit the blow. There are so many other things I'd rather be doing in this hot tub than talking about this, but if I know Zoe, she's not going to let up until I give her what she wants. "You're acting like this is a life or death thing, Zo. I told you it's just a tweak."

"Is that what your doctor said?" She eyes me carefully.

"In so many words, yes. For right now."

Zoe presses her lips together. "What exactly does 'for right now' mean?" Jesus, she isn't letting up.

"It means that if I don't slow down, then I'll reinjure it and might have to have surgery again." I finally admit. Hearing the words out of my own mouth stings more than I thought, and I pause for a second to let it sink in for both of us.

Zoe doesn't say a word, letting me sit in the realization.

"It's not going to come to that, but it's a possibility. And if Morgan gets wind of it..." I can't even finish the sentence.

"Tanner, your health is way more important than your position at the firehouse." Her voice is firm. "I wish you'd focus on that, because your boys don't need a hero firefighter for a dad, they just need their dad. If you're not a hundred percent and something happened on a call"

"I know." I clench my jaw, quickly cutting her off. The last thing I need is another lecture about this today. "And I'm going to do everything that Dr. Keller says to make sure that I'm good to go. I promise. You don't need to worry about it anymore. Now, I want to hear about how things went with Ruiz. How was your meeting?"

If I have to be in the hot seat, so does she.

Zoe's face falls flat, defeat pooling in her eyes as she darts them away. "It was pretty good."

I put my hand to her chin, angling her face toward me so our eyes lock. "The truth."

Biting her lip, she let out a heavy sigh. "They don't know where he is and they probably won't. Ruiz thinks he fled to Mexico by now and is long gone."

Of course he did. Pussy took the coward's way out, which was probably his plan all long. What I would give to get my hands on him. If he was any kind of man, he would have stayed here and faced it.

"What about his family? They've got to know something." I ask. "Didn't he come back here to San Diego for them?"

Zoe lets out a sharp laugh, gently shaking his head. "Oh, you mean the family that has multiple restraining orders against him? No, he never came back here for them. Ruiz said he can't even find a location for them because of the extent of the restraining orders."