by Julie Benson
“I can’t believe I thought your job was easy.”
“Is that an apology?”
“Guess so.” If he had trouble keeping up this weekend, how could Ginny? Concern kicked him in the gut. What would working this hard and late nearly every weekend do to his grandmother’s health? Would it shorten how many years she had left? “I’m worried about Ginny. When she was younger, she could stride around helping my grandfather fix fences, birth calves, or give vaccinations, but she’s getting older. She shouldn’t work this hard.”
“I try to do the lifting and more physical duties or if I can’t, I get a waiter so Ginny won’t, but you can imagine how that goes with her.”
Zane nodded. “About as well as tying a bobcat with string. She thinks she can do anything she did twenty years ago and hates anyone suggesting otherwise. She needs to let you handle receptions alone once in a while and take some weekends off.”
“That means a lot coming from you.” McKenna’s eyes sparkled from his praise. “I think I can be a real asset. If you want, we can work on ways to lighten her workload next week.”
“Good. Once we do, I’ll talk to her about scaling back.”
Silence settled around them. He should be running for the door, but he flat out didn’t want to go. He wanted to stay. With McKenna.
Never being one to take the smart path, Zane reached into the galvanized tub for the last unopened bottle of champagne. “I say we celebrate your performance today.”
“And you surviving your first wedding.”
He cringed. “That’s a poor choice of words. How about I survived helping coordinate my first—Nope. That won’t work either.”
She laughed, and the rich, bright sound rippled over him. Heat rushed through him bringing a need stronger than he’d ever known. When she chewed her lower lip, he longed to pull her into his arms.
“How about this? You survived your first foray as an unofficial wedding planner.” A big smile spilled across McKenna’s face.
He raised the bottle. “Do you trust me?”
“I do, but for extra insurance, I’ll find clean glasses while you open that.”
“Coward.”
“Cautious and smart,” she corrected.
When she returned with the flutes, he poured the champagne and they settled onto chairs at the nearest table. He raised his glass. “To your courage and beautiful rendition of ‘Oh, Promise Me.’”
“And to you surviving last night and tonight.”
He tapped his glass to hers. The ping of delicate crystal echoed around them.
“You saved their wedding.”
“Let’s say it was a team effort.” McKenna shook her head. “I can’t believe I pulled it off.”
“Are you fishing for another compliment?” he teased.
“Certainly not,” she said, her voice filled with sarcastic outrage.
In the church, when she’d focused on him in front of her at the balcony, he swore she saw into his soul. But then she possessed an uncanny knack for seeing through him to the truth. But this was different. She saw him. Not his face. Not his body. She saw the man inside, and the fact sent fear coursing through him. No woman had ever done that.
Then she started singing. The pure, captivating sound reached inside him, and he glimpsed her soul. That might have scared him more. Her honesty, courage, determination, and integrity encouraged him to want more. Be more. To be worthy of her.
He took a long drink, the cool champagne failing to dampen the desire pounding through his veins.
McKenna toyed with the stem of her glass. “Today reminded me how much I enjoyed singing. I may join the church choir, and who knows, I may be brave enough to sing karaoke at the Horseshoe.”
“It’s a date,” Zane tossed out and then realized what he’d said. “Not a date, as in date. There’s your rule, but I might show up to see you.”
Shut up. You’re making it worse. How can a man with so much experience with women sound like a blubbering idiot?
He refilled their glasses and took another big drink, hoping to cover his embarrassment. Damn. He hoped he wasn’t blushing, because his face and ears sure felt warm.
“I know what you meant. We could both go to karaoke night, but not go together. But that doesn’t mean we couldn’t sing together.”
Now that would be playing with fire.
Though he didn’t expect her to answer, he pounced on the opportunity to ask a question that had been driving him nuts. “Speaking of dating, what’s the deal with your rule?”
“I’ll answer your question if I can ask you one.” After he nodded, she said, “My parents met one summer when my mother worked in the purchasing department of my grandfather’s computer components company. Before the fall arrived, my dad was laid off and my mother was pregnant with me.”
“That’s rough. A baby on the way with no job. But how do you get from there to your rule?”
McKenna emptied her glass and held it out for him to refill. “You need to know how they met to understand. My father’s like you, so handsome every woman noticed when he arrived. Whenever they went to a party, women were all over him, and he thrived on the attention. My mother would spend the night sitting alone in a corner. She said if she were prettier, or if my grandparents hadn’t disowned her, she could’ve held Dad’s attention. They divorced when I was in college.”
He stared at her dumbfounded. How could the most confident, assertive woman he knew think she’d allow people to treat her the way her mother had? “I can’t see you hiding anywhere, and no one would run roughshod over you. I know that firsthand.”
Her eyes widened in surprise and she giggled. “You do, don’t you?”
“That’s rhetorical, right?” She laughed again, and he continued. “Then there was how you stood up to Hurricane Campbell. If anything, the world needs to worry about you browbeating it.”
“But those situations had to do with my career. I’m different in personal relationships, and I’ve discovered looks matter.”
Come clean about the bet. You’ve cleared the air about other mistakes. Take care of that one, too.
“Looks aren’t the only thing that makes for good chemistry. Confidence and intelligence play a part.” Those could make a woman damn sexy. Made McKenna damn sexy, and with her, there was her voice. He lacked the words to describe what it did to him.
“I thought that once. There was an attractive guy in my English lit class at Texas. I was shocked when he asked me out. Our first date was to an out of the way restaurant. We also went to a couple movies and for drinks afterward. Again, on the opposite side of town from campus.”
What had this guy done to her? Zane had suspicions. None of them good. “That’s not unusual with Sixth Street and other hot spots in Austin,” he said referring to the city’s iconic music-bar area.
She stared into her champagne glass. “We didn’t go there. We went to a bar where the average age was forty. After that, I suspected something was up, but when he asked for help with his paper, I said yes.”
Damn. He’d figured that was where she was headed. Either that or the guy had slept with her and dropped outta sight. “He didn’t really want help?”
“He wanted me to write it for him.”
“What did you do when you found out? Did you write it?”
She straightened, smirked, tilted her head to the right, and stared at him. “Is that rhetorical?”
“I figure you told him to write the damn assignment himself and to go to hell.”
A dazzling grin spilled across McKenna’s face. “I didn’t use those words, but the gist was the same.”
Atta girl. “A leopard doesn’t change its spots.”
“Huh? I don’t follow.”
“What do you think your mom would’ve done?”
A V formed between McKenna’s eyebrows as she thought. She gasped when she made the connection. “She’d have written his paper.”
“That’s when you started following her dating rule?�
�� Her rule provided protection, like his never let anyone get close enough to hurt him one.
She nodded.
“That guy would be an ass no matter what the woman he dated looked like. By the way, being attractive isn’t as great as everyone thinks.”
“You’re kidding, right?”
“Nope. If a woman approaches me, and I’m not interested or say I’m with friends, she calls me stuck up. A lot of folks think I’m too dumb to walk and chew gum at the same time because of my looks. Some believe I only date model types.”
“Or someone who’s a nine minimum. I’m sorry about that, too,” she said, her face lined with regret.
Another apology from her. He should tell her about the bet, but something made him hold back.
Maybe because it’ll spoil the night and you can’t bear for McKenna to see you as an ass again?
“But would any of the women clambering for my attention stick around if I was in a car accident or a fire and was suddenly ugly?” The words jumped out before he realized what he’d said.
He’d never told anyone he suspected women only liked him for his looks. That if they knew the real him, they’d find him lacking. That no one, except his buddies and Ginny, believed he had more to offer.
Funny though, he didn’t regret telling McKenna.
“Some people don’t stick around when life gets tough. The hard part is telling the difference between those who will and those who won’t,” McKenna said.
“No kidding,” he scoffed.
There should be somewhere to click on a person to reveal their strengths and weaknesses like with a video character. Then if disloyal or self-centered was revealed, he could cut bait. But in the real world the only way to discover that information was to see who stuck around when life got bumpy.
McKenna held out her glass. “Refill our glasses. I want to make another toast.”
Doing as she requested, he asked, “What about?”
“Trust me.” Raising her glass and her chin, her eyes shined with determination and grit.
Two small words, but so hard for him to do. He raised his glass.
*
“Here’s to us, two fabulous, well-adjusted, functional human beings.” McKenna tapped her glass against Zane’s.
“You’re damn right.”
As she sipped her champagne, she contemplated what to ask him. There were so many options. Had Campbell been as crazy in high school and, if so, why had he dated her? Why had he been such an ass when he told her he was taking over for Ginny? Then there the multiple questions about starting a business.
He was such a contradiction. The man she’d first met hardly resembled the Zane she’d come to know this weekend. Why the difference?
Each move left a mark on her. What about when he’d moved in with Ginny in middle school? That had to be huge change for him.
Why would a middle-school boy live with his grandparents in a small town like Wishing? That usually meant problems at home. Either he’d been in trouble and his parents wanted to put distance between him and bad influences or Zane wanted to get away from his parents.
If she didn’t ask now, she might never get the chance again. Unable to resist, she said.
“Now it’s my turn to ask a question.”
“Be gentle with me.”
Oh, goodness. Zane’s husky voice wrapped around her. Her breath quickened and her heart fluttered at the images his words brought to mind, starting with her exploring his firm body. Gently, of course to start, but she doubted her need would let her remain that way.
Snap out of it. He’s the wrong man for multiple reasons.
She needed to say something. Should she fire off a snappy comeback? Something like she could be as gentle as he wanted, or should she ignore his double entendre? Deciding on the wiser, safer action, she said, “Here’s my question. Why did you move in with your grandparents?
His eyes darkened and his right eye twitched. “Ask something else.”
She’d hadn’t expected to hit a nerve. Not when he talked so often and fondly about his life with his grandparents on the Lucky Stars. She considered dropping the subject, but he’d asked her a tough question and she hadn’t backed down. “That wasn’t our deal.”
“You’re right. Okay, here’s what happened. My parents were getting divorced. They said they couldn’t work out a custody agreement. They told me to choose who got primary custody.”
“But you couldn’t because you didn’t want to hurt one of them?”
He shook his head. “I asked to live with my grandparents because neither of my parents wanted me.”
Despite his flat, matter-of-fact tone, McKenna gasped, and a heaviness settled in her chest. What? He had to be mistaken. They couldn’t have been so cruel. “They said that?”
“No. They told me them both wanting me was the problem, but I’d heard them arguing the night before. I knew the truth. They both wanted to move on with new lives.”
And Zane was a constant reminder of their past.
Her hand covered his icy one, but he jerked away. “They didn’t deserve you. Some people shouldn’t raise a puppy, much less a child.”
He shrugged. “I survived and got over it.”
McKenna envisioned a younger Zane, listening to his parents’ explanation, knowing they were lying about them wanting him. Knowing it was the opposite. A vise squeezed her heart for the child he’d been. The one who’d been crushed and changed forever by his parents’ cruelty. No wonder she’d glimpsed an old soul in him.
In middle school she’d been awkward and unsure, growing up, but not really understanding how to handle her emotional and physical changes. What would she have done? How would discovering her parents wanted to dump her to move on with their lives have affected her?
Many of Zane’s actions made sense now. His flip answers and diverting serious questions. His distrust and reluctance to let anyone really know him and see who he was. Awareness bolted through her with sharp clarity. She recognized Zane’s behavior because she’d done the same thing. Not because her parents hadn’t wanted her, but because her mother taught her distrust along with her rules.
And yet Zane had let her see who he was when they’d been locked in the chief’s office and more tonight.
How had she earned that incredible honor after all she’d said and how hard she’d been on him? Her heart expanded as emotions swirled inside her. She’d never admired a man more. Warmth spread through her. She wished she could blame the feeling on the champagne, but she couldn’t. She felt this way because of Zane. She’d never felt this drawn, this close to a man. She’d never wanted a man the way she desired Zane. Intensely, completely, enough to overlook all the reasons he was wrong for her.
Had she fallen in love with Zane?
No, she couldn’t have. Could she? If one day she fell in love, she believed it would be with man who shared her interests. Someone average and sturdy with a sensible career, not someone unpredictable and attractive enough to make Hollywood agents fight over him.
She drank the last of her champagne and placed the flute on the table in front of her. The tap of the crystal against the wooden table sounding incredibly loud. And final.
“It’s been a long weekend. We should leave and go to bed.”
He grinned and her heart turned over, making her regret her words. “Is that an offer?”
She paused. All her life she’d followed the rules. She’d chosen the smart path and made sensible choices. What harm would it do to give in to her desire this once if she knew nothing could come from tonight? One reason being, he’d return to California and she’d remain here. She clasped her hands on her lap to keep them from trembling and met his gaze. Desire for her shone in his enticing green eyes.
She licked her lips. “What if it is an invitation?”
Zane shoved away from the table, closed the distance between them, and pulled her into his arms. His lips covered hers, strong and insistent. Her hands clutched his lapels as longing cours
ed through her, setting off a firestorm.
Zane’s presence surrounded her. Desire poured through her, overwhelming, demanding, and intoxicating. Her hands slid under his jacket to wrap around him and pull him closer, but she needed more. Frustrated, her hands fumbled to unbutton his shirt. When she’d dealt with those, she slipped her hands under the garment to caress his warm, firm skin.
He pulled away. His breathing hard and fast, he stared at her with an intensity she never envisioned in her dreams. “What’s wrong?”
“Absolutely nothing, but I need to be honest. I like and respect you more than any woman I’ve known, but I’m not a man who’ll put a ring on your finger.”
She’d known that reality from the moment she met him. “I’ve got plans and falling in love with you or anyone else isn’t one of them.”
Chapter Fourteen
A few minutes later when he and McKenna stood at the bedroom door in the guest house, Zane cupped her face in his hands. “If you have any doubts, now’s the time to tell me, and we’ll walk away.”
“I’m a big girl, and I know what I want. You.” McKenna pressed her lips against Zane’s.
He hauled her against him, his desire for her evident as his mouth moved over hers. Bold and desperate to touch him, McKenna pulled his shirt from his pants. After he shrugged the garment off, her hand skimmed over his taut flesh, caressing, exploring, teasing. His firm abs rippled under her palm. When her hand brushed his nipple, his hoarse groan echoed around them.
“We need somewhere more comfortable.” He scooped her into his arms and carried her into the bedroom where he placed her on the massive four-poster bed. Then he pulled off her boots and placed them on the floor.
Missing touching him, she knelt on the bed in front of him. Her hands caressed their way to his shoulders. Then she leaned into him, molding her body to his as she kissed him again. She ground her hips against his erection. His hand covered her breast, kneading, caressing, and drawing a sigh of pleasure from her. She’d never felt this way, as if she’d catch fire from the inside.
“You look fantastic in the pink dress, but it’s time for it to go,” Zane said as he reached under the hem of her dress. His hand stroked her thigh, moving upward. She bit her lip to keep from crying out. He inched higher, slipping his finger under the edge of her lace panties.