Holding her in his arms, her soft, warm body lying across his, cuddled into him like she was meant just for him, Kaleb knew he wasn’t walking away from this unscathed.
Not this time.
For twenty years, he’d been her friend. He had stood beside her, both of them listening when the other needed someone to, hanging out so they wouldn’t be alone, and just having a good time in between. But, this. This was more.
And Kaleb wanted more. Hell, he wanted everything with Zoey.
That should’ve been easy to convey, but with her stunning news from earlier that afternoon, there was no way he could just drop that little bomb on her. She’d think it was a setup, and he wouldn’t be able to blame her. But what he wanted from Zoey wouldn’t change, even if she decided not to sell her father’s land. Travis might be pissed at first, but they were resilient, and they’d figure out another way. In truth, they didn’t need the land, but it would make it simpler.
The woman got under his skin all those years ago when he first met her and he’d been enthralled with her ever since. And now... Now he was just flat out in love with her, and there wasn’t a single thing he wouldn’t do to make her happy. He just didn’t know how to tell her now, so he’d bide his time, and pray that the right moment would present itself.
Chapter Eighteen
♂♀
Kaleb was sitting in the office when Zane walked through the door, making as much noise as possible it seemed.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Kaleb asked, not looking up from his computer.
“Fuck off.”
Well, that was one hell of a greeting. Kaleb stopped typing the email he’d been working on, and looked up at his youngest brother. “Seriously, what’s up?”
Zane took his coffee mug and sat in the chair across from Kaleb’s desk, not looking at him. When he didn’t speak, Kaleb broke the silence. “How’s Vanessa?”
That got Zane’s attention and his eyes darted upward, meeting Kaleb’s. What he saw on his brother’s face could only be described as torment. Oh, shit.
“Hell if I know.”
“Are you still seeing her?” He asked, not knowing whether Zane wanted to talk or not, but figuring while he was there, he might as well ask.
“You mean fucking her?”
Ouch.
“No, that’s not what I meant, actually.” Kaleb remembered what had happened that first day at the cleanup at Anderson’s. The way Zane acted hadn’t been that of a man just interested in fucking a woman.
“She said I went all caveman on her.” Zane admitted, sounding defeated.
Well, hell.
Before he could say anything more, in walked Braydon and Brendon right in time to save the day.
“What’s up, Bubba?” Both Zane and Kaleb glanced at Braydon, unsure which of them that he was talking to. Probably both.
“When the two of you are together, it can only mean trouble.” Kaleb said, leaning back in his chair now. There was no way he was going to get any work done. Not that he knew what he was supposed to be working on anyway. His mind was so cluttered with thoughts of Zoey, he had a difficult time focusing on any one thing.
“Have y’all closed on that land deal yet?” Brendon asked, grabbing an energy drink from the refrigerator before joining them in the small office area.
“No. Zoey’s going to get back with us at the end of the week.”
“How is she anyway?” Zane asked, sounding interested for once.
“Good. Why?”
“No reason.”
Ok, this conversation was going precisely nowhere.
“Why are you here, Zane?” Kaleb decided to be blunt. “What the hell is going on?”
“Shit if I know. Vanessa won’t talk to me, and I don’t know what the fuck I did wrong.”
“Well, that’s easy.” Brendon offered. “You went all caveman on her ass. Going after that jackass Jake and all.”
“He fucking deserved it. He deserved to get the shit kicked out of him.” Zane said, looking none too happy with Brendon’s two cents.
“Maybe, but did you have to do it in front of everyone?” Braydon asked. “You called attention to it, and after you left, everyone was talking about it.”
“Shit.” Zane leaned forward, elbows on his knees, holding his head in his hands.
“She’ll get over it.” Kaleb said because that’s what the moment called for. He had no idea whether Vanessa would get over it or not. He still didn’t know what the hell had happened, other than the little bit Zoey had told him.
“Bullshit, man.” Brendon laughed. “Vanessa Carmichael does not get over anything. The woman holds a grudge forever.”
Braydon laughed. “She sure does. Remember that time we colored the ends of her hair with chalk in Mrs. Rose’s class?”
Brendon smiled. “Oh shit. I remember that. She didn’t talk to us for the rest of the year.”
“Y’all are lucky any girl talks to you anymore. The ones you haven’t fucked, you’ve tormented in some way.”
“They keep coming back for more.” Brendon laughed. “They come begging for more.”
Kaleb knew the twins were popular with the women, always had been. He also knew they were as promiscuous as they came. And yes, the women flocked to them, even knowing they would only sleep with them if the two of them were there at the same time.
“How’s Zoey?” Braydon asked, looking serious all of a sudden.
What the hell? Didn’t they just go through this? Kaleb cocked his head, trying to figure out what his brother might be referring to. “She’s fine.”
“Yeah?” Brendon asked, glancing over at Braydon and then back to Kaleb.
“What the hell are you not telling me?” Kaleb asked, suddenly getting irritated.
“Nothing, bro.”
“Bullshit. What the fuck is going on?”
“I just happen to know that Jason Tribbons is back in town.” Braydon informed him, and the hair on the back of Kaleb’s neck stood up. He didn’t know Jason Tribbons, nor did he care to know the man. If what Braydon said was true, Kaleb wanted to beat the living shit out of him just for the hell of it.
“Does she know?” Kaleb asked, glancing between the twins. It was uncanny how fucking similar they looked. Most people couldn’t tell them apart, which they happened to find amusing.
“Not sure.”
“What do you mean you’re not sure? Does she or doesn’t she?”
“What the hell does it matter, Bubba?” Braydon asked. “Are you worried? Jealous, maybe?”
“Hell no.” He wasn’t jealous. He just didn’t want the bastard anywhere near Zoey. “But you two should be worried. If Zoey ever finds out the two of you ran her husband out of town, forcing him to divorce her, she’ll have your hide.”
The telltale gasp had every single one of them stilling.
Fuck.
As though they were all being pulled by a single string, the four of them turned toward the back door to see Zoey standing there, complete and total shock on her beautiful face.
“You did what?” They barely heard her devastated whisper, but they all knew she had spoken.
“Hey, Zoey.” Leave it to Braydon to pretend nothing had happened. He sauntered over to Zoey, throwing his arm around her like the woman wasn’t shooting daggers out of her eyeballs. At six feet five inches, Braydon was significantly taller than Zoey, but the look in his eyes as he glared back at Kaleb said he was terrified of the woman.
He should be.
“What do you mean they ran my ex out of town?” Zoey asked again, her voice much stronger.
Brendon looked at the floor, and Zane looked at the wall. He probably didn’t know any of what was going on, but he was smart enough not to chime in.
Braydon pulled his arm from around her shoulders and took a step back, instinctively covering his junk. The woman could be vicious when she wanted to and they’d all seen it a time or two. Sweet and innocent, Zoey definitely was. But what Kaleb had learned a
bout her in recent weeks made that sweetness seem like a thing of the past.
“Why?” Zoey asked, turning to face Braydon.
Kaleb held his breath, unsure what to say, if anything, and waiting anxiously for Braydon to speak.
“You heard me.” There was more conviction in Braydon’s tone. “We ran the bastard out of town, Zoey.”
“You forced him to divorce me?”
“Well, if you mean did we hold a gun to his head, no, we did not. We were doing you a favor.”
“A favor?” The incredulity in her tone was evident. “You think forcing my husband to divorce me was doing me a favor?”
“I do, actually.” Braydon stated even more firmly, moving closer to Zoey.
Kaleb’s natural protective instinct kicked in, and he stood from his seat. Normally the instinct kicked in when his brother’s needed backup, but this time, it was all about Zoey.
“And how could you ruining my life possibly be a favor to me?”
“Me?” Shocked, Braydon laughed. “Honey, that bastard had a baby on the way, and you want to tell me that I’m the one who ruined your life?”
“A...” Zoey staggered, and both Braydon and Kaleb reached out to catch her. Thankfully Kaleb reached her first. Pulling her against him, he tried to turn her in his arms, but she pushed him away. Hard.
“Get away from me.” Zoey stormed out of the office, leaving Braydon, Brendon, Kaleb and Zane staring at one another.
“What the fuck?” Zane asked, looking more than a little surprised. “He got some chick pregnant while he was married to Zoey?”
“Yeah.” Brendon said sounding defeated.
“Let me at the bastard.” Zane pushed to his feet while the others just stood there, mirroring their brother’s sentiment.
♀♂
A baby?
Jason got some girl pregnant while they were married? How the hell did she not know about it?
Zoey tried to focus on the road, but she had a hard time with tears streaming down her face. Oh, they weren’t sad tears because she’d gotten over the bastard years ago. No, these were tears of rage, and once she got her hands on him, he was going to be crying too.
Figuring there was no way she could go home and be alone at the moment, she headed into town. In desperate need of a drink, she set her sights on Moonshiner’s.
How in the world had Brendon and Braydon known about this pregnancy and she hadn’t? And why the hell didn’t Jason just tell her?
Well, that question was probably a little easier to answer.
Zoey had never been good with her temper when pushed. The man probably figured it was in his best interest. Or his balls best interest. Either way.
Forcing back the tears, Zoey scrubbed her face with her hands before heading inside. She couldn’t help but wonder how many people knew about this and kept it from her. Hell, she’d heard it straight from Kaleb’s mouth, so obviously he knew. And he’d sat back all these years and let her look like a complete idiot.
The damn tears threatened to spill once more, and Zoey ground her teeth together, hoping the pain would ease some of her frustration. Without looking around, Zoey went straight to the bar and ordered a vodka and 7-Up, telling the bartender to go light on the 7-Up.
She had just settled onto her barstool, drink in hand when she heard an all too familiar laugh from somewhere behind her.
No, no, no. This could not be happening.
Turning around slowly, Zoey’s eyes grazed the room, sliding over each face until the object of all of her current anger appeared before her. Sitting not twenty feet away, Jason was talking with a woman, one Zoey didn’t recognize from this angle, as well as a couple of guys she didn’t know, but recognized from town. Not only was Jason apparently having a good time, he didn’t even seem to realize that his ex-wife – wait, make that oblivious ex-wife – was sitting behind him.
How was it possible that he got some woman pregnant and was run out of town without her knowing about it? Oblivious was an understatement. More importantly, how could he have done that to her?
Granted, she wasn’t as blind as she allowed people to think back then. Of course she was aware Jason was stepping out on her, but to what extent, she didn’t know. He’d been fond of the bars back then, and when she refused to go out all the time, he wound up going alone. Or so she thought.
Without thinking, Zoey launched up from her seat and stomped across the room, hell bent on… hell, she didn’t know, but she was geared up for a confrontation at the very least.
“Damn it, Gage.” Zoey exclaimed when Gage stepped directly into her path, successfully stopping her
“Hey.” He greeted, tipping her chin up at him when she didn’t bother to look. “Where’re you headed?”
“Don’t tell me you know, too.”
“Know what?” Gage asked, looking sincerely confused.
“Never mind.” Figuring there was no reason to shout it to the world, Zoey took a deep breath but didn’t move. She’d much prefer Gage to get out of the way so she could continue with what she was doing. Surely by the time she reached Jason, she’d come up with a plan.
“Have a drink with me?” Gage asked, easily turning her – physically – and ushering her back toward the bar.
Definitely not the plan.
Once she was reluctantly seated on her barstool yet again, Zoey quickly downed half of her drink, doing her best to ignore both Gage and the bastard still laughing from across the room.
“Where’s Kaleb?” Gage asked.
“Who cares.” She didn’t care to see Kaleb – not right then, and maybe not ever. How could he have kept this a secret from her? Glancing around the room, she suddenly wondered whether there were other people who knew what happened. How many more people had kept this from her and were whispering behind her back?
“Care to talk about it?”
Jerking her attention back to Gage, Zoey let her eyes linger on his face for a brief moment before glancing down at the nearly empty glass in front of her. With a quick flick of her wrist, she made it definitely empty and then shook her head to answer Gage.
No, she didn’t want to talk about it. What was she going to say? Her current romantic fling – also known as her former best friend – had known about her ex-husband cheating on her and getting some girl pregnant. To top it off, he’d never told her.
God, she must look like an idiot.
Turning to look behind her again, Zoey noticed the blond woman beside Jason turning… Tiffany Folsom, seriously? Was Tiffany the woman Jason got pregnant and ran away with? Or was she just another of his conquests?
“Ok, then don’t talk.” Gage grinned, glancing down at his phone.
“Who’re you texting?”
“No one.” He was obviously lying because his fingers were still flying over the keyboard on the phone.
“Bullshit. You’re texting Kaleb. Well, you can tell him to go take a flying leap for all I care.”
Another booming laugh sounded from behind Zoey, and she wanted to scream. Right after she punched something. Realizing her glass was still empty Zoey motioned for the bartender who acknowledged her with a subtle head nod.
“So, does your attitude have anything to do with the jackass sitting across the room?”
“How’d you guess?” Zoey bit out.
“I’m lucky like that.” Gage laughed. “So, what’d Kaleb do to piss you off? Seems to me like you have more than enough to be mad at right here in the room.”
“Did you know that the twins ran him out of town?” Zoey asked, figuring she might as well ask.
“Who?Kaleb?”
“No.” With her frustration levels reaching critical mass, she took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “Not Kaleb. Jason.”
“Out of town? What do you mean?”
Shit. The question in Gage’s pretty brown eyes told her that he had no idea what she was talking about.
“Speak of the devil.” Gage grinned, looking toward the door.
What the hell? All seven of the Walker brothers filed in, turning damn near every head in the room, including Zoey’s. She had to admit, watching Kaleb, Braydon, Brendon, Zane, Ethan and Sawyer walking in, all big, strapping and so damn good looking… it nearly hurt to look at them. Pulling up the rear, none other than the eldest of them all, looking like a total badass with his black Stetson pulled low over those gleaming blue eyes.
Good Lord.
When the bartender set the drink in front of Zoey, Gage handed over money to cover it, and she quickly downed it, not tasting a thing but feeling the burn as her sinuses caught fire. Damn it.
She wasn’t about to give any of them the satisfaction of letting them know what they had the power to do to any female within a fifteen mile radius, so she pretended she hadn’t seen them by turning to face the bar, her hands clasped tightly around her now empty glass.
She was both surprised and a little irritated when Kaleb came to stand directly behind her, successfully boxing her in so that she didn’t have an escape route, even if she wanted one. That insanely delicious scent of him overwhelmed her senses and nearly made her eyes cross. When the warmth of his breath teased her ear, a body wracking shiver ran down her spine. When the hell was her body going to get onboard? She was mad at him, dammit, so now was not the time to get all hot and bothered by his nearness.
“I had no idea, I swear. Not until a couple of weeks ago.” Kaleb whispered before planting a kiss on her cheek. “If I had known, I would’ve told you, Zoey. You know that.”
Ok, so maybe she did know that. But it was easier to be mad at him. It was easier to be mad at all men at the moment. Especially the cheating bastard laughing it up like a fucking hyena across the room.
When Kaleb went motionless, his hands tightening on her shoulders, Zoey realized he just figured out that Jason was there.
“Well, I’ll be damned.” Braydon’s deep baritone reverberated through the bar, causing the gentle rumble of voices to go eerily silent. When Zoey turned in her chair, she realized all of the Walker brothers, as well as Gage, were standing directly behind her, but they weren’t looking at her. Instead, their attention was focused on the two people directly responsible for Zoey’s now pissed off mood.
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