After she grabbed a small clutch, she was once again beside him as they headed for his car.
“Ummm... Kaleb.” Zoey stopped. “Where’s your truck?”
He laughed, looking out at the car sitting in the driveway. “Don’t worry, it’s at the house. I borrowed this from Sawyer.” It was one of Sawyer's many play toys, and the sleek, black Cadillac CTS-V had always been one of Kaleb’s favorites.
Kaleb helped Zoey into the car before going around to the driver’s side. He resituated himself as he got in, hoping he could just get through this evening without sneaking Zoey off to the bathroom and taking her nine ways to Sunday.
A half hour later they were pulling up at the restaurant, the valet rushing over to open Zoey’s door while another came around to Kaleb’s. Without a second glance, he tossed the keys to the man closest to him and took his ticket before hurrying over to Zoey. When she slid her arm into his, he held her close as they made their way inside.
Just inside the door, Travis and Sawyer were talking, but stopped the second they approached. Sawyer whistled, and Kaleb glared at him.
“Don’t worry, I’m not whistling at you.” Sawyer laughed. “I’m wondering how in the world you ended up with this beautiful woman on your arm.”
That made two of them. Kaleb had wondered the same thing on more than one occasion, but he wasn’t going to admit it.
“Do we have a table yet?”
“Yeah. The McCoy’s are here, but we’re still waiting on a couple of people.” Travis said as he turned and led them through the restaurant to a room in the back.
The table looked like it held about twenty people and there were already several people seated, including two men who looked identical to one another.
“Luke, Logan, I’d like you to meet my brothers.” Travis introduced as the two men stood. “This is Sawyer, and this is Kaleb. The beautiful woman on his arm is Zoey Stranford, our partner.”
Kaleb felt Zoey tense, her hand clutching his arm more firmly, but she smiled and shook the outstretched hands.
It hadn’t been until Luke and Logan stood up that Kaleb realized they were actually identical twins. So much so, he was pretty sure he wouldn’t be able to tell them apart.
“Nice to meet you.” Logan said before turning to the woman beside him. “This is my wife, Samantha.”
“Please, call me Sam. It’s so nice to meet you, I’ve heard so much about you.” Sam said, shaking hands with all of them.
Then it was Luke’s turn to introduce the two people beside him. “You’ve met Cole, and this is our wife, Sierra.”
Our?
“Oh, hush. Don’t freak them out.” Sierra laughed. “It’s illegal for me to be married to two men, but if it were possible, I’d definitely have done it by now.”
After the brief introductions, everyone took a seat; Kaleb and Zoey sitting across from Sam, Sierra and Luke while the others were gathered toward the ends of the table.
“Who else are we waiting for?” Travis asked as the waiter stopped by, pouring wine and placing baskets of bread in front of them.
“Alex and Ashleigh should be here momentarily.” Luke offered.
“And Tag Murphy, our attorney and a friend will also be joining us.”
Kaleb glanced at Travis, but his brother merely brushed him off with a look. Attorney?
♀♂
Zoey couldn’t believe how relaxed the atmosphere was. As soon as she sat down, Sierra leaned toward her and commented on her boots, followed by Sam laughing at Sierra.
“The woman has a thing for boots.” Sam said, “So, I’m warning you. If you like them, hide them.”
From that point on, the three women laughed and talked and as soon as Ashleigh joined them, they’d barely even noticed the men were there. When Zoey found out exactly who Ashleigh was, she’d damn near choked on her wine. Ashton Leigh. The erotic romance writer. And she was sitting next to her, acting as though they’d been best friends since day one.
She wasn’t sure what she expected at this dinner, but this certainly hadn’t been it. By the time the meal was served, the table had erupted in separate conversations and the wine flowed freely – well, for everyone except Sierra, Zoey noticed. And she was definitely grateful for the liquid courage, especially when the conversation between the women took the immediate turn that it did.
“So, I take it you don’t need any more firsthand knowledge of what it’s like to be in a threesome, Ashleigh?”
Ashleigh laughed, and then glanced over at Zoey. “They like to give me shit all the time. You see, I’m the only one of them not in a ménage relationship, nor have I ever been.”
Zoey gathered that Cole, Luke and Sierra were in a three way relationship, but she hadn’t realized Sam was until the intensely sexy Tag had shown up and planted a scorching hot kiss on her mouth like her husband wasn’t sitting right next to her. When Logan glanced over at them, it wasn’t anger Zoey saw in his eyes. She saw the same heat and longing she’d seen in Kaleb's, and it was clear he approved.
“What about you, Zoey?” Sam asked, and Zoey blushed crimson.
“Ignore her.” Ashleigh chuckled. “She’s like that. Sam thinks it’s normal for every woman to be with two men at the same time.”
“I don’t think it’s normal.” Sam said defensively, her beautiful green eyes dancing with humor. “I just think it’s a shame if they haven’t.”
When Zoey finally found her voice, she realized she might’ve had one too many glasses of wine if what came out of her mouth was any indication. “Well, I’d have to agree. I’m definitely a different woman now.”
“Oh my God!” Sierra squealed, causing the rest of the table to quiet and stare down at them, making Zoey’s face heat again. “Sorry, ignore us. Go on about your business.” Sierra shooed them off with one dainty hand.
Instead of ignoring them, Luke leaned over, putting his arm around Sierra and gently rubbing her flat stomach.
“Oh, my God!” Ashleigh squealed, followed by Sam.
Sierra simply smiled, and the beautiful woman actually glowed.
“How far along are you?” Sam questioned; her attention, as well as the rest of the table, entirely focused on Sierra and Luke.
“Eleven weeks.” Sierra beamed.
Zoey glanced over at Cole noticing how extremely proud the man looked, and the question that immediately came to mind was the same one that came spewing from Sam’s mouth.
“Who is the father?”
Surprisingly, not one of the three looked embarrassed, nor did they respond the way Zoey expected.
“They are.” Sierra put her hand on Luke’s thigh and brushed her cheek against Cole’s hand when he reached around Luke to touch her. It was the sweetest thing she’d ever seen, and despite the fact that they both couldn’t be the birth father, Zoey felt her heart swell at the way they all three treated it as though they were. “But enough about me,” Sierra continued, her eyes zeroing in on Zoey once more, “details, honey.”
Thankfully the men at the table went about their own business, resuming the conversations they’d been having earlier.
“I’m the odd woman out again?” Ashleigh asked, pretending to be offended, but looking totally at ease.
“Looks like it.” Sam offered.
Dessert came and went and Zoey found herself opening up more and more to these women who were just as laid back and down to earth as those she was most familiar with, like the Walker brothers. It was refreshing after what she had built up in her mind.
When the topic turned to the resort, Ashleigh listened in, but Sierra and Sam were front and center, offering their input at every turn, and the men were taking their every word into consideration. As it turned out, Sam was in charge of managing the project from a time and budget perspective because that was obviously her expertise. And Sierra was in charge of design.
By the end of the night, everyone understood their roles, including Zoey. She also realized that when it came to the enormity of what thi
s resort promised to be, she was way out of her league.
Chapter Twenty Four
♂♀
Kaleb noticed that Zoey had been quiet since they left the restaurant and she also wasn’t paying any attention to him on the drive home. She’d answered his questions with the minimum required answer, but she never contributed any more than that.
When they pulled up to her house, and she moved to get out, he pulled her arm gently, keeping her in place. “Stay there.”
Honestly, he was surprised that she listened, so when he came around and opened her door, offering a hand to help her out, he didn’t know what to say. Something was off, and he didn’t know what.
He’d heard part of the women’s conversation, but when they ventured to the topic of sex – namely ménages – he’d figured it in his best interest not to listen. After all, he wasn’t a saint, and he could only be tempted so much before he lost control.
But now, with Zoey acting as though she’d just lost her best friend, he knew something else was bothering her. When he walked her to the door, he wondered whether she would even invite him in.
She didn’t.
He came in anyway.
When she disappeared to her bedroom, he decided to follow her. That’s when he saw her angrily pulling off her clothes and throwing them around the room, replacing them with her worn blue jean shorts and a skin tight t-shirt.
“Talk to me, Zoey.” He felt like he’d been here before. Only this time, he was clueless about what might be bothering her. Throughout dinner, she’d been talkative, both with him and the women around them. It wasn’t until the end that she got quiet, but he hadn’t thought anything of it at the time.
“There’s nothing to talk about.” She said in a rush before trying to push past him.
Ok. Enough’s enough. He didn’t let her get by him. With ease, he pulled on her arm, turning her until her back was against the wall and she had nowhere to go. When she didn’t look at him, he lifted her chin until their eyes met. The sadness he saw had his heart squeezing in his chest.
“Did you not have a good time?”
“I did. The girls were wonderful.” Zoey admitted unconvincingly, closing her eyes.
“Look at me.” Gripping her chin more firmly, Kaleb realized he was getting angry. He hated when she did this. When she ran away, hiding herself emotionally from him and everyone else. And he realized why he hated it so much. That wasn’t the Zoey he knew. The woman he knew would confront anyone head on, telling them exactly what she thought and why, yet this woman, the one he saw before him didn’t look like the confident, intriguing woman he’d grown to love.
“What?” Zoey exclaimed, looking at him. “What the hell do you want me to say, Kaleb? Dinner was fabulous! The people are great! I’m so happy this is going to work out for all of you.”
“All of us? You’re part of this, remember?” Kaleb didn’t understand.
“Am I?”
Taking a step back, Kaleb took his hands off of her. “What the hell are you talking about?” Was she going back on their deal? Could she? She already signed the legal documents, and the money for the land was being funded to the bank on Monday morning.
“What exactly am I going to contribute, Kaleb? Other than the land? Huh? I can’t compete with those people!”
“Compete?” Kaleb barked, trying to wrap his mind around what the hell she was saying. “Who the hell said anything about competing?”
“You met those people tonight.” Zoey nearly screamed, her arms flailing at her sides. “I pale in comparison to those women. I’m not some highly educated project manager, and I’m not some big shot designer. I don’t have anything to contribute, and you know it as well as I do.”
Reality slapped him in the face, and Kaleb found himself flush against Zoey, pressing her into the wall and tipping her chin until she had to look at him. She tried to move away, but he secured her much smaller body with his until she stopped moving. But when her tears started to fall, his heart cracked wide open.
“Zoey,” Kaleb lowered his voice, trying to get her to listen to him, “no one is asking you to be any of those things. And just for your information, Sierra isn’t a big shot designer. She owns her own design company, but she’s just getting started. In fact, she could probably learn a lot about business from you.”
It was true. He had listened to Luke and Sierra talk about her company and some of the things she was hoping to do in the future. At this point, she had a couple of clients, but in no way was she a big shot. As for Sam, well, the woman was an anomaly, Kaleb had to admit. She was successful in ways most people would envy, but in talking to her briefly, she didn’t pretend to be any different from the rest of them.
“Baby, those women, and even those men pale in comparison to you.”
Zoey’s eyes popped open, and she rolled them, making him smile.
“They do. You’ve got the biggest heart of anyone I know. And I’ve never known you not to accomplish what you set your mind on doing. They’re lucky to have you. I’m lucky to have you.” Staring into those ocean blue eyes, still shining with unshed tears, Kaleb’s heart shot to his throat. “I love you, Zoey.”
When she didn’t speak immediately, Kaleb froze, wondering if she was going to turn him away. She had alluded to friends with benefits over the last few months, and they’d obviously managed to set the sheets on fire, but they never admitted to having feelings for one another. But he loved her. He had always loved her.
“You love me?” The question was riddled with disbelief, but Kaleb leaned his forehead against hers, sliding his hand into the hair at the nape of her neck.
“I’ve always loved you, baby. Since the first day I laid eyes on you, I knew I had to have you. And every single day since, I’ve loved you that much more. I settled on friends because I would’ve done just about anything to keep you in my life. But, Zoey, I do love you. And I want more from you than just friendship.”
“Friends with benefits?” She asked, but he saw a sparkle in her eyes.
“Yes.” He stated, and her eyes widened. “I want that and more. I want you to be my best friend, my lover... My wife.”
♀♂
Zoey couldn’t believe her ears. She was beginning to wonder if maybe she did have too much to drink. A minute ago she’d been wallowing in self-pity, which was so unlike her and now she was standing here, listening to Kaleb confess the exact things she’d been feeling for the last few weeks.
Wife.
Did he really just say wife?
“Zoey?”
She saw the question in his eyes, and that little bit of insecurity made her heart burst. She loved this man. She loved his strength, his nobility, his kindness, and that little hint of insecurity. He was human. And he was a man. And she loved him.
“I love you.” She whispered, needing to say the words out loud. “I love you so much.”
Those stormy steel blue eyes brightened, and for a moment, she thought she saw a sheen of tears, but then they were gone, and he was smiling.
“Marry me, Zoey. Be my wife.” Kaleb gently kissed her lips as he continued to speak. “I want to wake up next to you every morning and go to sleep with you in my arms every night. I want to have babies with you. Grow old with you.”
She wanted those things too. She had always wanted those things and maybe that was her problem. Maybe she had always known what was right in front of her, but she was just too blind to see it.
“Yes.” She said, kissing him back and pulling him closer.
“Yes, what?”
That dominance she found so damn appealing was back, and she could see Kaleb’s need to hear the words.
“Yes. I’ll marry you, Kaleb Walker. I’ll marry you and grow old with you and have babies with you and go to sleep in your arms and wake up every morning with you. Yes!”
“You make me the happiest man alive, you know that?”
“Well, you’d make me the happiest woman if I could get you out of these clothe
s.” Zoey laughed as she started in on the buttons on his shirt.
Kaleb growled, making her laugh. “You’re going to kill me, woman!”
Chapter Twenty Five
♂♀
Two weeks later...
“Hey.” Kaleb smiled as soon as Zoey walked through his front door. Their front door. She looked good for a woman who had just put in eight hours cleaning without any help. Kaleb offered to go with her that morning, but she refused him, insisting that he had plenty of things to worry about.
Ever since the night when he proposed, and she said yes, their lives had been a whirlwind of activity. As soon as the ink was dry on the final paperwork and the money was transferred, both Zoey and Travis had been out of control. Travis immediately kicked everything into high gear, insisting they’d been sitting around on their asses long enough.
Then, of course, there was Zoey. The woman was a force to be reckoned with, and she didn’t waste a single second in getting things moving along. Including the renovations on her father’s house. Well, their house – or soon to be anyway.
As soon as Zoey told her father the good news - although he already knew because Kaleb would’ve never proposed without getting her father’s permission to do so – Carl insisted on some changes. First, he was moving to the guest house.
Apparently Carl wasn’t happy roaming around the giant house all by himself any longer, and he wanted to move to the smaller guest house where he wouldn’t have to deal with the stairs. Or at least that’s what he said. In turn, he wanted Zoey to take the house, but he insisted that she fix it up to suit her needs. By needs, Carl told her that he expected grandchildren in the very near future.
Zoey argued, as had Kaleb, but Carl didn’t listen to a word either of them said. Instead, he insisted he was going to move his recliner out to the guest house by himself if he had to. In turn, Zoey agreed after seriously trying to convince her father otherwise but to no avail. And thankfully, the renovations were going to take a few months, and since Carl was hell bent on moving into the guesthouse immediately, Zoey agreed to live with Kaleb in the meantime.
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