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Page 34

by Lana Jovanovic


  “Zoe?”

  A warm hand wrapped around her arm. She turned at the sound of the deep voice behind her and gasped.

  She hadn’t expected to see him there. For the past hour she hadn’t even thought about him once. Not the soft sweep of his brown hair or the deep intensity of his beautiful eyes.

  She’d thought very little of him all through dinner, but now, now that he was standing in front of her, he was all she could think about.

  He smiled. “Do you remember me?”

  Well of course she—Zoe blinked and really stared up into his brown eyes. It wasn’t Colton. She wouldn’t remember the intense feeling of disappointment that swelled in her chest and crashed down around her the next day after her hangover had passed. She wouldn’t remember the heavy fall of her body and heart or the tears that sprang to her eyes, all of which would be a good thing. Such pain should only be felt once in a lifetime.

  “Preston,” he said as he reached out and shook her hand. “Preston Philips—we never officially met.”

  He was wearing a suit, a nice black suit with a green tie, and his date, a gorgeous auburn-haired woman in a yellow dress, pressed against his side, was watching Zoe with concerned eyes. He didn’t look the same as he had outside Rylie’s, when he was pretending to be his brother. Gone was the smug, indifferent look, gone was his I’m-better-than-you gaze. This man had the look of a compassionate human; someone who cared.

  “You’re not Colton,” Zoe whispered.

  “You’re disappointed by that, I can tell,” Preston said with a gentle smile. “Look… I normally don’t do this because I normally don’t care, but I know how my brother feels….”

  “About me?” Zoe interrupted swaying backwards, “He doesn’t care or feel anything for me.”

  Preston’s eyes narrowed slightly. He didn’t acknowledge what Zoe said, he simply watched her carefully. “We were having dinner a few tables away from you, I thought you saw me.”

  “No, I didn’t… please excuse me,” she turned when Nick called her name. Preston released his date and caught Zoe’s arm. Zoe fell. She wasn’t sure how it happened, but one moment she was standing, the next she was trying miserably to jerk free of his touch, and then she was on her ass. It probably would have hurt under normal circumstances, but she found it incredibly funny and bubbled over with laughter.

  “What in the bloody hell happened?” Nick laughed hurried forward. He put his hands under her arms to hoist her to her feet. Zoe swayed into him, giggling uncontrollably.

  “Ready then luv?”

  “Yes, let’s go.”

  “Zoe,” Preston reached to her again, but she ignored him and climbed into the cab. Nick joined her and within a moment they were kissing again. Having his hands and mouth on her now was different than before. It felt different as if some of the haze from the wine had disappeared when Preston said her name. Nick’s hands felt different and his mouth was different. Everything was different now and she just wasn’t feeling the excitement anymore. Nick realized it, but he didn’t stop kissing her.

  “You’re upset after seeing that man,” he whispered against her jaw. “Who was he?”

  “The brother of the man I was dating,” Zoe answered.

  “Who is he to you, Zoe?”

  “No one,” she answered after a moment.

  “Then where have you gone, luv,” he his hand moved up the side of her body and cupped her cheek. “How do I get you back?”

  Zoe wasn’t sure that he could, but she didn’t let her hesitance stop her from climbing into his lap and sealing her mouth over his. For one in her life she wasn’t going to care about anything. She was just going to live. She was going to damn all consequences. She could handle whatever life threw at her, now she just wanted to feel.

  By the time the cab stopped, Nick’s hand was under her shirt and inside her bra and the fuzziness of the wine was back in her head. Nick threw cash to the driver and climbed out of the car, he reached in to pull Zoe out. She stumbled, fell into his arms, and burst into laughter. Nick kissed her again.

  “Come inside,” he pulled her hips to his. Feeling his need only fueled her own.

  “I’m here aren’t I?” Zoe asked as she tried to straighten up, but failed miserably and spilled into his arms again.

  “You’re cute,” he laughed. “Come on… inside with you.” One step and Zoe nearly fell to her knees. She doubled over with laughter and swayed into Nick’s arms. “Perhaps if you take off the heels?”

  “Or maybe you should carry me?” Zoe cooed.

  Nick chortled and rolled his eyes, “Do you want me to break my back?”

  “Hey,” Zoe pouted. “I’m little now.”

  “Not that little,” Nick kissed her. “Come on… inside before I rip off this silly little top here on the walkway in front of the Four Seasons.” Blushing deeply, Zoe nodded and took his hand. He pulled her to his side and kissed her so deeply it bent her over backwards. And when the kiss ended, Zoe felt dizzy and numb. Nick took her hand and led her toward the hotel doors.

  “Zoe!”

  She turned her head and saw Preston running toward her. She was shocked that he had followed her from the restaurant to the hotel. She felt Nick falter at her side.

  “What is he doing here?”

  “Just ignore him, Nick,” she said firmly. To encourage him she pulled his arm toward the Four Season’s revolving door. “Come on, let’s go upstairs.”

  “Zoe!”

  “Go away Preston!” she shouted. Instead of listening to her, he grabbed her arm and jerked her away from Nick. Zoe flew awkwardly into Preston’s solid chest as he spun her around.

  “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” He demanded.

  She hit his chest and tried to pull away, but for some reason he just seemed bigger and stronger than before. “You have no right to bud into my life, Preston!”

  “Look… she’s with me tonight,” Nick said as he came forward. His cool hand touched Zoe’s wrist and felt nothing to Preston’s fiery touch. “So just back off, okay?”

  “Back off?” Preston growled as he set Zoe behind him before approaching Nick so quickly, the other man stumbled back with his hands up in surrender.

  “Don’t hit him, Preston!” Zoe wailed.

  “You have some damn nerve!” Preston shouted as he continued to bear down on Nick.

  Zoe’s hands flew to her mouth as she watched in horror. Others were starting to gather on the street to watch, a few of them looked appalled and a few excited and ready to see some action. “You got her drunk to take advantage of her!” What? Zoe’s mouth fell open. What on earth was he talking about?

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Nick stammered. “We had dinner and wine, and we….”

  “You filled her glass over and over and over and didn’t serve yourself one glass!” Preston roared. “You set out to get her as drunk as possible so you could bring her here and get her into bed.”

  What? Zoe’s eyes bulged.

  “I had no intention… you don’t… you didn’t… you weren’t bloody there!” Nick stammered. “I did not get her drunk in order to sleep with her! I can shag women without….”

  Zoe was suddenly confused and found herself looking around for clarity. Several things that had just been said didn’t make sense at all. Sure Nick had poured each glass of wine for her, and perhaps he’d never had one himself, but that didn’t mean that he intentionally let her drink an entire bottle of wine hoping that she’d get drunk enough to allow him to feel her up publicly and then take her home.

  “I don’t want you anywhere near Zoe,” Preston shouted. “You touch her or even speak to her….”

  “Hey, bug off!” Nick interrupted; clearly irritated. “You had your turn with her—you two are no longer an item. She can date whoever she wants.”

  “I didn’t date Preston, Nick!” She called out wobbling on her heels, which she bent over to remove. When her shoes were off she straightened to her feet and
moaned as both her head and stomach swam with unease.

  “I don’t have to listen to this,” Nick snapped. “I’m not going to listen to your threats. I’m not the one who got her pissed—she drank freely. Besides, you aren’t in her life anymore.

  Zoe, come on,” Nick called. She came forward confidently and stopped in front of Preston.

  “You have a lot of nerve following me, Preston Philips,” she growled as she stared at his chest while jabbing him as hard as she could. “You are a horrible person.” She poked his chest as hard as she could without hurting her finger. “Minnie tells me all the stories of all the whores you date.” Poke, poke, poke. “Don’t think that one act of chivalry can make me change my mind about you.” Poke. “You are an asshole.” Poke. “And you’re not going to take this night away from me.” Poke, poke. “I am a big girl—well, not anymore. I am an adult. I don’t need you to pretend to care about—hey… hey… stop!” His big hands cupped her cheeks suddenly. His fingers and palms were so warm, so rough.

  “Zoe,” His voice was gentle and pleading.

  She was shocked at how warm his touch made her, but managed to snap out of it after a moment. She tried to jerk back, but his fingers increased the pressure.

  “Don’t touch me!” She squirmed but it amounted for nothing since she was too drunk to stay on her feet without wobbling. Still she struggled to get away from him.

  “Zoe!” Preston shouted.

  She blinked and lifted her eyes to his and felt her heart catch. Unfortunately, she’d had too many shocks in one evening were not good on the stomach. The bottle of wine laced throughout her blood stream took a disastrous turn and bile crept quickly up the back of her throat and burned the back of her tongue. It was a miracle that she didn’t throw up right here all over him. His fingers caressed her skin, his thumb moving slowly over her lower lip. She felt so overwhelmed by his sudden appearance that tears filled her eyes and his chin trembled.

  “C-Colton,” she whispered.

  She wasn’t sure how Preston morphed into his brother or how Colton knew so much about her dinner with Nick, or even how he knew where to find her. All she knew was that he was there, standing before her with a worried, somewhat angry expression on his face, his warm hands cupping her cheeks, his brown eyes searching hers.

  “C-Colton?”

  “Come on,” he said after a moment, “I’ll take you home.”

  “Home?” She frowned at him. “Why would I want to go home?”

  “Zoe, he got you drunk tonight in order to sleep with you,” Colton said matter-of-factly.

  “You don’t want to do this.”

  “How do you know what I want to do?” Zoe finally managed to jerk away, but she didn’t get far before she swayed and nearly fell again. Colton took ahold of her arm. “I’m not drunk. He didn’t get me drunk, Colton. And I don’t know how you got here or how you knew where to find me, but this is completely inappropriate.”

  “I was just around the corner when my brother called me,” Colton said softly. “He saw him, Zoe. Preston watched Nick pour you glass after glass of wine—you’re drunk. He got you drunk to take advantage of you.”

  Colton was wearing a suit, which is why she mistook him for Preston; they looked remarkably familiar when they wore suits. The only difference was that Colton was larger and a little taller than his brother—of course handsomer too. A droplet of rain touched Zoe’s cheek, which brought her out of missive and allowed her to think about what he was really saying. She felt foolish and completely embarrassed that she’d allowed things to go so far. She had been so desperate to forget the man standing in front of her she nearly made one of the biggest mistakes of her life. She looked over at Nick who was watching her with his arms crossed over his chest, a scowl on his handsome face. She then looked up at Colton whose fingers were moving slowly through her hair.

  “If this—if that asshole—is what you really want, just tell me Zoe and I won’t interfere again.” He said stepping closer as if his large frame could protect her from the rain.

  “Preston only called because… well I don’t know why he called, it’s pretty uncharacteristic of him, actually. I’m glad I was close enough to stop this, but I apologize if I overstepped my bounds. Is this what you want?”

  How could she answer that when he was holding her so gently, his body so warm and close to hers. How could she say that she wanted another man when what she really wanted stood in front of her?

  “Colton,” she whispered. “I… lov—”

  “Colton?”

  Her voice poured like sweet honey. If someone ever wanted to bottle a buzz-kill, they should spend the day with Cara Imoora. Zoe watched Colton’s ex-fiancée turned girlfriend as she rushed forward from the curb. Cara frowned up at the steady falling rain that she was trying to block with a long slender cream colored clutch, which matched her dress. At first glance, Zoe thought that it was a modern wedding gown and nearly died.

  She changed her mind when Cara stepped in front of them and Zoe saw at it was just a cream-colored dress.

  “You ran off so quickly,” Cara said breathlessly. She didn’t look at all taxed for having run to them; in fact she glowed in a somewhat angelic way.

  Zoe felt sick to her stomach.

  “Honey, it’s raining—oh, hello,” Cara smiled at Zoe. “My name is Cara.”

  “I know who you are,” Zoe muttered. “Excuse me.” She drew away from Colton’s hands and walked toward Nick.

  “Zoe, come on!” Colton exclaimed. “I know that this isn’t what you want.” She spun around and looked at him. She noticed that there was still a crowd around them, waiting for a possible fight. They weren’t even deterred by the falling rain. Preston and his date were among those in the crowd, standing under one of the hotel’s awnings so that they didn’t get wet.

  “You don’t know what I want Colton,” she said.

  “Yes, I do… I know it’s not this,” he retorted. “I know it’s not some drunken night that you’ll regret in the morning!”

  Zoe felt Nick’s hand on her arm. “Come on, luv,” he said softly. “I promise that you won’t regret anything.” She felt his mouth on her shoulder and turned to him.

  “No,” she heard Colton say. She glanced over his shoulder to see Cara holding his arm, keeping him from Zoe. Colton looked down at Cara and then at Zoe, for a moment he seemed torn. Zoe turned to Nick.

  “Come on, let’s go.” She murmured.

  Nick smiled and gently kissed her mouth. As he put his arm around her waist, pulling her slowly toward the revolving doors, Colton pulled away from Cara and took Zoe’s arm.

  He jerked her rather forcefully away from Nick and pulled her toward him.

  “Think, Z, this isn’t what you want—it really isn’t.” His breath was warm on her cheek.

  “Come on, please.”

  Zoe pulled her arm free of Colton’s grasp and stared up at him. Rain dripped off the tip of his nose and off his eyelashes. She stared at his mouth and the strong line of his jaw and shook her head slightly. “

  I can’t have what I want, Colton,” she whispered.

  His brow wrinkled and his eyes looked pained. This time when she pulled away from him, he didn’t stop her. She returned to Nick who was smiling smugly. Zoe didn’t know if he’d fed her wine all night in order to get her to bed, she really didn’t. She wouldn’t put it past him though.

  “Nick, this isn’t going to happen.”

  His smile disappeared and he almost looked angry—the look passed after only a second and the smile was back. “Don’t let him damper our evening, Zoe.” She shook her head and pulled her purse and cardigan from his hand. “Maybe we can try this again. On a night when I’m not drunk.”

  “Zoe, I took you to dinner,” Nick reminded her. “I don’t want to end our evening here in the rain.”

  She stared up at him for a moment and then smiled. “I guess we’re both ending our evening without the things that we really want.”

  Sh
e stood on her toes to kiss his jaw and thanked him for dinner. She walked passed Colton and Cara and stopped at the curb where a cab pulled up. Zoe climbed in without looking back when Colton who was calling her name. The last thing she wanted was to see Cara on his arm, just another reminder of what she really wanted and couldn’t have.

  --

  Lesson Sixteen: “Your brain often silences your heart when you’re practical. Give

  your brain a rest from time to time and follow the swells of your heart.”

  Colton sank lower in his lawn chair and watched his mother and Cara step onto the deck carrying a bowl and platter of food; both women were smiling enthusiastically at each other.

  Their reunion had been a spectacle to watch: his mother cried and Cara apologized over and over, then they dancing around, laughed, hugged, cried some more. It was tiring to watch, and afterwards they became glued to each others’ hips and hadn’t parted ways for the past two hours. It wasn’t Colton’s idea to have a family barbecue, but after a week of endless rain, the sun was out and bright and his mother couldn’t contain her excitement to celebrate Cara’s return anymore. Colton told her that there was nothing to celebrate—that he and Cara were just testing the waters, but his mother didn’t care. She welcomed Cara back to the family like the prodigal daughter and had gone out of her way to create a lavish spread of foods and activities for the afternoon.

  Colton had resigned himself to the lawn chair the moment they arrived and hadn’t been without a beer. He had talked a bit absentmindedly with his father, helped Preston set up the grill, chatted with Preston’s girlfriend of the moment, Penelope, and then sat around by himself and thought about Zoe while he watched Cara and his mother. Not that he’d ever admit that to anyone. According to the therapist Cara took him too, he was supposed to focus on his relationship and future with Cara and what things she could do to increase his trust in her. Colton did that for a day or so and when he couldn’t come up with any ideas, Cara told Dr. Bell that he’d been thinking about Zoe.

  Colton hadn’t liked the fact that Cara brought up Zoe during their fourth appointment with the shrink. As far as he was concerned, Zoe wasn’t a problem or a barrier to him giving Cara a second chance. Cara and Dr. Bell thought differently. Colton had been so distracted since that episode outside the Four Seasons and was acting weird, Cara said.

 

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