“She told you,” he said with a sigh, and Ellie nodded while James removed the sensors from her. When she was free, she stood up and walked towards him with tears in her eyes.
“Why didn’t you?” she asked as she searched his gaze. “You never told me.”
“I couldn’t, honey. I couldn’t do that to you. You loved your dad so much, I couldn’t ruin your memory of him. I only figured out that you weren’t aware of what had happened at the same time that I found out that he’d died. How could I have told you what he’d done when he wasn’t around to explain it all, to defend himself?”
“You let me believe something so horrible about you. You let me think the worst about you,” she said, and Zach noted in the corner of his mind the fact that James had gathered up his belongings and was leaving. He didn’t take his focus off his wife though. This was too important to interrupt with something as mundane as a goodbye to a man who he didn’t actually know.
“The alternative was to break your heart,” he said gently, and she smiled softly at him in return as a few tears slipped out of her beautiful green eyes.
“Because you cared,” she added, and he didn’t deny it. “You cared about me even then.”
“Yes,” he admitted, deciding that the time for complete honesty had obviously come.
“And you still care,” she added as she searched his eyes with her own. “You still wouldn’t let me know. Even with the chance at getting everything back at stake you refused to tell me, refused to be honest about it,” she said, and he found himself tensing at her words. “You could have had it all back, but you sacrificed it all for me. Again,” she added, and he watched as her eyes softened. “Because you care.”
“No, not care. Because I love you, honey,” he corrected and watched as a fire lit in her eyes at his words. As the fire died down he saw sadness enter them instead and wondered at the change in them.
“You left,” she said sadly, and he saw her tears intensify at the words. “You left me. Explain to me why. If you loved me, why leave?”
“Because you deserved to have a husband that you loved,” he answered and watched as she cocked her head slightly to study him.
“I did. I do,” she said to him.
“I didn’t know that,” he said softly. “You were so distant after we were together,” he pointed out and watched as she blushed bright red.
“You were angry with me. Angry and dismissive,” she accused, and he couldn’t deny that. He had been.
“Because almost as soon as we’d caught our breath you were pushing me out of there.”
“Your business means so much to you, Zachary. You were so insistent on attending the ball and talking to business contacts there. I didn’t want to get in the way of that,” she explained.
“I would have happily sacrificed my business for you,” he confessed and watched as she smiled softly at that. “I would have happily stayed there for a whole week if you’d have agreed,” he added and watched as she flushed again.
“I didn’t know that,” she said softly. “You never said anything.”
“Neither did you,” he remarked.
“I thought you knew,” she added, and he looked at her for an explanation. “You told me that you wouldn’t take a woman to your bed who didn’t love you first. You took me to bed, Zachary, I thought that meant that you knew I loved you,” she explained, and he thought on that with regret.
“Didn’t you realize that I would have to be in love with you as well?” he asked, and she shook her head.
“You never mentioned that caveat in your explanation. You made it seem one sided,” she said.
“But you still –,” he started, and she blushed red again.
“I thought that you loved me. When you became distant afterwards I started to wonder if it had been a means to an end. A way to speed up the time until you could divorce me,” she explained, and he smiled ruefully at that. They’d both thought the same thing about each other, and had been completely wrong.
“We’re going to need to start communicating better,” he said and watched as she smiled softly at him again. “Starting now. I love you, Ellie. I love you so much. I left because I couldn’t hurt you by keeping you in a relationship that I thought you abhorred, that I thought you resented me for. I didn’t leave you because I didn’t want you. I left because I wanted you so much that it hurt to know that that wasn’t returned. I left because I couldn’t bear to be the means of making you unhappy.”
“I know. I figured it out,” she said ruefully.
“How?”
“Tessa. She made me see that the only reason for you to turn your back on your business is because you loved something more. It seemed that the logical conclusion was that the thing you loved more than it, was me,” she said in explanation.
“It was a test,” he concluded. “The polygraph test was a test.”
“I needed to know if my theory was correct. If it was then I knew that you’d lie to protect me again, even if it meant giving up your business and possessions,” she admitted, and he reached a hand out to cup her cheek, relaxing when her eyes closed and she sighed as she leaned into it, clearly as delighted with the contact as he was.
“I’d give up anything to keep you safe, Ellie,” he whispered at her and watched as her eyes opened to lock onto his, tears glistening over their emerald depths.
“I know,” she said with a smile. “It took me a little while, but I know,” she added. “And I love you too,” she said with a smile, and Zach found his smile widening in return. “You’re everything I want, everything I need.”
“Am I?” he asked, and she nodded at him. “Is that what you were hoping to get by answering honestly?” he asked as he thought back to when she’d hooked herself up to the lie detector.
“I was hoping so,” she said. “I was hoping that you might be willing to come back to me. It’s New Year’s Eve, and I’m really hoping to start the year off right,” she explained. “And maybe have at least one holiday since we got married where I’m not crying,” she added sadly, and he cringed at how thoughtless he’d been.
“I honestly didn’t think that I’d hurt you by leaving, honey,” he said as he pulled her closer into him and sighed at the rightness of her being there in his arms again. He couldn’t believe how much he’d missed her, how quickly she’d burrowed into his life, into his heart, under his skin.
“I know, but it did,” she said sadly into his chest, and he wrapped his arms more tightly around her, holding her close.
“I promise never to do it again,” he declared as he rubbed her back gently.
“You’d better not,” she said breathlessly, and he found himself surprised at the timbre in her voice. “You can’t afford to anyway, I’m the one with all the money now,” she teased even though she seemed to be trying to catch her breath. He supposed she was just so overwhelmed by it all just like he was.
Sighing into her hair, he moved a hand up to loosen it out of its confining braid and relished in the feel of it. Kissing her temple, he found himself stilling as he heard a distinctive purr emanating from her throat before she burrowed in more closely to him. The action caused his pulse to race and his blood to heat up, and Zach tried to control his breathing as his wife moved against him sensually.
“Zachary?” she asked breathlessly, and he cleared his throat before responding with a soft ‘uh huh’. “If you keep doing that thing you do on my back, we won’t be finishing this conversation for a long time to come,” she declared before she purred into his chest again, and Zach held back a groan at the combination of her words and her actions.
“Honey, if you keep doing that purring thing you do I’m not going to care,” he admitted before he heard a soft whimper coming from her.
“Shouldn’t we go home?” she asked quietly as she slowly looked up at him, and he thought over her suggestion for all of about half a second before his brain registered the look in her eyes.
“No,” he said gruffly. “L
ater we’ll go, but right now I think that we have other matters to see to,” he declared before his mouth crashed down onto hers. As she opened to him he let the groan out that he’d been withholding, and they stumbled together towards the bed in the room they were in.
Falling down upon it with a heavy ‘oomph’, Zach pulled back to stare at his wife in amazement.
“I love you, Ellie. Utterly and completely. This time I’m making sure that you know that upfront,” he said and watched as she smiled.
“I love you too, Zachary. More than I ever thought possible,” she added before she reached for his head again to seal their words with a kiss. “Do you think,” she asked when he finally removed his mouth from hers to lavish attention on the rest of her, “that we’ll ever get around to doing this at home?”
“Oh, honey, most definitely,” he mumbled into her skin. “I can guarantee that we will most definitely do this plenty of times at home. Especially,” he added with a groan as his hands moved to her legs, “if you persist in wearing stockings and stilettos.”
“I’ll be sure to remember that,” she said breathlessly before they finally gave up talking and instead focused on communicating their love in a more elemental way.
Epilogue
Ellie looked around her shop with pride and nodded at it all in appreciation. Kincaid’s was refurbished and ready to reopen with a whole new range of clothing in it.
“It looks amazing, Ellie,” Tessa said from the side, and she smiled at her sister-in-law.
“It does, doesn’t it?” she beamed with another sweeping glance.
“What does Zach think?” the other woman asked as she moved to a new display area. “Isn’t he worried that you’ll have to spend longer working now?”
“No,” Ellie said with a shake of her head. “He trusts your mom to keep me in check.”
“She is good at that, isn’t she?” Tessa said with a smile. “Who knew that she’d be such a dab hand at being an assistant as well? I have to admit that I was surprised when Zach suggested she work here with you.”
“I think that he thought her the best person to ensure that I didn’t get too wrapped up in my new business. After everything that happened with Zachary’s dad she’s the best one to spot any warning signs and put a stop to them. And she has done. When the business first took off she would literally manhandle me out of the door to get me back home to my husband. And I couldn’t be any more grateful to her for it.”
“I have to admit that I was surprised that she didn’t have to do the same to my brother, but he seemed to naturally manage to organize his time efficiently to take care of you and the kids, as well as give his business the attention that it needed,” Tessa mused, and Ellie smiled at the woman.
“Mr Business Beast is a pussy cat at heart,” she teased, and Tessa laughed. “If the business world ever found out about his true nature he’d never be considered so ruthless.”
“Cutthroat in the boardroom and as threatening as a bubble in his home,” Tessa added. “I have to admit that I always knew that he’d be a great husband and father, but even I’m amazed at how those kids of yours have him wrapped around their little fingers.”
“Andrew and Duncan are going to end up with a shock in a few years though when he starts teaching them how to take care of things. Zachary’s said when they turn twelve he’ll start making them work more, get used to responsibilities and all that,” Ellie commented.
“They do have it remarkably easy for being eight and ten, don’t they? And how about his little princess? Is he going to be grooming her as well?” Tessa asked with a smirk.
“Isla wouldn’t have it any other way,” Ellie said with a smile as she thought of her daughter. “You know how she loves to be one of the boys.”
“And there you thought that you’d get a pretty little dolly to dress up when you had her. Instead you’ve got yourself a tomboy.”
“She’ll grow out of it. She’s only five right now, plenty of time for her to find her own way,” Ellie remarked before focusing back on her surroundings again.
“You’ve done well,” Tessa said more seriously, and Ellie looked over at her. “You built it all from nothing. Just a few handmade baby pieces. You didn’t get along using your husband’s name, and you didn’t use any of his money to set it all up.”
“Technically it is all mine of course, but I did use a little,” she smiled.
“For supplies and the first few months’ rent. Nothing much considering what you could have had,” Tessa defended, and Ellie shrugged. “And it shows. You’ve made a name for yourself. You’ve done it on your own, and people are paying handsomely for your fine work.”
“It’s not all mine, I do have staff that make this stuff, you know,” Ellie said with a smile at thoughts of the group of women who crocheted the handmade garments in her shop.
“But you design it all, you come up with the ideas. And this new stuff is amazing, Ellie. Who knew how amazing adding crocheting into women’s wear would look? It’s truly beautiful. It’s no wonder that you’re so popular,” Tessa added.
“It has taken me almost thirteen years to get here though, Tessa,” she remarked with a smile. “And I didn’t do it on my own.”
“No. You did have a very supportive husband at your side.”
“A very supportive husband who’s going to kill me if I don’t get out of here,” she added as she looked at her watch. “I promised him that I’d be home early tonight. Your mom has the kids before they start back at school again, and it’s our last evening alone.”
“I always find it amazing,” Tessa said with a shake of her head, “that even in a house as large as yours you don’t seem to get any privacy.”
“You ever played hide and seek with my kids?” Ellie asked with a raised brow. “They’re like sniffer dogs,” she added with an eye-roll before the pair of them turned to head out of the shop and lock it all up behind them.
“Go home and treat that brother of mine right. And don’t tell him that I was here, he’ll be chewing my ear off for monopolizing you again.”
“And don’t tell your husband either, otherwise Josh is going to be giving me just as much grief,” Ellie added with a sigh. “Last time he even went telling tales to Zachary about us.”
“We shouldn’t have married men who were such good friends. No secrets between them,” Tessa mumbled before she made a beeline for her car, and Ellie walked to hers.
With one last look at her premises she smiled at the progress she’d made in her life and took in the name again. Kincaid’s, named in memory of her father and how his actions had made it all possible. He’d given her a marriage, a family, and a business.
Shaking her head to dispel the tears that always surfaced as she thought of him, Ellie got into her car and headed home, to the most important person in her life.
* * *
“You’re late,” Zach said and smiled as his wife jumped before she turned those bewitching eyes his way. How a thirty-five year old woman could look so innocent and young he wasn’t sure, but she managed it. Managed it with such ease that he smiled at her sheepish expression.
“I was checking over everything for the grand reopening tomorrow,” she explained as she moved up to him to give him a hug.
“And Tessa turned up to distract you,” he said with a raised brow and watched as she froze and a guilty blush spread on her cheeks. Searching his eyes, she sighed and slumped before speaking.
“Josh told you,” she surmised.
“We figured it out together,” he admitted with a smile.
“We were –”
“Talking. As per usual. And lost track of time,” he interrupted with a quirked brow.
“I’m sorry,” she said sincerely, and he shrugged.
“It doesn’t matter.”
“It does. I know that you wanted me back early. I should have considered you more,” she apologized, and he smiled at her before pulling her back into his arms.
“It really does
n’t matter. I like that you and my sister are so close. You’re not that late, we still have plenty of time to spend together. Besides, you can always do something to make it up to me.”
“Are you sure?” she asked as she scanned his eyes, and he smiled in reassurance.
“I’d tell you if I wasn’t,” he said and knew that she believed that. Ever since they’d started their marriage over on New Year’s Eve over twelve and a half years ago they’d stuck to a strict policy of honesty and openness. With how their marriage had started they’d learnt not to hide or conceal any of their thoughts or feelings on things.
So when Zach told his wife that he’d tell her if he had a problem she knew that he was telling the truth.
With a sigh of relief, she snuggled further into his embrace, and Zach smiled as his hands stole down her back.
“You start that up,” she warned, “and whatever plans you made for tonight will never come to fruition.”
“Who says that wasn’t precisely my plan?” he asked with a raised brow and felt her giggle into his chest.
“I would hazard that it was a part of your plan, not the entirety of it,” she rebuffed, and he smiled into her hair.
“You’re right. In that case we should go have dinner before we get too distracted,” he said and pulled back to lead the way into their dining room. “Plus you still have to think of some sort of recompense for being late home,” he teased and shot a quick look back at her to see her smile mischievously.
“Would it help if I told you that I’m wearing stockings with these shoes?” she asked, and his gaze shot down to the stiletto heels on her feet before he closed his eyes and let out a small groan.
“I thought that we didn’t want to get distracted,” he said as he abruptly pulled her into his arms for a scorching kiss that left the pair of them breathless.
Bonds of Matrimony Page 31