by Jess Dee
“What the hell is going on with you this morning?” Luke demanded.
Zachary rubbed his now-empty fingers together. He swore he felt the stickiness of Eve’s blood on his hand.
“Take five,” the band manager said, looking around the room. “Get a drink, get a breath of fresh air, and be back here at 11:15.”
The room emptied, leaving just Zachary, his brothers and Luke.
Nathan gave him an assessing look. “You okay, bro?”
“I don’t think so.”
“You don’t look so,” Seth agreed.
“You look kind of like I felt when Sophie disappeared,” Nathan said quietly.
Luke narrowed his eyes. “Has Eve disappeared?”
“No. Not permanently. She’s at her sister’s now.”
“Did the press get hold of her?” Luke’s voice was low, threatening.
“Not that I know of.”
“This is about her?” Seth wanted to know.
Zachary nodded.
“Spill it, bro.” Nathan demanded. “Get it out so we can get on with the rehearsal.”
“She doesn’t have red hair.”
“Yep. We’d noticed that,” Luke said.
“Or green eyes,” Seth added.
“And yet…”
“And yet you’re in love with her.”
Zachary wasn’t sure who’d spoken. From the looks on the three men’s faces, it could have been any of them.
“Fucking head-over-heels crazy about her,” he agreed.
The second Zachary had realized Eve could have died in Bali, he’d felt it. So caught up was he in Eve’s story, he hadn’t understood it for what it was, but now he knew. He was deeply in love with the woman. The idea of a world without her made him want to punch someone. The idea of his world without her left him wheezing.
“And you don’t like the thought of that?” It was Seth who asked.
“It’s not that I don’t like it.” Not that at all. “It’s that I’m struggling to wrap my head around it.”
Luke and Nath were silent. Seth responded. “Must be messing with your mind. I’ve known Lucas was meant for me for eight years. If I suddenly realized there was someone else for me, I’d be…all fucked up.”
Luke opened his mouth then snapped it shut. A look of fierce possessiveness crossed his face.
“I am all fucked up,” Zachary admitted. Although not necessarily in a bad way. Falling in love with Eve wasn’t a negative. Not at all.
It was…well, fucking perfect. Filled him in a way he’d never been filled before. Not with any of the faceless women he’d slept with as Jonah, or the several girlfriends he’d had as Zachary.
Being with Eve felt right. It made him whole. He could see her beside him—for the rest of his life.
The bit that messed with his head was his vision, his fated woman. How could he feel this way about Eve if she wasn’t the woman he’d imagined for over twenty years? How could he have seen someone so clearly, if another woman stole his heart so completely?
It didn’t make a lick of sense.
Part of him, a very big part, was beginning to not care. He hadn’t given his red-haired vision much thought these last few days. His focus had been on Eve. All he cared about was Eve.
“Does this have to be so complicated?” Luke asked. “Can you not just take it for what it is and enjoy it? Enjoy Eve. Why even think about a woman who’s only real in your head?”
“Because she’s been his future for almost a lifetime, Lucas. It’s not that easy to suddenly envision something—someone—different.”
Seth, of all people, never let a future he’d dreamed about get away from him. He moved heaven and earth to make it happen.
Was Zachary willing to move heaven and earth to make the future he’d imagined for years happen?
He didn’t even have to think about the answer. Hell, no. Not now that Eve was in his life.
“Zachary?”
“Yeah, Nath?”
“Go to her.”
He stared at his brother.
“Go. Now. You’re doing fuck-all good around here. You might as well be with her.”
Luke gave a sigh of defeat and pulled out his cell phone. “Brayden?”
Five minutes later Zachary was in a car, headed to Eve’s sister’s place.
Chapter Twelve
Before climbing out of the car, Zachary shoved his sunglasses on.
He hadn’t stopped to put contacts in, hadn’t given it a thought. But he was going out in public, going to see people who knew him only as Jonah and not as Zachary. It was probably better to just hide his eyes than to face a barrage of questions.
The house Brayden pulled up at was small. A weatherboard building with a large yard of green grass and a low brick wall.
Dozens of little girls dressed as princesses and fairies sat in a circle, listening spellbound to someone in the middle, while a group of women, the girls’ mothers, he guessed, stood around a table or sat in chairs scattered through the yard.
None of them noticed as he climbed from the Merc and made his way to the party.
As he walked up the driveway he scanned the faces. Searched every mother there in hopes of spotting the woman he loved. He’d never had a problem attending parties before, but as he walked across the lawn, his stomach heaved.
He’d never attended a four-year-old girl’s party before. Well, not since he himself was four, and then it was by invitation only. Today, he was an adult, effectively gate-crashing a child’s birthday.
Good one, Zachary. Way to make an impression on the family.
The women spoke to one another while peals of delighted laughter rang through his ears. Young, innocent laughter.
He had not been that innocent in a very long time.
Zachary stopped to watch the kids, stopped to enjoy their innocence, and couldn’t help the smile that crept across his face. Nor could he stop the thought that crept into his mind. Eve, with a little girl at her side. One who looked just like her—and him.
The thought made him jerk in surprise. Where the hell had that come from?
He’d assigned all thoughts of possible offspring to a very distant part of his imagination after the whole baby scare. Yet the image of Eve with their child? Yeah, not so scary. Not scary at all.
Perhaps the only scary part was that the child did not have red hair or green eyes. Because that was what he’d always naturally assumed his children would look like.
It took a while for Zachary to realize the general conversation around him had ceased. The children still squealed and laughed, but all adult voices had suspiciously died.
The gazes of thirty-odd women prickled into his side, and Zachary was forced to turn and acknowledge them.
Some woman gaped openly, their jaws hanging down, their eyes wide. Some tried not to look at him so candidly but kept glancing his way nevertheless. Others blinked too fast, as though they couldn’t believe what they saw. Two women clung to each other and pointed at him.
Yeah, subtle, ladies.
A few mothers, standing by the table, seemed oblivious to his presence.
And then someone was marching towards him. Someone he recognized instantly. She wasn’t a dead ringer for Eve. Not by a long shot, but the similarity was still striking. Her hair was cut shorter, while Eve’s swung past her shoulders. This woman was older by a few years and a little heavier, although her body was still attractive.
The biggest difference though, was how cleanly scrubbed her face was.
Try though he might, Zachary couldn’t remember seeing Eve without makeup. Her sister had on none. Not even a hint of lipstick or mascara.
“Jonah Speed in my garden. Who’d have ever thunk it?” She stuck out her hand. “I’m Bree. Eve’s sister. And may I say, your pictures do you no justice whatsoever?”
He shook her hand tentatively. Last time he’d taken an Andrews sister’s hand in his, she’d zoned out on him. Or rather, zoned in on him. Very accurately. “Uh…thanks?”
“Of course thanks. I just complimented you. And don’t mind my hand. I won’t be seeing into your head. Just don’t possess the skill, I’m afraid.” She looked at the parcel he held under his other arm. “I’m guessing that’s not for me?”
“Nope, sorry.” Zachary offered the parcel to her nevertheless. It was wrapped in pink and purple paper with a matching pink and purple bow. At Zachary’s request, Brayden had stopped at a toy store on the way here, run inside empty-handed and run out with the gift, all prettily wrapped.
Neither Zachary nor Brayden had any idea what a Lalaloopsy was, but the store owner had assured Brayden it was perfect for a little girl.
He smiled at Bree. “Figured it would be rude to crash a party without a gift. Would you pass that on to your daughter for me?”
“Indeed I will. Thank you. I’m sure Hannah will love it.” She narrowed her eyes and peered carefully at him. “You falling for my little sister, Jonah?”
Jesus.
Just like her sibling, she headed straight for the jugular.
He swiped a hand through his hair. “Er…” What the fuck did he say to that? “Well, yes, ma’am. I believe I am.”
Ma’am? Seriously? The woman was the same age as him.
Behind Bree, whispers were starting, voices picking up, snippets of conversation drifting towards him.
“Jonah Speed!”
“Photos—and a video.”
“Briana’s sister.”
“Eve and Jonah…”
“Pashing on camera.”
“That’s nice,” Bree said with a smile. “Very nice indeed.” Then her smile disappeared and she leaned forward, looked up at him and said, “But if you hurt her, I promise to hunt you down and kill you. Slowly and painfully. Got it?”
Zachary almost snorted out loud. The idea that this diminutive woman could threaten him so openly was both amusing and sobering.
Amusing because she was the same size as Eve and, reasonably speaking, didn’t stand a chance against him in open combat, and sobering because it reinforced just how badly Eve had been hurt before.
Her sister simply would not allow it to happen again.
That did it for Zachary. He instantly liked Bree. “Got it. Loud and clear.”
She peered at him through narrowed eyes for a few more seconds, then nodded. “Good. Now, would you like some birthday cake?”
From fierce protector to charming hostess in a heartbeat. Zachary wondered if he’d ever understand women.
“I’d love some, thank you.” If it was chocolate, he’d save the piece for Eve. Okay, even if it wasn’t, he’d save it for Eve.
Bree turned and walked towards the table obviously expecting him to join her. He did, walking at her side. “Uh, is Eve around?”
“Sure.” She gestured over her shoulder. “Last time I looked she was busy with the kids.”
Zachary looked over Bree’s shoulder—and froze.
He blinked, then blinked again. Then sure he was hallucinating, blinked one more time.
Jesus, fuck.
He scrubbed his hand over his eyes, clearing the haze from them. But God help him, when he opened them again the very same sight greeted him.
“Holy shit! Jonah Speed?” A woman standing beside the birthday cake gasped. “Is it really you?”
Zachary nodded instinctively, only half aware of the question.
His attention was fully focused on the last thing he’d expected to see in Eve’s sister’s garden.
“Cripes. Can I have a photograph with you? Please? My niece is going to freak out when she discovers I met you.”
He should respond, should answer. Should even acknowledge the question, but his head just wasn’t in the game. How could it be? His whole world, his whole future had just been turned upside down.
“Oooh. Me too,” another voice squealed. “A piccie with you, and one of you alone? Please?”
And then his view was blocked as a small group of women surrounded him.
Again, Zachary acted on instinct, smiling when told to smile and placing his arm around one woman’s shoulder after the next. It hardly registered in his awareness.
Someone placed a pen in his hand, and he was signing his name to shirts and papers and napkins, trying his damn best not to let the tremor that shook his hand affect his handwriting.
He scrambled to act normal, tried frantically to behave as if his life threw him a massive curveball every day.
“What do you think of Australia?”
“Is it true, then, Jonah? You and Bree’s sister are an item?”
Hell, yeah, it was true. He and Eve were an item, and if he had anything to say about it, he’d make them a permanent item.
Or so he’d thought two minutes ago. But that was before. Before he’d seen what he still couldn’t believe he’d seen.
“Is Jamie coming to the party too?”
“And Jordan?”
“Have you met Hannah before? Does she know who you are?”
Shit, couldn’t these people move away, give him space? Let him confirm what he’d seen?
“Ladies. Let’s let Jonah catch his breath. He’s looking a little shell-shocked from all your attention.”
Thank you, Bree.
Not that Jonah was shocked from the attention. He was used to it. Thirty women clambering around him hardly featured as a blip on his radar.
But there was no denying he was shell-shocked. No denying his heart pounded like a fucking freight train. No doubt that his life had just changed forever.
Jesus, fate was a bitch.
Either that, or she had a seriously sick sense of humor.
Bree must have cleared the women from around him, because suddenly a path opened up, leaving him with an unobstructed view of none other than the woman he’d waited his whole life to meet.
The red-haired, green-eyed beauty he’d seen in his vision.
She stood right there, laughing, enchanting the group of girls who surrounded her. Her red hair flowed over her shoulders in lustrous waves, and her green eyes snapped with joy.
Jesus, she was even more beautiful in the flesh than she’d been in his imagination. She took his breath.
Her laughter tinkled through the air like the peal of a small bell, and every fantasy Zachary had ever had about her came crashing back to haunt him. He was assaulted by pure exhilaration, stunned confusion and complex horror.
Twenty-four years he’d thought about her. Twenty-four long, lonely years.
And the minute he finally decided to give up on her, finally decided his future lay with someone else—with a woman he’d met just days ago yet fallen irrevocably in love with—she made an appearance in his life.
Oh, yeah, fate was a bitch all right. A crazy bitch, who must be sitting somewhere, laughing raucously.
She’s out there now, quietly waiting,
Red hair, green eyes…fascinating.
His grandmother’s song reverberated through his head.
There would be no more waiting. That time was officially over. She was out there now. Red hair, green eyes. And fuck, yeah. She was fascinating.
He couldn’t deny it, couldn’t look away.
And when she looked up and caught him staring, her smile broke into a huge grin meant only for him.
He was so fucked. So absolutely and completely fucked.
Yeah, he loved Eve. Yeah, he wanted a future with her. But fucking hell, the future he’d anticipated his entire life now stood in front of him, grinning. Smiling the smile he’d seen a million times in his mind.
“She’s gorgeous, isn’t she?” It was Bree who asked. Bree who stood beside him.
“More beautiful than anything I’ve seen in my whole life,” he agreed. Although he wasn’t sure that was really true. She was beautiful. No two ways about it. Striking. Stunning. But she was no more beautiful than Eve.
Bree said something else, but all Zachary heard were her words from earlier. If you hurt my little sister, I promise to hunt you down and kill
you. Slowly and painfully.
Jesus, he didn’t want to hurt Eve. The thought alone about killed him. But how did he reconcile his feelings for her with his feelings for his red-haired fate?
Hadn’t his grandmother’s predictions come true for Nathan, Seth and Luke?
How did he now change his fate, when she stood before him, smiling?
“Sing us another song,” one of the children begged. “Please, Princess Eve. Sing us a song.”
His red-haired beauty flashed him one last smile, then clapped her hands and turned back to the girls. In seconds they’d formed a circle around her, and while she sang a tune he recognized from one of the Disney movies, the kids danced around her.
He watched, spellbound, as she charmed the girls.
Watched spellbound as she sang to them. Her voice was sweet, lyrical. But it wasn’t her singing that held them all rapt. It was her sheer joy in entertaining them. Her delight in making the girls smile and laugh.
It was almost magical.
His red-haired beauty, Princess Eve with the sparkly tiara in her hair, was born to make children happy.
Wait.
What the…
Princess Eve?
She waved at him.
Zachary’s jaw dropped. He blinked. Then blinked again, and then again. Then he scrubbed his hand over his eyes to clear his hazy vision as the next few lines of his grandmother’s lullaby rang through his ears.
Appearances fool, you have been warned,
Follow your instinct, don’t be torn.
And as he looked at her once again, the clouds parted from a part of his brain he hadn’t realized they’d been shadowing, and sunlight poured through the space, enlightening him.
Holy crap.
Princess Eve.
He slapped his head as the pieces of a puzzle he’d never solved before fell into place. His heart leapt, as though charged by an electric pulse.
Princess Eve, the red-haired beauty of his vision was her. Eve. Tiny. The woman he’d fallen in love with. His fate and his love were one and the same. He’d just been too focused on the red hair and green eyes to see the similarity in the facial structure. Although she was taller than usual, by a good few inches. But that could be explained away by a pair of heels. And her lips looked different—the color was off. They were a bright orange he’d never seen on her. And her cheekbones were more pronounced—but that was obviously a trick of the makeup.