by Natalie Ann
That was probably the one thing they had in common back then. The will to succeed. The will to prove they could do it on their own. They didn’t need anyone.
Not the family that was never there for Zach when he was growing up, or the family that came out of the woodwork after the fact.
He’d worked hard to not only prove it to himself and his family, but to Nick, too. For putting the trust in him and never giving up on the kid who had a completely different upbringing. The kid that was there on a full-ride scholarship to an Ivy League school, stuck with three roommates who never had to worry about money a day in their lives.
“What’s this all about?” Nick asked, before Zach could say anything else.
“I met someone,” Zach said.
He hadn’t planned on telling Nick—or anyone, for that matter—about Vegas. At least not until he found Amber again and could get a grasp on things. To figure out if there was anything to even get a grasp on.
Yet for some reason it just slipped from his lips.
“Where? Back home?”
“No. In Vegas.”
Nick laughed. “Did you get drunk and strike up a conversation with a showgirl?”
“No. Though that might have been pretty funny. I met someone in a bar. We had a few drinks and ended up spending the entire time together.”
“And you’re just telling me about this now?” Nick asked, shocked. Zach had never kept his personal life private before, almost sharing too much at times. Or that’s what everyone thought. But there were things Zach wouldn’t share with anyone about his life.
“It’s complicated,” Zach said.
“All the more reason you normally start talking the minute you see me.”
That was true. “I don’t want to go into too much right now. Let’s just say she managed to give me the slip on the last day.”
Nick burst out laughing. “You? Someone gave you the slip and you haven’t been able to find them? No way. I’m not buying it. You can find just about anyone.”
Zach didn’t like being reminded of that. “She didn’t give me her real name.”
“Are you sure she wasn’t a call girl?” Nick asked, finding more humor in this than Zach had hoped for.
“She isn’t. She’s a PA for a plastic surgeon.”
“Or so she told you,” Nick said. “What’s her name? What name did she give you? Maybe I can help you find her.”
“No need. I found her on my own. Actually, I ran into her by chance in Celeste’s kitchen.”
“What? What are you talking about?” Nick stopped and then said, “Wait. Vegas—a few weeks ago? Rene was supposed to go with Amber…”
“One and the same,” Zach confirmed.
“Imagine that. What a small world.”
“You’re telling me,” Zach said. “So what do you know about her?”
“Not much. Rene would be your best bet and even then I’m not sure how much she’ll tell you. She’s pretty loyal that way.”
“No worries. I’ll figure it out on my own.”
“How are you going to do that? What did Amber say when she saw you?”
“She was surprised but recovered fast. We had breakfast and lunch together today and talked.”
“Breakfast?” Nick asked. “After only a half of day of seeing her, you talked her back into your bed after she gave you the slip? Yeah, you’ve got a magical tongue.”
“That’s what she said,” Zach said, and Nick snorted. “Seriously, no. I saw her yesterday morning at Celeste’s when she stopped in to get food after checking on patients. Then when she came back after work we talked and she left. This morning, she popped in again and we had breakfast. I just had lunch with her before stopping here.”
“That’s a lot of time to spend with someone who ran from you without a word. Are you going to tell me exactly what she did?”
“It doesn’t matter right now. It’s not the point.”
“What is the point then?”
“I guess she just has me turned around.”
“Were you obsessed with her because she left without you knowing? Or for another reason?”
“I think it was both. Now that I know who she is and where she is, I find myself not wanting to waste a minute without her.”
“Oh man, are you going to stay here longer than a week? Because if you are, then I need to forewarn Caleb.”
“He’d be the first to know since I’d have to sweet talk Celeste into letting me stay at the cabin longer. Don’t worry, I’ll keep my distance from Caleb. I’ve got more important things to focus on right now.”
“I really feel sorry for Amber,” Nick said.
“Why’s that?”
“Because when you get your teeth in something, there is no letting go.”
Buzzing
Amber was positive she was insane. There was no other possible explanation as to why she was contemplating knocking on the door to the cabin.
The cabin that sexy Zach Monroe was currently staying in.
The same Zach Monroe that had been taking up her every thought since she ran into him in Celeste’s kitchen not even thirty-six hours ago.
Yet sanity had nothing to do with it.
Nope, it was probably more like her lack of common sense. The same common sense she’d ignored all her life.
She didn’t need Rene to lecture her all afternoon about meeting strange men and spending time with them while away for work.
She didn’t need her parents’ words always filtering in her brain saying the same things Rene did.
All she needed was her heart. And her heart told her to knock on that door.
Her heart told her that she’d never be completely free of him until she let this situation play out.
Her heart said she’d been alone way too long in her life and no one really knew the real reason why but her.
Why didn’t she deserve a chance at happiness?
Why did she have to wallow in guilt and self-pity her whole life?
She didn’t. She just had to keep reminding herself that.
Maybe one day she’d believe it.
Until that one day came, though, she was going to see what Zach Monroe had up his sleeve. Time to push some insecurities away for the short term.
With more confidence than she was feeling, she marched toward the door of the little cabin, squared her shoulders, and knocked briskly.
She waited another minute and then knocked a second time. Really? He was going to keep her standing there? Him? The guy who showed up at her work in the guise of wanting plastic surgery done?
No way. He wasn’t playing her like this. He wasn’t going to come marching into her life in Lake Placid, make her doubt herself, then leave her hanging.
Once more she knocked even louder, her knuckles feeling the sting this time, then put her hands on her hips and waited. Two seconds later, she called out, “Zach, open the door.”
This time he answered, whipping the door open with his shirt unbuttoned and hanging open, his jeans barely on his hips. The zipper was pulled up, but the button wide open.
Talk about greetings. Nice yummy eye opening, mouth-watering greetings. Maybe it was well worth the wait.
“Well, well, well,” he said. “You came to me this time.”
“Sorry,” she said, her eyes traveling over the sight of him half-dressed and she didn’t care that he noticed her doing that. “Don’t mean to bother you.”
“Oh, you bother me all right. You’ve been bothering me since we first me. Please, come in,” he said, waving his hand and stepping out of the way. “I was in the shower when I heard the knocking. I was just going to let it go, but the persistent little bugger wouldn’t let up.”
“I can be persistent. I can also leave if you’d like?”
“Oh no, you’re here and you’re coming in and telling me what I owe this visit to.”
“You knew I’d come, let’s be honest.”
He laughed lightly, then reached out and tweaked the end
of her hair. “You’re right, I did.”
Then much to her disappointment, he started to button his shirt, then tucked it into his pants and fastened them. She wanted to tell him not to bother, but caught herself in time.
Besides, the way he was looking at her, he knew what she was thinking.
She glanced around the cabin. Earlier, when they’d had breakfast together, she hadn’t paid much attention to things, more focused on him and what she was doing there.
Though she still didn’t know what exactly she was doing here right this moment—and she still focused on him—she decided to pay more attention to her surroundings.
There were papers all over the coffee table, an open laptop, his cell phone buzzing at the moment next to it, and two empty bottles of soda.
“Sorry to interrupt your work.”
“No worries. I work all hours of the day. We have branches and clients in multiple time zones.”
She walked in further, then took her jacket off and hung it on the back of the chair at the island she’d occupied earlier this morning. He hadn’t invited her to stay, but she knew she was welcome.
“I work all hours of the day too,” she said.
She wasn’t sure if he was aware or not, but her job rarely ended at five each day, or started at eight in the morning. Especially when she was on call.
She was Max’s right-hand gal, so she worked the most. She was in all his surgeries with him, most emergency room visits, and the most requested for treatments in the office.
Though she was well compensated for it, she had very little time for a life. The time in Vegas was almost a vacation of sorts for her.
If Rene had gone like she was supposed to, Amber was sure she would have done even less than she had. She wouldn’t have spent each night with Zach, but rather would have spent time in the hotel room catching up on much-needed sleep she never seemed to get.
But Nick bailed the last minute himself due to work and Mallory’s condition, and Cole didn’t feel comfortable with Rene going without her older brother, being as far along in her pregnancy as she was.
Amber tried to assure everyone she could handle Rene easily, but even Rene herself was skittish about it and backed out, too. Amber had been trying not to be hurt or upset she was on her own, but it was hard.
For as much as people said Amber had friends and knew everyone, there was still a loneliness in that. Knowing and talking to a lot of people didn’t mean anyone was extremely close to her. No one had been close to her since college. She refused to let someone in. Not enough to spend girl time or alone time with her on a regular basis.
Maybe that was why she was drawn to Zach that night. He looked about as lonely as her. Two lone souls in a crowded bar just trying to find comfort in someone.
Yeah, she was making stuff up in her head. Zach was hot and he struck up a conversation with her. Nothing more than that.
Only there was more to it, at least she knew that now.
“Do you want some dinner? I was going to head to the main house to eat but wanted to shower first.”
“You like to feed me, I see. First breakfast, then lunch, and now dinner.”
“We need to build up our strength,” he said, winking at her.
She remembered him saying that multiple times in Vegas. It was the truth though; they burned a lot of energy rolling around in the bed at night.
“I’ll pass for now. I don’t want to put Celeste out. I didn’t realize I was holding you up though, so I’ll get out of your way and you can eat.”
“Oh no, you aren’t. You aren’t showing up here and then leaving. The cabin is stocked with plenty of food. I can throw something together for us later if you’d like. But don’t come marching in here without warning and then disappear on me again.”
“I didn’t realize you could be that pushy.”
“Did I get you to stay?” he asked.
“For now,” she said, settling back in the chair.
“Then maybe I need to step up my pushy game.”
“I’ve got a feeling you and I don’t need to step up our game much at all.”
“You may be right,” he said. “But how about you give me your number at the very least.”
She debated and then decided there was no reason not to at this point. “Give me yours first,” she said, just for fun.
He walked over to the counter and picked up his wallet, pulled out a card, then grabbed a pen. “Here’s all my information, personal cell on the back.”
She reached for the card and pulled out her phone. “I don’t need your work information. I know where to find you now.” After she was done programming his number into her phone, she pushed a few more buttons and set it aside.
“So are you going to share yours?” he asked.
“If you picked your phone up, you’d see I just sent you a message,” she said, nodding her head toward the buzzing phone. The phone that hadn’t stopped buzzing since she walked in the door.
He walked over to it. “That thing never stops buzzing.”
She remembered that from the time they’d spent together. And that he didn’t pick it up and look at it nonstop like many people did on a date. Even she looked at her phone more often than she should.
“All set now?” she asked, as he slid his finger around the screen and typed a few things. Her phone went off and as much as she wanted to ignore it, she couldn’t. Not when she was on call. Luckily, it was just Zach sending her a response. A pair of lips sending a kiss, no less.
“I think we are far from set, but it’s progress.”
Traditional Way
“So what’s this treatment you told Rene you had at the convention?”
He’d seen enough of her to notice any changes and nothing looked out of place or different from the days they’d spent together.
“Just some therapy on my inner and outer thighs. One treatment. It’s a freezing technique. They seem slimmer now, I think. The more treatments, the better. It’s one of the new pieces of equipment I’m trying to talk Max into investing in.
He looked at her thighs, remembered them wrapped around all parts of his body, and tried not to adjust himself. “Your thighs are perfect the way they are.”
She laughed. “You’re a man, of course you’d say that. You’d say anything to see them again.”
Damn straight. “Your point?”
“That was a fact, not a point.”
She was one wicked woman. “So what other things do you have done?” he asked, wondering if she tried stuff. He had a feeling she did. He noticed a lot about her in Vegas. As beautiful as she was, her forehead didn’t move a lot.
“Botox and other fillers. But the way you’re looking at my face right now, you already suspected that.”
“Honestly, I wouldn’t have ever noticed it at all if I hadn’t studied you in your sleep as much as I did.”
He hadn’t meant to say that, especially after she angled her head at him. Oops, slip of the tongue on that one.
“We’re good at what we do in the office. Everything we do is minimal and not meant to stand out. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of women who want that look, who want exaggerated results. I try to discourage it, but there is only so much you can do.”
“What else?” He wasn’t really bothered by the Botox, especially since it wasn’t so pronounced.
“Facial rejuvenation techniques or treatments. Things to minimize wrinkles and fine lines. It’s always good to try the equipment so I can explain to the patients how it feels and heals.”
“How old are you?”
Now he was wondering if she was older than he thought. Older than him.
“Do you think I could be your grandmother in disguise?” she asked, laughing.
“Hardly. Not unless Max has done a ton of work on other parts of your body.”
Everything about her was nice and toned. Firm and perky. Perfect in a non-perfected way.
“No. Max hasn’t done any surgeries on me. That
kind of creeps me out. I mean I work with him; he doesn’t need to see any of my body unclothed. Or at least my private areas.”
That made him feel a bit better. Sort of. “You still didn’t answer my question on your age.”
She leaned back in the chair. “You go first.”
“I’m thirty-three.”
“The big three-oh a few months ago,” she said. “Do you think any different of me now that you know my age?”
“Hardly.”
He liked her sense of humor, similar to his own. “What about you? Do you wish I were some sugar daddy? Or maybe younger and you could be my cougar?”
“Come here,” she said, her eyes sparkling.
He walked forward and stopped in front of her. She slipped her hand in the waistband of his jeans and yanked him forward. “Age don’t mean a thing.”
Then she proceeded to show what she was really feeling. What he saw in her eyes when she first walked in and he was half-dressed. The burning desire he saw for days in Vegas and was glad to know he wasn’t alone in those thoughts now.
She kissed him long and she kissed him hard. Almost devouring him in her haste for more. But was he complaining? Hell no!
“Mmm, I’ve missed this,” Zach said.
“Me too.”
“How much more have you missed?” he asked.
It must have been the wrong question, because suddenly she pushed back, her eyes wide and her mouth hanging open.
“Sorry about that. I wasn’t thinking.”
“No reason to apologize,” he said, taking a step back. Why she just dropped down several degrees, he wasn’t sure, but he was going to give her the space she seemed to need.
“We have to slow down,” she said before she sat back at the island.
“I don’t believe I asked you to speed anything up. Matter of fact, I’m pretty sure it was your hand in my pants just now.”
“Waistband. Not pants. If my hand was in your pants, you’d know the difference.”
There she was, being blunt and making it hard for him to stay focused. “Anytime you want to remind me, be my guest.”