Tempting Zander

by Carole Mortimer

  “What about the shooting at the airport yesterday?”

  “Silas will deal with the man responsible.”

  “You trust him to do that?”

  “Yes, because he knows the alternative if he doesn’t.” His expression was grim. “I won’t hesitate to implicate his son if he doesn’t keep him under control. No doubt the people who were injured today will also receive unexplained ‘gifts’ in their respective bank accounts.”

  Her brows rose. “No one reported the shooting tonight?”

  “Silas Taylor is a very powerful man.” Zander shrugged. “It helped that Ethan doesn’t want to press charges either. I assumed you don’t?”

  She shuddered. “I just want to forget it ever happened.” She could happily do without the barrage of publicity that would follow if it became known she had been shot at by her ex-boyfriend.

  Zander nodded. “The hospital had to report the gunshot wound, but the official version of the story is that Ethan was visiting Taylor when a gun went off by accident. We’re all licensed to carry in the US, so no laws were broken. Bernie has issued a statement to the press that your concert in Calgary has been canceled because of an overnight stay in hospital after you fell and bumped your head.”

  Kate gave a disgusted snort. “So now everyone thinks I was either drunk or high?”

  He grimaced. “Lesser of two evils, probably. Neither story would stand too much scrutiny if the police decide to investigate too deeply. But with Silas’s influence, there isn’t much they can do about it.”

  “Ethan saved my life earlier.”

  “Yes.”

  Kate wished Zander looked a bit happier about that rather than maintaining that coolly remote expression. “How is he?”

  Zander’s lips tilted slightly at the corners. “Back at the hotel and bitching at having his arm immobilized. At his request, and in the interest of avoiding any investigation by the police, I’ve arranged a flight back to England for him for tomorrow.”

  She nodded. She had thanked Ethan for his help when he came to her room earlier after informing the doctor he had no intention of accepting his invitation to be an overnight patient. Because of her blackout, they hadn’t given Kate the same choice.

  “Did Bernie, Sophie, and the others get back to the hotel okay?” She had talked briefly with Bernie once the nursing staff had settled her in this room, then insisted the Cooks go back to the hotel and get the children to bed after their ordeal. Her assurances she was probably going to sleep anyway had been the deciding factor. Ethan came to see her a few minutes later, the two of them chatting until the nursing staff had shooed him out of the room so she could get some rest.

  She hadn’t rested, of course, had too much to think about as she waited for Zander to put in an appearance. She hadn’t expected it to be several hours later.

  He nodded. “They’re back in their hotel suite. The kids were exhausted. The others were too. Strangely, Sophie seems…different, more confident and less nervy after their abduction.”

  Kate felt an ache in her chest at the confirmation Zander had reassured himself of everyone else’s wellbeing before bothering to come to the hospital to check on her.

  She nodded. “Maggie told me her Mummy had kicked one of the men holding them captive.”

  Zander’s smile was rueful. “Bernie told me that too. Rather proudly, I thought.”

  “They’ll be okay now, won’t they.” It had felt good to see a return of the closeness between husband and wife.

  “I think so.” He nodded. “I believe Bernie is seeing his wife in a whole new light. Some men tend to get complacent and need a kick up the ass every now and then—” He broke off abruptly, as if realizing he was the last man to comment on anyone’s relationship. “It’s time I was going. The nurse said I could only stay a few minutes.”

  Kate’s pulse started to race as he walked to the door and she realized he was leaving without so much as touching her or offering a tender word. The rapid pounding of her pulse caused her head to ache. “Zander?”

  He paused at the door. “Yes?”

  She hated the sting of tears in her eyes and the feeling of weakness they gave her. “What happened?” Preventing those tears from falling caused a stabbing pain behind her eyes.

  Zander should have known that Kate, brutally honest, beautiful Kate, wouldn’t let him leave without demanding some sort of explanation from him. An explanation he simply didn’t have or want to give her. Not when his own emotions were churning so close to the surface.

  She looked so pale lying back against the white hospital pillows and sheets, conveying a fragility he didn’t usually associate with her. A vulnerability that made him long to take her in his arms and just hold her until she felt strong again.

  “Reality.” He didn’t even attempt not to understand her. “Reality happened.”

  “I can’t even begin to understand what you mean by that.”

  He smiled slightly. “That’s because you’re tired. Get some sleep. You’ll feel better in the morning. Stronger.”

  “And what if I’m tired of being strong?”

  “Get some sleep, Kate.” He opened the door. “Sweet dreams,” he added as he stepped out into the corridor and closed the door behind him.

  He drew in several deep breaths, listening for several seconds to see if Kate called out for him to come back, before nodding to the two security guards on duty and walking away when she didn’t.

  He hoped Kate would forgive him and not think too badly of him when she discovered he had booked himself a seat on the same flight back to England tomorrow as Ethan.

  “You chicken-livered bastard!”

  Zander hadn’t even been aware of falling asleep after returning to the hotel room he usually shared with Ian. The last thing he remembered was lying down on the bed.

  He might not have been aware of falling asleep, but he was very aware of being woken by the sound of Kate’s angry accusation and the rain of pillow blows she landed on his head to accompany it.

  “What the fuck—? Will you stop!” Zander did his best to fend off those blows, but she seemed pretty determined. “Kate, stop it!” He grasped her wrists to prevent the next blow from landing. “What the hell are you doing here?” He continued to hold her at bay as he sat up abruptly and switched on the bedside lamp, the pillow she had been wielding falling to the floor as he did so. “You should be in hospital.”

  Her hair was disheveled, eyes blazing with anger and her cheeks flushed with the same emotion. “That would suit your plans perfectly, wouldn’t it? Allow you to sneak off back to England without seeing me again, like some fucking thief in the night.”

  Ah. Somehow Kate had found out. It had already been late when he left her hospital room, so how…?

  Zander glanced at the second single bed in the room, not surprised to see it was unoccupied. “Ian,” he snapped. The other man had made his feelings of disapproval more than clear earlier concerning Zander taking a flight back to England tomorrow. Ian thought Zander owed it to Kate to at least tell her he was leaving. Zander had disagreed with him. Obviously, Ian had decided to take his disapproval a step further by informing Kate of his plans.

  Kate tilted her chin in challenge. “At least someone thought I should know you’re leaving tomorrow.”

  “He had no fucking right to interfere—”

  “Ian is my friend,” she defended. “Which is more than can be said for you.” She wrenched her wrists out of his grasp and moved away from the side of the bed.

  Zander bit back his own anger at the thought of her valuing Ian’s friendship more than she did what the two of them had so briefly had together. “You should have stayed at the hospital.”

  “You aren’t the only one capable of discharging themselves,” she taunted with a pointed glance at the strip of tape on his forehead over the wound he had received yesterday.

  “You could have a concussion, damn it.”

  “I haven’t.”

  “You don�
��t know that.”

  “Go to hell, Zander!” She marched over to the door.

  “Where are you going now?”

  “To my bedroom.” She didn’t even bother to glance back at him. “I intend resting in my room most of tomorrow, so I doubt we’ll see each other again. Have a safe flight back to England.” The door reverberated as she slammed it shut behind her.

  Zander hadn’t moved from sitting on the side of the bed, feeling as if a whirlwind had just entered his bedroom and left him floundering in its wake.

  Chapter 15

  “Close the door again on your way out,” Kate told Zander tiredly minutes later as he stormed into her dimly lit bedroom without knocking.

  Her previous anger with him had taken her as far as her bedroom and given her the energy she needed to undress and crawl beneath the covers. But she had nothing else left as she stared at the angry man standing at the foot of her bed wearing only a pair of faded jeans he had obviously pulled on for the purpose of walking through the sitting room of the suite to her bedroom.

  Not only was Zander furiously angry, but he looked…wild. His eyes were blazing. His lips thinned. His hair was messy, and he needed a shave. The musculature of his bared chest gleamed deeply golden in the lamplight.

  And Kate just wanted to crawl into his arms and rest her head on one of his tattooed shoulders and fall asleep, knowing she was safe and where she wanted to be.

  She didn’t, of course. Not only did she not have the energy, but she was still hurting from learning from Ian—Ian, not Zander—that Zander intended leaving tomorrow. Without even saying good-bye.

  How could he do that to her?

  Whatever his reason for going, Kate had no more fight left in her to even attempt to stop him. Beating him with the pillow and their previous conversation had taken the last of her strength. Now she just wanted to sleep for a hundred years. Maybe two hundred. She might even have stopped aching for this man after all that time had passed. Maybe.

  “Well?” she prompted wearily when he made no effort to leave.

  “You’re the one that isn’t well.” He took her comment literally. “You can’t spend the night alone. What if you go into shock? You could fall into a coma and no one the wiser.”

  She sighed. “What does or doesn’t happen to me is no longer any of your concern, remember? Until Gabriel Knight and Bernie decide otherwise, Ian is in charge of my protection now.”

  “Will you stop talking about Ian as if he’s your new best buddy!” he exploded.

  “Maybe he is.” She shrugged. “At least he treats me like a grown-up person with feelings.”

  “I want you to stay the fuck away from him,” Zander growled. “And I treat you like a grown-up with feelings!”

  “Staying away from him could be a little difficult as you put him in charge as my new head of my security. As for the adult thing… I seem to remember brat has been your favorite word for me.”

  “That’s because— I don’t mean it.”

  Her smile was rueful. “Yes, you do.”

  “No.” He shook his head. “Kate, I—” He ran his hand through his already tousled hair. “I don’t want to leave you and go back to England.”

  “Then don’t.”

  “It isn’t as simple as that.”

  “Then uncomplicate it.”

  “It’s better for you if I go.”

  “In your opinion.”

  “In anyone with any sense’s opinion.” He snapped his exasperation. “I’m a bodyguard, Kate. You’re a superstar.”

  “And one day, people will look at me and say ‘Hey, did you know you look a lot like that singer that used to be popular a hundred years ago?’” That no longer bothered Kate in the slightest.

  “Kate—”

  “I told Bernie earlier that I’m retiring once this tour is over.”

  “What?”

  She smiled at his incredulity. “I’m done, Zander. Finished.”

  “I— But— Why?”

  Kate drew in a deep breath, breathing out just as deeply before answering him. “Lots of things. This thing with Joey… What’s been happening the past few months: the shooting at the airport and again this evening. The touring, the concerts, had all started to pall, but this other stuff has made me stop and think, to see that none of this is real. To realize my life is no longer real. I worked so hard to get here, and now that I am…” She shook her head. “I don’t want to do this anymore.”

  “It’s reaction. You’ll get over it, and when you do—”

  “I’ll still feel the same way,” she told him with certainty.

  “You’re only twenty-five years old, for God’s sake.”

  “My decision hasn’t happened overnight, Zander,” she assured him ruefully. “Nor does it have anything to do with what we’ve had the past few days. As I said, I’ve been thinking about it for some time, I’ve even touched on the subject to you a couple of times. I seem to remember you panicked on one occasion and thought I was getting serious and proposing marriage to you,” she taunted.

  “I didn’t panic.”

  She chuckled at his obvious discomfort. “Yes, you did.”

  “Well…maybe a little,” he conceded.

  “A lot.” She smiled before sobering. “But my decision has nothing to do with you. I’ve just decided that enough is enough. I want a life. A normal life. One with friends in it. Maybe a family of my own one day.”

  “You can still have those things and be Kate Stewart.”

  “No, I can’t. And even if I could.” She spoke again before he had chance to interrupt her. “I don’t want to. The past five years have been…everything I could have wished for. The success, the fame. It’s been great. I’ve proved to myself that I could do it. That I have done it. Something I promised myself growing up in the orphanage. But I’m ready to move on now.”

  “Move on where?”

  “To a life of my own. One that doesn’t involve living in hotel rooms half the time. Being followed by an entourage of people paid to be there. When I did a concert in Rome last year, I had to go sightseeing at two o’clock in the morning so that I wasn’t mobbed by the fans who had gathered in the city for my concert,” she recalled with a grimace. “I want to be like normal people. Which is why I’m going to find a house in the country with a garden. Buy a swing set and a hammock. Maybe plant flowers in the autumn and be around to watch them bloom in the spring.”

  He snorted. “You’ll be bored in a month.”

  “No, I won’t.” Kate had never been as confident of anything in her life as she was regarding the future plans she was outlining for herself. Admittedly, they were only in her head at the moment, but once this tour was over, she intended doing exactly what she said she would. She’d buy that house and plant flowers. And rose bushes. Lots of rose bushes. So she could stop and smell them rather than hurtling through life at a hundred miles an hour and missing out on everything else. “I won’t disappear from the music scene completely. I still intend to write songs when the mood takes me. It will just be other people singing them, not me.”

  “And is that going to be enough…?” Zander looked at her searchingly, stunned by her future plans.

  Kate returned his gaze unblinkingly as she answered him. “It’s already enough.” There was an expression of absolute certainty on her face.

  Zander had always believed there came moments of truth in a person’s life. Times when they were gifted with a hitherto unknown clarity. Then it was up to them whether or not they accepted those gifts and moved forward with them or walked away.

  He believed Kate when she said she’d had one of those moments of clarity the past few months. How could he doubt it when he could see the absolute conviction in her face?

  The same clarity and conviction that had hit him with the force of a truck this evening when he saw her lying on the floor in Taylor’s apartment building and thought the bullet had hit her and she was dead.

  He chewed on his bottom lip as he stepp
ed closer to the bed, knowing he had hurt Kate badly tonight, first by deliberately delaying visiting her at the hospital, and then by not telling her he was leaving tomorrow.

  Kate met life head-on, never letting anyone or anything stand in her way. But the plans she had outlined for her future also said she knew when it was time to quit.

  She was one of the bravest people Zander knew, and tonight he had behaved like a fucking coward, protecting himself and hurting her. She deserved better than that. Because the cost this time was too fucking high.

  He saw her eyes widen warily as he sat on the side of the bed, and knew he deserved that wariness. “You’re right, I am a chicken-livered bastard,” he acknowledged gruffly.

  Her cheeks flushed. “I was angry when I said that.”

  “Doesn’t make it any less true.”

  “I still shouldn’t have said it. Or attacked you with the pillow.” She grimaced. “I was just…disappointed is probably the best way to describe it. I thought at the very least we had become friends the past few days…”

  Zander could see how much he had hurt her now. It was there in the shadows of those smoky gray eyes and the sadness of her expression.

  “But hey, don’t worry about it.” She brightened. “I’ll get over it.”

  “I don’t want you to get over it. I don’t want you to get over me.” Zander reached out and took one of her hands in his, his gaze never leaving her face. “I’d like to buy a house in the country with a garden too. And a swing set and hammock. Maybe plant some flowers and be around to watch them bloom in the spring.”

  Kate’s mouth had gone dry, her heart beating wildly, as it so often did around this man. But this time it wasn’t just down to his physical presence but to the words he was saying. Except… She didn’t really know what he was saying.

  She moistened her lips before speaking. “Coincidence, huh?”

  “I don’t believe in coincidences.” His gaze was fiercely intent as he lifted her hand, his breath warm against her skin as he kissed her palm. “I’m in love with you, Kate Stewart.”

  Kate was so surprised, she almost swallowed her tongue. Her breath had almost certainly arrested in her lungs. Stopping her from speaking. From doing anything except stare at him.