by Jayne Blue
“No, I don’t think so. It was just so close in there. The ceiling felt low. I couldn’t get air. The press of people? I don’t know. I just had this overwhelming need to get away. To get out.” She trailed off, she knew she was rambling.
“It’s okay. You’re okay. It was tight in there. Kind of a crazy scene.” Valerie noticed his eyes. Zane’s eyes were intent on her, worried, but she felt safe. He was essentially a stranger, hell he’d hit on her, but right now, here, it was a different Zane.
“My heart, it feels like it’s beating too fast.”
“Can I feel?” He gave her questioning look, and she nodded. Zane moved his hand from her shoulder to her chest. His fingers pressed lightly against her heart.
She felt her heart pound against him, and she closed her eyes. It felt like he was saving her from drowning. He was the only thing that wasn’t going a million miles an hour.
“It feels like you did just run a 40-yard dash.” She nodded at his analogy.
“Or more like I’m having a heart attack.”
“You’re not.”
“How do you know?”
“You’re not. I just know. Just hang here a minute. Feel what you feel. Breathe. Chill. We got nowhere else to be.”
“Okay.” His voice was calm. Zane moved his hand from her chest, and he brushed a tendril of her hair out of her face. He did it slowly and gave her a smile.
She smiled back. Valerie was starting to feel more normal. Like maybe she wasn’t dying.
“Aha, see, if you had a heart attack, you wouldn’t be able to smile. It’s a medical fact.” That one did make her laugh.
“A fighter and a doctor?” She was calming down. The pain in her chest was subsiding.
“Yep. Can I?” She nodded. This time Zane took her wrist.
“What are you doing?”
“Shh.” He stopped her question. He was counting. She could hear the music thumping in the club on the other side of the brick wall. Valerie’s friends would be worried probably. Or they were drunk and had forgotten about her.
Either way, she didn’t want to end the moment with Zane. It was easy to be with him right now, and it had been a struggle to even consider hanging with her college crew.
“Okay, your pulse is a little high, but it’s getting more and more normal every second. Kind of a blow to my ego really.”
“What?”
“Yeah, I like to think I make hearts race.”
“Oh. Well. Sorry. I’m sure under normal circumstances it would be going the other direction.” She wiped a tear from her cheek. She’d actually cried. It was embarrassing. Whatever had happened to her?
“You’re fine now, right?”
“Yeah, thank you. I think I’m going to just text my friends and then go. I don’t know what happened but I sure as hell don’t feel like going back in there.”
“Let me walk you to your car.”
“You’ve done enough, too much. I’m embarrassed. Nothing like that has ever happened to me.”
“Are you claustrophobic?”
“I didn’t think so. I never was before. But it all felt like it was closing in on me. I haven’t been out for a while, since before, but this was just stupid.”
“Look, let’s walk.” Zane put a hand on her waist and guided her in the direction of the sidewalk and to the club’s parking lot.
“Okay, yeah, walking is good.” It felt like an accomplishment to put one foot in front of another. She was steadier with each step.
“Before, can I ask what you mean, before?” Zane said.
“What?”
“You said before. Before what?” Zane kept a light hand on her as they walked. She felt everything calm down inside her chest. At the same time, her mind turned the last few minutes with Zane over and over. Who was this person who could so totally help handle whatever was happening?
“Oh, yeah, uh, before my parents died.”
“When was that?”
“A month ago. In a fire.”
“Jesus. I’m so sorry.”
“Yeah, here’s my car.” They’d arrived at her gunmetal Wrangler. Zane was intense, and that intensity was focused on her. Valerie admitted to herself that she liked having his attention. Ugh, what a weird night. She was fine. She was getting better. Whatever weirdness had happened in the club was over. She had pulled it together. Sort of.
“Why don’t you give me the keys? Let me drive. We go get food. When was the last time you ate?”
“I, uh, yeah the foam on my latte this morning is a food group, right?”
“Alright, no debate then. You’re going to let me drive you. We’ll get some food and then I’ll drive you home.”
“It’s my car. Well, my uncle’s car.”
“No argument. Give.” Valerie handed the keys to him. She wasn’t really in the mood to argue. And after her episode maybe he was right. Maybe driving wasn’t the smartest idea.
Zane situated her in her own car and then walked around to start it.
“We’re getting Italian. That work for you?”
“Yes. Pasta will cure me. It’s a proven fact.”
“Look who’s the medical expert now.”
Valerie laughed. Zane Diggs was something else. Something she hadn’t expected. And someone who could steal her heart. Even if it had gone haywire tonight.
Chapter Six
Zane
* * *
He tried not to stare, but it was not easy. The way she held her fork, laughed when he said something funny, looked at him, all of it was fucking charming.
When he saw her in the club, he felt like luck was on his side, but he’d immediately recognized how upset she was. Zane would have shoved everyone in the place aside to get her out. He nearly had. But he suspected he knew exactly what had happened and as she talked it was becoming clear to him.
“You don’t have to talk about your parents if you don’t want, but that’s really recent. Just a month?”
“Yeah, it was violent. A fire. I saw it, or most of it.”
“That’s the worst thing I’ve ever heard. I’m sorry you had to deal with that.”
“It’s not your fault. They still actually don’t know what started the fire.”
Zane listened as Valerie talked about her working-class upbringing. He was surprised. He thought she was a billionaire like her uncle.
It turned out Zane and Valerie had more in common than he’d have guessed. He had thought, being Meyer Thompson’s niece, that Valerie Colson was raised with a butler or something. She only looked like a princess. She was much more interesting than that.
“No. This is all new to me. My dad was a construction worker, when he did work, he figured I was always interested in his job. He’d take me to his jobs, and I always had a million questions. I would have been happy being on the job site swinging a hammer, but he wanted me to be a foreman and get a degree.”
“Well turns out he was right.”
“Yeah, who knew this is where I would have landed? But yeah, he’d be happy, except he didn’t like Uncle Meyer. Resented his success, now that I look back on it.”
“Well, you’re doing a great job.”
“How do you know? I’m struggling every minute to get this sorted out. And I mess something up at least once a day.”
“I just know. You’re amazing at everything. I can tell.”
“I do not do too well at going to a club with my friends. I suck very badly at that as you saw.” She blushed and put her head down. Zane watched as she twirled a bunch of pasta noodles on her fork.
“I think you have PTSD.”
She looked up at him. “What? Like a soldier? Uh, no.”
“It’s not just soldiers, though that’s where I saw it first. Vinnie gets it sometimes, he did two tours in Afghanistan after high school. When Knox and I were first fighting in the octagon he was fighting in the desert.”
“Your friend Vinnie? Wow, that’s impressive. I’m not that impressive and like I said. I’m not tra
umatized.”
“Less a month ago you watched your parents die in a horrible fire. If that’s not trauma, then nothing is.”
“I…” She stopped talking, and Zane watched her turn it over and think about it.
“It was loud, hot, cramped and there were douchebags and strangers everywhere. It triggered your PTSD.”
“I feel stupid.”
“You shouldn’t. You’re strong as hell. Dealing with the shit, you’re dealing with and then taking on your uncle’s projects. You haven’t had a chance to process it all. Sometimes small spaces get Vinnie going. That’s what that bar was like tonight.”
“Is this your medical opinion again?” She smiled at him and damn it made his heart hurt. He’d kept his attraction to her under control when she was freaking out but now it was rising again, and it was epic.
“Yes, and give me your hand.” He was going to check to be sure she was okay and then damn it he was going to figure out a way to keep seeing her.
“I’m fine now.”
“Do it.” She set her jaw at him but put down her fork and gave her hand to him across the small table.
The took her hand in his, and he felt a jolt go through his body. Touching her like this was sexier than just about anything he could think of. She held his eyes for a moment and then looked down. He detected a blush on her pretty cheeks.
He counted the beats and looked at the timer on his phone. Sure, he could have done it for fifteen seconds and then multiply it by four, but nah, he’d hold her wrist, feel her soft flesh under his finger, and each pulse of her heart for one full minute. He heard her breathe deep and knew something was happening to the both of them.
“It’s still a little fast.”
“Yeah? Well, I think that’s your fault.” She turned her hand over and held his. Now it was Zane’s pulse that needed to be checked.
“Good.” He lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed the soft flesh of the inside of her wrist. He wanted to taste every part of her, and he knew he wouldn’t stop until he could. But for now, at this moment, kissing her there felt hot as hell.
Zane saw the waiter headed for them and gently put her hand down. She slid it back into her lap and the blush that he’d seen start had fully bloomed. She was sweet, vulnerable, she needed him, and at the same time, she was kicking ass for her uncle’s business. Zane wanted to learn more, everything, about her.
“You know we probably should go,” Valerie said.
“Yeah, I suppose. It’s getting late. But I’m still driving you. Your uncle’s fancy mansion is just over the river. Not far at all.”
“You’ll get back how?”
“Uber baby.” Zane was about to put money on the table when he saw Valerie beating him to it.
“Hey, I was the one who asked you to dinner.”
“You were also the one who handled my meltdown and maybe diagnosed me here. A lot cheaper than a real doctor.”
“Which you should still go to.” Zane found he liked taking care of this girl. Something in him wanted to wrap her up in his arms and keep ushering her through things like he’d done in the club.
They walked out of the restaurant, and he reached out for her hand. She put hers in his, and it was thrilling, and it was also a perfect fit. Zane felt that they needed to touch each other. And it wasn’t just sex, he physically felt like something was complete, right, when they touched. Walking with her this way through the dark parking lot felt natural too. She put her hand in his, and it was where they both should be.
When they got to her Jeep, he went to open her door, and something shifted between them, they were closer, nearly body to body. There was no table between them or crowd around them. It was quiet, but for the sound of cars on the road in front of the restaurant, but he could hear a heartbeat. It was his heartbeat this time.
Zane pulled her closer with the hand he still held, and she folded into his body. His other hand cupped the back of her neck, and there they were those lips. He’d been thinking about them since he’d seen her in the crowd at the fight. He leaned in and captured her lower lip. Her lips were plump, beautiful, her upper lip bowed a little, like an old-time movie star.
Valerie put her hand on his chest, and he deepened the kiss. He heard her sigh. It was a beautiful sound. Her body felt perfect close to his. Her smell was sweet, fresh, and warm. God, she smelled so good.
Zane held her head in both of his hands as this first, he hoped, of many kisses got hotter. Fast. He darted in with his tongue, and it was like they’d ignited something dangerous. Something that couldn’t be denied. Zane wasn’t thinking straight. His mouth wanted to devour every inch of her skin.
“Oh my God, Zane.” He heard her say it as he kissed her beautiful face. Zane was starting to contemplate fucking her up against her Jeep. He had wanted to start slow, but it wasn’t happening. Their kiss was too hot. She was too hot.
Then out of nowhere his shoulder, his bad shoulder, was yanked backward.
“Get the fuck off her!” What the hell? Zane turned and coiled up a fist at the asshole who’d just fucking asked for it.
“Excuse me, you touch me again, and I’ll kick the shit out of you.”
“Trent!” Valerie knew him, this jackass who’d decided he didn’t like living.
“Did he hurt you?” Trent was now standing in front of Valerie like he was some sort of bodyguard.
“No, Trent, no. Please calm down. This is ridiculous.”
“You disappear, then I get this text you’re eating dinner with a total stranger?”
“He’s not a stranger, he’s my… my friend.”
“Your friend? Your friends were at the bar. Your friends were the ones you ditched.”
“Some friends. You didn’t notice she needed to get the hell out of that mosh pit?” Zane was pissed and trying not to murder this Trent person.
“I could have helped you.” Trent turned to Valerie again, and he seemed to be putting more hands on her than a friend should, Zane decided.
“Trent, it’s not a big deal.”
“You want me to get him out of here?” Zane didn’t want to upset Valerie. She’d had a tough night as it was but he’d drop this fucking dick in a second if she said to
“No, Zane, he is my friend, my next-door neighbor. I texted him that I’d left and was okay and getting dinner.” She then turned her attention to Trent. “You shouldn’t have come over here.”
“Of course, I should. You want to get date raped by, by, whatever this gorilla is?”
“What?” Zane was not having this shit. At all.
“Come on Valerie. I’ll drive you home.” Zane pushed Trent away like the bug he was. The skinny dude stumbled back with the slightest shove but managed to stay on his feet.
“Valerie, I won’t let you drive off with this stranger.” Trent stood up and this time grabbed Valerie, not Zane, which was the only reason he still had his front teeth.
“Trent, Zane, wait.” Now Valerie was between them both with a hand on both of their chests. Zane felt a rage seething under his breath. But he didn’t want to mess this up with Valerie on the first day. After their first kiss. He didn’t want to prove the stereotype that all fighters were thugs. But it took a huge effort not to rip this Trent’s head clean off.
“I will drive you home,” Zane said as calmly as he could.
“I will,” Trent said, and Zane felt visceral hate for this person and his long stringy arms.
“Zane, I’ve been friends with Trent a long time. I am going to have him drive me home okay? I really appreciate what you did for me tonight.” Valerie looked upset again, mired in worry, and he didn’t want to make it worse. Fighting with her asshole friend, even though he was an asshole, would make Zane look like a maniac.
“See, back off her, she’s not interested in you,” Trent said, and he had a smug look as he yanked Valerie closer to him. This was not acceptable. Not in the least.
“Trent, get in my car, start it.” She pushed the keys in his face
, and he waited for a beat but did as he said. He shot Zane a look of smug victory. Zane clenched his jaw. Trent got in the driver seat and closed the door. He’d left them alone, sort of.
“Zane, thank you. I am sorry, Trent just gets, well weird.”
“You call this guy a friend?”
“Yes, it’s all good. But, here.” Valerie took his hand and put a card in it.
“Text me okay?” She leaned in and kissed him, quickly, on the cheek and ran to back to the door of the Jeep and swiftly got in.
Zane watched as Trent gunned it and they left him standing in the parking lot of Rendina’s Family Italian Restaurant.
That Trent guy was weird, Valerie was right about that. It was a fucking understatement. And he had way more of an interest in Valerie than as her friend. Zane could see that in a hot second. It instantly worried him. Some women didn’t have danger detectors like they should. Zane’s radar was lit about her friend Trent.
But he wasn’t going to be a jealous asshole. He didn’t have that right. He’d just met Valerie. She’d been vulnerable and charming and for a second, his.
She would be his again. There was no doubt. He looked down and saw Valerie’s cell number. He’d be texting her tonight. That was for damn sure.
Zane shook off the bullshit of her friend Trent and started walking. He wasn’t far from his place, and the walk would help him calm down.
By the time he got to his townhouse the strongest memory, the most tangible emotion was the kiss he’d shared with Valerie Colson.
Zane took a glass of water to his room. He took a breath, then another. He thought about what Vinnie could get for him to help manage, to help cope. And he worked through it. One breath at a time. The urge to fix the pain in his should and to lash out in anger over the Trent situation subsided. He’d managed the tumult, the craving, and the moment.
He laid down on the bed of his new place and pulled out his cell phone.
He wanted Valerie to be thinking of him when she fell asleep. And he wanted her to fall asleep with him. Soon. Damn, he hoped very soon.