Zane (Alluring Indulgence) (36 page)

For
the next forty five minutes, the woman practically tortured him and definitely
not in a good way. Between the strange stretches, that damn machine that
shocked the shit out of him, making his muscles tense and release, and the fact
that she seemed almost pissed off, Zane was ready to bolt. And never come back.

Just
when he thought he was going to get out of there without a confrontation, the
woman actually had the audacity to follow him outside.

“Zane!”

He
turned to see her heading toward him like a bull charging a matador. He braced
himself for the impact.

“Can
you give Sawyer a message for me?”

Oh,
fucking hell
. He kept his eyes level with hers,
knowing she was going to tell him no matter what his answer was.

“You
tell him that I don’t appreciate him never calling me again.”

He
didn’t smile. He actually didn’t react in any way. This wasn’t the first time
some strange woman walked up to him and insisted he give one – or more – of his
brothers a message.

“Oh,
and you let Braydon and Brendon know that I don’t appreciate them either.”

What
the fuck?
Three of his brothers? God, he hoped not at one
time. This woman couldn’t have been more than five feet tall and maybe one
hundred pounds soaking wet.

“That’s
all.”

This
time he did nod, and then he turned and double timed it to his Jeep. He certainly
would be giving those three a piece of his mind. How the hell did he always end
up getting tortured for their mistakes?

“What’s
up little brother? How was the first PT session?” Sawyer laughed when Zane
walked into Walker Demolition half an hour later. He was stiff from the crazy
therapist’s idea of Walker brother punishment, and he was more than ready to
give Sawyer a piece of his mind.

“Does
the name Miranda Holmes ring a bell?” Zane asked.

Sawyer
had the decency to look slightly ashamed of himself, but that didn’t last long.

“Oh,
hell,” Sawyer laughed uncontrollably. “She
was
a physical therapist,
wasn’t she?”

“Yes.
And the woman has a fucking hard on for you. In a bad way.”

“Shit.”
Sawyer’s laughter died down somewhat, but he still grinned like an idiot.
“Sorry about that.”

“Could
you start having your little liaisons somewhere outside of the county? I think
it’ll be in my best interest.”

“I
think it’s too late for that,” Kaleb chimed in as he came through the back
door. “He’s already gone through the available women in Coyote Ridge, so you’re
doomed no matter what you do. And heaven forbid you need to go to the grocery
store.”

Zane
laughed, as did Sawyer, both of them watching Kaleb as he moved over to the
coffee pot.

“What’s
new with you?” Kaleb spoke as he glanced back over his shoulder.

“You
mean aside from being physically assaulted by a little blonde girl for the
better part of an hour?”

Kaleb
laughed.

“Have
either of you seen Ethan today? I wanted to stop by and talk to him, but he
wasn’t at the garage when I drove by.”

Zane
had intended to take Ethan to lunch so they could discuss Zane’s plan for
hiring someone to replace him as Walker Demo’s mechanic, but his brother was
nowhere in sight.

“He
mentioned something about needing the day off today,” Sawyer offered.

The
news surprised Zane. Ethan never took time off. Ever. He was always covered in
grease and grime, and most of the time he could be found at the shop, elbow deep
in one of the engines. But then again, that was what people used to say about
Zane too. Now, he couldn’t even bring himself to stop in to see if Ethan needed
help. He wasn’t looking forward to jumping back in to help for the time being,
although he knew that’s what he should be doing.

“You
talk to Mom and Dad lately?” Kaleb asked when he moved toward his desk carrying
a coffee mug and a newspaper.

“Not
in the last few days, no. Why?”

“You
need to go by there.” Kaleb tilted his head and looked at Zane as though he
were studying some sort of extinct species.

He
knew he needed to go by and talk to them. His mother left a couple of
voicemails and Zane returned the calls, but he never gave in to her requests to
come by. Hell, they weren’t far away from where he sat right then, but he just
hadn’t been able to bring himself to do it. His mother was worried about him
still, but with his father’s interference, Zane was trying to keep his
distance. The concern in her voice when he talked to her on the phone, had
worried Zane. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to go by and see them. He just knew
what they were going to say when he did. He wasn’t quite ready for another lecture
on being careful and watching his back.

“What’d
you think of the club?” Zane asked Sawyer, ignoring Kaleb’s grim expression.

“It
was interesting.”

Interesting?
That was the best Sawyer could come up with? “How so?”

Sawyer
grinned sheepishly, and Zane didn’t need to ask any more. Apparently, his
brother must have gotten better acquainted with the club than Zane and V had. He
hadn’t seen much of any of his brothers while he was there, especially Travis,
but then again, it wasn’t like he’d been keeping tabs on any of them either.

“Did
it help spark any ideas for either one of you?” Kaleb inquired as he sipped his
coffee and powered on his laptop.

Zane
glanced over at Sawyer before looking back at Kaleb. “I’ve got some ideas. I’ve
drawn up a couple of ideas that I’m hoping to run past Travis later this week.
What about you?”

Sawyer
stopped what he was doing on his computer when he realized Zane was talking to
him, and he looked lost in thought for a couple of seconds. “I like the idea of
the fetish club.”

And?

Shit,
Sawyer was being more elusive than usual, and that was saying something. “Is
that your plan?”

“I
don’t know yet. Did you get a chance to talk to Mistress Serena?” Sawyer closed
his laptop lid and resting his forearms on his desk, seemingly giving Zane his
full attention.

“Nothing
more than a brief introduction, no.” He had met the extremely intimidating
woman, and, at one point, he’d even wanted to ask her a few questions, but she
had been arguing with one of the guys who had come in with them – Trent
something or other – and Zane didn’t feel like interrupting.

“She
runs the place.”

Zane
knew that much. When he and V were introduced to her, he got the impression she
wasn’t keen on the idea of so many people trampling through her domain,
especially not the Walker brothers. He had no idea why that was, nor did he question
it.

“How’s
V?” Kaleb asked a minute later when Zane started to fidget in his chair.

“She’s
good.” He didn’t know what he was supposed to say to that. Aside from the fact
that he insisted she stay at his house for the time being, she seemed to be
doing fine. They had stopped by her house and grabbed some clothes when they
made it back to town and surprisingly she hadn’t put up much of a fight.

Ever
since the encounter with Beau, she’d been acting strangely aloof, which was
saying something for V. He and Beau had moved on with life, just like he knew
they would. What happened, happened. Zane wasn’t much for regrets. He didn’t do
things he might regret. However, it would appear V wasn’t handling it nearly as
well.

Her
days were spent cleaning houses with Zoey because this was their last week of
doing so and she didn’t come back until late at which point they didn’t do much
more than sit on the couch and watch television. They’d somehow lapsed into a
fairly comfortable silence when they were together. Unless, of course, they
were in bed. Then the woman was definitely not quiet. The thought made him
smile.

“Zoey
questioned me again about what I talked to you about the day you called to get
a replacement window.” Kaleb didn’t look at all happy as he spoke.

“Did
you tell her?”

“No.”

Good.
Zane didn’t want V to know what happened. Not yet. He fully intended to tell
her at some point, but not until he was certain what the next step was in
getting a handle on Jake Sanders and what the man was brewing up. Zane had the
feeling that something was in the works. He didn’t know what it was exactly,
but he couldn’t shake the feeling.

“All
right. I’ll leave you two alone so you can do whatever it is you pretend to do
here.” Zane stood from his chair and flipped it back around to face Travis’
desk. “I’ve got a date with the gym for a couple of hours.”

“Stop
by and talk to Mom and Dad, would ya?” Kaleb threw the question out there,
although Zane knew he wasn’t asking as much as he was telling.

Nodding
his head in agreement, he left.

♀♂

“How
are things going with Zane?” Zoey asked as they sat at a booth in the small
restaurant, sipping sweet tea and waiting for their food to be delivered.

They’d
managed to finish the two houses they had for the day early and decided to
sneak over for dinner together. V had been surprised when Zoey asked her to
join her because usually these visits included Kaleb these days. She was
grateful for a chance to talk to her best friend alone for a little while. Although
she wasn’t all that fond of the topic Zoey had selected.

“Fine,”
she replied briefly. Actually, things couldn’t be better. They were acting like
a regular couple, hanging out at his place and watching television, or cooking
dinner, or sitting on the back deck and watching the creek slowly trickle by.
It was almost too normal for V, but she didn’t complain. Not to Zane and
certainly not to Zoey.

“Is
it true Beau Bennett stopped by your house the other night?” Zoey whispered the
question, but she might as well have yelled as far as V was concerned. Her head
jerked up, her eyes meeting her friends and a knowing look passed between them.

Shit.
How was she supposed to answer that without lying to her friend or giving
anything away? It was a catch twenty two. Zoey knew something was going on, and
if she knew Zane and Beau the way V did, she knew damn well what that was.

“Don’t
lie to me, Vanessa Carmichael,” Zoey said firmly. When she used V’s full name,
it was clear she wanted answers. Only V didn’t know what answers to give her.
She wanted to talk to someone about what happened between the three of them,
but she didn’t know how to approach the subject. Now was her turn to spill the
beans, but for some reason, she couldn’t find the words.

“Are
the three of you...?” Zoey didn’t finish the sentence. She didn’t have to.
There was only one question that was on her friend's mind, and V knew she had
to tell her. She couldn’t lie to Zoey.

“Yes,”
she whispered back, glancing around to make sure no one else was around.

Thankfully,
it was still early in the afternoon, and the restaurant wasn’t crammed with
people, but V was still worried someone would overhear. Especially someone like
their waitress Rachel Talbott. If she got wind of what Zoey was asking about,
it would be all over for V. She’d be labeled more like her mother than ever.

“Are
you all right with that?”

V
looked deep into Zoey’s eyes, trying to figure out just what she was getting
at.

“I
don’t mean it like that,” Zoey added, looking both worried and a little
inquisitive. “I just want to make sure you’re not being pressured.”

Hmmm.
That was an interesting question coming from Zoey. V had never thought about
being pressured by Zane to do what they were doing with Beau. Not the first
time and definitely, not the times after. The three of them were enjoying
themselves, and although V still wasn’t sure how she felt about the idea of
threesomes, especially after what happened the last time the three of them were
together, she couldn’t deny the magnitude of having two men all to herself from
time to time.

“I’m
not being pressured.” V smiled at Zoey, hoping she could see the truth in the
statement.

Of
all the people she had ever met, aside from Zoey, V trusted Zane more than
anyone. He wouldn’t hurt her. He’d never let anyone else hurt her either. It
wasn’t an easy thing for her to trust him, but she did. More than she was
willing to tell him, although she got the impression he knew just how much she
did trust him.

That
simple statement had Zoey’s eyebrow arching in curiosity, and V knew she was in
for it now. There was no going back now that she’d hinted about her brief interlude
to her best friend. She just hoped they wouldn’t be having this conversation
here.

“If
you even think you’re getting away with not telling me the details, you’re
crazy.” Zoey’s smirk beamed brightly back at V, and she couldn’t help but
laugh.

Yes,
she was going to have to share the details, but there was that whole you give/I
give thing they had going and Zoey had yet to give her anything scandalous
about her little rendezvous with Kaleb and Gage. “Right. Just as soon as you
tell me what it’s like to be the filling in your little man sandwich.”