Читать книгу Zane - Brenda Jackson - Страница 8

Channing bent to lower the projector screen when a pair of dark leather boots came into view. The boots were followed by a rich, masculine aroma that she would recognize anytime, anyplace. Her stomach knotted as she slowly straightened.

Her eyes moved up past a pair of jeans-clad thighs, a lean waist, a firm stomach and muscled shoulders. Her gaze unerringly landed on a pair of gorgeous dark brown eyes, creamy chestnut-brown skin, an aquiline nose, sharp cheekbones, full lips and a strong chin.

Zane Westmoreland was almost too handsome to be real. She’d thought that very thing the first time she’d seen him three years ago, right here at this very hospital. He had come to repair his sister’s flat tire, and Megan had introduced them. Channing’s life hadn’t been the same since.

She drew in a long breath and slowly released it. “Zane.”

“Channing. I heard you were in town, so I thought I would come by and welcome you back.”

Channing leaned against the podium she’d stood behind earlier. There were any number of plausible reasons for Zane to show up at the hospital’s lecture hall, but for the life of her, she couldn’t think of a valid one. He claimed he wanted to welcome her back to town, but just last month, when she’d seen him at Megan’s wedding, he had refused to say a single word to her.

“Thanks, Zane.” She could mention that she was only in town for three to six weeks but decided it wasn’t any of his business. Two years ago she had left Denver to move on, and she had.

“So, you’re still engaged I see,” he said when she moved to the desk to place a stack of handouts in her briefcase.

She fought back a scowl. “Is there any reason why I wouldn’t be?”

“I guess not.”

“And what about you?” Channing asked, crossing her arms over her chest. “I take it you’re still eluding serious commitments?”

She noticed the muscle that flicked in his jaw. “If you’re asking if I’m still single, with no thoughts of settling down, then the answer is yes. That won’t ever change.” And without missing a beat, he asked, “Did Mark come with you?”

She frowned. Why was he all up in her business? “My fiancé’s name is Mack, and no, he’s still in Atlanta.”

“He’s a banker, right?”

Channing clicked her briefcase closed, wondering why Zane felt it necessary to go over information he already knew. Although he had avoided both her and Mack at the wedding, Megan had said Zane had questioned her at the wedding reception.

“Yes, Mack’s a banker.” There was no need to tell him the Hammond family owned several banks that were spread across Georgia, Tennessee and Florida.

She turned to Zane and tried to ignore how totally, utterly male he looked. She felt a deep fluttering in her stomach when her eyes connected to his. He had soft bedroom eyes, eyes that could educate a woman as to what true desire was all about. She, of all people, should know. Yes, some things in her life had changed, but it seemed the charge she got out of seeing Zane Westmoreland hadn’t. Why was her body betraying her this way?

“Well, that’s it for the day. It was good seeing you again, Zane.”

“Same here. I figured sooner or later I’d run into you at one of those Westmoreland family dinners. I thought we should clear the air now so neither of us would feel uncomfortable.”

So that’s what this little visit was about? Channing thought. “I’m sorry you wasted your time coming here just for that. I thanked Megan for the invite yesterday but told her it would be best if I didn’t attend any of your family functions.”

“Why? Are you saying the only reason you got to know my family was because of me?”

“No, if you’ll recall, I knew Megan and your sisters long before I met you. However, considering our history, I thought distance was best.”

Zane stared at her. “I don’t understand why you would think that now when you had no problem attending Megan’s wedding and bringing ‘Roving Eyes’ with you.”

Channing’s frown deepened. “First of all, Megan is a good friend of mine, and I saw nothing wrong with being there to share in her happiness. And, for the second time, my fiancé’s name is Mack.”

Zane leaned back against a table and kept his gaze fixed on hers. “Didn’t it bother you that Mack was checking out other women with you right by his side? And don’t say you weren’t aware of it, because you’re too astute not to have been.”

She shrugged. “All men check out other women. Big deal. Are you saying you never looked twice at another woman while we were together?”

He sputtered out a harsh laugh. “Hell, yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying. I might be an ass when it comes to some things, Channing, but I would never have disrespected you that way. While we were together, I never once looked at another woman. You were everything I needed.”

The next words were out of her mouth before she could call them back. “Evidently not, Zane. Had I been everything you needed then I wouldn’t be engaged to marry another man.”

She saw the anger that flared in his eyes and knew she’d made a direct hit. She might have been everything he needed in the bedroom, but she hadn’t been in all the ways that mattered.

“Goodbye, Zane.” She walked around him as she headed for the door.

A few days later, Zane stood on the porch of his cousin Dillon’s home. It was Friday night chow-down, when all the Westmorelands in Denver got together. The women cooked, and the men came hungry. Although they all lived in what was considered Westmoreland Country, they didn’t get to see each other every day. The chow-down was a way to bring everyone up to date on what was happening with each family member.

Seldom was anyone outside of family invited, but Zane hadn’t thought twice about making Channing a regular during the nine months they’d dated. His family liked her, and she’d gotten along with everyone—especially the womenfolk. After a while, they’d begun to consider her one of them. That was when his troubles began.

Channing had gotten ideas about them sharing a future. Somewhere along the way, she’d figured he had fallen in love and was rethinking his position on marriage. She’d found out the hard way that Zane Westmoreland didn’t change easily.

“You’ve been pretty quiet all evening.”

Zane glanced over his shoulder as his brother Ramsey stepped outside to join him. After dinner, the women retired to the family room to watch a chick flick, and, like usual after such a delicious meal, the men gathered in the game room for drinks and poker. But Zane hadn’t been in the mood. He had come out to get a breath of fresh air.

“I’ve had a rough week with the horses,” he said, knowing that was only part of the reason for his mood. “Sugar Plum had to be transported to Casey, Visa Girl got loose and ran wild for a few hours, and Born Free had a difficult delivery.”

Ramsey chuckled as he came to stand beside Zane. “That’s all?”

“Isn’t that enough?”

Ramsey didn’t say anything for a minute and then, “Not for Zane Westmoreland, who thrives on challenges and difficulties. Why don’t you tell me the real reason for your surly mood?”

Zane didn’t say anything for a long moment. “Channing’s back in town.”

“So I heard.”

Zane flashed an accusing gaze at his brother. “And you didn’t tell me, either?”

“I only heard she was back this morning. Chloe mentioned it over breakfast. I understand she was invited to dinner tonight but declined.”

“Nobody told me she was back. I should have been prepared,” Zane muttered.

Ramsey lifted a brow. “Prepared? Why? You saw her last month at Megan’s wedding.”

“That was then. This is now.”

“What makes ‘now’ different, Zane?” Ramsey asked. “I assumed you’d pretty much made up your mind two years ago when you let her go. You said you didn’t want Channing in your life.”

“That’s not true,” Zane snapped.

Ramsey lifted a brow, not anticipating such a strong response. “Then what is true?”

Zane paused and then said, “She wanted more than I could give.”

Ramsey frowned. “Did she want more than you could give, or was it that you refused to give her more?”

Zane heaved out a deep, frustrated breath. “Channing knew the score, Ram. Love is not in my vocabulary. She knew that and accepted my terms. Then, months later, she tried changing the game, but there was no way I was going along with it.”

“So, in other words, you wanted her as your lover but had no intention of ever allowing her to be more than that. You would have been satisfied to keep a casual arrangement for another two, three, possibly four years? Forever? Damn it, Zane, how would you feel if Rico would have wanted that kind of relationship with Megan, or Callum with Gemma? Yet you had no problem wanting one with Channing.”

“I don’t love her like Rico loves Megan and Callum loves Gemma,” Zane said, narrowing his eyes. “And I wasn’t going to lie to her and say I did.”

Ramsey shook his head. “Then I don’t blame Channing for leaving. You let her know she was nothing more than another notch on your bedpost.”

“She accepted my terms like all my other lovers,” Zane snapped. “She knew the score. We couldn’t have the kind of future she wanted because I didn’t love her.”

“If you really didn’t have feelings for her, you wouldn’t have moped around for months after she left, and you wouldn’t be all tied up in knots about her being in Denver now,” Ramsey muttered. He shook his head and added, “Well, it doesn’t matter now since she’s engaged.”

“He doesn’t deserve her,” Zane said in a voice sparked with anger.

“At least the man is willing to give her something you wouldn’t—to make her a permanent part of his life.”

“Damn it, Ramsey. You saw how he was looking at other women at Megan’s wedding. He’s going to end up hurting her.”

“And you didn’t?” When Zane didn’t respond, Ramsey didn’t say anything else for a minute and then said, “I wasn’t going to mention this to you because it’s really none of my business, but …”

Zane raised a brow. “What’s none of your business?”

“I overheard a conversation between Megan and Chloe yesterday.”

“About what?”

“Channing’s fiancé. Tara called from Atlanta and told Megan she saw the man last week and remembered him from the wedding as Channing’s fiancé. He was out on the town with women in intimate settings on two separate occasions.” Tara was married to their cousin Thorn and they lived in Atlanta.

Zane swore through gritted teeth. In a way, he wasn’t surprised about what Tara had seen. But what did surprise him was the fact that Channing refused to accept that her fiancé was a womanizer.

“Like I said, he doesn’t deserve her,” Zane said. “I might not have loved her, but I would never have betrayed her the way he’s doing.”

Ramsey nodded. “I’m going back inside. Are you coming?”

Zane shook his head. “No, I’m calling it a night. Think I might even sleep in late tomorrow. I haven’t done that on a Saturday in a long time.”

“All right. But you’ll be joining us for Sunday’s dinner, right? Susan’s going to be upset if she doesn’t see her uncle Zane there,” Ramsey said, smiling.

Zane thought about his niece, who would be turning four soon. The niece he adored. “I won’t disappoint her. I’ll be there,” he said, moving down the steps. “Tell the others good-night for me.”

“Hey, babe, are you missing me? All you have to do is say the word and I’ll fly out there and give you all the attention you deserve.”

Channing rolled her eyes, bristling at Mack Hammond’s words. “Cut it out, Mack. Need I remind you what happened last month at Megan’s wedding? You couldn’t keep your eyes off the women. Now you have everyone thinking I’m engaged to a womanizing jerk.”

“Hey, you didn’t warn me there would be so many beautiful women there. It was quite obvious your ex-boyfriend didn’t like the fact that you returned to town an engaged woman.”

Mack was right. Zane hadn’t been happy about it. If their conversation at the hospital was anything to go on, he still wasn’t. “But did you have to check them out so obviously? You don’t believe in the word subtle, do you?” she asked, trying not to smile.

She had met Mack within weeks of arriving in Atlanta two years ago. They had dated a few times, but when he saw she would not put up with his playboy foolishness, they had become good friends instead. A few months ago, when he’d been invited to a cousin’s wedding, he’d asked her to pretend to be his fiancée to keep his matchmaking parents and grandparents off his back. Then, when Channing had received the invitation to Megan’s wedding, Mack had returned the favor. The last thing she’d wanted was to return to Denver alone and looking pathetic.

The only person who knew the truth about her fake engagement was Megan, who had found the entire ploy hilarious. She’d said there was no reason for Channing to end the charade since it really wasn’t any of Zane’s business.

“So, have you seen Zane Westmoreland yet?” Mack asked.

Catching her lower lip between her teeth, Channing eased down onto the sofa and curled up in a comfortable position. “Yes, he stopped by the lecture hall a few days ago. He figured I would be dropping by his family’s place for dinner while I was in town, and he said we needed to clear the air so things wouldn’t be uncomfortable.”

“Uncomfortable for whom? You or him?”

“Both, I imagine. But I told him he didn’t have to worry about that. I have no intention of attending any of his family’s gatherings.”

“Was he relieved to hear it?”

Channing shrugged. “Not sure, but it really doesn’t matter. He’s moved on and so have I. I’m over Zane.”

“Are you?”

Channing frowned. “Yes. Why would you doubt it?”

“I’ll give you my answer the next time I see you. Have you decided when that will be?”

“Not yet. Class enrollment here is high. I’ve been here almost three weeks already and Dr. Rowe wants me to consider doing another three-week class. I haven’t decided on anything yet.”

“Well, I know whatever decision you make will be the right one,” he said. “Take care and be good.”

“Same back at you, Mack.”

Channing clicked off the phone and tried to force the conversation with Zane out of her mind. Nothing about him had changed. He still wanted to be footloose and fancy-free, and she still wanted the whole shebang—love, marriage and family.

She had lied just now to Mack when she claimed that she was over Zane. She’d honestly believed she was, but all it had taken was seeing him again to be proved wrong. Just being in the same room with him had stirred memories and emotions she knew were better kept undisturbed.

The most she could hope for was that her path and Zane’s wouldn’t cross again.

Megan caught hold of Chloe Westmoreland’s arm and pulled her into the kitchen. “Do you think Ramsey took the bait yesterday?”

A smile touched Chloe’s lips. “I’m sure he did. You and I were talking loud enough. And tonight was the perfect time for him to tell Zane just what he overheard. In fact, Ramsey just came back inside from being out on the porch with Zane, and when I asked where Zane had gone off to, Ramsey said Zane went home, calling it an early night because he’d had a bad week.”

“I bet,” Megan said, chuckling. “Especially since he found out Channing is back in town.”

“I hope you’re right about how Zane feels about her,” Chloe said in a low voice. “What about Channing? Will she be upset when she finds out we stuck our noses into her affairs?”

“In the end, both Zane and Channing will get what they truly want, which is each other. Zane moped around like a sick puppy when Channing left for Atlanta, but he was too darn stubborn to recognize his true feelings. If he loves Channing like I believe he does, then the one thing he won’t stand for is someone hurting her. Zane is very protective of those he cares about. He’s going to come up with a plan to save her from Mack.”

“What do you think he’ll do?” Chloe asked.

Now that was a good question, Megan thought. Zane was the brother who was usually too logical for his own good. The same one who made it his business to know everything there was to know about women. The family should have known they would be in trouble when Zane decided to major in psychology in college. “I’m not sure. We’ll just have to wait and see.”