Читать книгу Zane - Brenda Jackson - Страница 9

The next morning, Zane sat on the edge of the bed, holding the locked box. After looking at it for a long moment, he slid it back underneath. He had been tempted to go through its contents once again.

He rubbed his hand over his face, feeling tired, although he had gotten into bed way before midnight. But he hadn’t gotten much sleep, and upon awakening this morning, he had lain there, gazing up at the ceiling and thinking about Channing.

The thought of any man betraying her twisted his gut with anger. No woman deserved that, which was why he was always up front with any woman he was involved with. Channing hadn’t been an exception. He had set the same ground rules with her as he had with other women, and, like he’d told Ramsey, she had accepted his terms.

He truly hadn’t meant for their involvement to last as long as it had, and more than once he’d considered breaking it off sooner instead of later. But each time he felt pressed to do so—whenever he was getting too comfortable and relaxed—he would change his mind.

He enjoyed Channing both in and out of the bedroom. She had been fun to be with. Unlike others he’d dated, she wasn’t a hard woman to please, which somehow made him want to please her more. She’d gotten next to him in a way no other female had: the way a smile could tease across her lips, her special scent that could drive him wild with lust or just plain spending time with her. She’d had a way of making him smile when he didn’t want to be amused, a way of bringing him out. She was someone he could talk to for hours. One thing he missed more than anything else was their late-night phone conversations.

On those nights when she’d stayed late at the hospital, he would come home, shower and wait on her call. When it came, they would chat well into the night. She would tell him how her day went, and he would tell her about his. Then they would move into a number of other topics. It had been a special connection, one he’d hated losing.

And then there were those hot and sexy text messages she would send him during the day. They had come up with their own code, and she would tell him what to expect next time he saw her. And she would deliver.

Now she was engaged to marry someone else.

He should wish her well. She was just one woman, and he had dated others since her. But he would be the first to admit that his time with those other women just hadn’t been the same. He had been enchanted by Channing from the beginning. She was a softhearted and passionate woman who brightened up any room. She was in a class by herself, and it bothered the hell out of him that she planned to marry a man who thought nothing of betraying her.

He stood and headed toward the kitchen. “Leave it alone, Zane. It’s not your problem,” he muttered to himself. He’d tried convincing himself of that very thing on his drive home from the family dinner last night. But as much as he told himself he wanted to wash his hands of Channing because she didn’t matter, he knew she did.

Seeing her again a few days ago had reignited feelings he had tried to deny. He had missed her, and damn it all, he still wanted her. He’d never invaded another man’s territory when it came to a woman, but this was different. Like he’d told Ramsey, the bastard didn’t deserve her.

If he knew where she was staying, he would pay her a visit and try to talk some sense into her. But he didn’t know, and he would not ask Megan. That meant he had to show up at the hospital again—with a plan.

Channing stopped when she saw Zane standing in the hospital parking lot, leaning on a light pole with his legs crossed at the ankles and his Stetson positioned low on his head. What was he doing here? Was he waiting for her? Why?

There had been a time when the sight of him would have had her heart jumping in her chest, and she was feeling annoyed with the fact that nothing had changed as far as that was concerned. She had been gone for almost two years, and at Megan’s wedding, he’d gone out of his way to ignore her. Now she was back in town, and in only a week’s time he had sought her out twice. And each time he’d done so, she was reminded just how deeply she had fallen in love with Zane.

She was finding it harder and harder to put aside her emotions when dealing with him. No one had ever warned her that falling in love would be so painstakingly complicated.

“Zane.”

He straightened to his full six-foot-three-inch height. “Channing. I’ve been waiting for you.”

She stared up at him. “Obviously.”

“We need to talk.” He pushed his hat back from his face, fully uncovering his eyes.

She wished he hadn’t done that. Now she was staring into the eyes that had haunted her on so many nights. The eyes that would darken whenever they made love. The eyes with the intensity to turn her on with one heated glanced.

Channing drew in a deep breath when she felt a tingling sensation stir in her stomach. “We have nothing to talk about, Zane.”

His brows creased in a thoughtful expression as he stared down at her. She couldn’t help but wonder what he was thinking. It had been rumored that when it came to women that Zane was all knowing, and she’d pretty much discovered that to be true. He could tell each and every time she’d wanted him to make love to her, saying he could read her like a book. She wondered if he was trying to read her now. Lord, she hoped not. The last thing she needed was for him to know that just standing here with him made her nipples harden against her bra and threaded a tingling sensation through her bloodstream.

“I think we do,” he said in a deep, husky tone that set her nerves on edge.

Bitterness tightened her lips. “Why?”

“I prefer to talk over a meal.”

Her gaze lifted. “A meal?”

He cocked his head to the side. “Yes, a meal. You haven’t had dinner yet and neither have I. There’s no reason why we can’t share one together. If nothing else, I’d like to think we’re still friends.”

Friends? Boy was he wrong. “Look, Zane, I don’t know what this is all about, but the last thing you and I need to do is rekindle any friendship.”

He crossed his arms over his chest. “Why? Are you worried what good old Mack will say if he finds out you had dinner with me? Seems to me that he probably trusts you a lot more than you should trust him.”

She narrowed her gaze at him. “I’m not going to bother asking what you mean by that.”

“No, you won’t, but maybe you should.”

Channing stared down at her shoes. She desperately needed to break eye contact with him. Zane was starting to wear on her last nerve. Thinking she had herself together, she returned her gaze to his. “Why are you so concerned about my relationship with Mack, Zane? You had your chance.”

Zane sighed and dropped his hands to his sides. “Look, will it kill you to have dinner with me?”

“To talk?”

“Yes, to talk.”

Channing studied her shoes again. What harm could come of her having dinner with him? Although he might not like Mack, the one thing Zane would not do was trespass on another man’s territory. He assumed she was an engaged woman, so that would keep him in line. Besides, she was curious about what he wanted to discuss.

“Fine, we’ll talk,” she said, looking back up at him. He still carried a chip on his shoulder because of how she’d left. Maybe it was time they hashed things out once and for all.

“We can go in my car, and I’ll bring you back here,” Zane said.

There was no way she would say yes to being alone with him in a car for any length of time. “No thanks, I can drive my own car and follow you.”

He looked as if he wanted to argue, but she figured her expression made him think twice. “Fine, we’re going to McKays,” he said.

She went still. McKays was a well-known restaurant in town, and she had once considered it their place since they dined there often.

She lifted her chin. “I’ll follow.”

The moment they walked into McKays, Zane knew he should have suggested another place. Denver wasn’t a small city by any stretch of the word, but the people who frequented McKays were regulars, and the Westmorelands were well-known in these parts.

The majority of these people had known Zane, his siblings and his cousins all their lives. And Zane figured most remembered him and Channing coming here together quite a few times. That was probably the reason the two of them drew so much attention as the waitress led them to a table in the middle of the restaurant.

“We need something a little more private, Tasha,” he told their waitress when he saw they would be sitting across from a woman who was straining her neck to stare at them.

“No problem,” Tasha said, smiling as she led them in another direction. “I have the perfect table for you two.”

Channing glanced over at him and said nothing, althougth he knew what she was probably thinking. Tasha had been their regular waitress two years ago. No doubt Tasha saw some great significance with them eating together again after so long. And the engagement ring on Channing’s finger was probably giving Tasha further misconceptions.

He smiled his approval when Tasha led them into a private room in the back. Although it was larger than what they needed, it was perfect. He would be able to hold a conversation with Channing without fear of being overheard. However, he could tell from the look on Channing’s face that she didn’t particularly like the intimate setting.

“I’m not going to bite, you know,” he said, pulling out the chair for her after Tasha had left them alone.

Sitting down, she glanced over her shoulder at him, and he saw a fragment of a smile touch her lips. “Promise?”

Instead of moving away, he leaned down and whispered close to her ear, “Um, I don’t know now. You do look good enough to eat.”

A shiver passed through Channing when Zane moved away to take his seat. Erotic images flooded her brain, and she achingly remembered a time or two when he’d done exactly that—practically made a meal out of her.

She placed her napkin in her lap and noticed him staring at her. It didn’t help matters that he had the most arresting eyes, and at that moment, they were filled with intensity. Zane was a powerfully sensuous man, and there was no doubt in her mind that he knew it. Men didn’t draw women to them in droves the way he did and not know about their own magnetism.

Tasha returned and placed water, a bottle of their usual choice in wine and menus in front of them, said something about coming back later to take their order and then left them alone again. Zane continued to stare as he opened the wine bottle and poured them a glass, and—unable to do anything else—Channing stared back at him. She could feel the heat of his gaze touching every part of her, even parts he couldn’t see.

Raw emotions she’d forced away for two years slowly returned. She felt her skin grow warm under the goose bumps forming on her arms. Then there was the smell of his cologne. She recognized the fragrance. It was one she had purchased for him as a Christmas gift. The masculine scent drove sensuous shivers up her spine.

What was he trying to do to her? What was he trying to make her feel? She was assailed with sensations she only felt while around him: that sinfully seductive consciousness washing passion through her, intense degrees of longing pulsating through her body.

Drawing in a deep breath, she broke eye contact with him and picked up her menu. Whatever it took, she must not forget that he was Zane, the man she had fallen in love with, the same man who had told her that he enjoyed sleeping with her but didn’t love her. He could never love her, and she wanted a man who could.

When she glanced back up at him, he was still staring, which prompted her to ignore the racing of her pulse long enough to ask, “Have you forgotten that I’m engaged to someone?”

She watched as he took a slow swallow of his wine and then licked his lips before answering her.

“No, I haven’t forgotten. Although I would like to,” he said in a deep, husky voice. “I was just sitting here remembering all the good times we had together.”

A shudder worked its way through her body as she remembered those good times, as well. Within a week of being introduced, they had shared a bed. That was unusual for her because she wasn’t the type to become involved in meaningless relationships. But she’d been like most women who’d found him addictive: Zane’s masculine charm had lured her in, conjuring up illusions that he was falling in love with her as much as she was with him. At the end, she’d found out the hard way just how wrong she’d been. Two years later and she could still feel the aftershocks of a broken heart.

“They were good times, weren’t they?” he asked softly, breaking into her thoughts.

She gazed into dark, mesmerizing eyes. Whether she wanted to admit it or not, those had been good times. Candlelit dinners. Sex so hot it burned the sheets. And a closeness she’d never felt with any other man. “Yes, Zane, they were good, but those times are over and done with.”

There, he needed to know she’d moved on. But had she really? She wanted to think she had, even though she hadn’t been involved in another affair—serious or otherwise—since him. But that was beside the point. The main point was that Zane had never loved her and never would.

She was saved from any further conversation between them when Tasha returned to take their dinner order.

Zane took his time eating; he was in no hurry to broach the subject he had brought Channing here to discuss. At the moment, he was satisfied just indulging in small talk. He’d told her how the family was gearing up for his cousin Riley’s wedding in September and how the horse breeding and training business was going. He talked about Bailey and how annoying his kid sister could still be at times, and he brought her up to date on Bane and how proud they were that his cousin was officially a navy SEAL.

Every so often he couldn’t help but stare at her. She was so incredibly beautiful. How could any man not appreciate the woman she was? Now, two years too late, he himself could admit he had not appreciated her. He had enjoyed her, admired her and lusted after her. But he hadn’t appreciated her. He would have been happy for their relationship to remain the same—without considering her wants and needs. Without considering what she deserved.

She deserved a man who appreciated her. He hadn’t done so, and it looked as though her fiancé wasn’t, either.

“I understand from Megan there might be some more Westmorelands out there somewhere,” Channing said, breaking into his thoughts.

He looked at her, and another dose of desire tightened his groin. Her hair was pulled back and pinned on top of her head in a knot. A few tendrils had escaped confinement and brushed against her cheek. She was wearing a skirt and blouse; the color of both brought out the hazel of her eyes. There had always been a powerful attraction between them. He would have thought it had eroded by now. It hadn’t.

She had to be aware of how charged the air was. She was trying to downplay it, but he felt that tug each and every time their gazes met. To know the attraction was still strong engulfed him in one hell of a delicious feeling. She might be engaged to marry another man, but there was no doubt in his mind she was still drawn to him. How was he supposed to concentrate on his meal with that kind of knowledge nudging up his testosterone?

“Yes,” he said, taking a sip of wine. “During Megan and Rico’s trip to Texas, they found evidence of a child my great-grandfather Raphel never knew he had. That child was given up to a woman right before the mother died in a train wreck. There was little for Rico to go on since few records were kept during that time. We’re talking about more than seventy years ago. But Rico was able to get a listing of every passenger on the train—those who survived and those who didn’t. He’s still weeding through all of that information now. I’m told it was an extensive passenger list.”

Channing nodded. “All of you must be pleased with how the investigation is going, though.”

“Yes, we are. I’m confident Rico will eventually find our relatives. He’s good at what he does, but it will take time. And there’s still another woman who was assumed to be Raphel’s fourth wife, Isabelle Connors. Rico is investigating any clues associated with her, as well.”

As they continued their meal, he brought her up to date on all the babies who had been born to his cousins, the Atlanta Westmorelands. She had met most of them when they’d come to town for his sister Gemma’s wedding.

“How’s your folks?” he asked her.

He’d never met her parents or any of her family members since the Hastings lived in New Hampshire, but she would speak of them often and fondly. “They’re fine. My brother’s employer moved him to San Diego last year, and he loves it there.”

Channing finished her meal and paused before asking, “So what did you want to talk to me about?”

She felt the intensity of his gaze once again.

“It’s about the mistake you’re making.”

She lifted a brow. “What mistake?”

Zane took another sip of his wine. For some reason, she was willing to accept Mack Hammond and all his flaws, but Zane refused to let her be that generous. He placed his glass down on the table. “Marrying a man you don’t love,” he said calmly.

Fire flashed in her eyes. “And what makes you think I don’t love Mack?”

A smile touched his lips as he leaned in closer. “Because I know you, Channing. If you loved him, you would not be sitting over there getting as aroused as I am.”