Zane (Alluring Indulgence)

by Nicole Edwards

  “What do you want to do?” Again Sawyer asked the question while Kaleb looked on.

  “Don’t know. What do you need me to do?”

  “I thought you liked being a mechanic,” Kaleb interjected, frowning before he continued. “Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s terrific that you want to be involved in the resort, actually. We never thought to talk to you about it because you always seemed married to your job.”

  Married to his job? That was funny.

  Yes, Zane enjoyed working on cars and trucks, but that hadn’t necessarily been his long term goal. As the youngest Walker, he’d had to fit in with his brother’s goals because Walker Demo had been started long before he was old enough to work.

  With Travis being ten years older, the oldest of them all, Zane didn’t have much of a say in what he started out doing. Not that he hadn’t enjoyed it. Being a mechanic had been all he needed, but thanks to the recent road bumps he’d stumbled over, he was ready to move forward. And it wasn’t like Ethan didn’t have some buddies who would be able to help him. In fact, Zane knew of one person who would be perfect for the job.

  “Who’s going to manage the clubs?” Zane asked, glancing between his two brothers.

  “I’m planning on taking one of them,” Sawyer explained, “but we don’t have anyone for the other yet. I thought maybe Travis would be interested, but he’s more interested in managing the actual hotel.”

  “I’ll take the other.” That was easy enough, although Zane didn’t have the slightest idea what managing a club would entail. He was smart enough that he’d be able to figure it out. He noticed Kaleb and Sawyer and the look that passed between them. “What?”

  “Do you have any idea what type of club we’re talking about here?”

  Zane had a relatively good idea. After all, he’d spent the last couple of months cooped up with a laptop and too much time on his hands. He knew from all of the stories on the internet exactly what Travis had in mind. “I wasn’t thinking country club if that’s what you’re asking.”

  Sawyer smirked at Zane’s comeback. “Definitely not.”

  “I think it’s a great idea,” Kaleb offered. “In fact, I think you and Sawyer would be the most logical choice anyway.”

  “Not the twins, huh?” Sawyer laughed.

  Holy shit. Zane couldn’t imagine Braydon and Brendon managing anything, much less a club. There were a lot of things to consider when it came to the club, including the liquor license, the entertainment – and hell, Zane didn’t even want to know what the twins’ choice in entertainment would be.

  “What do you think Travis will say?” Zane knew that Travis was the one person he might have to convince, but with everything the man had going on, he didn’t think it would take much.

  “I think his only concern will be whether you and V will be able to work together,” Kaleb stated in that matter of fact voice that grated on Zane’s last nerve. His brother was making reference to what happened at Anderson Croft’s house and the way Zane had gone off on Jake Sanders.

  “That wasn’t out of jealousy.” Zane felt the need to convince them.

  For months, he’d been defending his own actions considering the repercussions. He’d had to explain to both his mother and father exactly what happened and why. Of course, his mother hadn’t been too happy with him, but his father had understood. Throughout Zane’s childhood, he’d been taught to defend others. Bullying was not tolerated in the Walker household, and, despite this extreme incident and what Jake had done to him, he’d do it again in a heartbeat.

  “We didn’t think it was. That doesn’t mean there won’t be other fuckheads who treat women like shit,” Sawyer added.

  “You would’ve done the same fucking thing.” Zane’s anger was escalating. Granted, maybe Jake’s retaliation was the worst that any of them had seen, but Zane knew, for a fact, his brothers would ruthlessly defend a woman from a fuck up like Jake.

  “I’m not disagreeing with you,” Sawyer stated more firmly. “But we can’t have it go down like that. Not at the resort.”

  Nodding his head, Zane agreed. He wouldn’t make any promises verbally just yet because until he sought his own revenge on the bastard who had damn near taken his life, Zane didn’t know what he was capable of.

  “I’ll talk to Travis if you want me to,” Kaleb offered.

  Again Zane nodded. This was what he wanted, and he was going to make it happen. One way or another.

  Changing the subject, Zane glanced back and forth between both Kaleb and Sawyer. “Either of you want to tell me just what the hell Jake is doing harassing V? And why the hell no one’s told me about it yet?”

  His brothers looked startled by the direction his question was going, and they glanced back and forth between one another. Zane felt his irritation level rapidly intensifying. He hated that they felt the need to protect him. As the youngest, he’d battled being coddled his entire life. He was a grown man and as far as he was concerned, V was his to worry about. They didn’t have any right to keep him in the dark.

  “Travis is trying to nail down where Jake’s at, but we don’t know anything yet.”

  “How long’s this been going on?” he asked Sawyer who seemed to be the only one willing to talk. Kaleb had hastily stuck his face back in his laptop.

  “From what we know, about two months. About the same time you woke up.”

  Zane wondered whether the timing was coincidental or if Jake had been keeping tabs on Zane’s condition. Either way, it didn’t make a damn bit of difference to him.

  “Have either of you looked into it?” Zane knew Travis would be keeping an eye out. His brother was known for having eyes and ears all over the place.

  It still surprised him that Travis hadn’t yet figured out where Jake was, nor did they have the names of the other three who’d been with him that day. Zane hadn’t known any of them. In fact, he’d never even seen them. The only thing they knew was that those three weren’t from Coyote Ridge.

  “We’ve been talking to Beau. He’s taken an interest in V for the last couple of months. He’s watching her back, but I’m pretty sure she doesn’t know that.”

  That wasn’t news to Zane. Beau was his best friend. They’d discussed what happened, and they were both on the same page. V was the most important as far as Zane was concerned and while he’d been in the hospital, Beau had agreed to keep an eye on her. As discreetly as possible.

  He seriously needed to meet up with Beau. There were some other things Zane was ready to discuss. Like how they were going to handle Vanessa Carmichael now that Zane was home.

  ♀♂

  “When does Gage get back in town?” V asked Zoey as they sat in a booth at Moonshiners a couple of hours later.

  After going home and showering, she waited for Zoey to return and pick her up, for a much needed night out. Nursing a beer and watching the few people mulling about the bar, she wondered whether she should’ve just stayed home.

  Although she hoped a drink would help alleviate some of her tension, V knew better than to think it would. Her stress was primarily related to one gorgeous as hell cowboy whom she couldn’t seem to get off of her mind lately. No matter how hard she tried.

  “Next week.” Zoey grinned.

  “Are you counting down the days?” V still couldn’t believe the bomb her best friend had dropped on her a couple of months ago. After a particularly stressful day, they’d both resorted to a few too many drinks and Zoey’s mouth had gotten away from her. According to her friend, she was happily enjoying a threesome with Gage Matthews and her fiancé, Kaleb. Or rather she had been before Gage set out on the road again. Being a long haul truck driver, Gage was usually gone more than he was home.

  “Maybe,” Zoey’s smile lit up her entire face. The woman was something else.

  V shouldn’t have been surprised by the news that Zoey was currently the focus of both men’s attention considering the history that Gage and Kaleb had. It wasn’t a secret that the two of them had a p
enchant for threesomes. Those rumors had come and gone a long time ago. They’d ceased to exist once Kaleb and Gage openly admitted to their trysts years ago.

  V was well aware of the stories. There were plenty to go around, and they all involved one or more of the Walker brothers. It seemed each of the brothers had their own kinks, and they all somehow involved ménages in some way. Kaleb and Gage, Sawyer and Greyson, Zane and Beau... They were best friends who were notorious for their threesomes with willing women and not a single one of them denied it.

  V knew Braydon and Brendon had had their fair share of rumors, but those two were a little different. Not that she had asked either of them, but from everything she had heard, neither had ever been with a girl unless the other was present. She wasn’t sure whether it was true or not, and she didn’t intend to ask.

  The only two V didn’t know much about were Travis and Ethan. People didn’t talk about Travis Walker, and she didn’t know if it were because they didn’t know about his sexual preferences or if they just chose not to poke the bear so to speak. As for Ethan, he was too quiet, and no one actually knew much about him. She knew he’d had a couple of relationships, but they usually were short lived and never discussed.

  In fact, the tales that were spun through the years were so common that V hadn’t even considered what might be happening behind closed doors where her best friend was concerned. Never would she have imagined sweet little Zoey Stranford in a threesome. To have heard from her best friend’s mouth had been shocking. It was even more surprising that there weren’t any rumors going around about the trio. V was also surprised that there weren’t any other rumors circulating.

  Like ones including her and Zane.

  And Beau.

  V hadn’t told a soul about the encounter she’d had with Zane and his best friend, nor did she intend to. The first time that it happened, V had been a little out of sorts. Being pinned beneath Zane Walker was a unique form of sensual pleasure, but being sandwiched between both Beau and Zane was almost more than she could handle. It’d changed her. Indefinitely.

  Not that Zoey knew that, but V got the impression her friend had picked up on something. Especially considering the way Beau came to her side after Zane’s attack. It had been unexpected, to say the least.

  “Are y’all planning a reunion?” V pushed Zoey for more information. It’s what she did. And yes, her best friend pushed back just as hard, and she knew at some point, her friend was going to insist that she talk about things better kept to herself.

  Zoey’s face turned pink, visible even in the dim lights of the bar, and her grin said more than words ever could.

  V laughed. “You’re looking forward to being the cream filling in that little sandwich, aren’t you?”

  Zoey didn’t answer, but she laughed, and then turned her attention to the door, and V’s eyes followed.

  Holy shit.

  V didn’t know what it was about the sight of all that masculinity as the Walker brothers piled in one after the other, but it gave her goose bumps to see it. There were four of them walking their way.

  Women of all ages swooned over the Walker brothers, but V couldn’t necessarily blame them. Every one of them was over six feet tall, packed with muscle and wildly charming. On the days they were decked out in jeans and cowboy hats, like today, V was pretty sure they left women fainting in their path. She almost expected to see it now.

  “What’s up ladies?” Braydon greeted the two of them with a seductive, crooked smile as he grabbed a chair and pulled it over to the end of the booth she and Zoey were sitting in.

  Braydon and Brendon were identical twins and even at twenty nine years old, it was still difficult to tell them apart. The easiest way was when Braydon spoke to one of his brothers. He referred to each of them as “Bubba”, but aside from that V hadn’t figured out another easy way to decipher between the two.

  They were usually attached at the hip, and, according to the rumors, many of the women in town said they gave a whole new meaning to the old jingle from that gum commercial, double your pleasure, double your fun. Considering the twins were notorious for their trail of heartbreak, the women they left behind were always known to have experienced a taste of them both at the same time. That’s the way they did things and although V had no idea why, she didn’t question it.

  Of course, there was Kaleb, who V knew probably better than most of the other brothers, except for Zane, but that was thanks to Zoey’s friendship with him throughout their life. V had made it a point not to get too close to anyone, including Zoey’s friends, and she sometimes wondered exactly what she had missed out on. Kaleb was a good guy. Better than most actually.

  When Zane’s hulking body folded into the booth beside her, V was forced to move over. She glared at him, but was unable to be angry with him. Having him close was beginning to be a familiar thing, even though he’d been away for several months. Despite her better judgment, V wasn’t crazy enough to push him away. Although she should. She really should.

  His arm came to rest on the back of the booth, barely grazing the tops of her shoulders and V had to suppress the shiver that raced down her spine. That’s what happened when he touched her, even in the slightest, most innocent of ways. When he leveled those blazing blue-gray eyes on her, V met his stare head on. If she weren’t mistaken, there was an odd twinkle in the heated way he was looking at her. God she had missed him.

  The instant that thought plowed through her brain V jerked her eyes away. She was the reason he’d been gone for so long, and she’d be smart to remember that.

  “How’re you?” Zoey asked Braydon, breaking V from her weighted thoughts.

  V focused on the looks passing back and forth between everyone at the table. The way the twins smiled at Zoey was so benevolent that V would have probably mistaken her for family if she didn’t know better. The way the twins had stepped up to protect Zoey all those years ago when her loser of a husband had up and gotten some girl pregnant, V was pretty sure that’s how they saw her anyway. Like a little sister.

  But there was nothing sisterly about the way Kaleb pulled Zoey against him when he dropped into the seat beside her. For two people who lived together, no one would’ve known it by the way they acted when they saw one another. It was like they hadn’t seen each other for months, not hours. The amatory way Kaleb embraced Zoey, pulling her against his side and kissing her forehead made V turn away. She felt as though she were intruding on a private moment.

  For a brief, irrational second, her brain wandered down an unfamiliar trail, wondering whether she ever would have that sort of love in her life. She was pretty sure she knew the answer to that, and it was a monumental, resounding no. The most she had to look forward to was an affair with Zane Walker. One that was based on extraordinary sex and nothing more.

  Brendon returned to the table a minute later with four beers, handing one to each off his brothers and keeping one for himself. Then he grabbed a chair and flipped it around the way Braydon had, and dropped into it.

  Watching the twins together was still a spectacle as far as V was concerned. If a man could be described as beautiful, the twins would hold that honor. It was hard to think that two rough and tumble cowboys could be anything but rugged, but there was so much charisma and grace with the twins, V understood exactly why women flocked to them when they walked in a room.

  Tearing her gaze away from them when Braydon sent her a knowing wink, V found herself looking over at Zane. Now, this guy was rugged in every sense of the word. With a day’s worth of stubble on his strong jaw, and his black Stetson low on his forehead, hiding his beautiful eyes, he exuded that mysterious charm he was known for. She couldn’t stop herself from smiling. The man was delicious.

  “You’re beautiful when you smile,” Zane whispered in her ear, low enough that only she could hear. Another chill raced down her spine at the words. She couldn’t even say thank you, she was so taken aback. Zane wasn’t quite as much of a player like most of the Walker broth
ers, but he did have his fair share of women in his past. As far as she knew, there was never anything serious though.

  “How’s the bachelorette party planning going?” Braydon’s question shook V back to the present.

  “It’s coming along nicely.” V returned his conspiratorial wink. She and the twins were devising a plan to have the bachelor and bachelorette parties in Vegas, although she was getting a considerable amount of resistance from Zoey, but she knew it was only for Kaleb’s benefit. “How’s the bachelor party coming?”

  “As long as grumpy over here doesn’t overrule us, we’re set.”

  V looked at Kaleb, waiting for his response.

  “Oh, hell no. We are not doing this in Vegas. Are you in on this too?”

  Before V could answer Kaleb’s question, Brendon chimed in, “Vegas would be kick ass, and you know it. Seriously, bro, we’re doing this in Vegas.”

  Kaleb looked at Zoey, and she just smiled. V knew for a fact that Zoey was all about partying it up in Vegas. Neither of them had ever been, and they figured now was the perfect time.

  “You’re in on this too, aren’t you?” V watched as Kaleb’s eyes sparkled when he looked down at Zoey who was answering his question with a guilty smile.

  “What about you? What do you think?” V asked Zane, hoping to distract herself from the longing that was still churning deep in her stomach.

  “I think it’s a great plan,” Zane offered, glancing from V then over to Kaleb. “Come on, bro. We need some excitement in our lives.”

  The table was quiet for a bit as they all stared back at Zane like he had lost his mind. He might’ve been out of it for a while, but surely he knew that they had all had more excitement than they cared to have when he was attacked.

  “Oh, let it go,” he barked, the blue of shaded his eyes turning dark with anger. “Let’s put it behind us and move on.”

  Easier said than done, V thought to herself. They’d lived the horror of not knowing whether Zane was going to live or die for six long days. Then, when the doctor’s said that he would wake from the coma, it would just be a matter of time, they’d all held on to hope. And yes, here he was, just like nothing had ever happened. Well, except for the subtle changes she had noticed in recent days. There was something different about Zane. Something darker, angrier, but he was managing to cover it up with a new, more than positive, outlook on life.