You didn’t.
Instead, Lucy smiled and nodded, borrowing a page from her mama, who used to insist, if you can’t say something nice, be quiet.
So she listened to Luann, who obviously had little interest in ramshackle barns. She had switched the subject to her glory days as an Olympic dressage champion and Ocala’s horsey crowd. Curiously, though she called herself an Olympic champion, she didn’t mention winning a medal. Lucy had to bite her tongue to keep from asking, but she managed to resist.
It went against every bone in her body to be so passive, but she was feeling prickly and impatient. If her discontent came through as attitude, it might make things difficult for Zane. No matter her own trepidations and irritations, she would never do that to him. This could be a very good opportunity for him. The boss man was obviously gaga over him, certain that Zane was the man for the job.
Lucy dug deep to try to pull herself out of the funk. If she put her own wants and needs aside, she was truly happy for him. She wanted good things for Zane. She only wished those good things were located in Texas.
Later that evening, the Sullivans hosted a barbecue. It wasn’t specifically in Zane’s honor, but it bore a strong resemblance to a welcome party.
She hated to jump to snap conclusions, but this didn’t seem like it was going to work for her. She hadn’t even been in Florida for twelve hours and already she was homesick for Celebration. This coming from a girl who at one point in her life couldn’t wait to get out and see the world. But all that time away had proved to her that home was where her heart lived. Try as she might, she couldn’t muster the enthusiasm she would need to pack up everything and relocate with a man who was only in this relationship because she was carrying his child.
She wouldn’t dream of asking him not to take the job. How could she? But by the same token, how could he ask her to give up everything she’d worked so hard to build?
All of that was driven home when a woman who bore a striking resemblance to Luann, only younger and sexier, walked in and turned every head in the room. Her outfit, a shimmery little white dress that accentuated her perfect long blond hair and showcased her perfectly tanned long sleek legs, probably cost more than Lucy’s entire wardrobe.
Damn her.
Lucy watched as she picked Zane out of the crowd and floated over.
“Hey there, Zane Phillips,” she said, flirting with her eyes. “I told Daddy you are the man for the job. I’m so glad he listened.”
So, this was the daughter who had no interest in settling down. Lucy’s heart sank. The woman was tall and perfect and model gorgeous. Now that Lucy saw her up close, she realized she bore a striking resemblance to Blake Lively, only prettier. If that was possible.
Funny, Zane hadn’t mentioned interviewing with the daughter when he’d returned from his first trip to Florida. But she had taken enough of an interest to recommend him to Daddy.
Daddy had listened.
“Hi, Taylor,” Zane said. “Taylor Sullivan, this is Lucy Campbell.”
She noted that this time he didn’t introduce her as his fiancée.
Taylor’s cool gaze slid to Lucy, lighting on her as if she’d just noticed her standing there.
Taylor flashed a perfect smile. “Nice to meet you, Lucy Campbell.”
She turned back to Zane. “When do you start?”
“I haven’t accepted the position yet,” Zane said.
“Yet.” Taylor looked confident. “Let me know when you do.”
Zane’s chin was cocked. Lucy wondered if he was making an effort to not let his gaze drop to the bit of Taylor’s cleavage peeking out to greet him. It was tasteful, but it did beckon the eye. Taylor was exactly Zane’s type. Lucy had been in this position too many times not to recognize it. She was definitely fluffy-woodland-pet material. Only, she seemed smarter and had a decent name. And she came from a family with so much money her daddy could buy both Ocala and Celebration with his pocket change.
Lucy had Googled Rhett Sullivan after a staff member had transported her by golf cart away from Luann and the big house to the beautiful three-bedroom ranch-style home that would be part of Zane’s compensation package. She’d learned that Rhett was a fourth-generation Floridian whose family had made its money in the sugarcane industry. Rhett and Luann Sullivan were both on several lists of the nation’s wealthiest individuals. It seemed Lu had brought quite a dowry to the marriage.
“See you,” Taylor promised as she floated away.
Zane had a funny look on his face.
So it began. Well, that hadn’t taken long.
“I see you already have a Florida fan club,” Lucy said.
“I do? What do you mean?”
“Oh, come on,” Lucy said. “Don’t be coy. She digs you. And I’d say she’s just your type.”
“Seriously?”
Lucy nodded. “Seriously. But you know what? I am exhausted. I’m going to call it a night. But you feel free to stay and mingle with the natives.”
It was burning her tongue to suggest that it would be in bad taste to sleep with the boss’s daughter before he’d formally accepted the job, but she swallowed the bitter words, because it would sound, well, bitter and snarky.
Even if it was good advice.
“If you’re not staying, I’m not staying,” Zane said. “Let’s at least pay our respects to the Sullivans.”
“Zane, you haven’t even eaten yet. You need to stay. This party is essentially for you. Really, I’ll be okay. I just have a headache. It’s been a long day after the flight and the tour.”
“You need to eat,” he said.
She was just about to say that there was plenty of food in the well-stocked ranch house kitchen, but Rhett Sullivan appeared in front of them. After some cordial small talk, he said, “Little lady, I need to borrow your boy. Now, you mix and mingle and make some friends. These are going to be your people and they’re all dying to meet you.”
“I’ll be right back,” Zane said. Then he mouthed, Don’t go.
It was the first time in her life she’d experienced the sensation of being simultaneously relieved and heartbroken.
Relieved to be able to make such an easy exit.
Heartbroken because she knew she would never fit in in Ocala.
Chapter Nine
Zane got back to the house about an hour and a half after he’d realized Lucy had left the party.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I would’ve been back sooner, but I had a hard time getting away from Rhett.”
Sullivan had kept signaling the servers to refill their bourbon glasses and introducing him to people. Zane had quit sipping his drink, but short of being rude, he’d had little control over the introductions. Finally, when Rhett, who had been tossing back his drinks like shots and refreshing every time a server offered, was blotto and distracted by a sexy blonde who looked dangerously close to his daughter’s age, Zane had slipped away.
Lucy shook her head. “Zane, you shouldn’t have left the party. Please don’t cut the night short because of me. Go back.” She shooed him away with the wave of her hand and turned her attention back to one of those celebrity magazines she loved so much. She was curled up on the couch with the magazine, reading and sipping a mug of something that smelled warm and minty. She’d changed into an oversize T-shirt, piled her dark hair on top of her head and scrubbed her face clean of makeup.
“You look like you’re settled in for the night,” he said.
She nodded but didn’t look up from her magazine.
He sat down on a chair and started taking off his boots.
“What are you doing?” she asked. “It’s only nine o’clock. I would imagine the party is just getting started. You can’t just cut out.”
“I can’t? Really? I just did.” He lined his boots up
on the floor at the end of the expensive-looking coffee table. The place was so nice, he probably should’ve taken off his shoes outside or at least left them on the wood floor and not the white area rug that resembled a pelt of the world’s largest sheepdog. He would’ve described it as shaggy, but something told him it probably cost a fortune.
He got up and moved his boots to the door, came back and sat down on the couch next to her.
“Zane, you need to go back.” She nudged him with her bare foot.
“It’s been a long day.” He grabbed her foot and put it in his lap. “I’m peopled out.”
What he really wanted to say was that he didn’t want to go back without her. But that wouldn’t be fair. He knew this wasn’t fun for her. She’d been a good sport all day, playing the supportive, if not pretend, fiancée. It was late and he knew she was tired. Even at this stage, the baby sapped her energy.
“The master schmoozer is peopled out? The end of the world must be near.”
She closed the magazine and tossed it onto the coffee table. There was a picture of one of those royal dudes on the cover. Henry or Hank or Harry or whatever his name was. Lucy would know. She knew them all. Even before meeting Chelsea she’d always been obsessed with royalty. She probably should’ve been born a princess—
He should treat her like one.
She stretched her legs and put the other foot in his lap, too. He started massaging both feet. She had nice feet. They were soft and her toenails were always painted some color. Tonight, they were a bright red.
“Did you talk to Taylor after I left?” She smiled and quirked a brow at him in a way that was so Lucy.
“No, I didn’t talk to Taylor. Why, are you jealous?” he teased. “If you are, it means you care.”
“I’m not jealous. I’m just realistic. She likes you. I can tell.”
He moved his thumb in firm circles along the bottom of one foot. She seemed to melt into it.
“I noticed you didn’t deny the fact that being jealous means you care,” he retorted.
She shrugged, still not disputing it.
“Taylor was just being friendly,” he said. “Hospitable.”
“I’m sure she is. She could be the one, Zane. Don’t write her off.”
“You are jealous.” He slid his hand along her silky leg as he moved from one foot to the other.
“Why would I be jealous? This is the story of our life. You’re a serial monogamist. I’ve watched you in action for years. You’ve been on your own for a while now. It’s about that time in your cycle when you settle down with another temporary distraction.”
“We’ve both got our history, Lucy. Nothing we can do to change it. All that matters is where we go from here.”
He reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear that had fallen down from her bun. She tilted her head toward him until her cheek rested on his hand.
“They say the past is where you learn the lesson, the future is where you apply the lesson. I guess we’ve both experienced enough loss and lessons in our lives to make us how we are. Maybe it’s too late for us to change. For me it’s holding out for true love, for you it’s not believing in it.”
He stroked her cheek. “I guess we’re polar opposites when it comes to that. It’s kind of a miracle we’ve always gotten along so well.”
“You know what they say, opposites attract. I guess that means you’re the yin to my yang.”
He laughed. “Whatever that means. If it’s good, then yeah, I guess so.”
“It’s a very good thing.”
She was quiet for a moment as they sat together on the couch. Somehow, over the course of the conversation, she’d scooted closer. Zane was determined to not fill the silence, to let her do the talking.
“When I lost my parents, I realized what it was like to have the bottom fall out of my world,” Lucy said in a small voice. “But seeing how much my mom loved my dad just deepened my belief in the power of love. After their accident, when my dad died, my mom was never the same. She only lasted ten months after he left her. I’ve always believed she died of a broken heart.”
Zane reached out and took Lucy’s hand. He squeezed it and shut his eyes for a moment. “I remember how hard that was for you, Lucy. I am so sorry.”
“I couldn’t do anything to help her,” she said. “Truth be told, I never thought she’d die. I was only fourteen. I thought she was invincible. You know, that she’d never do that to me. That she’d never leave me. Like it was all about me. But she did leave—she left Ethan, Jude and me. She loved our dad so much, she just lost her will to live and wasted away—” Her voice broke and he saw her throat work as she swallowed.
They were both silent for a moment.
“See, that’s the thing about love,” he said. “When you open yourself up like that, you risk getting hurt.”
“But it can be so worth it. I wish you could see that.”
He pulled her into his arms and held her, just held her, for a long time.
“You were too young to lose your mom,” he whispered in her ear. “I’m so sorry for all the pain that caused you. But I’m not sorry for who you’ve become because of it. You are one of the strongest, most amazing people I have ever met in my entire life.”
He moved his head so that his cheek was on hers. The next thing he knew, her mouth, soft, warm and inviting, had found his.
It vaguely registered that he shouldn’t be doing this—again. She was vulnerable right now. But he was kissing her and she was kissing him back and the realization that they both knew what they were doing overrode the doubt.
The taste of her lips awakened his hunger more than it satisfied his craving for her. Need churned inside him, and for an endless moment he let himself be raw and vulnerable. Maybe loving her could fix everything that was broken inside him.
A moan, deep in his throat, escaped as desire coursed through him, a yearning only intensified by the feel of her lips on his, her body in his arms. His one lucid thought as Lucy melted into him was that she tasted familiar: smooth and sweet as homemade caramel and warm...like peppermint and fire.
It made him reel. He never wanted to breathe on his own again. He could be perfectly content right here with her in his arms for the rest of his life.
His hands slid down to her waist and held her firmly against him as his need for her grew and pulsed, taking on a life of its own.
He slowly released her, staying forehead to forehead as if he was drawn to her magnetically. He reached out and ran the pad of his thumb over her bottom lip.
“We said we weren’t going to do this again,” he whispered. “If we don’t stop now...you know what’ll happen.”
“I know,” she said. “I don’t care. I want you.”
He claimed one more kiss. It took every bit of strength in him, but he knew this was as far as they should go.
“What about the baby?” he said, his lips brushing hers.
“As long as we don’t do anything acrobatic,” she said, “my doctor said we should be fine. In fact, she told me it would be a good way to relax.”
She’d thought about this happening again. That was all he needed to know.
The nearness of her, the heat they generated, sent electricity ripping through him. Then, when she gently nipped at his bottom lip, he warred with the need to take her right there on that ridiculous shaggy rug. He wanted to make love to her in a way that would reach back through the years and right all the wrongs and erase all the hurt both of them had experienced.
Zane didn’t know if this was love, but this thing between them felt deeper and more right than anything he’d ever felt in his entire life. Lucy’s essence had imprinted on his senses. For the first time, his heart was no longer his own.
* * *
Lucy got to her feet and took Zane�
��s hand. She led him to the first bedroom she came to.
She wasn’t going to allow herself to dwell on the difference between love and lust, on where they were going versus where they’d been. For once, she was fully in the moment. All that mattered was how she needed him and the way his hands felt on her. He made her feel powerful and strong and desirable. No one had ever made her feel like this before. She had never felt like this for anyone. It had always been Zane.
Slowly, they undressed each other, their clothes falling away until they stood naked in front of each other in the dim light. The bedroom was lit only by light from the lamp they’d left on in the living room. It filtered in through the open door.
For a brief moment, his tender gaze searched hers, as if he was giving her one last chance to turn away.
“We don’t need to worry about birth control,” he said. “But I wanted you to know that I haven’t been with anyone else since we were together.”
She answered him with a kiss so deep that it had him walking her backward to the bed and gently lowering her onto it. He straddled her, keeping his weight on his knees as he traced gentle circles on her belly. It gave her a chance to see him, to drink in all his hard, masculine beauty. Their only other night together had been such a rush and a blur; she hadn’t been able to live in the moment. Tonight was different.
She wanted to photograph him with her mind, commit him to memory. Just in case this was the last time—No!
There was no “just in case.” There was only right now. And it was exactly what she wanted. She wanted him. She needed him. He traced a path from her belly to her breasts and smoothed his palm over the sensitive skin, making her inhale sharply.
“You are so beautiful,” he said.
She felt beautiful. He made her feel beautiful.
He bent down and closed the distance between them, possessing her lips. She opened her mouth to let him all the way in. She ran her hands down his arms, then up his back, learning the planes and edges of his body. He was at once brand-new and hauntingly familiar. Now his lips were trailing a path over her collarbone, then dipping down into the valley between her breasts.
A Bride, a Barn, and a Baby Page 13
