by Taylor Hart
Chapter 8
Sarah found herself standing in that doorway for a long time, watching Zane chase down Tyler and weave and jab with his lightsaber, while her son giggled and tried some barbaric-looking strikes back. She saw Tyler run and laugh and Zane do the same. It was fun to see Zane slow it down and show Tyler how to hold the lightsaber properly and how to strike efficiently. Truthfully, if Sarah had thought about how Tyler would interact with Zane, this would have been the way she would have seen it playing out.
On the ride home from school, she’d told Tyler she had a friend from a long time ago that was visiting for a while and to be nice to him, but not bug him. Clearly, he wasn’t bugging Zane. It took her back to think about how Zane, though he’d been tough, had always been fun. He’d always joked with his brothers and played with them. And there were a lot of them. They would wrestle for hours sometimes. Often, she had gotten bored and gone home. They had loved to laugh and tease.
Of course, she compared him to Jeff, weighing this interaction against the way Tyler’s real father would have interacted with him. Jeff had played with him, but not like this. The two years since Jeff’s death had clearly made an impression on Tyler even though he had only been five. He still talked about his daddy. He missed him.
Watching the scene in front of her, she blinked and told herself she would not cry. She would not. Instead, she walked back into the house, wondering where the groceries were. She opened the front door and found them at her feet. Picking them up, she saw he had bought steaks and some bagged salad.
So she decided to prepare dinner. Why not? Even though she had some client work she could look at and evaluate, she didn’t want to do it at that moment.
Pulling out the steaks, she put them in a glass dish and added a Montreal soy sauce marinade. It’d been a long time since she and Tyler had eaten steaks. She could see Zane and Tyler playing on the beach while she prepared the food. It made her laugh out loud to see that both of them now had their shirts off and tied around the top of their heads. Narrowing her eyes, she saw the same lizard-like tattoo on Zane’s back that she’d noticed earlier when she’d gone to his home and found him on the beach. There was also a number 266. She wondered if it meant something.
Zane stopped their play and reminded Tyler of the proper way to stand and hold the lightsaber, and taught him some kicks as well. The sight filled her with warmth. He was playing with her son so naturally. It was just who Zane was. The kind of man who liked to play with kids and do boy stuff.
Dang it. How did Zane Kent make her feel so many things? Wasn’t it enough she’d kissed him earlier? Wasn’t that enough of a tell for him?
The center of her chest squeezed, and she realized she already wanted to protect her heart from the damage Zane could inflict on her. Resolutely, she pushed it aside. She needed his help, and he was offering freely. When he’d shown her those bugs, she had been jolted out of a false sense of security. Who the heck had been breaking into her home?
While Zane was gone, she had prepared the guest room for him. His bag was already in there and fresh sheets covered the bed. She saw the necessity of him staying with them, but it still made her feel weird knowing he would be here in her home.
Opening the fridge, she put away the rest of the groceries Zane had brought, including three cartons of eggs. Not surprising, since the man obviously demanded a huge protein intake. There were also apples, oranges, kale, spinach, and other assorted vegetables and fruits. She noticed a huge bag of protein powder. So he subsisted on eggs, protein shakes, and steak. There was also some fish in there that she put away too. Opening a bag of salad, she stirred all the ingredients for Caesar salad together.
She set the outside table for three and started the grill, keeping an eye on the boys as they continued to play. They were completely absorbed in their game. Once again, unexpected feelings started to emerge inside of her, and she found herself not knowing how to push them aside or stuff them away.
Zane seemed so content to play with Tyler. It was beautiful and unnerving.
After the steaks had cooked, she called them over to the table.
“Wow.” Zane mussed Tyler’s hair on the way back to the table. “It smells delicious,” he said a bit too exuberantly. He smiled at Sarah.
Her heart raced. Nothing felt normal with Zane around. It was like he added a heightened awareness of even the smallest details.
Zane headed toward the French doors. “I need to wash up real quick.”
Sarah nodded and wondered where her manners were. “Tyler, come with me, sweetheart. Let’s wash you up in the kitchen.”
Tyler was doing jumps and punching the air. “Mama, did you see me do those kicks Zane taught me?”
She nodded and ushered him inside. “You’re doing great.”
“Mama, did you know he’s a Jedi Master?” Tyler’s face was overjoyed with happiness.
“Is he?” She washed his hands, then grabbed a towel and dried them before they walked back to the patio.
Zane met them at the threshold, coming the other way. She didn’t know how he’d cleaned up so quickly, but there he was with his long blond hair brushed and pulled back. He had on a clean, white shirt that made his skin look even more tan. He smelled … man, what was that cologne?
As their eyes locked, he stepped aside so they could walk past. “Evening.” He nodded at them and winked at Tyler.
Tyler giggled. “Zane, how did you become a Jedi Master?”
Sarah pointed to the chair she wanted Tyler in. “We’ll talk when we’re settled.” She shushed him, then was surprised to have Zane pulling out her chair for her and waiting. She knew she was blushing. “Oh.” She sat, and he pushed it in a bit for her before taking his own seat and smiling at her. “Thank you.”
He nodded. “It smells wonderful.”
Sarah thought about how this was like one of those Star Trek episodes about the space/time continuum.
A smile played at Zane’s lips. “Star Trek Voyager, when Harry changes the timeline.”
Flutters filled her stomach, and she was amazed he knew what she was thinking. She blinked and tried to focus. “Should we eat?”
Zane picked up his fork and knife. “Let’s do it.”
“Silly goose, we have to pray first,” Tyler said, smiling at Zane.
Zane froze, then put the silverware down slowly and nodded.
Tyler grinned at Zane. “Will you pray?”
The expression on Zane’s face changed to one of immense discomfort. “Sorry, kid.”
Her heart fluttered, and she didn’t know why she felt embarrassed. “I’ll do it,” she said to Tyler. She and Tyler always held hands, but she didn’t know how to do that.
“Hold his hand, Mommy,” Tyler directed her.
Her eyes met Zane’s, and then he put his hand out and held her eyes. “I can do that if you want.”
She ignored the way even the slightest touch sent jolts of electricity through her. She ignored the way she could barely mumble a clear thought as she began to pray. She absolutely ignored the way that, after the prayer had ended and she tried to tug her hand away, Zane purposefully held it a bit longer. Held it, in fact, until their eyes met again. He smiled at her before letting go.
Man, he was frustrating.
They all began to eat, and Tyler started to ramble and talk and tell her all about the fights and everything Zane had taught him.
She bit into the steak, and it melted in her mouth.
Zane held a piece up. “This is good. I like that marinade.”
“Thank you.” It annoyed her that his compliments meant so much to her.
“Mama is the best cook.” Tyler began to prattle again. “My mama can cook lots of things. My favorite is mac ’n’ cheese, corn dogs, and her ravioli.”
Sarah felt embarrassed, because what Tyler thought was good cooking was really just processed food. Ack!
Zane nodded. “Mmm, those are some of my faves too, bud.”
Tyler turned a
n innocent look to Zane. “Is the food here at a house better than homeless food?”
Oh shoot, she’d been caught.
Zane turned wide, accusing eyes on her, nearly choking on the food in his mouth. “I’m homeless?”
Sarah spluttered helplessly.
“Oh, sorry, Mama told me not to say that.” Tyler gave him a sad look. “Your clothes don’t look bad, though.”
Zane frowned, and she forced herself not to laugh. She hadn’t known what to say to Tyler, and he kept putting her on the spot. Darn, she really hadn’t thought about what Zane would say if he found out. Of course he would. It was Tyler, after all. He was only seven and could not keep a secret.
Putting her napkin down and her hands up in surrender, Sarah tried to control her expression. “I’m sorry.”
The side of Zane’s lip turned up. “What else, pray tell—” He turned to Tyler. “—did your mom tell you about me?”
Her heart skipped a beat, and she sorted through the things she’d told Tyler. Not too bad; the homeless thing was the worst because it had been off the cuff.
“Oh.” Tyler took a bite and spoke with food in his mouth. “She said that you knew each other in high school and that you knew my daddy too.”
Zane’s face sobered a bit, and hers did too. He nodded. “Yep.”
Tyler continued, looking bored, having no idea the unrest his mother was feeling. “She said you joined the military and have been fighting the bad guys, but now you’re homeless and need a place to stay.”
Zane’s jaw visibly flexed, but she didn’t laugh at this point. He grunted and put a piece of steak in his mouth. “Guess it’s a good thing I can stay here.”
She took a sip of water and tried to make it all better. “Sweetheart, what I should have said was Zane needs a place to stay for a few days. We’re happy to have an old friend stay here, right?”
Tyler shoved in another piece of meat and wiped his face with the back of his hand, oblivious to the underpinnings of the conversation. “Okay.” He flashed a grin. “Mommy, I think he should be a superhero. I think he looks just like Thor.”
For some stupid reason, mention of Zane looking like Thor made her blush again. “Okay.”
Tyler continued to talk. “And I could help you and the Avengers save the world.”
Zane nodded. “Heck yeah, you could.”
Tyler flashed a smile at her. “I always tell my mommy she could be Wonder Woman, but she doesn’t think so.”
On cue, she held up some strands of her hair, as if that was answer enough.
He giggled. “Just ’cause your hair isn’t brunette doesn’t mean you can’t be Wonder Woman.”
Smiling at Tyler, she turned and met Zane’s gaze.
“I think she definitely could pull off Wonder Woman,” Zane said lightly.
Warmth flooded her and she tried not to show she was a bit breathless by his comment. She focused on her salad.
Zane encouraged Tyler to talk, asking him questions about school, his teacher, and his friends. Frankly, Zane got more out of him than she felt she got out of Tyler most nights. Truthfully, though, she didn’t ask like Zane or play with him like Zane.
Unsurprisingly, when she told Tyler to get in the shower and then his jammies, he begged for Zane to be the one to tell him a bedtime story.
She gathered dishes and didn’t know what to say until Zane nudged her while he picked up a plate and smiled at Tyler. “I’ll tell you a story, but it will scare your socks off, boy.”
The threat made Tyler let out a shriek and take off running to the bathroom. “No, it won’t!”
“Oh yes it will!” Zane shouted back, jerking her out of normalcy and making her laugh.
Together, they pulled all the dishes off the table, and she began washing and loading the dishwasher. Zane, without being asked, took a washrag and wiped down the table. She noticed the long strokes appeared almost militant in their efficiency.
She also noticed that under the white button-down shirt, his muscles flexed at the most subtle movements. She recalled the way he’d been so playful and easy with Tyler. Now, he fell into a calm, serious state. She didn’t know if it was him or her. Maybe it didn’t matter who it was. All that mattered was that when he came back into the house and rinsed out the washrag and began systematically washing down the counters, the air was suddenly charged between them. She wanted to stare at him, to watch the graceful way he had about him doing something as mundane as cleaning, but she couldn’t.
Every time she turned to stare at him, his eyes met hers. It felt like they were kids at a school dance and she was waiting for him to ask her to join him for the next song. Was she waiting for it? Did she want to dance with the man? Her racing heart and nervous angst shouted yes.
“So I’m homeless, huh?” he asked, as he moved behind her and reached over her to rinse the rag again.
The shock of his gentle touch made her drop the dish she was holding. Luckily, it only fell back into the soapy water. “Oh. Sorry, I didn’t know what to say and that came out.”
She turned to face him and realized how close he was. She smelled that ridiculously wonderful cologne he’d put on before dinner, but she could also smell him. It sparked a memory from long ago, from the very moment she’d met him. Her breath caught, and she realized he was within kissing distance.
Their eyes held, and she wondered, as she had so many times in the past, how his eyes could be such a vivid blue. So deep and endless. When they were happy, they were more sky blue, but she knew that when they were angry, they could almost be grey and dark like an impending storm.
He didn’t move. Neither did she.
He leaned closer. So softly, he reached up and brushed a strand of hair out of her face, his hand skimming her cheek. “I can be homeless if you need me to be.”
How come it felt like there was a train on the tracks and it was screaming get out of the way, but she could only stare in the headlights and wonder how it would feel to be trampled? Dang it, she wanted to kiss this man, wanted to touch his face. Ask about the scar on his lip. About the tattoo on his back. A million things.
She closed her eyes and turned her head, trying to smell anything but him. “Honestly, I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know how to explain you would be staying here.” She shrugged, feeling helpless and shaken and entirely out of her league. This morning, when she imagined asking for his help to protect her and her son, she had not imagined that being with Zane again, being near him, would feel this intense.
His hand reached up and gently held her bicep. “It’s okay, Sarah. It’s okay.”
The memory of the last time he’d said those words to her, of the time he’d come back from the dead, left her frazzled. Wrenching away from him and stumbling to get past him, she felt disoriented. She still had dishes in the sink, but she said, “Excuse me, I need to go check on Tyler.”
Chapter 9
Zane stood outside on the deck, staring out over the ocean. The sun was setting and blues and pinks and oranges filled the sky. The one thing he loved more than anything about living in San Diego was the ocean—it soothed him with its natural healing melody. Too bad he was way past soothing at the moment. He pressed Sutton’s number and held it to his ear.
“Smith.” Sutton always answered calls the way a king would answer them: with brevity.
“Did you find out anything more about her home being broken into?”
“No.”
“Bull, you knew. You knew, and you didn’t tell me.”
“Why would I do that, young chap?” Sutton asked, slipping into his superior self.
Zane hated it when Sutton called him chap. So British and prissy. He ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t know. I know you would have the report if your henchmen were doing their job.” He tried to keep his voice even, but it felt impossible. This was Sarah and Tyler, and he was determined to protect them.
Sutton exhaled slowly. “I am glad you are there taking care of business. If I had to
place bets, I would say it’s Harris breaking in. He might have some of the police in his pocket. As you know, he continually meets with her. Have you found out if she’s interested in him?”
This was not the conversation Zane had expected to have. He was probably way too close to the situation. All he could focus on during dinner was how her hand had felt in his and that lemony smell she wore. He cursed. Maybe he should ask her not to smell so dang good so he could keep his focus. “I’ll have to find out what her exact relationship is with him. She is having a client meeting tomorrow night with him for dinner, and I insisted on going.”
Sutton burst out laughing.
Even to him, Zane knew this sounded ridiculous. “Shut up.”
“Oh dear, I might have to send River in on this one to help you out. Or Blayze. Yes, that might be better. I could probably trust him not to date my ex-brother-in-law.” His voice turned bitter on the last word.
Zane could only imagine what Sarah would tell Tyler about those dudes. “It’s not like that,” he said quickly, but he didn’t elaborate. “So do you or don’t you know who is breaking in?”
“No, I don’t know.” Sutton sighed. “But I’ll have my henchmen check the tapes and start surveillance from the satellite.”
Zane hated thinking they would be watched at such a microscopic level, but it was necessary. “Fine.”
“Eyes on the mission, Kent. Take down Harris. I’ll be having my FBI resource in contact you soon.”
“The mission changed for me the minute Sarah Sommers became involved. You’ve got to know that, Sutton.” He kept his voice low as he thought of Tyler too.
Sutton grunted softly. “Thor.” He said the name with amusement. “You should know, once I discovered the girl and you had history, I put you on this because I think you’re the only one who might be able to keep the girl and her son safe from Harris.”
Warmth flooded his chest. Yes, this was the reason he worked for Sutton. This right here. The man cared about the widowed, the destitute, the hopeless.
