She looked from the letter to her boss. “After as long as we’ve worked together, I think…”
“What’s on your mind, Dora?” Zach arched an eyebrow patiently.
“Did you marry her because of the property?” She asked cautiously.
Zach held his pen between both hands and leaned back in his chair, meeting her gaze openly. No, he wasn’t angry with the question. Out of no where, he marries a woman and solves his property problem.
“I met her because of the property,” Zach answered after a lengthy pause. “I married her…because I fell in love with her, Dora,” he admitted with a soft laugh. “Not something you’d have expected from me?”
“I like Eve,” she said simply. “She’s good for you. I’m just glad that attorney of yours didn’t get her hooks in you.”
“Why are you and Eve convinced Mallory was even the least bit interested in me?” He asked in disbelief.
“Because we’re smart,” Dora answered with a chuckle, leaving him to his work.
Zach stared out the window of his office, his voice low and not heard by anyone else. “I did the unforgivable thing of falling in love with my wife,” he said, surprised at the sound of his declaration.
Dora frowned when Mallory West stepped from the elevator, the long legged stride filled with confidence. She didn’t like the shark like smile on her face.
“Let Zach know I’m here, please, Dora,” Mallory looked at the closed door, her foot tapping on the hardwood.
“Zach? Miss West is here to see you,” Dora said into the phone. “Of course.” She hung up and nodded to the door. “You can go in.”
“What do you want, Mallory?” Zach signed the bottom of the requisition he had finished and tossed it into the pile.
“We received notification of ownership change in a piece of property, Zach,” Mallory set her briefcase on the chair and snapped it open. “We needed your signature of the sale to make the transfers from Eve Hastings to you.”
“Why are you involved in this? It’s personal,” he sat back, hands tented and eyes curious.
“Her attorney sent it to us. Eric knew we represented you,” she said simply. “I was wondering how you managed that last slice of property. Very clever.”
“Well you wasted your time. Eve’s attorney is handling the transfer. It’s part of the project now.” Zach felt his pulse thump in anger. “Your firm is not involved in this or the project, Mallory. Kindly make that fact clear to your boss. Otherwise, I’ll find a personal attorney who listens to my requests without involving themselves in my private life.”
“I see. It’s a puzzle,” Mallory West dropped the papers into her case and closed it. “I’m sure your business firm will handle it. I can see why you would marry her…I haven’t figured out why she would agree.”
“You obviously have too much time on your hands. Quite frankly, it’s none of your business,” Zach shook his head. “We never clicked, Mallory. The few dinners we had were over a year ago. Why the hell do you care who I marry?”
“I’m not sure why we didn’t click, as you say,” she stared at him. “I thought we made a stunning couple.”
“It just didn’t fit,” Zach answered. “But I wish you the best in your search.”
“Or…maybe she realized she made a mistake and used the property as a way out of the marriage…”
Zach’s gaze narrowed. “Good bye, Mallory.”
“You used to value the advice we offered, Zach.” She lifted her case and stood watching him. “When you asked for the prenup, I did a basic investigation of your perspective wife.”
“You did what?” Zach asked in a low voice.
“It’s part of the prenup, Zach, don’t look so surprised. We’ve done it in over a hundred cases. But I’ve never seen a report back that said so little. She’s never been married, never even engaged. In fact, my investigator couldn’t even find where she had dated.”
“Eve is a private person,” he said with carefully controlled words.
“I found where she tripped around Europe for several years with Samantha Elliott,” Mallory commented with a shake of her head.
“Eve’s been to several schools, in the USA and abroad. I don’t like your intrusion, Mallory. I believe it goes beyond simple attorney advice.”
“If I had found something in her past…”
“This might be a surprise to you, but Eve and I talk. I know everything I need to know about her. Now as well as her yesterdays. Now,” his jaw was set and tense. “I have to get to the site,” he said without comment, lifting his case from the floor and sliding the closed laptop into the center pad. Zach had his keys in his hand, the door pulled wide and jaw set. “Good bye, Mallory. Lock up, Dora. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Have a great night, Zach,” Dora said softly, frowning at the blonde striding with him. She was not good for her boss at all.
“I don’t understand, Zach,” Mallory commented quietly. “This isn’t like you.”
“I’ve evolved,” he answered with a dry laugh. “You should give it a try,” he let the elevator close with her on the outside watching him. He dropped his keys in his pocket and pulled his phone out, pulling the number he wanted up and hitting connect. “Edmond West, please, Zach Covington.”
“Please hold and I’ll see if Mr. West is available, Mr. Covington.”
Zach continued to the SUV, half aware of the music playing. He checked for the clean work clothes in the back before getting behind the wheel and sliding the phone into the caddy.
“Zach! How’ve you been?”
Edmond West had always been a boisterous, outgoing sort that Zach had met through his father.
“I’m doing amazingly well, Ed, but this isn’t a personal call. I want my account moved to another attorney,” Zach said bluntly.
“What’s the problem, Zach? Mallory hasn’t mentioned any issues….”
“Mallory is the issue. I’m asking you to change my account to another, more objective person,” Zach said, turning the key and buckling himself in before heading out of the garage.
“Hmm…how about dinner? We can talk in person and get this straightened out.”
“Got plans this evening,” Zach answered immediately.
“Tomorrow?”
“Ed…” Zach sighed heavily. Can’t change the habits they’ve gotten used to over night, he thought. “Alright. Where and what time?”
****
Eve looked up from the computer when the door opened, fingers up in a light wave as she continued her game for a few minutes. Eve stared wide eyed, her phone up and photos snapped off before he could do more than glare at her. He disappeared into the back and she was finished with the game by the time he emerged from the shower.
“Playing in the mud today?” She asked when he reappeared in comfortable jeans and a t-shirt hanging free.
“Rain makes mud,” Zach answered, sitting on a stool and snagging her when she came close. He moved her between his knees, one palm up and sliding into the hair at the back of her head and pulling her mouth to his. “How were the kids today?”
“Fun,” she answered with a happy smile. “They missed me.”
“So did I,” he said honestly. “I received a letter today from your attorney.”
“A letter? About the property?” She guessed and nodded. “I sent him a note yesterday and told him it’s what I wanted done. I signed the papers this morning and sent them back to him for the transfer.”
“Why?”
Eve blinked in confusion. “I don’t understand the question. It’s what we agreed to, Zach. I told you the property was yours.”
“What we agreed to…” He repeated slowly. “We agreed to the end of a years’ time.”
“You changed that when you said there would be no divorce,” Eve stared at him. “I don’t understand why it matters, Zach. Are you hungry? Dinner’s ready,” Eve told him, moving off to the stove.
“Starving,” Zach admitted, accepting the plate
s she slid over the counter to him. Why did it matter, he thought. She wasn’t writing him out of her life by giving him the property now. “We have a dinner invitation tomorrow at the Yacht club. He's an old friend of my father's…”
“Alright,” Eve nodded, her mind dashing into her closet with a little frown. “Do I meet you there?”
“I’ll be home early and pick you up,” he assured her, turning their attention and conversation to other things through their meal.
Chapter Eighteen
Eve applied the liner beneath her eyes the way Jane had shown her, smiling at the seductive look it seemed to give her. She stepped into her heels and found the short jacket that went with the little black dress. The dress had a fitted bodice with slender straps, the skirt stopping just past her knees. She entered the living area at the same time Zach came in the front door.
“I’m ready.”
Zach took in the slight, delightfully feminine form, his case set on the table before he offered his palm. “You look nice…and smell nice…” he mentioned after his greeting kiss.
“Thank you. So tell me about who we’re dining with,” Eve asked as he led her to the waiting SUV. Zach watched her hips shimmy a little, the skirt pulled about her knees before he stepped forward and lifted her to the seat.
“I’m thinking some dress dinners might need your car, not mine,” Zach said with a laugh, closing the door and crossing to the other side.
“Some dresses weren’t made for climbing,” Eve told him with a slight frown.
Zach shifted the talk to the project, relieved when she began asking questions about the people he was contracting for the utilities.
Eve put her hands on his arms when he lifted her from the inside of the SUV, the keys turned over to the valet before they went inside the exclusive looking club.
“You’ve worked very hard at keeping the questions I asked about tonight from being answered,” she commented lightly, watching the surprise on his face. “Why, Zach?”
“We’re dining with Edmond West, senior partner of the law firm who has been handling my personal business for about ten years now,” Zach answered carefully, his palm comfortable at the narrow indent of her waist. They entered the dimly lit dining area and waited to be greeted.
Eve let her gaze take in the people dining. “I’m thinking you didn’t mention you were bringing a date, Zach.”
He followed the direction she was looking, watching Mallory and her father in what appeared to be a last minute strategy session.
“They do appear surprised.”
“You did it on purpose,” Eve said without a doubt.
“Perhaps I just wanted to show off my gorgeous wife,” he said, leaning down and kissing her.
“Hmm…usually that sexy voice sends a wild tingle through me…”
“I promise you lots of tingles later,” Zach teased with a wink. “The West party, please,” Zach told the maitre de.
“Why are we dining with them?” Eve asked, deliberately slowing their pace.
“I told Edmond I wanted a different attorney assigned. If he chooses to ignore me after this, I’ll simply find another attorney.”
“And it has to be done at a meal?”
“Habit,” Zach admitted with a casual shrug. “Edmond…my wife, Eve Hastings. Eve, you already know Mallory.”
“We’ve met. How do you do, Mr. West?” Eve shook hands and smiled brightly. “Zach tells me you’re an old friend of his fathers.”
“Oh, James and I go all the way back to college, Eve,” he shook her hand and watched the solicitous way Zach remained close to her.
“This is a lovely restaurant,” Eve commented, looking around at the décor and out the wide expansive windows above the south Sound. She’d seen the dark glare in Mallory’s eyes and looked directly into them. “Are you alright, Mallory? You look disturbed.”
“I’m simply surprised to see you here,” she answered bluntly.
“Since it’s a business dinner and I’m the subject of the business, it seemed only fitting,” Eve said with a laugh. “Besides, Zach and I rarely go anywhere without the other these days. It’s the honeymoon phase, I think…”
“It’s a phase that’ll go on long into the future,” Zach assured her, his fingers wrapped around hers where they rested on the table.
“Are you sure you want to discuss this business here?” Eve looked from one to the other. “I personally never understood mixing digestion with business.”
“Zach and I have always had a good working relationship,” Edmond West said carefully.
“Then when he asks you to assign a different attorney to him, it shouldn’t be a problem,” Eve lifted the menu and began browsing the choices.
“You’ve asked that I be replaced?” Mallory repeated slowly, looking at Zach in surprise.
“There’s a conflict of interest,” Eve told her without looking at Zach. “When Zach asked you to drop the prenup, you ignored him. I wasn’t happy that you came to the resort to discuss something that you’d been told to drop.”
“Perhaps dinner isn’t the best time for this discussion,” Edmond West announced, clearing his throat. “It was quite a surprise when Mallory told me you’d married, Zach. Did you meet at the resort? It’s a grand project…very…socially conscious.”
“The reclamation of any downtown area depends on the people willing to ignore greed for the better good,” Eve stated firmly. “How is having a society dependent upon their government any different than an individual who is dependent upon a drug? Where did we as a people start to believe that we can survive without the rest of our society? My daycare workers are just as valuable and necessary as your attorneys, Edmond.”
Zach leaned back with a crooked grin after placing an order for a dark ale. “Eve’s right. Open market and a free market are good things, but whether we like it or not, there must be limits and controls. You can’t run this yacht club without the wait staff or clean up people, yet we don’t take that into consideration as far as housing and expenses are concerned.”
“They met because of the property Zach was after, Father,” Mallory said when Zach finished, her menu set aside as the waiter took their orders. “Eve was the owner.”
“I was…and I gave the property to Zach because I believe in him and what he’s doing,” Eve told her with a casual shrug.
“I was a little taken aback when Mallory said you’d changed your mind about a prenup, though,” Edmond looked from one to the other. “It’s become fairly standard when people with significant means marry.”
“I think it’s like the project, Edmond. We’re breaking the rules,” Eve told him with a smile. “A handshake and promise is all I needed. I honestly have nothing against your chosen profession, but I have a strong belief in personal responsibility. People who sue each other at the drop of a word…it baffles me.”
“You spend your days surrounded by children,” Mallory said with a tinge of anger. “That’s very far from the real world.”
“I do…and we spend our lives as parents teaching our children to take responsibility for their actions and turn around and do the opposite as adults. I will never adhere to the do as I say, not as I do premise,” Eve told her easily. “Being with children is a very…freeing…activity. They’re honest and genuine. They haven’t learned the social games we foist upon one another. As far as reality is concerned, children are the ones hurt most with what we call reality.”
“You work at the resort?” Edmond asked after their food had been laid out for them, cutting into the seafood hungrily.
“Eve is actually the Director for the learning and play care center,” Zach answered proudly.
“We provide on-site care for children of the employees and visitors to the resort,” Eve added with a smile at her husband.
Edmond worked to keep the conversation away from the intended business, talking with Zach about old acquaintances and the extent of the project he was working on with the resort.
Eve l
istened to the three of them talk about people they knew, a large prawn between her fingers as she ate slowly, dredging it though the creamy sauce on her plate. She shook her head when they offered her wine, watching as Mallory and her father relaxed after a large glass of the white liquid. Without giving it a thought, she took a large forkful of the wild mushroom pasta from Zach’s plate.
“That’s very good,” Eve noted, unaware of the smile on Zach’s face and the odd looks from the other two at the table.
“I have it every time I come here,” Zach admitted, offering her another forkful and stealing a prawn from her plate.
“I bet we can find these mushrooms at the market,” Eve said thoughtfully, savoring the spices in the mixture. She looked up at Mallory. “Do you like to cook? Zach and I love cooking and finding things at the farmer’s markets will be great fun.”
“Cooking is something I never found an interest in,” Mallory answered, shaking her head and excusing herself.
Eve sighed. “Do you intend to honor Zach’s request for a different attorney, Mr. West?”
The older man looked taken aback. “I believe that will be discussed between…”
“I thought you said this was a business discussion and that was the topic?” Eve asked, recognizing the controlled tension in Zach.
“Eve asked the question I asked before, Edmond. I want another attorney assigned to me or I’ll move my personal business,” Zach said clearly and firmly.
“Your daughter had and possibly still has a crush on Zach,” Eve stated quietly. “And I’m not convinced she can be professional at this point. Having her show up at my office wanting personal information for something she was explicitly told to drop was mildly annoying.”
“I believe she has Zach’s best interests at the base of her decision to speak with you, Eve. As for a crush…” He stopped speaking as Mallory approached from the side. “I will handle it.”
“Excuse me,” Eve stood up and went toward the restrooms.
Zach set his napkin on the table and straightened up, looking slowly from father to daughter. “I’ll trust you to handle this, Edmond. But it’s not to happen again. Good night,” he nodded to them both, striding to wait for Eve to come out. She was surprised to see him, but her palm slid readily into his.
WindSwept Narrows: #6 Eve Hastings Page 14
