It Takes Two: Deep in the Heart, Book 1 (31 page)

“Hmm,” Annie said, laying the letter aside. Cody swiftly snatched it up, but she didn’t notice. Underneath the note were a couple of pictures of Zach in the arms of a stunning, naked woman.

Date-stamped the day he’d made love to Annie.

Shaking, Annie sat down at the table. She was too frozen to think, too shocked to cry. “Apparently, Zach had more up his sleeve than I imagined.”

Chapter Twenty

Silently, deeply embarrassed, Annie handed the pictures to Cody. He whistled low and long. “She’s a hot piece, isn’t she?”

Annie wrapped her arms around herself, mortified at the realization that the man whose hands had brought her such joy and wonder had touched this big-breasted, ivory-skinned woman the same day. “I guess that’s his fiancée. She certainly looks the way I’d envisioned her.”

Cody glanced up from the pictures, concern etched in furrows across his forehead. “Annie Aguillar, don’t you start making comparisons and finding yourself short. You’ve got more going for you than this Playboy bunny any day.”

“Except Zach,” she said unhappily. At Cody’s questioning glance, Annie explained, “He told me they’d broken off their engagement. I assumed he was free.”

Her shamed expression told Cody the rest. “Ah,” was all he said.

“Obviously, they’re still very much together,” she finished. Unable to meet Cody’s sympathetic gaze, Annie looked down at her hands. “The humiliating part is that Zach paid off my tax bill while he was in Desperado.”

“Playing Santa Claus that day, was he? And now you feel bought.”

Annie winced. “I suppose I do.”

Cody put the pictures down and reached across the table to take Annie’s hand in his. “Annie, Zach didn’t bring that carousel to Desperado himself to try to get you in the sack. He brought it to appease his conscience where Mary is concerned, because he truly cares about that child. And he paid off your taxes because he’s got more money than he knows what to do with. And he cares about you. My theory is he couldn’t stand to see you hurting. Any more than I could.” Cody grinned comfortingly. “His visit and these pictures are not connected events, Annie. I’m sure Zach very much wanted to develop a deeper relationship with you, or he wouldn’t have come down.”

“He wasn’t free like he claimed,” Annie said bitterly.

Cody picked up the pictures again, analyzing them. “I don’t know about that. My hunch is that Zach’s very free, and Blondie here isn’t too happy about it. That’s why she sent you these.”

“They’re together. He took her clothes off—”

“Ah, but wait,” Cody said, holding up a hand. “You must read the body language involved. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then look what Zach is saying.” He pointed at the couple. “Look at his neck. He’s got his head cocked back, like he’s gotten too close to poisonous fumes. Now, if he wanted this floozie, he’d have been nuzzling on her neck, or somewhere.”

Annie considered Cody’s words. Zach certainly hadn’t had his head turned away from her body. He’d buried himself eagerly in her breasts, the curve between her neck and shoulder, beneath her hair—warm shivers fluttered over Annie as she remembered Zach’s hunger for her.

“I suppose you could have a point,” she said, still unwilling to be convinced. The sight of the voluptuous woman nude and so near the man Annie wanted made her stomach clench painfully.

“Let me show you something else.” Cody stood, gesturing at Annie. “Come here a sec.”

She got up and walked to Cody’s side of the table, stopping in front of him. He laid the picture beside them, where they could both see it. “Now. Note the position of Zach’s hands.”

“I do,” Annie murmured. “They’re on her body.”

“Yes, but the position is critical. See how his hands are forward, thumbs down on her hips, as if he’s…I don’t know. Either trying to push her away, or hold her up. For all we know, she’s drunk and incapable of standing.”

“You’re not making me feel any better.”

“You’re not paying attention,” Cody said with a grin. “Stop looking at the sky and pay attention to the details. If he wanted to be with this woman, Zach’s hands would be like this,” he said, placing his big hands on her waist, “fingers down, thumbs up, pulling her closer to him. Like so. Get the difference?”

Annie pulled in her breath sharply as Cody pulled her tight against him. A sudden memory of Zach holding her just this way, his hands sneaking into her panties to cup her bottom, engulfed her.

“Uncle Cody, what are you doing with my mommy?” Mary asked.

“I’d like to know the same thing,” Travis chimed in. Gert and Travis stood in the kitchen entry with Mary in front of them, holding a stuffed animal to her. Annie and Cody grimaced at each other, and she surreptitiously slid the telling pictures under the plate of cranberry loaf.

The nut brown of Cody’s skin had turned a bit ruddy around the facial area, Annie noticed. Mary’s question had thrown him.

The stillness in the room was taut as wire. “I’m just trying to see what’s in your mommy’s eye, ladybug,” Cody said gently, glancing down at the child who’d come closer to inspect them.

“My eye?” Annie asked.

“Her eye?” Travis repeated. “Why’re your hands on her rump, then? She learning to see with her legs?”

More color washed into Cody’s neck, just above the collar of his denim work shirt. Annie’s smile widened into a grin.

“Oh, for heaven’s sake, Travis, come back to your room. You’re stirring the pot,” Gert complained, dragging him with her down the hall.

“If Uncle Cody has fixed your eye, Mommy, can I have a drink of water?” Mary asked.

“My eye’s fine, sugar,” Annie said, slipping away to get her daughter a drink.

“Thank you,” Mary said, taking the cup. She drained it, then clutched her stuffed animal more tightly. “I’m going to watch TV.”

“I’ll call you in a little bit for lunch,” Annie said.

“Okay, Mommy.” Mary darted out of the room.

“Well, wasn’t that exciting?” Cody said dryly.

“Not as exciting as these.” Sitting back down at the table with the pictures, Annie riffled through them one last time. “I want to think you’re right, Cody,” she said. “What do you think I should do?”

He took his customary seat across the table, as if the embarrassing encounter hadn’t happened. “About Zach paying your taxes, or the surprise delivery?”

“Either.” She waited for a suggestion.

“I don’t know. I’m not sure old Slick’s figured out what he’s doing himself.” Cody went back to eating another huge piece of cranberry loaf, his expression thoughtful. “I wonder if she’s told him about the pictures?”

“What difference would it make?” Annie was curious.

“Maybe none. But if this little courtesy on his fiancée’s part was designed to run you off, then she’s running scared. But scared enough to do more than make you cry, I wonder?”

“You’re worrying me. What are you talking about?”

He pulled his hand along his braid, then scratched his head. “I presume the fire was intended to put Zach’s ass in a sling.”

“I know you do. Evidently, you convinced the sheriff, because he doesn’t even talk about the fire and Zach in one breath anymore.”

“So, did Zach have a guess as to who was out to get him?”

Annie rubbed a finger lightly over the image of Zach’s face in the picture. “Carter Haskins. An employee at Zach’s company, who happens to be disgusting and dishonest.”

“Okay. So, we have the fire, a possible suspect who has motive—though we don’t know what it is—and blue-movie pictures of Zach and his socialite fiancée, yet another noose designed solely for Zach’s neck.”

Annie narrowed her gaze, staring at Cody. “How do all these events line up?”

“We’d have to ask Zach for that answer. I wonder if there’s any way the fiancée and Zach’s friend could be in cahoots. What’s Zach done that might piss either one of them off real bad?”

She shifted on the bench, shaking her head. “I can’t call him up and say, ‘Zach, what gopher hole did you step in’?”

“I guess not. But I could.”

“What makes you think he’d discuss any personal details of his life with you?” Annie asked.

Cody reached over and thumped her finger gently. She quit tracing Zach’s image immediately. “Zach and I understand each other,” he informed her with a smile.

“Well, that’s more than I can claim,” Annie replied, not smiling.

“Honestly. First of all, Zach trusts me. I could say, ‘Hey, what’s the meaning behind these pictures?’ with all the big-brother bluster I can manage, and likely, he’ll tell me. Second, I have the protective instinct surging through me right now. I don’t like anybody trying to hurt you, Annie, especially not some silly blonde twit. Zach trusts that I’m going to take a chunk out of his hide if I get disappointed in him.”

“I must have missed some bonding between you two,” she commented wryly.

Cody grinned. “You must have. But you’ve been real busy lately.”

Annie sighed and got to her feet. “I think I should just leave Zach alone for a while, until some of the static clears from the air. After all, it’s not like we had agreed upon any relationship between us,” she said quietly. “I don’t really have the right to question him.”

“Oh, Annie, bull. You have every right to call him up and ring his ears about this little gift his lady had hand-delivered to you.”

“That’s true. But then I’d have to ask him about the taxes. And to tell you the truth, Cody, I think I’d just rather wait. Give Zach some time to decide what he wants to do, what he wants from me. If you’re right, and he’s got all these different problems, all he needs right now is a…” She couldn’t bring herself to say
extra burden
.

“Nagging woman.”

She smiled. “Right.”

“You may have a point,” Cody said, getting up from the table too. “Hate to run off the only man that’s come calling for you in a long time,” he teased.

“Oh, thanks. You spend half an hour building me up, then tear me back down right before you leave.” The words were complaining, but Annie was laughing.

“I’ve got to keep your feet on the ground, Annie Aguillar. See you later,” he said. “Bye, Mary,” he shouted down the hall. “Bye, Travis, Gert!”

Annie watched from a window as Cody got into the hearse, waving good-bye. Instantly, she let her hand fall to her side, because he never looked back. Though he’d been joking and smiling in the kitchen with her, his expression now was determined, hard. His eyes lacked the laughter they’d had a moment ago. Underneath the black cowboy hat Cody had slipped on, he looked dark and fierce.

Not like the man she knew at all.

Zach sat in the easy chair after Pop had gone to bed, trying to decide what to do. If LouAnn sprang her trap, it was going to be the end of him and Annie. The small flower that had begun to blossom between them would be ruthlessly nipped off at the bud. Yet how could he call Annie and try to explain the pictures? He’d sound like a fool. LouAnn was counting on that.

It felt like she had him right where she wanted him.

Lost in a hazy world of worry and regret, Zach barely realized he’d reached for the portable telephone beside him. Dialing the operator, he requested a number, memorizing it instantly. Hesitating only one second more, Zach dialed the number.

Cody answered immediately, despite the late hour. “Hello?”

“Cody, it’s Zach Rayez.”

“Well, Slick.
Como esta
?”

Zach started at the sound of Spanish in his ear. He registered two things: one, no one had spoken the language directly to him since his mother had left, and two, Cody had used the formal tense…as if they didn’t know each other very well… Which didn’t sound much like the man who’d given him a friendly chewing out over spending inappropriate time with Mary. Zach’s antennae raised.

“I’m fine,” he replied. “Wanted to bend your ear about something.”

“Bend away.”

Although the farmer wasn’t gregarious by nature, neither had he always been short with Zach. His antennae began to quiver. “I had an unfortunate incident occur with my ex-fiancée. The bottom line is, she’s found out about Annie and decided to make trouble.”

“How do I fit into this scenario?”

Zach winced at Cody’s brusque tone. “I’m hoping you can tell me the right way to approach this with Annie. As I see it, either way I’m going to lose her respect and trust. But I don’t want to see her hurt. If I can avoid it at all, I’d like to try.”

Cody sighed. “I see.”

Zach took a deep breath, preparing to color in the rough sketch he’d just given Cody. “LouAnn was angry that I’d called off the wedding. Deciding that she needed collateral to make certain I’d be the willing groom, she arranged to have—”

“Suggestive pictures of the two of you sent to the unsuspecting third party,” Cody interrupted.

“Yeah,” Zach said. “How did you—? Damn it to hell! She’s already sent them.” He cursed fluently under his breath. He’d underestimated LouAnn’s determination to cut him off at the knees. A sudden thought speared his brain. “Oh, my God. What about Annie? Is she all right? Does she want to kill me?”