Zane (Alluring Indulgence) (37 page)

“Oh,
honey, it’s beyond incredible.”

So,
it would appear Zoey wasn’t going to hold back.

“So,
I’m guessing y’all had a little welcome home party for Gage?”

“We
did. And it was incredible. Let’s just say it included a couple of beers and
Kaleb’s hot tub. Now your turn. Tell me about the first time.”

V
felt her face heat, knew she was probably turning beet red, but she couldn’t
help it. Remembering the first time she and Zane and Beau had gotten together still
did that to her.

“It
was about a week before Zane’s attack. The night you and Kaleb went home early
from Moonshiners. Remember that?” Not that Zoey would remember it because, in
recent months, there’d been plenty of times they’d snuck out early.

“Where’d
y’all go? Your house? Or Zane’s?”

“Mine.
They rode to the bar together, so they followed me back to my house.”

“Was
it planned? I mean, did you know it was going to happen before you left?”

“No.
Ok, yes.” V smiled. She hadn’t known for sure, but she had an idea. Her
attraction to Zane was no less intense then than it was now. He’d manage to
rile her up for a couple of hours while they’d sat at a booth, talking and
drinking.

“So,
is it really just about Beau joining in with the two of you? Or do you have
feelings for Beau too?”

Zoey’s
question caught V off guard.

“I
care about Beau. But only as a friend. I’m attracted to him, sure. What woman
isn’t?”

It
was true; Beau Bennett was handsome as hell. First of all, he was a giant of a
man. Blonde hair. Smoldering brown eyes. He’d been the football team’s star
athlete in high school and had more than his fair share of women fawning over
him. Not that Beau knew what to do with that attention because aside from being
irresistibly attractive, he was also almost painfully shy. Well, except around
her and Zane as it would appear. The thought made V’s face heat even more.

“Tell
me,” Zoey remarked, obviously noticing where V’s thoughts had strayed.

“Let’s
just say, Beau’s a big man.”

Zoey’s
grin widened, and her eyes sparkled. “So, no complaints? One of those things
where they walk into the room and your clothes just fall off, huh?”

V
laughed because that was almost true. Her clothes had a mind of their own at
least where Zane was concerned. “Sounds like you’ve got a little experience
with that problem?”

“I’d
say so. Since Gage has been back, I’m not sure I’ve kept my clothes on for more
than a couple of hours at a time when Kaleb is around.”

They
were quiet for a moment while Rachel brought out their food. V wondered whether
they should check their meals for tampering after the glare Rachel shot their
way just before she stomped off. She wasn’t sure what had crawled up the
waitress’ butt, but she didn’t appear to be thrilled that Zoey and V were
there.

“How
are things with you and Zane?”

The
seriousness to Zoey’s tone told V she’d moved on from the sex part. V frowned
as she began picking at the chicken strips on her plate.

“Talk
to me, V. I know you. I know where your head is.”

Well,
it was good that someone did because V sure didn’t. She’d started to overthink
a few times in the last couple of days, but each and every time she saw Zane,
he managed to reel her back in with his adorable, crooked smile and his country
boy charm.

“I
don’t even know where to go with that,” V said honestly.

“Do
you love him?”

Oh,
God. It was way too early to be thinking about love. Wasn’t it? Sure, they had
some fervent sex, but V was trying like hell not to think about what might
happen next. Couldn’t they just be happy with the way things were? Was she
supposed to be thinking about more?

“Ok,
don’t answer that,” Zoey stated adamantly. “Just promise me one thing.”

V
glanced up at her friend, wondering whether it was possible to promise anything
at this point.

“Promise
me that you won’t make any crazy decisions, one way or another, until later.
Much later. Just enjoy Zane for a while. God knows you both deserve some
happiness, and there’s nothing to say that anything else has to come of this.
Not today, not tomorrow. Can you promise me that?”

V
smiled, but she knew Zoey would see right through her. “I’ll try.”

“Ok,
good. Now, tell me about what it’s like to be sandwiched between two hot, hunky
men. I mean, tell me something I don’t already know.”

V
laughed, and for once, she was grateful for the change in topic.

♂♀

“Seriously?
Kaleb finally agreed to Vegas?” Zane wasn’t sure he believed his brothers, but
for once the twins didn’t look like they were trying to pull one over on him.

“Yep.
And the good news is, we’ll be going before Christmas.”

Holy
shit.
Christmas was only two weeks away. How the hell did
they manage that one? “When?”

“Thursday.”
Braydon smiled that mischievous smile that generally got all of them concerned.

“Like
a week from yesterday?” That barely gave them enough time to get a flight.

“Yep.
The rooms are all booked. We’ve talked to V, and she’s handled everything on
her end for the girl’s. Gage is still in town, Travis said he’d be back by then,
and we’ve got a handful of others going as well.”

“Like
who?” Zane knew they wouldn’t even attempt it if all seven of them wouldn’t be
there, but he wondered who else they’d invited.

“Greyson,
Beau, Blake, Aaron, Jaxson, CJ.” Brendon glanced back at Braydon as though
trying to make sure he hadn’t left anyone out. “We tried to convince Kennedy to
go, but she just laughed at us. Don’t tell Sawyer.”

Zane
grinned. Leave it to the twins to try and convince the girl Sawyer was
pretending not to be interested in, to go to Vegas for a bachelor/bachelorette
party. Greyson Cutler was Sawyer’s best friend, but Zane hadn’t seen him in a
while. Zane didn’t know Blake Henley, but thanks to Kaleb, he’d learned he was
helping Ethan out at the shop since Zane hadn’t been back. Aaron Haines was
another friend of Zane’s, although he was also good friends with Brendon and
Braydon. Chase Jameson, who went by CJ, and Jaxson Briggs were both cousins.

“So,
who’s left? Who’s going with Zoey, besides V?” Zane didn’t know any of Zoey’s
friends. Come to think of it, he didn’t know any of V’s either, aside from
anyone they ran with together.

“We’re
still waiting on a couple of other people to confirm. I have no idea who V
invited. She said she was going to talk to Zoey.”

Well,
as long as V was going to be there, Zane really didn’t care who else they
invited. He figured the guys that were going were likely going to bring some
women along, and ever since the twins informed him that they were doing a
combined bachelor/bachelorette party, Zane was almost anxious to see how it
would play out.

Seriously,
how does that work? Are there going to be strippers? Did he have to watch some
dude strip before he watched some chick? Or after? Hell, with the twins in
charge, there’s no telling what they were in for when they got to Vegas.

“Have
you seen Ethan?” Zane asked when the twins settled down after whooping and
hollering one more time about Vegas. Zane had no idea what all the fuss was
about. He’d never been to Vegas, nor did he really have a desire to go. Since
this was for Kaleb, he was all for it, but as far as he was concerned, they
could have the bachelor party at Moonshiners.

“He’s
at the shop,” Brendon offered.

With
that, Zane made a beeline out the door. He needed to talk to Ethan, and he needed
to do it soon. For some reason, Zane was under the impression his brother was
avoiding him.

Five
minutes later, he pulled his Jeep up next to the mechanic shop located not far
from the Walker Demolition construction office right on his parents’ property.
Ethan’s truck was parked out front which was a good sign. Grabbing his black
Stetson, Zane took a deep breath and ventured inside.

It
didn’t take long to find Ethan, who was up underneath one of the large tractors
behind the shop. They only worked on vehicles inside which meant most of the large
equipment was stored behind the shop and was also where Ethan spent most of his
time.

Zane
cleared his throat, hoping to get Ethan’s attention. It worked. His brother
slowly rolled out from under the tractor, peered up at him before rolling right
back under. Ok, so apparently this wasn’t going to go as well as he hoped.

“Hey,”
Zane called out. “Get your ass out here and talk to me.”

“Fuck
you,” Ethan remarked without much heat, but he didn’t move either. “I’ve got
work to do in case you haven’t noticed. Oh, wait. You
haven’t
noticed.”

“Get
your ass out here, or I’ll join you underneath there, and you know how that’ll
turn out,” Zane barked.

Because
Zane and Ethan worked so closely together, they had a tolerably strained
relationship. Before the attack, the two of them had spent most of their days
together, and they managed to get on each other’s nerves more times than not.

Ethan
rolled back out, grabbed one of the grease rags from beside him and proceeded
to stare up at Zane while wiping his hands. “Five minutes, bro. That’s all you
get.”

“Five
minutes won’t work. Get your fucking ass out from under there,” Zane demanded
before turning to go back inside the shop.

This
was Texas, and the weather was generally mild, but sometime overnight they’d
had a cold front blow in, which dropped the temps into the thirties. Call him a
pussy or whatever, but Zane wasn’t looking to freeze his ass off. He’d had to run
back in his house and grab his Carhartt jacket this morning as it was. It
didn’t offer much protection from the wind whipping around him.

Once
inside, Zane headed right to the small area that they’d commandeered as their
office. It wasn’t a large room, but they managed to make good use of the space.
More importantly, it had heat. Or it would as soon as the damn heater kicked
on. Zane screwed with the thermostat on the wall until finally the heater
rumbled to life.

The
smell was horrendous. Being spoiled to Texas weather, they didn’t have to use
the heater that much, and every time they did, Zane hated the smell that was
emitted while the dust burned off.

While
he waited for Ethan, Zane flipped on the coffee pot, knowing damn well his
brother was always in a foul mood without his coffee. He was as bad as the
others when it came to his caffeine fix. Zane seemed to be the only one who
avoided the stuff.

“What
the hell do you want?” Ethan growled when he came into the office a few minutes
later. “I’ve got work to do, in case you haven’t noticed.”

“Where’s
Blake?” Zane asked, remembering what Kaleb said about the man who was
supposedly helping Ethan in Zane’s absence.

“Fuck
if I know.”

The
words out of Ethan’s mouth did not match the confusion on his brother’s face.
It was true, Ethan didn’t smile a lot, but for the most part, he didn’t say
much either. Especially not a litany of curse words in so few sentences. Zane
understood Ethan’s anger, knew he wasn’t happy about the fact that he didn’t plan
to come back and work at the shop, but he also felt they needed to discuss it.

“Is
he hired on permanently?” Zane dropped into the chair that he previously
claimed as his own. Propping his boots up on the edge of the desk, he stared
back at Ethan.

“No.”

Ethan
didn’t elaborate, but he did pull out the other chair and slid down into it.
Zane stared at his brother across Ethan’s immaculately kept desk. Glancing back
at his own, he wanted to laugh. Yeah, they were worlds apart in so many ways
and looking at it now, Zane found it a little amusing that Ethan would be so mad
about him not coming back. At home, Zane kept everything in its place. At work...
Not so much. Although, that was going to change with the new club because he
wasn’t going to have much of a choice.

“Kaleb
told me he’s been helping out.”

“He
has.” Ethan glanced over at the coffee pot, just realizing it was finished
brewing. Between the smell of the heater and the stench of the coffee, Zane
wasn’t sure which was more unappealing. Obviously Ethan didn’t think it was the
coffee because he bolted up out of his chair and reached for the pot and a
Styrofoam cup.

“Does
he want to work full time?” Zane questioned his brother, watching him as he
added sugar to the black liquid.

Ethan
turned to face him then, his face void of any and all emotion. “Are you not
coming back? Is that what you’re finally telling me?”

Zane
stared into the same smoke blue eyes that he saw when he looked into the
mirror. All of his brothers had the same color eyes, the same color hair, and
almost the same build. Ethan looked more like their father than any of them
with his chiseled features.