Zane (Alluring Indulgence) (8 page)

After
finding out that Zoey’s ex-husband, Jason Tribbons had actually got some chick
pregnant while the two of them had been married, Zoey’s mood had gone sour
there for a little while. Not that V blamed her. If it weren’t for Braydon’s
and Brendon’s interference they would have known what happened a long time ago,
but instead, the wound was still fresh. According to Zoey, Kaleb was
unquestionably worth every ounce of heartache she had gone through in her life
just to end up where she was.

Of
course, it appeared Jason and his crazy bitch wife were back for good, but Zoey
didn’t seem to care. And V wasn’t about to bring it up. That man was in the
past, and V was happy to celebrate Zoey’s future with her.

After
all, it seemed to be the only future worth celebrating these days.

♂♀

By
the time the twins and Ethan left, leaving only Sawyer, Kaleb and himself, Zane
was more than ready to get on with his day. While the rest of them were razzing
one another relentlessly, Zane managed to text Beau to see if he could get away
for a bit and meet him at the gym. Unfortunately, Beau was busy and said he’d catch
him the next day.

At
first Zane had been disappointed, but after overhearing Kaleb’s phone
conversation with Zoey a few minutes ago, he’d found something else to look
forward to. According to what he heard, Kaleb was meeting Zoey and V at
Moonshiners later, and Zane had invited himself to tag along. He wasn’t going
to miss his chance to corner V again. It seemed that might be the only way he
would get to spend some time with her.

He
didn’t bother her that morning like he wanted to, mainly because he knew how
skittish V was. She reminded him of an abused animal. She wanted to trust, but
she wasn’t quite to the point where she would open herself up yet, but she was
noticeably getting better. She needed space. And after Zane managed to get her
to commit to allowing him to pursue her, he figured he’d back off. A little.

He
found it amusing that she still wanted to reiterate that whatever this was
between them was just sex. Sex with her was certainly on his agenda because
what red blooded man wouldn’t jump at the opportunity to have V wrapped around
him like a fucking blanket. Shit, Zane had never known anything quite like it,
and he wasn’t about to let go of it if he had a say in the matter.

“Awww,
shit. Another one bites the dust.” Sawyer’s sarcasm broke into Zane’s thoughts.
He glanced over to see his brother smirking at him.

“What
the hell are you talking about?” He dared to ask the question.

“Fuck,
bro. You’re sitting over there grinning like a fucking girl in love.”

Zane
glowered at his brother, but then he broke into a smile. It was harder and
harder to get irritated with his brothers at this point. He had just missed
them so damn much while he’d been in the hospital. He had enough anger and
hatred boiling deep in his gut from the assault that he couldn’t find it in him
to let anything else get to him at the moment.

“Do
you really want to go there?” Zane questioned, laughing. “I’ve heard some
stories about you and a pretty little Sheriff’s daughter that we could relive
if you’d like.”

Sawyer’s
eyebrows darted downward, a frown replacing his smirk. There was clearly
something going on between Sawyer and Kennedy Endsley, but Zane only knew as
much as he’d heard from his brothers and Beau, which honestly wasn’t much.

“Are
you planning to return to work soon?” Sawyer redirected the conversation,
clearly wanting to change the subject.

The
question caught Zane off guard, and he tried to get a read on Sawyer’s
intentions. Did his brother want him to go back to work? Was Ethan having problems
managing the shop while he’d been away? He hadn’t heard anything, but that
didn’t mean they weren’t keeping secrets from him. But this was also exactly
the opening he needed.

“I’ve
been giving that some thought.”

Sawyer’s
eyebrow cocked as though he was waiting for the rest of Zane’s explanation.

Zane
hadn’t prepared for this conversation yet and he had a hard time finding the
right words... “I want in on the resort.”
Well hell.
That wasn’t what he
had in mind.

“What
do you want to do?” Again Sawyer asked the question while Kaleb looked on.

“Don’t
know. What do you need me to do?”

“I
thought you liked being a mechanic,” Kaleb interjected, frowning before he
continued. “Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s terrific that you want to be
involved in the resort, actually. We never thought to talk to you about it
because you always seemed married to your job.”

Married
to his job? That was funny.

Yes,
Zane enjoyed working on cars and trucks, but that hadn’t necessarily been his
long term goal. As the youngest Walker, he’d had to fit in with his brother’s
goals because Walker Demo had been started long before he was old enough to work.

With
Travis being ten years older, the oldest of them all, Zane didn’t have much of
a say in what he started out doing. Not that he hadn’t enjoyed it. Being a
mechanic had been all he needed, but thanks to the recent road bumps he’d
stumbled over, he was ready to move forward. And it wasn’t like Ethan didn’t
have some buddies who would be able to help him. In fact, Zane knew of one person
who would be perfect for the job.

“Who’s
going to manage the clubs?” Zane asked, glancing between his two brothers.

“I’m
planning on taking one of them,” Sawyer explained, “but we don’t have anyone
for the other yet. I thought maybe Travis would be interested, but he’s more
interested in managing the actual hotel.”

“I’ll
take the other.” That was easy enough, although Zane didn’t have the slightest
idea what managing a club would entail. He was smart enough that he’d be able
to figure it out. He noticed Kaleb and Sawyer and the look that passed between
them. “What?”

“Do
you have any idea what type of club we’re talking about here?”

Zane
had a relatively good idea. After all, he’d spent the last couple of months
cooped up with a laptop and too much time on his hands. He knew from all of the
stories on the internet exactly what Travis had in mind. “I wasn’t thinking
country club if that’s what you’re asking.”

Sawyer
smirked at Zane’s comeback. “Definitely not.”

“I
think it’s a great idea,” Kaleb offered. “In fact, I think you and Sawyer would
be the most logical choice anyway.”

“Not
the twins, huh?” Sawyer laughed.

Holy
shit
.
Zane couldn’t imagine Braydon and Brendon managing anything, much less a club.
There were a lot of things to consider when it came to the club, including the
liquor license, the entertainment – and hell, Zane didn’t even want to know
what the twins’ choice in entertainment would be.

“What
do you think Travis will say?” Zane knew that Travis was the one person he
might have to convince, but with everything the man had going on, he didn’t
think it would take much.

“I
think his only concern will be whether you and V will be able to work
together,” Kaleb stated in that matter of fact voice that grated on Zane’s last
nerve. His brother was making reference to what happened at Anderson Croft’s
house and the way Zane had gone off on Jake Sanders.

“That
wasn’t out of jealousy.” Zane felt the need to convince them.

For
months, he’d been defending his own actions considering the repercussions. He’d
had to explain to both his mother and father exactly what happened and why. Of
course, his mother hadn’t been too happy with him, but his father had
understood. Throughout Zane’s childhood, he’d been taught to defend others.
Bullying was not tolerated in the Walker household, and, despite this extreme
incident and what Jake had done to him, he’d do it again in a heartbeat.

“We
didn’t think it was. That doesn’t mean there won’t be other fuckheads who treat
women like shit,” Sawyer added.

“You
would’ve done the same fucking thing.” Zane’s anger was escalating. Granted,
maybe Jake’s retaliation was the worst that any of them had seen, but Zane
knew, for a fact, his brothers would ruthlessly defend a woman from a fuck up
like Jake.

“I’m
not disagreeing with you,” Sawyer stated more firmly. “But we can’t have it go
down like that. Not at the resort.”

Nodding
his head, Zane agreed. He wouldn’t make any promises verbally just yet because
until he sought his own revenge on the bastard who had damn near taken his
life, Zane didn’t know what he was capable of.

“I’ll
talk to Travis if you want me to,” Kaleb offered.

Again
Zane nodded. This was what he wanted, and he was going to make it happen. One
way or another.

Changing
the subject, Zane glanced back and forth between both Kaleb and Sawyer. “Either
of you want to tell me just what the hell Jake is doing harassing V? And why
the hell no one’s told me about it yet?”

His
brothers looked startled by the direction his question was going, and they
glanced back and forth between one another. Zane felt his irritation level rapidly
intensifying. He hated that they felt the need to protect him. As the youngest,
he’d battled being coddled his entire life. He was a grown man and as far as he
was concerned, V was his to worry about. They didn’t have any right to keep him
in the dark.

“Travis
is trying to nail down where Jake’s at, but we don’t know anything yet.”

“How
long’s this been going on?” he asked Sawyer who seemed to be the only one
willing to talk. Kaleb had hastily stuck his face back in his laptop.

“From
what we know, about two months. About the same time you woke up.”

Zane
wondered whether the timing was coincidental or if Jake had been keeping tabs
on Zane’s condition. Either way, it didn’t make a damn bit of difference to
him.

“Have
either of you looked into it?” Zane knew Travis would be keeping an eye out.
His brother was known for having eyes and ears all over the place.

It
still surprised him that Travis hadn’t yet figured out where Jake was, nor did
they have the names of the other three who’d been with him that day. Zane
hadn’t known any of them. In fact, he’d never even seen them. The only thing
they knew was that those three weren’t from Coyote Ridge.

“We’ve
been talking to Beau. He’s taken an interest in V for the last couple of
months. He’s watching her back, but I’m pretty sure she doesn’t know that.”

That
wasn’t news to Zane. Beau was his best friend. They’d discussed what happened,
and they were both on the same page. V was the most important as far as Zane
was concerned and while he’d been in the hospital, Beau had agreed to keep an
eye on her. As discreetly as possible.

He
seriously needed to meet up with Beau. There were some other things Zane was ready
to discuss. Like how they were going to handle Vanessa Carmichael now that Zane
was home.

♀♂

“When
does Gage get back in town?” V asked Zoey as they sat in a booth at Moonshiners
a couple of hours later.

After
going home and showering, she waited for Zoey to return and pick her up, for a
much needed night out. Nursing a beer and watching the few people mulling about
the bar, she wondered whether she should’ve just stayed home.

Although
she hoped a drink would help alleviate some of her tension, V knew better than
to think it would. Her stress was primarily related to one gorgeous as hell
cowboy whom she couldn’t seem to get off of her mind lately. No matter how hard
she tried.

“Next
week.” Zoey grinned.

“Are
you counting down the days?” V still couldn’t believe the bomb her best friend
had dropped on her a couple of months ago. After a particularly stressful day,
they’d both resorted to a few too many drinks and Zoey’s mouth had gotten away
from her. According to her friend, she was happily enjoying a threesome with
Gage Matthews and her fiancé, Kaleb. Or rather she had been before Gage set out
on the road again. Being a long haul truck driver, Gage was usually gone more
than he was home.

“Maybe,”
Zoey’s smile lit up her entire face. The woman was something else.

V
shouldn’t have been surprised by the news that Zoey was currently the focus of
both men’s attention considering the history that Gage and Kaleb had. It wasn’t
a secret that the two of them had a penchant for threesomes. Those rumors had
come and gone a long time ago. They’d ceased to exist once Kaleb and Gage
openly admitted to their trysts years ago.

V
was well aware of the stories. There were plenty to go around, and they all
involved one or more of the Walker brothers. It seemed each of the brothers had
their own kinks, and they all somehow involved ménages in some way. Kaleb and
Gage, Sawyer and Greyson, Zane and Beau... They were best friends who were
notorious for their threesomes with willing women and not a single one of them
denied it.

V
knew Braydon and Brendon had had their fair share of rumors, but those two were
a little different. Not that she had asked either of them, but from everything
she had heard, neither had ever been with a girl unless the other was present.
She wasn’t sure whether it was true or not, and she didn’t intend to ask.