An Eye for an Eye(27)

"Vegas?"

Zach thought about it for a moment and tried to remember the conversation. "I'm assuming, we didn't discuss that aspect. If they planned ahead, I guess they might do it at the courthouse, but I assumed she meant an elopement and that means Las Vegas."

"Oh my God. My mom will flip a switch when she finds out. She'll murder Josh for this."

"Your mom? What do you think my parents will do? I don't think Hannah's mom will ever forgive her for this."

"Are you being serious? She'll forgive her."

"Yeah, I know she will, but she's going to be disappointed."

"Well, I guess we all are. But it's their wedding, after all."

"Yeah," he agreed, watching Katie intently. "I wish you hadn't been scared to tell me about them."

"No one thinks you're fragile, Zach," she reiterated. "But we knew you wouldn't be happy and it wasn't my secret to tell."

"Okay, I get that. But I don't want you scared to tell me anything, okay?" At her nod, he continued, "You can trust me, Katie. You don't have to be afraid to tell me anything or to speak your mind."

She looked at him with what could only be called suspicion in her eyes and the easy atmosphere between them seemed to dissolve in the blink of an eye. "How can I trust you? You've done nothing but try to hurt me, from the moment I became friends with Hannah." Her voice became sharper as the words tumbled from her mouth. "You've called me names, insulted me, hurt my feelings, forced me into a relationship with you. I can go on--"

He cut her off. "No. Don't go on. I get it."

"Zach, this situation is impossible. You've been saying you won't force me, and God help me, I'm beginning to believe you. But why? Why are we doing this? Why am I here with you? You hate me--"

"Goddamnit, Katie! I don't hate you. Quit saying that. I don't hate you . . . I--don't know what I feel for you, but it's not hate." His tirade slowly ended and his tone evened out again. "I assure you, it's not hate. It's not even at the same end of the spectrum as hate; it's not remotely close."

They glared at each other, hostility and confusion evident on both their faces.

Katie exhaled a pent up breath. "You can let me go. You can let me out of the contract." She warmed to the subject. "It's simple. You can give my parents more time to come up with the money. I can go back to work and help them with the payments. We don't have to stay in this situation. You can let me go."

Zach raked his fingers through his hair and watched her picking nervously at a loose string on her shirt. Frustration screamed through his veins. He spoke softly. "I'm not letting you go, Katie. Forget it. It's not going to happen."

"But--"

"No." His voice was adamant. "Quit thinking about it. Call me what you want. I don't give a shit. I'm not letting you out of the contract. You have two truths here, sweetheart. I'm not going to force you, and I'm not letting you go. Bank on it."

Katie stared mutinously at him.

Zach stared back until the seething silence became too much for him. "Fuck it. Go to bed."

Katie didn't need to be told twice. She pushed to her feet and threw the pillow in his direction.

He raised his arm and deflected it easily.

She was almost to the door when his voice rang out. "Wait."

Katie stopped and turned, antagonism radiating from every pore of her trembling body.

"Come here. I want a goodnight kiss."

"You want a what?" Katie asked, aggravated beyond belief.

"You heard me." He stalked toward her and reached out one lean hand and encapsulated her wrist. "I want a goodnight kiss."

"Are you insane? After the fight we just had?"

"I want a goddamn goodnight kiss and you're going to give it to me. Get used to it. It's going to happen, and it's going to happen every night."

Katie was about to blow a fuse. He was holding her tightly by the wrist, but that was the only contact between their bodies. Through the dark haze of anger she was feeling, a realization jumped out at her. She wasn't scared. She wasn't scared of Zach. She was pissed, sure, but not afraid of him. With that thought blazing in her brain, out of nowhere, she did something she couldn't explain. She pushed her face toward his, and placed a quick, closed-mouth kiss on his lips. It was a firm kiss, her lips sealed shut tight, and she pushed so hard she could feel his teeth behind his closed mouth.

She jerked her mouth away. "There. Satisfied?"

The anger shimmering from Katie's body could be felt pulsing through the wrist Zach held and it radiated up his arm and down through his veins. A vision of all that seething emotion let loose in his bed blasted through his brain. Shit, he wanted her. He had always wanted her and he was beginning to think he always fucking would. His anger abruptly dissipated and an unnamed emotion slid down his spine that began screwing with him in a different way. "Yeah. I'm satisfied. For now." He leaned down and pressed a chaste kiss on her brow. "Go to bed."

Katie turned and fled.



The next morning, Katie found the house empty. She poured a cup of coffee and went to the bank of windows overlooking the water. She watched as a lone figure ran on the beach, and it took only seconds to realize that it was Zach. Her sluggish brain slowly began to function and she began thinking about the night before.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the ring of a cell phone. She glanced over and saw Zach's phone on the coffee table alongside his laptop. She'd never known him not to answer it. Not giving herself time to think about whether she was doing right or wrong, she picked it up. "Hello?" Her voice was still raspy from lack of use.

A moment of silence on the other end of the line ended with, "Hannah? This is Betty Cargill, sweetie. Is Zachary available?"

Katie straightened up and tried to focus on the conversation. She knew Zach's secretary was an older woman named Betty. "He's out running right now, Mrs.Cargill. May I have him call you back?"

"How've you been, sweetie? I've thought of you often. Your brother isn't very talkative, you know."

"This--this isn't Hannah."

"Oh?" A definite question in that one syllable.

"No. I'm a good friend of Hannah's. She's not here at the moment either." Katie felt a twinge, but she wasn't exactly lying. What was she supposed to say, anyway?

"Oh, well then, can you give Mr. McIntyre a message for me?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Will you tell him that the ground has been broken on the women's center? The construction company says that everything is on schedule; it should be up and running well before Christmas."

"Women's center?"

"Yes, dear. It's just the newest in a long list of Zachary's philanthropic endeavors. It's a shelter for women, and he's naming it after his mother, God rest her soul. You be sure and pass on the information to Zachary for me, and you and Hannah have a good time at the beach house. It's a beautiful place, isn't it? He insists on us using it several times a year. My grandchildren absolutely love it there."

After she put the phone down, Katie sat on the sofa with her breath locked in her lungs as she tried to come to grips with what she had just learned about Zach. A new layer of his personality unfolded before her, and it only confused her more. As she had tossed and turned through the long, dark hours of the previous night, she had begun to understand what a complex personality he had. But she had never known about the depth of his generosity, and she'd never considered the extent of his wealth.

She thought about all the women he would be helping, and a frisson of tenderness toward him ran through her veins.





Later that evening, Katie reflected on the day past. Things had started out stilted between them, but slowly loosened up as the hours progressed. They spent a leisurely few hours on the beach, followed by dinner at a small restaurant on the bay in Port Isabel. Then they had driven back over the causeway and had walked the tourist strip, up and down the main highway, browsing through the beach shops and tourist attractions.

For a few hours she had felt just like any other tourist, laughing at the silly signs and trying on ridiculous hats. It felt good to forget about why she was there and she just went with it.

Zach seemed of the same mind, and very little serious conversation sprang up between them. They focused on the mundane, and by the end of the day, Katie's mood was much calmer, and her skin glowed with the beginning of a light tan.

Now, as she sat back in the same spot as the previous night, watching Zach surf through Netflix movies, a funny ache infiltrated her system. Why couldn't it always be like this? Why did sex have to stand between them like a waving red flag? Why did there have to be a contract?

Remembering the day they had spent, how he had quietly picked up her hand and held it as they strolled through the many tourists, brought a warmth to her. He had been gentle with her all day. It made her start wondering. Could she have sex with him? When this started out, and she thought she had no choice, anger had seen her through the first few days. Anger and a refusal to think about the inevitable.

She had never in a million years thought he could be gentle.

Amazingly, agonizingly gentle.

It was almost like he was a different person. The person Hannah had always described to her. Loving, caring, happy. The way he'd been before the accident.

She wanted to feel normal again. She wanted a life someday with a husband and children. It was obvious, if she ever wanted to achieve that, she would have to conquer the past. If Zach kept being gentle, maybe a normal life was a possibility for her.