Zach couldn't take another second and walked upstairs to try to wash away his hangover with a cold shower.
Katie watched Zach's retreating back as she heard Josh's growl come over the line. "Are you all right?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," she said distractedly.
"Are you sure?"
She tried to change the subject and take his mind away from why she was with Zach McIntyre. "Did y'all get married?" Katie hadn't texted either Josh or Hannah to confirm Zach's belief. If they were eloping, she hadn't wanted to be held responsible for not telling her mother.
"Yeah. We're married."
Katie heard the fierce satisfaction in his voice and it didn't surprise her a bit. "Congratulations," she said through a smile. "Are mom and dad okay with it?"
"Aunt Di's still a bit mad at the way we did it, but she's thrilled to death that Hannah and I are married."
"I am, too."
"Thanks, hon," he breathed out before his tone changed, any lightness leaving his voice to be replaced with a serious quality. "I have a question to ask you."
"Okay." Katie braced herself. Here it was; he was going to ask the sixty-four thousand dollar question about why she was with Zach.
"What's all this bullshit about McIntyre being in love with you?"
Katie felt a starburst explode in her head and land in her stomach. Shock cascaded through her bloodstream as she tried to get her brain to function. "He said that to you?"
"Yeah."
Katie sucked in oxygen. "No, he didn't."
"Yeah, Katie, he did."
"He told you that he's in love with me?" She tried to clarify. She couldn't wrap her head around it. Why would Zach say that to Josh?
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the line. "I thought it was pure bullshit he was feeding me." Another heartbeat of silence. "But I can tell from your reaction that it's true. When did all this happen? And why didn't you know?"
"I don't know . . . I didn't know."
"He said y'all are coming home?"
"Yeah, today."
"Then I'll see you later, sweetheart. Sounds like you have things to think about."
"Okay, love you."
"Love you, too."
Katie ended the call and carefully set the phone down. She glanced up the stairs where Zach had disappeared. She could hear the water running in his bathroom. Her brain felt fuzzy. She tried to think but couldn't. Why would Zach have said something like that if it weren't true? Katie's heart skipped a beat.
He wouldn't have.
A warm, sweet ache built as her tummy flipped.
Zach loved her.
Zach hustled her through the airport and into the cabin of the airplane where first class was located. Katie looked around at all the empty seats. They had this area of the plane virtually to themselves.
Before they'd left the house, Zach hadn't given her even a second to question him, although she had tried. He'd been uncommunicative on the drive to the airport, his expression forbidding, and Katie hadn't pressed him.
But now, as the plane ascended into the clouds, he was strapped in next to her and she could have his undivided attention, as long as he didn't pull out his laptop.
She jumped into speech before he could do that. "Josh told me what you said."
He busied himself by pulling his cell phone from his pocket and switching it off. He didn't look at her as he answered. "I'm not doing this right now."
"Zach--"
"No. I'm taking you home." His voice was firm, his resolve undisputable. "We're wiping the slate clean. I'm going to repair the biggest screw-up of my life even if it kills me. You're going home to your family. After you get there, if you still want to talk about this with me--" he turned to face her and their glances connected. "If you want to talk to me of your own free will, then nothing would please me more."
His eyes were dark brown pools of torment, and an unbidden image of all those roses he'd sent to her over the years came up and took over her brain. The notes he'd written. The times he'd argued with her and told her repeatedly that they weren't enemies.
A flush came up her neck and she felt it heat her cheekbones. He wouldn't talk to her, but would he push her away? Katie slid her hands over his shoulders and leaned into him, looking into his eyes. She felt the raw sizzle of need that was written on his expression, and before she could think about it or stop herself, she put her lips on his.
His shoulders immediately stiffened, and Katie knew he was about to deny her this kiss. He pulled his mouth from hers and glared into her eyes with an exasperated look of displeasure on his face. His hands came up and clenched her upper arms and his accusing scowl changed to one of aggressive challenge. A raw, feral look crossed his features and a dangerous sizzle filled the air between them as his volatile mood shifted in only a second flat. "You best be careful. You have no clue what you're doing."
"I'm not scared of you." Katie threw out the challenge even before she realized that it was the truth; she wasn't scared of him.
"I mean it, Katie. Don't push me. I've shit to work out, but the way I feel about you hasn't changed. I hate myself for the way I treated you, but understand me when I tell you that just because I know what happened, that doesn't mean that I don't want you. Nothing's changed. Get that through your head. I still want you like burning hell."
As his voice lashed her, Katie knew this was his way of spelling it out to her. But she still wasn't afraid. "You don't scare me. You'd never force me."
"I wouldn't force you, but you're giving me too much fucking credit. I'd coerce you, I'd try to persuade you, I'd try to seduce you, I'd try to intimidate you into a relationship with me."
"You wouldn't try to intimidate me."
An anguished growl came from low in his diaphragm. "You don't get it." His hands grasped her biceps in uncompromising restraint. "You fascinate me. You captivate me. I'm fucking obsessed with you and always have been. Don't kid yourself about what I want from you."
Katie took a moment to study him and to think about what he was trying to do. She said gently, "It's not working. I'm not afraid."
His grip tightened and he leaned down and put his mouth to her ear and spoke into it through gritted teeth. "I want you; every bit of you. I want you to belong to me of your own free will. You need to think real hard about whether or not you want that too."
His hot breath sent shivers down her spine and heat bloomed between her thighs. But she turned her head so she could see his eyes again. "Why are you doing this? Why are you purposely trying to frighten me? It's. Not. Working."
"You can't live in a fantasy world where you believe things could be sugary sweet between us. Don't turn your mind away from how it would be. Don't imagine us strolling on the beach holding hands forever. I want a sexual relationship with you. I want it raw, carnal." His eyes held hers. "I've always wanted that." He hesitated a second and then his voice gentled. "I can try to be tender and sweet, but Katie, baby. I can't promise that. All I can promise is that I won't make you do anything you don't want to do."
"I already know everything you're telling me."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"That's good." He studied her as if trying to delve into her psyche and read her thoughts. "When we get back home, where you'll have your family surrounding you and you feel completely safe, we'll talk."
"Okay."
At her agreement, Katie sat motionless as he lifted a finger and smoothed it slowly down her cheek. Then he leaned in and kissed her so softly and gently that it completely belied every harsh word he'd just spoken.
Zach loved her. She could feel it; it was true. Katie bit her lip and focused on that truth as she tried to calm her unease over what she was about to say. "Before this goes any further, I really want to tell you; I want you to know. But try to understand that I don't like to talk about it. I hate even thinking about it. But I realize that you need to know." She plucked at a button on her shirt before she began talking again. "I'm going to say this as simply as I can and please, please, don't ask me any questions. Maybe we can do questions another time . . . but not today."
At his nod, she looked away from his eyes. She would recite this to the airplane window, not to Zach, and then maybe she could get through it. "High school was pretty normal for me, at least the first three years. I had a boyfriend. One boyfriend. As I look back on it, I'm not exactly proud of it, but I was having sex with him. Just him. And it was okay. I thought I loved him, but we had a big fight and broke up. He started dating another girl. I was still hurting from the break-up, but guys began asking me out. After a couple of months, I finally accepted. It was the first date I ever had with anyone other than my ex-boyfriend." She stopped talking, nerves making her tap her fingers repeatedly. At his silence, she continued. "It was supposed to be a movie. But he drove down to the river, and there wasn't anything I could do about it." She cleared her throat. "Have you ever heard the term date rape?"
Zach hissed an expletive and tossed back the bourbon he'd been nursing since the flight attendant had delivered it. "Who the fuck was it?"
"I don't even want to voice his name. I haven't dated since it happened." She finally turned away from the window and looked at him. "I haven't been alone with a man since it happened." She gave him a slightly accusing look that she couldn't control. "Except for you."