“People change, Tate. Maybe he’s just been waiting for the right woman. I was married to my career, too. Until some hotshot asshole challenged me, made me realize there was so much more to life than just my job.”
Tate wasn’t about to admit he was an asshole, even though he probably was, so he answered, “Was that before or after you met me?”
She hit him playfully on the bicep. “Smartass!” Lara wrapped her arms around him and put her head on his shoulder. “You know you make me crazy sometimes. But that’s exactly what I need. You’re exactly what I need.”
His arms tightened around her, grateful for the fateful day that Lara had come into his life. He’d never known how lonely he was until he’d found her, and he planned on making sure she never had a reason to stop loving him. “You were what I needed, too, sweetheart. You always will be.”
They stayed cuddled together for moment before Lara asked, “What time are we picking up your mom?”
He stepped back and glanced at the clock. “Now,” he said with a grin.
“We better move. I’m surprised she hasn’t called yet. She has to be excited.”
Tate opened the door to let Lara exit, and the cell phone in the pocket of his jeans began to ring.
His wife looked at him and they both smiled before he quickly locked the door and they both sprinted to his vehicle.
“They’re late. Do you think they’re okay?” Ellie asked nervously as she looked out the window for the fifth time in the last two minutes, waiting for Chloe and Gabe to come down the driveway.
“Ellie, stop!” Zane insisted from his seat on the living room couch. “Come sit with me. Watching for them won’t make them get here any faster.”
“I’m fine,” she reassured him, knowing she couldn’t sit down. Every nerve in her body was jittery with excitement. “I just hope she’s not mad about me keeping my rescue a secret. Now I’m not sure if I did the right thing.”
Zane rose and grabbed Ellie by the shoulders. “You had the right to do whatever the hell you wanted to do. You were the one who was recovering from an acute traumatic incident. It was your call, and none of anybody else’s business, Ell. You had a right to do whatever made you comfortable then.”
“But she’s my best friend,” she answered woefully. “Maybe it was selfish, but I didn’t want anyone to see me that way. I needed some time. And I didn’t want her to come rushing back because of me.”
“So you had the right to recover in peace,” Zane answered reasonably. “You needed to just worry about yourself. For God’s sake, you almost died.”
“You didn’t let me recover in peace,” she reminded him with a small smile. “You were stubborn, manipulating, and bossy.”
“Only about you staying safe,” he grumbled. “I wanted you to be happy again. Just because you had the right to be alone doesn’t mean that you should have been.”
“I needed you,” Ellie relented as she put her arms around him. “I just didn’t want to admit it. You saved me in more ways than one, you know. I really had nobody with Chloe gone. Yeah, I’ve lived in Rocky Springs all my life, but I guess I never realized how few real friends I really had. Not that it matters, because Chloe makes up for that. She’s as real as they get.”
“You. Have. Me.” Zane wrapped his arms around her waist. “And really good friends are hard to find, especially when somebody works as much as you do. When you aren’t doing things for me, you’re working to build your online business. I spent so much time in the lab that I never developed a ton of great friends either. I have work associates, but when it comes right down to people who would stand beside me if I needed them, there’s pretty much just my family.”
“You have me now.” Ellie repeated his words back to him.
“Believe me, I know how damn lucky I am to have you,” Zane answered sincerely, his eyes heated.
Ellie blinked back tears, something she did often when one of Zane’s honest confessions about her touched her soul. Really, was he that lucky to have a woman like her, a female who had caused him more work than joy?
She thought for a moment, stopping herself and her negative thoughts. Despite her remembered pain, there was so much joy in her life with Zane, and both of them were happy. The hard times were still difficult to deal with, but the good things outweighed the bad now. In fact, sometimes Ellie thought her life couldn’t be more perfect. Yes, sometimes an occasional nightmare or old habits still plagued her, but for the most part, Zane had helped set her free.