Billionaire Undaunted:The Billionaire's Obsession ~ Zane(10)

The suite he'd given her was a beautiful, enormous room with a sitting  area and its own private bathroom. Ellie didn't have much time to check  it out because Zane grasped her hand and pulled her back out to the  kitchen.

She watched as he rummaged through the cupboards and rifled through the  fridge. She smiled because he looked so damn adorable as he scrutinized  everything, looking like he wasn't sure what any of the packages were or  what to do with them.

"Let me guess … you don't cook?" She crossed her arms and rested her ass against the counter.

He turned his head and gave her a questioning look. "How did you know?"

"Maybe because you just passed over plenty of edible items, but ignored  every one of them because it requires some kind of preparation." She  moved to the refrigerator. "Move," she insisted, bumping him out of her  way with her hip.

She inspected the contents of the freezer, noticing there wasn't much in  the fridge. "You don't really have anything defrosted, but I could  manage breakfast for dinner." He had plenty of eggs, cheese, and some  sliced ham. There were a few potatoes that looked fairly recent, too.

"I'm not picky," he agreed readily. "Show me how and I'll do it."

"You seriously can't cook?" she asked curiously. "How do you eat?"

He shrugged. "In Denver, I order out or get stuff I can toss in the  microwave. I have a housekeeper who takes pity on me and leaves me meals  that I can just nuke most of the time. When I'm here, I usually have  stuff around for sandwiches. I guess I ran out."

Ellie pulled out a carton of eggs and some other items before searching  for a large frying pan. Somehow it seemed funny that a guy with his IQ  couldn't cook an egg.

He's a billionaire. He doesn't need to cook for himself.

Ellie couldn't even imagine what it was like to have so much money that  someone could just hire someone to do everyday tasks. Strangely, it  didn't seem like he had a housekeeper here in Rocky Springs. When he'd  said the house was a mess, he was right. The place could use a good  cleaning, and there were stacks of papers and various items that had  never been organized everywhere.

He watched as she worked, hovering as though she might fall over at any moment. It was as endearing as it was irritating.

"I'm fine, Zane. Really. I feel better just being able to be out of bed  and on my feet." Finding a task to do for him made her feel less tired  and useless, and it took her mind off her troubles.

"I never thought about getting the house ready, or having somebody leave us dinner," he grumbled.

"It doesn't matter," she answered honestly. "I want to help out while I'm here."

"You're supposed to be resting."

"Cooking a simple meal isn't hard labor," she told him jokingly. "Sit." She motioned toward the kitchen table.

He sat and thanked her as she put a plate in front of him piled high  with an omelet, toast, and fried potatoes. She placed a plate with a  smaller portion across from him. While gathering utensils, she reached  into the refrigerator and grabbed two cans of soda and brought them to  the table before sitting across from him.         

     



 

"See. Not so hard," she told him with a teasing smile.

"You make it look easy," he muttered in a deep voice.

"My mom had to work a lot when I was a kid. I learned to cook pretty  early in life," she explained. "She needed help around the house."

Ellie ate slowly, mostly watching Zane as he devoured the food on his  plate like it was the best meal he'd ever eaten. When she'd downed all  the food she could from her plate, she pushed it across the table. "I'm  done. Can you finish this?"

He gave her a look of displeasure. "You didn't eat much."

"You know I can't." Ellie knew her body would fill out soon enough.  She'd already put on weight, and with her slow metabolism, it wouldn't  take long for her to completely fill in some of the weight she'd lost.  She was determined to watch her weight and not put on the extra pounds  she didn't need.

He took her plate and put it on top of his, and then quickly demolished what was left of her food.

Once finished, he refused to let her get up from the table and help him clean up.

"You cooked. I can clean. I know how to put dishes in the dishwasher," he insisted as he motioned her back into her chair.

She sat back down and watched as his big body moved efficiently around  the kitchen. He might not be able to cook, but he made short work of  loading the dishes and then starting the dishwasher.

Zane was tall and muscular, but he was naturally lithe, his body more  like a runner's than a weightlifter's. He didn't have a spare ounce of  fat anywhere on his body, which was disappointing. Ellie would have  liked to see at least a tiny flaw in Zane, something to make him seem  more human. But his body was sculpted, and even with a layer of scruff  on his face and his dark hair a little too long, he was damn near  perfect.

With a silent, inward sigh, she knew exactly why she'd always been  attracted to him. Zane was perfect, but he was an enigma, a puzzle with  so many pieces she'd never quite been able to put them all together. He  was kind, handsome as sin, but a little bit awkward occasionally, which  was endearing considering he was so damn hot in almost every other way.

As she looked around, Ellie realized he was still disorganized, but the  trait was pretty much forgivable considering he was a genius. His laser  focus was generally on one thing: his work.

There were things she couldn't quite understand … like why he'd kissed  her. Why he was helping her when he could have turned that job over to  his mother-or hers, for that matter. Ellie knew her mom would have  stayed if she really needed her, but Zane had promised he'd take care of  Ellie for her until she could come back for another visit. Convinced  her daughter would be okay, her mom had gone back to Montana because she  needed to work.

Zane's protective instincts made Ellie feel safe, but they were also  perplexing. She wasn't used to having anyone who really cared about her  or about what happened to her except for Chloe. He'd saved her life with  his persistent nature, and Ellie was grateful, but she still didn't  understand why he hadn't just given up like everyone else. Seven months  was a long time.

She ran her hand through her hair, the action reminding her that she  needed to cut much of it off to get it healthy again. It was pretty  damaged. The thought depressed her because her long blonde hair was one  of the only things she'd ever really liked about her appearance.

"What's wrong? You look sad," Zane observed as he sat back down at the table and took a slug of his soda.

"I have to cut my hair," she answered solemnly. "It's damaged, and to  get it healthy again I'm going to have to cut most of it off." What had  taken her years to grow out healthy and long would be gone in a matter  of minutes.

Zane looked puzzled. "So just get it cut. It will grow out again."

"It's the only thing that I ever liked about how I looked. I liked my hair."

Ellie knew it wasn't really the issue of her hair that was bothering  her. The whole ordeal she'd suffered was starting to hit her hard, and  the loss of her hair was just a symbol of everything she'd lost. Reality  was starting to close in on her.

"It's just protein filaments and dead cells, Ellie. It's just hair," he said in a husky voice.

"I know." She nodded tearfully. "It's stupid to be upset about something  so superficial. I think I'm just starting to realize how much  everything is going to change, how much I have to take care of and how  different things will be now. I don't have a job or a home. It's like  life moved on without me, but I'm still here. Now I'm trapped someplace  between existing and not. I'm not sure where I go from here."         

     



 

Zane stood and scooped her up from the chair and carried her into her  room and laid her gently on the bed. "You need to sleep. Don't think so  much. You'll end up overwhelmed. Take one thing at a time. I can't  promise you that you'll feel normal again tomorrow. But I promise I'll  do everything in my power to make you happy again."

"I don't feel normal," she told him breathlessly, panic beginning to set in.

Zane kicked off his boots and climbed onto the big bed, gathering her up  in his arms before answering, "You'll feel normal again, Ell. I  promise."

Zane's words were comforting, but her memories began to swamp her. Every  one of them was frightening. Still, she started to talk. "Sometimes he  made me beg for whatever food and water he'd brought with him. I was so  hungry and thirsty that I didn't care if I begged. Depending on what  mood he was in, sometimes it was worse than others. I always knew he'd  beat me up, use me as a target for whatever anger he'd stored up while  smiling at everyone else. He was evil, Zane, probably the most psychotic  person I've ever met. I started to hate myself because I was so afraid,  and that I gave in to everything he wanted just to get some scraps of  food and water."