Kiss Me (Fool's Gold 17)

“Can you blame him?” Phoebe asked. “He’s taking on a lot.”

Her friend raised her eyebrows. “Are you defending him? Ooh, I like that.” Maya pushed her clothes aside and flopped onto her stomach. “So big, bad Zane is getting to you, huh? Tell me everything that’s happened.”

Phoebe busied herself with a choice between a bulky sweater and a flannel shirt she could fit into her bag. “He’s not getting to me. I just don’t think he’s the devil incarnate, which is how you’ve described him.”

“I have not.”

Phoebe rolled her eyes. “You said he was heartless and lacking normal emotions. From what I’ve seen, he really cares about Chase, and even you.”

Maya hooted. “Me? He loathes me, when he bothers to think of me at all. I drive him crazy.”

Phoebe didn’t agree, but there was no point in arguing.

“At least tell me you think he’s good-looking,” Maya said.

Phoebe grinned. “Pure Adam Levine, just like you promised.”

“I guess that’s something. I suppose my plan to get the two of you into bed was just wishful thinking on my part.”

“Not gonna happen.”

Phoebe was pleased that her voice sounded normal. There was no way she was going to let Maya know about the sizzling kisses she and Zane had shared. Not only did she not want them analyzed, she had a feeling it had been a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence. Well, twice in a lifetime. Sort of like the planets aligning, or winning the lotto. There was no point in mentioning that Maya’s fantasy had also become her own.

“I just know if he would cut loose, he could be a really fun guy,” Maya said as she sat back up and reached for another T-shirt. “Okay, maybe fun is too strong, but he could be less of a stick-in-the-mud. He needs a woman. Of course when he had one, it’s not like he knew what to do with her.”

Phoebe nearly dropped the jeans she’d been folding. “What are you talking about?”

“Zane was married before. Didn’t I tell you?”

Zane? Married? Why did the thought surprise her so much, and why did she suddenly feel stricken?

“No. You forgot to mention that.”

“Probably because it didn’t mean anything.”

“I’m sure it did to Zane.” And it certainly did to her, although she couldn’t say why.

“Maybe.” Maya shook out the contents of her makeup bag and began sorting through the items on her bed. “But it’s not as if he loved her. Zane married Sally to provide Chase with a mother. He’s such an idiot. He actually told her that about a year into the marriage.”

“Chase?” Phoebe asked with a frown.

“No, Zane. I never got all the details, but I think Sally was pushing for kids of her own. Zane refused and finally explained that he’d married her so Chase would grow up with some stability. Hardly the romantic declaration designed to get a wife’s heart to fluttering. Especially when she thought they’d married for love. She split. Zane got worried about losing the ranch, but all Sally wanted was compensation for duties performed. I heard that she calculated a salary equivalent for the time she’d been married to Zane and presented him with a bill.”

Maya laughed, as if she found the whole situation amusing, but Phoebe couldn’t help thinking how sad it all sounded. Zane marrying someone he didn’t love to provide his brother with a mother. He’d done the wrong thing with the best of intentions. How many times had she done exactly the same thing...and gotten burned?

“I guess it’s not completely his fault,” Maya said reluctantly. “I know he had a tough time after his dad died.”

“Meaning?”

“My former stepfather loved Zane’s mother so much, he never recovered from her death. From what I could tell, he barely noticed Zane. The old man married a few times to try and forget, but it never worked. Instead he made everyone’s life hell.”

Phoebe’s tender heart clenched at the thought of Zane’s pain. “He’s had to deal with a lot,” she murmured.

“I guess. But he still acts like he’s got something stuck up his ass. Look at how he is with Chase.”

“You always talk about him as if he doesn’t care about anything, but didn’t marrying Sally prove that he worries about his brother?” she asked. “And what about the cattle drive? He’s doing it to teach Chase an important lesson. You love Chase. You should be pleased that Zane’s willing to show him how to be a good man.”

Maya’s green eyes widened. “Oh, my. Someone has it bad.”

Phoebe shook her head. “You’re wrong.”

“Am I?”

“Absolutely.”

Maya didn’t look convinced, and who could blame her? Phoebe didn’t have it bad...but she did have it.

* * *

IT WAS CLOSE to midnight when Phoebe realized she wasn’t going to be able to sleep. Maya had crashed shortly after ten—no doubt the result of working twenty-hour days all week so that she could take time off. Phoebe should have been tired, but instead she felt restless.

She pulled jeans on over her pj bottoms and grabbed her jacket, then walked barefoot along the hall and down the stairs.

The house was still, with that hushed quality that comes when everyone is asleep. Phoebe noticed that a few lamps had been left burning, probably for the safety of any guest who felt compelled to wander in the night.