“You thought he’d hurt me? Zane? Your brother? Has he ever once in his entire life touched a woman?”
Maya shook her head. “Not in a bad way. According to Sally, he was pretty decent in—”
Phoebe held up her hand. She did not want to hear about Zane’s lovemaking skills through the grapevine.
She turned back to Chase. “You’re always complaining that Zane doesn’t see the good in you, but you’re just as guilty. Why would you assume something like that about him? He’s your brother. You should know he’d never hurt a woman.”
Chase sat up and dropped his head to his chest. “I do. It’s just—I can’t explain it. You were on the ground, and Zane looked, I don’t know. Different. Furious.”
“He’s not the only one,” Phoebe told him, before heading off. “You owe your brother an apology.”
She crashed through the bushes, hoping Zane hadn’t suddenly changed direction. If he had, she would get lost before finding him. On the bright side, maybe she would stumble upon the raccoon thieves and be able to bargain for the release of her pen.
* * *
ZANE HEARD THE thrashing long before anyone appeared in the clearing. After a couple of minutes he figured out who it was by the soft bits of conversation during which Phoebe apologized to the trees and bushes she trampled.
“Over here,” he called, taking pity on her. And maybe himself. For once he didn’t want to be alone.
He still couldn’t believe Chase had come after him like that. He’d known what his brother was thinking the second he saw his face. That shocked him. Did Chase really think he was such a monster?
Phoebe broke through the underbrush and stepped into the clearing. Twigs and leaves stuck in her hair and on her shirt. She came to a stop when she saw him and began brushing off her clothes.
“I wanted to make sure you were okay,” she said.
Zane offered a humorous smile. “He didn’t get a shot.”
Phoebe crossed to the log and sat next to him. “I’m more concerned about your emotional spirit than whether you were hit.”
He looked at her face—at the big eyes and full lips, at the concern. In his world of ranching and outdoor life, Phoebe was useless if decorative. From what he could tell, she hadn’t been very monetarily successful in her career, and according to Maya, she was a disaster at relationships.
But to him, she was probably the strongest person he’d ever known. She led with her heart, coming back again and again, regardless of how the organ got bruised. She had a well of courage that left him in awe.
“Nobody worries about me,” he told her.
“I do.” She took one of his hands in hers. “You’d never hurt me, or any woman. I don’t know why Chase jumped to that conclusion.”
Zane did his best to ignore the heat pouring into him. Just the light touch of her small fingers was enough to get him hard. He had to get this under control.
“You were on the ground and hurt. I was just standing there. It looked bad.”
She dismissed his statement. “I don’t care how it looked. I care about how it was.”
“Thanks.” He squeezed her fingers, then pulled free before he did something stupid like ripping off her jeans and making love to her right there on the ground.
“Oh, Zane.”
Phoebe sighed his name in a way that made him want to spill all the dark secrets of his soul. While he couldn’t risk that, he was willing to bring one to the light of day.
“If he’d been anyone else, I would have taken him on.”
She looked at him. “You would have fought him?”
He nodded. “Right now I could use a good fight.”
He expected her to bolt for safety or at least disapprove. Instead she leaned against him, resting her head on his upper arm.
“It’s the stress, isn’t it?” she asked softly. “You have all of us to worry about. I know why you wanted to teach Chase a lesson, but once you saw everyone and realized all the stuff that could go wrong, I’m sure you figured grounding him for ten years would have been a better option.”
He nodded slowly. “Yeah. I don’t want anyone to get hurt.”
She raised her head and smiled at him. “We’re doing okay, and for what it’s worth, I think everyone is having a really good time.”
“I worry about Chase, too.”
He couldn’t believe he’d said that. What was wrong with him? But there was something about being around Phoebe. Something that made him relax inside.
“I know he makes mistakes, but basically he’s a good kid,” she told him. “Trust him, and trust yourself.”
She looked so earnest, he thought, as aroused as he was amused.
“You’re the one who shouldn’t be trusting me,” he told her, right before he kissed her.
As he lowered his mouth to hers, he wrapped his arms around her and drew her close. She leaned into him, her slender body warm and supple in his embrace. Her lips clung, then parted. When he swept inside, she was hot, sweet and more than willing to take him on.
The second his tongue touched hers, she moaned. Her fingers dug into his shoulders, and he felt a shudder ripple through her body. He went from hard to ready to explode in two seconds.
The way they were next to each other on a log didn’t allow him to explore her the way he wanted, so he broke the kiss and pulled her to her feet.
Phoebe went willingly, if a little unsteadily. When they were both standing, he pressed his mouth to her jaw before sliding to her neck.