Hope bloomed. Maybe there was a way she and Ryan could be together. But first, she intended to get some answers.
She caught up to Everly near the bar and nudged her away from the guests and toward a quiet corner on the far side of the party. Once isolated, she let her irritation show. “What the hell are you doing here and what were you and Tristan talking about?”
“I was just saying hello.”
“You were saying hello?” Zoe echoed in disbelief, dumbstruck that Everly could be so flippant about approaching Tristan. “I don’t believe you.”
“Fine,” Everly said, all glibness leaving her manner. “I came to remind you to keep your eye on the ball.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means you’ve forgotten why you were supposed to get to know Ryan in the first place. We had a bargain, you, London and I. We did our part. Now it’s your turn.”
“I don’t need you riding me all the time. And now I see you talking to Tristan. That’s taking things too far.” Zoe’s hands shook and she gripped her evening bag to keep her anxiety from showing. “In fact, this whole thing is making me uncomfortable.” Suddenly Zoe saw a light at the end of the tunnel. A way out of this mess. “I’m done.”
Her giddy sense of relief lasted barely a second.
“Excuse me?” Everly’s lips tightened and when she spoke next, her words were barely audible. “You can’t just quit.”
“I can and I am.” Zoe’s stomach gave a sharp lurch as fury exploded in Everly’s bright green eyes. “Because here’s the issue. I don’t trust you.”
* * *
With the dinner portion of Susannah’s fund-raiser over, Ryan had no interest in lingering. While three of his sister’s friends were asking Zoe questions about her store, Ryan went in search of his twin to say goodbye. Seeing that she was deep in conversation with one of her biggest donors, he decided not to interrupt and was about to reverse direction and head back to Zoe when a man spoke from behind him.
“You really should watch yourself with Zoe.”
Ryan turned to confront Tristan Crosby, anger lancing through him at the man’s warning. “I don’t think that’s any of your business.”
“She’s going to cause you nothing but trouble,” Crosby continued smoothly, as if Ryan hadn’t spoken.
“Seems to me you’re the one looking to create problems,” Ryan responded, his tone hard and cold. “Why don’t you mind your own business and let Zoe get on with her life?”
“You know, my ex-wife is full of sob stories,” Tristan said, undaunted by Ryan’s warning. “The last thing you want to do is believe everything she says.”
Although he regretted engaging the man, Ryan had promised to defend Zoe. “I have no reason to doubt anything she says.” Yet at one point in time hadn’t he done exactly that? Of course, that was before they’d started sleeping together.
The explosive chemistry Ryan enjoyed with Zoe had blunted his initial reservations about her.
As if Zoe’s ex could read Ryan’s mind, a cruel smirk formed on his lips. “She’s good at keeping secrets, but I think you’ll find that out soon enough.”
When Ryan refused to respond, Crosby offered a mocking salute before walking away. The exchange had been both brief and unpleasant, yet its disturbing aftertaste lingered in Ryan’s mind. Obviously, Crosby wasn’t satisfied with all the damage he’d done to Zoe during the divorce proceedings. He intended to pursue his grudge even further.
“Why were you talking to Tristan?” Zoe demanded as she approached him, her frightened expression startling Ryan.
“He was just trying to cause trouble between us.”
Zoe frowned. “What did he say?”
Ryan cursed the distrust Tristan Crosby had stirred in him. Thanks to all the fantastic sex Ryan had been having with Zoe, he’d stopped suspecting her.
“He made some vague warnings about you being trouble,” Ryan replied, his tone dismissive. At the horror reflected in her expression, he added, “I set him straight, and then told him to back off and leave you alone.”
“Thank you for standing up for me.” She reached out and took his hand in a fierce grip. “It’s not something I’m use to.”
Her appreciation left him feeling guilty for his earlier doubts. Suddenly he was remembering what had happened with Kelly Briggs. When he’d discovered her boyfriend had locked her out of the apartment they’d been sharing and wouldn’t give her back her stuff, Ryan had found her a new place to live and persuaded the ex to turn over her things as well as to give up several expensive items Kelly had purchased while they’d been living together.
While Ryan had never crossed a line with Kelly because she’d been his employee and he hadn’t been attracted to her in the least, he missed how emotionally vulnerable she was. To his dismay, she’d misinterpreted his motivation behind aiding her and created a fantasy where he’d felt something for her beyond friendship. When he’d set her straight, she’d overreacted to his rejection and retaliated by deleting his company’s important engineering schematics.