Sure, the woman he loved wasn’t inside that shell, but it had still been hard to look at. Not harder than watching the real Tula have her heart crushed.
Zac glanced across the table at Tula’s broken spirit housed inside Gola’s body, eating away her sadness. This was torture. He was a foot away from the woman he loved, and he couldn’t help her. Not the way he wanted. Instead, the two of them sat facing each other in different bodies, both miserable because of the deals they’d made with Maury.
Fucking demons. They play so dirty. The worst part was how Zac was supposed to be Tula’s protector, and all he could do was hold her hand for comfort and buy her a stack of all-you-can-eat buttermilk pancakes.
Zac watched his woman devour her fifth plate. “Wow. You must have a really big stomach.”
“Yup. I guess so.” Tula slurped up some syrup coming from the corner of her mouth, where a big glob of butter was also stuck.
She really couldn’t control that lip.
“Sir, we are getting ready to seat for lunch now.” The waitress, who was a pretty bottle blonde with a fake tan, chin, and nose, sneered down at them. “Also, we’re out of batter. You two ate us out.”
Zac lifted a brow. “Not I. I only go down on authentic women with authentic hearts.” He flashed a devious smile. “And original parts. Is anything on your face real?”
“Err…” The waitress crinkled her nose. “Here’s your check.” She marched away and disappeared into the kitchen.
“You didn’t have to do that,” Tula said.
“What?”
“You know what.”
“Well, I didn’t like the way she was looking at you, and she did leave herself open for that comment.”
Tula smiled, showing off her giant crooked teeth. What a pair the two of them made in these monster bodies.
“Yeah, I suppose she did,” said Tula. “But you don’t have to be mean to others on my account. And just because a woman had cosmetic enhancement doesn’t make her bad.”
“How can you be so kind when others behave so cruelly?” Honestly, it was something he’d always wondered about Tula. Since the day they met, she’d always found it in her heart to show kindness to those who didn’t exactly deserve it.
Take Cimil, for example. Again and again, Cimil betrayed Tula’s trust—games and lies meant to keep Zac and Tula apart—but Tula defended Cimil and stayed loyal. It wasn’t until Tula died that she began to question Cimil’s friendship. But even now, after everything Tula had gone through, he’d bet his favorite pair of leather pants that Tula couldn’t bring herself to hate Cimil.
“I suppose, well,” Tula cut a chunk of pancakes, shoved it in her mouth, and swallowed, “my mama always told me that filling my heart with hate wouldn’t change a bad person for the better, but it sure could make my life miserable walking around angry all the time. That’s just no way to live.” Tula shrugged.
He supposed she was right.
Tula added, “Also, Mama always said that hating a person had zero chance of changing them. But loving ’em might give them a fighting chance.”
“So tell me something,” Zac said. “Do you think your heart is going to stay filled with love for Zac?”
“I’m not sure.”
That wasn’t the answer he hoped to hear. “What if Zac came to you and said that he wanted something more substantive, a love that was more than skin deep with a woman like you?”
“Never going to happen.”
Not true. But Zac had to tread carefully and not expose himself. “I don’t know. Maybe Zac didn’t see how beautiful you are inside, but given a little time—”
“I don’t care. Not anymore. He’s proven himself unworthy in more ways than one.”
“Oh?” Zac raised his brow.
“He doesn’t recognize me, but he used to date a really, really good friend of mine. And while she was with him, he left on a nine-month job assignment and cheated on her.”
What? “Cheated?”
“Yeah. Someone I know sent photos of Zac having sex with three women at once.”
Clearly Tula was the friend in this story, but he’d never cheated on her. Even when he’d been captured and made into Minky’s sex pet—a very long story—he’d refused to get it up for the randy beast. He loved Tula, and his giant dick would rise for no other.
“Well,” Zac cleared his throat, “I wouldn’t believe those photos. If I were your friend, that is. Anyone can Photoshop. I say your friend was premature in sentencing Zac before giving him the chance to explain.”
“Really? You think so?” Tula’s tone lifted to a cheery, hopeful pitch.
Uh-oh. Had he inadvertently convinced Tula to give Hilbert another chance? Bad, bad Zac. Hilbert was absolutely out to derail his endeavors to win Tula. And Gola was out to do the same to Tula.
Right now, the only thing he and Tula had going for them was the fact that he’d caught on to Maury’s scheme.