Barbara Dunlop - An Intimate Bargain

Her lungs went tight, and she couldn’t catch her breath.

“And it’s over,” he finished, and her heart sank like a stone.

She shouldn’t have come. She’d completely misjudged the situation. How she wished she’d stayed away. He’d wanted her to leave.

She swallowed hard, a sick feeling bubbling up from the pit of her stomach. Oh, no. Had he been waiting for her to leave? Maybe he’d asked her to stay only out of politeness.

She took a shaky step backward, a chill coming over her body, while humiliation washed through her. The fling had run its course, and she’d embarrassed them both by showing up like this.

She struggled to speak, her voice going small. “I came back to get Ozzy.”

Something flashed through Zach’s eyes. “Ozzy’s fine.”

She gathered her pride. “I’m sure you took good care of him, and I thank you for that.”

“He can stay.”

A fresh flash of pain seared Abigail’s chest.

“I don’t think he likes the ranch,” said Zach.

“He’ll get used to the ranch.” The puppy was hers, not Zach’s.

“Why should he have to do that?”

“Because it’s his home. He’s my dog, not yours.” If she couldn’t have Zach, she could at least have Ozzy. She knew her emotions were off kilter, but giving up the puppy suddenly seemed like a final defeat.

“Leave him here, Abby.”

Her voice rose. “I want my dog.”

“He’s more my dog than yours.”

“That’s not true.”

Zach braced his hand on the desktop. “He’s happy here. Let him be happy. Why don’t you want him to be happy?”

“I do want him to be happy. I want him to be happy with me.”

“You Jacobses are all alike,” Zach snapped.

“What is that supposed to mean?” He’d barely met any other Jacobses.

“It means…” Zach paused, and for a split second she saw raw pain in his dark eyes. He backed away from her. “It means…”

“Zach?”

His back came flush against the office wall. “You need to leave. Right now.”

Her anger immediately vanished, replaced by a hollow loneliness that shattered the last vestiges of her pride. “What did I miss? What happened?”

“Life happened. Your life. My life.” He crossed his arms over his chest, and his stare went cold again. “Time started up again, Abby.”

Her heart ached, and her stomach clenched. “So you’re ending it between us.”

“Yes.”

“It was a fling, and you’re ending it.”

“How many ways do I have to say it?”

She tried to laugh, but it didn’t quite come off. “I’m sorry. I guess I’m a bit slow on the uptake. I’ve never done anything like this before.”

She’d never had a one-night stand, never had a fling, never fallen in love and had her heart broken.

“I’m sorry,” she said again, voice breaking.

“It’s all right,” Zach returned, without a trace of emotion.

“You can keep Ozzy.” Everything Zach had said was true. Ozzy was happier at Craig Mountain. He and Zach should stay together.

“You can take him,” Zach unexpectedly offered.

But Abigail shook her head, backing toward the door. She might as well make a clean break of it. She didn’t know what she’d expected by coming out here. But she hadn’t come after Ozzy. She’d come after Zach.

Zach didn’t want her. It had only ever been about sex for him. Well, sex and the water license. And maybe it had only been about the water license. The sex was a bonus. He really was lucky. He got everything he wanted and then some.

She groped for the doorknob, twisting it with a slick palm, letting herself out and rushing back down the hallway, desperate to end this sorry episode of her life.

Zach was going through his days on autopilot. Though he was far from being an expert, he strongly suspected he’d fallen in love with Abigail. Worse than missing her was the knowledge that he’d hurt her, and he was now powerless to do anything about it. He had to fight with himself every single day to keep from calling to see how she was feeling.

One day he spotted her on Main Street. He nearly called out, but then he saw Travis coming out of the hardware store behind her. He was under no illusion that Travis felt any differently than his brother, Seth. Zach gripped the door handle of his Jaguar, watching her move alongside the ranch pickup truck, wondering if she’d recognize him from this distance, honestly not sure what he would do if she saw him. He didn’t think he could bring himself to ignore her.

She was carrying a cardboard box. It was impossible to tell if it was heavy, but the urge to stride down the block and lift it from her arms was overpowering. And then he saw she was limping. He swore from between clenched teeth.

What had happened this time? Had a cow stepped on her foot? Or maybe she’d tripped and twisted an ankle, or come off a horse again, or maybe she’d fallen off a roof. Angry at her, angry at her family, and furious with himself at having abandoned her, he yanked open the driver’s door. He slammed his way into the car and peeled out of town.

He brooded in the depths of the castle until Alex caught up with him in his suite that night.

“Missed you at the meeting this afternoon,” Alex said easily, but his expression was watchful as he crossed the room, taking a spot on the sofa.

“Got busy,” Zach responded vaguely, not wanting to talk about his abrupt departure from Lyndon. He rose and made his way to the makeshift bar to pour them each a scotch.

“No big deal,” said Alex, letting it go. “Accounting wants a new software package. Ariel-something. They say it’ll pay for itself in staff savings within the next couple of years.”

Zach collected the drinks and turned back. “Did you okay it?”

“Wanted to run it by you first.”

Zach walked over to Alex and handed him his drink. “Whatever you think.”

“I think yes.”

“Good enough.” Zach sat himself down.

Ozzy immediately waddled over, dropped onto his rear end and whimpered at Zach’s feet. Zach automatically scooped the puppy up into his lap.

“Laziest dog in the world,” Alex mused.

“He’s not lazy.”

“He can’t even be bothered to jump into your lap.”

“He’s not lazy. Give the little guy a break.”

Alex chuckled.

Annoyed, Zach stared levelly at his friend. “They were going to put him down. Because he’s imperfect, and nobody wanted him. You know what that’s like.”

Alex took a sip of his scotch. “I do know what that’s like. But I don’t think he should use it as a crutch for the rest of his life.”

“One of his legs is shorter than the other,” Zach felt compelled to explain. “And he’s blind in one eye. It’s hard for him to jump.”

“He’ll never learn if you don’t make him try.”

“He is trying,” said Zach, anger percolating inside him. “I can tell he’s trying. But he’s not cut out for jumping. He’s not cut out to be some robust ranch hand, running after cattle and horses.”

“Ranch hand?”

“He’ll get hurt.” The day’s frustrations clouded Zach’s brain, coalescing into outright anger. “He might even get killed. And the people who claim to love her should stop putting her in danger.”

Alex peered over the rim of his glass. “Her?”

“Huh?”

“You said her.”

Zach gave himself a shake. “I meant him.”

“You said her.”

Zach downed his drink in one swallow. “He’s just a little puppy. I’m going to take care of him. So sue me.”

Alex rocked back. “Okay, Zach. What the hell’s going on?”

“Nothing.”

“You’re all bottled up.”

“I’ve been working hard, and I’m tired. We’re all tired.”

“Bull,” said Alex. “You love this stuff. When things get frantic and risky, you love it even more.”

“I hate it.” Zach hated everything today. He hated uprooting their headquarters. He hated moving halfway across the country. And he especially hated depending on Seth Jacobs. If he didn’t need to set DFB up in Lyndon, nobody, nobody would stop him from going to Abigail.

Alex was silent for a long minute. He polished off his own drink. “It’s her, isn’t it?”

Zach tried to take another drink, but his glass was empty, nothing but a sip of melted ice on the bottom. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You’ve been on edge since Abigail left.”

Zach gave a grunt of disagreement.

“Why don’t you call her?”

Zach would like nothing better than to call her. “Not gonna happen.”

“I know what you’re going through. I’ve been there with Stephanie. You’re going to feel like this until you call her.”

“I can’t call her.”

“I know you think you can’t call her. But, believe me, you can. You’ll get used to the indignity that comes with having a girlfriend.”

“You think this is about my dignity?” Zach scoffed. If it had been that simple, he’d have kept her here when she came back for Ozzy. No, that wasn’t true. If it had been as simple as his dignity, he’d have never let her leave in the first place.

“What else would it be about?” Alex asked.

Zach wasn’t a heart-to-heart kind of guy, but he was too tired to fight it tonight, too tired to do anything but admit the truth.

“It’s about you,” he admitted to Alex. “You and DFB and everybody else. If it was just about me, I’d do whatever it took. In a heartbeat. Anything.”

“You’re in love with her,” Alex stated.

“Absolutely.” There wasn’t a doubt in Zach’s mind.

Alex rose, crossed the floor and retrieved the scotch bottle. He poured a measure into each glass. “Then it’s not about me.”

Zach contemplated the new drink, a sense of eerie calm coming over him as his mind went places he never could have imagined. “How would you feel about starting over?” he asked softly.

Alex sat back down. “Starting over how?”

“You and me, in a cheap basement suite, working as bartenders again while we save up a down payment for another business.”

“Not great,” said Alex. “But I’d do it. Why?”

Zach hesitated a moment longer. “Because her brother threatened me.”

Alex was clearly confused. “Threatened you with what?”

Zach set the glass down. “The mayor told me that if I ever so much as spoke to his sister again, he’d turn down our business license and make it impossible for DFB to operate in Lyndon.”

“Why?”

“He thinks he’s protecting Abigail. He knows I blackmailed her. I imagine he thinks I coerced her into sleeping with me.”

Alex stared reflexively into space, and the minutes ticked by.

Zach knew he’d put his friend in an impossible position. He was sorry about that. But he didn’t think he could bring himself to abandon Abigail.

When Alex finally spoke, there was a thread of laughter in his voice. “He actually forced you to choose between her and me?”

“He did.”

“And you chose me? I’m flattered, Zach. But…you’re an idiot.”

“Choosing her would have destroyed the company.”

“You’re still an idiot.”

“Are you saying I should have turned him down?” Zach challenged.

“I’m saying, for starters, you should have told me we were being blackmailed.”

“Yeah,” Zach was forced to agree. “I should have told you that.”

How many other mistakes had he made in all this? He found himself picturing Abigail in his robe, the night he’d rescued her from the highway, her bandaged arm, the fading bruises, her sore rib cage. His stomach churned.

“I can’t leave her there, Alex. It’s not right. She’s not happy. The work’s dangerous. I’m afraid it might kill her.”

“So go get her.”

“I do, and I risk everything we’ve ever worked for.”

“We’ll build something else.” Alex made it sound ridiculously simple.

“And what about our employees?”

“If worse comes to worst, we’ll sell the assets and give them all a fat severance package.”

Zach snapped his fingers. “Just like that?”

“You don’t get to give up Abigail for me, Zach. Because if I find the right woman, and I have to choose-” Alex grinned and shrugged “-you’re toast, buddy.”

“Good to know where I stand.”

“Isn’t it?”

It was.

And it was great to know that Alex had his back, just as he always had. No brother in the world could be more loyal than Alex. Because of him, Zach didn’t need to stand around and watch Abigail suffer. He could do something about it, damn the consequences.

* * *

When Abigail heard Zach’s voice in the foyer of the ranch house, she shot to her feet from the sofa, gaping in astonishment as he elbowed his way past Travis, wheeling into the living room.

Her brother Seth jumped up from an armchair, squaring his shoulders and widening his stance. “What the hell are you doing here?”

Lisa appeared from the kitchen, obviously drawn by the raised voices. She stopped in the archway and took in the three men.