Nicole Edwards - Zane

“No, seducing,” V breathed, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling his mouth closer to her breast.

“No?” Why did it sound like she was suddenly interested in being beneath him.

He thought it was a brilliant idea.

“I have... to... work,” she sighed heavily when he sucked her nipple into his mouth, using his teeth to make it harden even more.

“Not today, you don’t,” he mumbled, moving to her other breast and laving the hardened point with his tongue.

“I do,” she groaned and halfheartedly tried to push him away again.

Zane moved quickly, pulling V up off of the bed and lifting her into his arms with ease while she clung to his neck and laughed. “I’m thinking we need a shower.”

“Seriously?” V was no longer trying to convince him that she needed to go anywhere. Instead, she had buried her face in his neck and was brushing her soft lips over his collar bone.

“Seriously.” Zane smiled, placing her back on her feet. “Shower first, then breakfast, then we’ll both go talk to Travis.”

“Travis?” V jerked back from him like he’d just whipped her.

“Yes, Travis,” Zane stated calmly, flipping the shower knob on. “You had a business venture to discuss with him, right?”

With his back to V, Zane couldn’t see her reaction, but he could tell by the silence that she wasn’t all that thrilled with the idea of talking to Zane’s oldest brother today. He knew Trav was a busy man and Zane figured there wouldn’t be a better time than right now to discuss the upcoming resort. Hell, he didn’t know how long his brother actually would be in town. It seemed like the man was in Dallas more than he was in Austin these days.

Turning around, Zane faced V and held out his hand to her. When she placed her palm in his, he pulled her close, then backed them both into the oversized shower. She didn’t look too happy with him, but he had a couple of ideas on how to make her smile.

♀♂

Two hours later, V was sitting in front of Travis Walker in the small office of Walker Demolition, feeling like a recalcitrant child who had been sent to the principal’s office. His dark glare didn’t go a long way toward making her feel any better either. Part of her wished she hadn’t opted for breakfast because her stomach was now churning from her nerves.

“You want to manage the club?” Travis asked Zane.

V listened while the two men discussed the club and what Travis’ vision was, along with what Zane was hoping to get out of it.

Travis Walker was a hard man to figure out. If she based his mood solely on the tone of his voice, she’d assume he was pissed. However, when she looked into his eyes, she could see a sensitive side of him as he spoke to his younger brother. It was true, no one truly knew Travis or the hell that he’d been through. But it was common knowledge, he was a different man than the one everyone knew growing up. V was a few years younger than him, so she didn’t know the least bit about Travis, other than the bits and pieces she’d gathered over the years.

She could see Travis wasn’t against the idea of Zane managing one of the clubs, but she also knew he wasn’t going to make this easy on his younger brother either. Travis was not known for his loving, propitious persona. The man was hard, and it didn’t seem to matter who he was dealing with, unless, of course, you looked into those eyes. Something she was trying hard not to do.

When they finally finished their discussion, V was barely aware that both men had turned their attention to her. She’d been too busy fidgeting in her chair, twirling her thumbs in her lap and praying that she could find a way to sneak out without being seen. Of course, that wasn’t an option now.

“And what about you?” Travis directed his glare on her.

Interesting. Travis still sounded like he was angry, but the compassion that still remained on his face told a different story. It didn’t help her to find the words though.

“I –” V didn’t know how to come out with it. When she had discussed her idea with Zoey, it seemed like a good plan, but now that she was talking to Travis, she had second thoughts.

She could feel Zane’s eyes on her, but she didn’t turn to look at him. She was too busy trying to bolster her nerves in order to out and out request to be allowed to manage the spa. Not that she had any experience whatsoever, but she was strong willed and V knew she’d put all of her energy into making it a success.

“My brothers mentioned you want to manage the spa,” Travis said when it was finally clear she couldn’t choke out the words.

“Yes.” There, at least that was a start.

“And what makes you think you’re qualified to run the spa?” he asked, sounding slightly perturbed. Not that he ever sounded any different.

“I don’t have the experience, but I have the desire to learn,” V stated defensively. “I promise you by the time the doors open on the resort, I’ll be fully up to speed on what it takes to make it successful.”

There was no hiding the fact that she was nervous, nor could she hide the vexation she was beginning to feel.

“How do you plan to do that?” Travis leaned back farther in his chair, tilting his head to the side as though he were studying her.

“I –” Ok, so she hadn’t thought that completely through, but in her defense, V hadn’t anticipated coming to talk to Travis so soon.

“Give her a break, Trav,” Zane interrupted, leaning forward and placing his elbows on his knees, his shoulders stiff, the cords in his neck straining as he stared back at his brother. “You know her as well as I do. She’ll make you proud. V’s a hard worker, anyone can tell you that.”

V’s breath lodged in her chest as she stared at the man sitting beside her. Proud? Had he really just said that? Never in her life had anyone rooted for her – no one besides Zoey of course – and V had gotten used to going it alone. Hell, she worked for Zoey because it was easier than trying to make a name for herself. Not that she gave her job less than one hundred percent at any given time, but she hadn’t expected Zane to be in her corner on this one.

“Ok, say I let her manage the spa and you the club. How do you plan to work together?” Travis asked, directing his question to Zane. “I heard what happened at Anderson Croft’s and look where that got you.”

V sat up straight, feeling entirely too defensive at the moment. How dare Travis talk to Zane like that? The man stood up for her, when remarkably few people ever had. Granted, it also resulted in him damn near getting killed at the hands of a lunatic, but still...

Oh, God. What would happen if V encountered another asshole like Jake Sanders? Would Zane go off the deep end every time? Maybe Travis was right. Maybe this wasn’t a smart idea.

“It’ll work, Trav. You have to trust me on this,” Zane argued, and V could sense the tension escalating.

Placing her hand on his arm, Zane glanced over at her, and she felt the way his muscles abruptly relaxed. That was interesting. Did she do that to him? Was she capable of calming him down rather than riling him up?

“I don’t know if I’m onboard with the idea,” Travis began, but Zane unexpectedly reacted by shooting to his feet. V managed to grab his arm and pull him back down, although she knew he was giving in to her because there was no way she could’ve made the man do anything he didn’t want to do.

When she looked back at Travis, he was grinning.

“Let’s give it a shot,” Travis concluded, pushing to his feet. “I think this woman might just be the one who can keep that anger in check.”

V wasn’t sure about all of that, but she couldn’t get over the fact that Travis had just given them the green light. Both of them. She wanted to jump to her feet and throw her arms around his neck, but she knew better than to do that. Travis wasn’t big on being touched. Not that she knew the reason, but she was smart enough to know not to push him.

“Thank you,” she said, sounding much more confident than she felt. “I promise, I won’t let you down.”

“I never had any doubts about that,” Travis tipped his hat and then walked out of the office. Moments later V heard his truck start up, and she turned to look at Zane. He wasn’t smiling.

“What’s wrong?” V turned to face Zane directly, curious as to what he could possibly be thinking.

“If I didn’t think one of my brothers would show up, I’d strip you naked and fuck you right here on Travis’ desk,” he said, that smoldering look in his smoky blue eyes reinforcing his statement.

V needed to get away from him. At least for a little while. If she didn’t, she feared she might just do something stupid.

Like take him up on his offer.

♂♀

After dropping V off at Zoey’s per her request, Zane called Beau. He needed to find a way to burn off the excess energy he’d stored up thanks to the anger he continued to rein in and he couldn’t think of a better way to do it than to go to the gym. Now he was on his way to meet him, and, hopefully, work on a plan to get his body back in top form.

He still felt weak, sometimes more than he thought he should. The physical therapist’s words still rang loud and clear in his brain, but Zane doubted that taking it slow was going to get him where he needed to be. Three months were plenty of time for his body to recover from the dreadful punishment it had been dealt, and now it was time he proved it.

Walking into the small gym, Zane nodded his head in greeting at the few people he recognized, not stopping to talk to anyone though. He found Beau warming up on one of the treadmills and Zane jumped on the empty one beside him.

“You think you can handle that bad boy?” Beau joked as he increased the speed until he was jogging at a slow pace, making Zane laugh.

“I think I’ll manage.” Zane walked for a couple of minutes, not wanting to overdo it in the first few minutes, but he was soon setting a reasonable six miles per hour pace. Not nearly what he’d been capable of before the attack, but he had told his mother he’d take baby steps.

Half an hour later, Zane felt better than he had in a long time. He slowed his pace until he was once again walking, as he waited for Beau to finish up. When he did, they moved to the back near the free weights.

“How’s it feel to be out?” Beau asked, dropping onto one of the benches, wiping the sweat from his neck with a towel.

“I can’t even begin to describe it,” Zane replied, grabbing a couple of the weights from the rack and turning to face the mirror. The amount of weight the PT had allowed him to lift was child's play, but since he hadn’t picked up anything relative in recent months, he was beginning to wonder how much pain he was going to put himself in.

“You see V lately?” Beau moved to his side, grabbing a set of weights that was significantly more than Zane had picked up.

“Yeah.” Zane thought about V and how she looked just that morning in his shower. He’d definitely seen her all right. Every single inch of her. “Why didn’t you tell me that bastard was texting her?” he asked his friend when the vision disappeared.

Beau’s head snapped over so he was looking directly at Zane, a confused look on his face. “What the hell are you talking about?”

Zane spared his friend a glance in the mirror, but he didn’t stop his repetitions. “Jake,” he answered, figuring Beau would drop the act if he realized Zane already knew what was going on.

Beau set the weights back in the rack and turned to face Zane. “Jake’s been texting her?”

Zane knew Beau well enough that he recognized his friend wasn’t bullshitting him. Zane had known Beau Bennett his entire life. They’d grown up together, and they knew every last secret each other had. It was clear Beau had no idea what he was talking about. Zane dropped the weights back into the rack and grabbed the water bottle he’d brought with him. Taking a swig, he kept his eyes on Beau. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he sighed. “The fucker’s been texting and calling her. Don’t think he was all too happy to hear from me last night though.”

“You talked to him?” Beau asked incredulously.

“Not much, but yeah. I dialed the number he was texting her from. He answered, and I told him to leave her the fuck alone.”

“Does Travis know where he’s at yet?”

Zane and Beau spent hours talking about what happened while Zane was in the hospital. Beau had been at Anderson Croft’s that day and he saw the whole thing play out, but according to him, he hadn’t known about the assault for a couple of days after it happened. At some point, Zane’s mother had called him.