The Maverick's Red Hot Reunion (Entangled Indulgence) (8 page)

“It’s a surprise.”

“Surprise being code for you haven’t worked out the details yet.”

“You know me well.”

Anticipation shimmered along her nerve endings. Again she tamped down her traitorous body’s response. “And you never failed to deliver,” she said.

“This package is worth waiting for,” he said.

There was more than teasing in his voice. There was rough, raw passion. Passion she had once harnessed. “I hope you’ve learned to practice patience.” She tossed her damp hair. “Good night Zach.”

After she slipped inside the bedroom and closed the door, she rested against the cool wood. She doubted either of them would have a good night given the tension pulsing between them. She stomped to the king-sized bed, tugged off her robe, and crawled beneath the sheets.

Chapter Eight

The following Saturday morning Hannah and Michael had teased Kennedy and Zach about their shadowed, dull eyes and slower than usual pace. Kennedy had played along and laughed at the appropriate times with Zach. But after an afternoon of shopping for trinkets, baubles, and designer outfits she would rarely wear, her brain hurt more than her sore feet. She didn’t like lying to her friends, but she couldn’t bear to hurt them with the truth.

She carried her bags to the room and dropped them by the front door. Toeing off her favorite shoes, she heard soft instrumental music and inhaled the scent of melting wax before catching sight of Zach standing by the bar.

Her pulse jumped in her throat. His broad shoulders filled his suit to perfection. The expensive cut and color of the fabric accented his mahogany colored eyes. And vases—more than she could count and all filled with colorful gerbera daisies—crowded the suite’s interior. Daisies were her favorite. She’d always preferred simple flowers above the opulence of roses.

He’d brought her spring. Her number one rated season. A season for new beginnings. New life. New hope.

“What’s all this?” she asked.

“You asked for romance.” Zach lifted a champagne bottle out of the silver bucket on the counter and deftly popped the cork. With typical flare, he didn’t lose a drop of the expensive bubbles. “I’m giving you romance.”

The setting sun in the distance cast a golden glow in the room, illuminating his light chestnut hair, the fine cut of his chiseled jawline, and the sensual shape of his mouth. His very kissable and sexy mouth.

Kennedy glided through the valley of bright yellows, vivid corals, shocking pinks, dazzling turquoise, and lustrous red petals. “You certainly know how to impress a girl,” she said when she reached his side.

He poured the effervescent liquid into crystal champagne flutes, then indicated the strawberries, green grapes, and apple slices. “I thought you’d need a pick me up before we went out tonight. I know how much you love spring.”

“They’re beautiful.” She took the champagne glass and his fingertips brushed hers, sparking desire. “This is just what I needed.” Her voice rang a low and sultry bell in her ears. His generosity took her breath away.

As did the man standing across from her.

His broad shoulders and muscular physique overwhelmed the hotel suite. The final beams of the setting sun cast light and shadows over his handsome face. She inhaled his clean, masculine scent. He smelled delicious and decadent. He was beautiful, beyond refined, and tantalizingly male.

He plated a serving of fruit. “Eat before your blood sugar plummets and changes you from Cinderella to Groucherina.”

A muscle twitched in his cheek. A rough, gravelly tone undercut his attempt at humor. Kennedy suppressed a nervous giggle and nibbled on the fruit.

“How was your afternoon?” she asked.

“Grueling.” He swirled the liquid in his glass. “Michael’s difficult to keep in the dark. I spent the better part of the day redirecting his attention to Sweetbriar Springs and our renovations. Yours?”

“Hannah needed the break.” She lifted a strawberry off the platter. “I’m glad I could make her laugh.” Deflection. Humor. She’d used it all to keep things light for her friend. “I asked her to manage the resort’s wellness spa when it opens.”

“She agree?”

“Yes,” Kennedy said. “Hannah’s ready to come home where she can spend more time with the people who matter instead of the people who don’t.”

“She’s a good sister.”

“She’s a good friend, too.” But something had happened to Hannah in Los Angeles, something dark that haunted her eyes whenever Hannah didn’t think Kennedy was paying attention. “I’m happy she’s here even if it is hard to lie to her.”

Zach scrubbed his hand through his hair. “Don’t I know it.”

Kennedy wanted to slip her free hand under the tuxedo jacket and caress his waist, turn into his arms and end their mutual stress with her touch. But she’d asked Zach for more than a physical release, wanting to find a way to bridge the gap between them without risking her heart. If they could have friendship again, maybe they could move on without carrying all the guilt and pain of their loss.

“Hannah told me all Michael cares about is saving Sweetbriar Springs and raising research money to discover a cure for ALS,” she said softly. “And of course, making sure we’re all one big happy group again.”

Zach nodded. “Yeah. Can’t fault him for wanting to recapture the good old days when you consider what he’s facing. Hell, I miss those days, too. I want him to fight for his health.”

“He’s always been tough,” Kennedy said. “I guess that’s why it took so long for the symptoms to catch up with him.”

“That’s why he’s an excellent candidate for the medical research program in Biostem’s clinical research trial at Tallahassee’s hospital,” Zach said.

Kennedy clasped the tender stem and sipped. The bubbles tickled her nose, sparkled away the tension she’d felt creeping into her spine during the hours she’d posed as Zach’s happy fiancée. “I’m so glad he’s going for it,” she said. “It means the disease’s progression might slow. And that’ll give him more time to use his Olympian record as a way to bring attention to his cause. Also, he needs something besides our reunion to focus on.”

“Unfortunately, Michael’s not that easily distracted.”

A frisson of suspicion curled around her spine. She’d always recognized when Zach was hedging for an angle, whether he was negotiating a deal or manipulating a personal situation.

Kennedy read serious manipulation in his stance. “What do you mean?” she asked, putting her glass on the bar’s gleaming wood.

He raised his left hand in mock surrender. “Michael’s stubborn. He kept hammering for me to tell him our wedding date. I fudged the truth.”

A sharp pain shot up the back of her head and popped in her temples. “The truth is we’re not getting married. How the hell did you
fudge
that, Tanner?” she asked.

His Adam’s apple rose and fell. “He’s looking forward to our wedding in June.”

Kennedy flattened her fingers to the sides of her head and weaved her hands through her hair. Disbelief, dismay, and disillusionment dropped a sick feeling into her stomach. She’d asked for friendship, had briefly fantasized about him putting her needs first, but he hadn’t changed one bit.

She catapulted her desolation into the air crackling between them with a raised voice. “So the daisies and the food and the champagne? They were just to mellow me out before your confession?”

…

An array of emotions crossed Kennedy’s exquisite features. Anger pinched her full lips into a razor thin edge. Disappointment grooved furrows in her brow. And behind it all, sadness flashed in her lustrous jade-green eyes.

Her emotional pain undid him in ways he had no intention of admitting. Not to her. Not to himself.

Her voice raised another decibel. “What was it Michael once said to me? Oh, yeah. I remember now.” She tapped her temple with her finger. “Zach Tanner always wins an argument.”

Kennedy was right. He rarely lost an argument. In fact, he’d been scoring perfect tens in that department until he’d met her. Then he’d gone on to lose the battle of a lifetime. And he sure as hell wasn’t going to revisit that nightmare. Feigning nonchalance, he crossed his arms and leaned against the bar. “I had to tell him something to keep his mind off his legs not moving at all in the near future.”

But she was wrong about why he had filled the room with her favorite flowers. He’d wanted to see her reaction when she walked inside the room and saw the brightly colored daisies. The money he’d spent had been worth the delight and the warmth that had sparkled in her eyes.

He pulled in a lungful of air and slowly released a deep breath. That he’d wanted to please her was a revelation he refused to examine any further.

She twisted her emerald round and round her index finger. “What happens when June rolls around and my daddy’s not walking me down the aisle?”

Neither of them had to voice their concern about whether Michael would still be able to share their lives in June, which would make a faux wedding a moot point.

The pounding of his heart grew louder in his ears. “Relax.” He held his palms up in mock surrender. “I didn’t tell him the year.”

“Brilliant,” she said, still twirling the emerald. “We’ll just keep on pretending we’re in love and planning a wedding that’ll never happen until…” Her voice trailed off and she blinked rapidly.

Until ALS finally claims Michael’s life.
He heard the unspoken words as clearly as if she’d said them aloud. Pain scraped inside his throat as sharp as nails driving through wood. Five years ago, he’d have turned to Kennedy for comfort. He still wanted to shield himself in her arms from the anguish—feel the stroke of her hands on his back and the warmth of her lips on his face.

His heart hammered a punishing round inside his chest. Zach couldn’t wrap his mind around the possibility of losing his best friend. That he yearned for Kennedy’s soothing touch more than ever despite all that had happened between them scared him in ways he couldn’t articulate.

He wanted to unravel the mystery behind her rejection five years ago, but that could lead to more heartache for both of them. They could never go back to what they had and who they had been in the past. But they could enjoy the present, which meant catching her off guard with the unvarnished truth.

“I ordered the flowers before I spent the day with Michael,” he said, then unleashed a full-wattage grin.

She stopped pacing and glared. “Park your charm, Tanner.”

He motioned toward the suite’s phone. “Call the concierge. She’ll be happy to provide you with a receipt.”

Gradually, her hands unfurled, her shoulders lowered, and her facial lines smoothed.

“You might be a master manipulator, but you’ve never been a liar,” she said. “I don’t need to call the front desk to prove you’re telling the truth.”

“Glad we’ve got that settled.” He traced a line down her bare left arm until he reached her hand. She flinched when he brushed her smooth skin. “I’d hate to cancel our romantic evening because of an innocent white lie
.
”

“Not that innocent,” she muttered.

He twirled the hidden emerald to expose the gem. “Why didn’t you tell me you didn’t like the ring?” He held her gaze.

She licked her lips. “What did Michael tell you?”

Her moist mouth taunted him with its delicious pout. He wanted to tease his tongue along the seam and slip inside to taste. “He’s shocked you’d wear it again.” Her hand trembled. “Said you’d never cared for the stone’s ostentatious size.”

“He’s suspicious.” She glanced away and lowered her chin. “That’s why you had to give him a wedding date.”

“Damn straight. I want him on my private jet and on his way to Tallahassee Hospital in Florida before we go back to Sweetbriar Springs.” He moved his index finger over the stone. “You should have told me you didn’t like the ring. I’d have bought you another one.”

“You were so proud of your choice the day you proposed.” She straightened her spine and regained her regal posture. “It’s just a ring. At the time, I wanted you to be happy.”

He clasped her hand. “And now?”

The color deepened in her chest, and he watched the swell of her breasts rising and falling. “It’s not for real so it doesn’t matter anymore.”

Her voice hitched. Oh, she wanted him. That was definitely real. “Not all of this arrangement has to be fake.” He released his grip, stepped back to the bar, and poured the remaining champagne into the flutes.

“Zach, anything we decide to do can’t last forever,” she said, taking the glass he offered.

“I know. But it would be fun while it lasted.” Though there were plenty of doubts about where playing this game would lead, he couldn’t stop looking at her mouth, wishing he could taste it. “I suggest a temporary fix.”

Kennedy licked her lips. The atmosphere sparked, lit up to combustion levels. “Temporary could work,” she said.

“Then do we have a deal?” He raised his glass.

Kennedy clinked hers against it. “Deal.”

After the first sip, he pointed to the shopping bags she’d dropped. “Anything sexy in one of those bags?” he asked. He’d skirted treacherous emotional waters earlier and now that he had what he wanted, he was determined to keep things light.

“Plenty,” she said, playing along. “Why? You have something special planned?”

“Absolutely.” He glanced at his watch. “Limo should be here soon. Prepare to be dazzled.”

She flipped her vibrant hair over her shoulder and sashayed to her bedroom. “You do the same.”

Chapter Nine

Kennedy thought Zach would take her to an opulent, showy place where they’d be seen and talked about, but the limo he’d hired pulled to a stop in front of an exclusive French restaurant in historic Asheville.

Moments later they sat at a table that was nestled in an alcove and overlooked the cobblestone street outside. “I’ve wanted to come here for a year.” Kennedy opened the menu. “But there was never time.” Nor was there someone to share the experience.

“Too busy running your dad’s company?” Zach asked.

“Wrestling control from my dad was a bit tricky,” she answered.

“I understand that problem,” he said lightly. “Took my father three years to let go of the corporate reins.”

Kennedy tensed. Just thinking about Zach’s other life, the one where she didn’t belong, made her twitchy. “He made a smart choice. Tanner Enterprises is thriving in this uncertain economy. I wish I could say the same about Sweetbriar Springs.”

“Now that my company’s in the picture, you don’t have to worry about that anymore.”

“That’s true, but there’s a lot more to fix than the resort. I want to bring the rest of the area back to life.”

“I’ll help,” Zach said.

“You mean your money will help.”

“True.”

She stared at the courtyard just outside the window behind Zach. Lanterns, dozens in various sizes and shapes, illuminated the outdoor space. Next summer, the bistro’s guests would dine alfresco on the wrought iron tables and chairs arrayed on the brick patio pavers.

Inside, candlelight glowed on every formally dressed table. Understated elegance with attention to detail. She inhaled the aroma of fresh baked baguettes, savory sauces, and roasting meat. Every scent reminded her of other intimate dates.

Dates and evenings she’d once hoped to share forever with Zach.

Suddenly she wondered if Zach had anyone in his life now. After all, he’d been dating a model just before he’d shown up in North Carolina. Kennedy curled her fist under her chin. “What will you do after you leave Sweetbriar Springs?” she asked. “You think you’ll ever settle down?”

A muscle twitched in his cheek. “One day. Right now I’m too busy making money,” he said after a moment.

And hiding his grief behind corporate takeovers
.

She tucked the thought away. “You’re also busy giving your wealth away.” She softened her tone. “You’re the biggest tipper I’ve ever met, but you don’t have to buy people’s respect. Clearly your hotel staff admires you, so what gives?”

He shrugged, then moved his water glass to the middle of the table. “I’ve got money. More than I need. Or expected to have when I was a kid playing baseball in my elementary schoolyard.”

She leaned in. “I never knew you played baseball when you were in boarding school.”

“I didn’t.”

She inhaled a long, slow breath through her nose, her mind churning with questions. Zach had never wanted to talk about his childhood. She’d long ago learned not to push him for details. He’d shut down and close her out. Now Kennedy grasped the nugget of information he’d allowed to slip out.

Whatever they shared during this dinner had no bearing on their lives. Maybe that had loosened his tongue. Still, she wanted to know more. “Then when
did
you play?”

“I was in Little League until I turned twelve,” he said. “Played shortstop.”

Something flashed in his deep chocolate eyes. A starkness she’d only seen once before. When she’d miscarried their baby girl, Brianna.

A melting feeling floated through Kennedy as if the flickering candlelight had begun to thaw her frozen spirit. Maybe if she could get Zach to open up about his past, she could understand why he was so bound and determined to control everything in his path.

She moved the glass Zach had placed between them and covered his wrist. “What happened when you were twelve?” she asked even more quietly.

“My life changed.”

“That’s all you’re going to tell me?” She gripped his hand, refusing to release him. “Seriously, Zach. You know everything about me and my family. Why is it so tough to talk about yours?” Though he didn’t know one vital piece of information. But that didn’t matter right now. What mattered was finding a way to break through Zach’s emotional barriers.

He jerked his hand from her grasp. “Your family’s decent,” he said. “Most of mine’s not. End of subject.”

Kennedy heard the rough undertone in his voice. “You’re talking about your father. I’ve only met him once. He’s not an easy man to like.” She’d fallen in love with Zach long before she’d learned about his wealth and the conglomerate he would one day control, though his father never believed she wasn’t marrying Zach for the money.

“That’s the understatement of the year.” Zach’s brow furrowed. “But I’ve come to appreciate what makes him tick. I respect him. And he respects me. It’s a hell of a lot more than I got from him when I was a kid.”

She’d scratched open an old wound he’d obviously not examined in years. A wound she’d never heard him talk about. Not even after they had buried their daughter. Then they’d been a young couple in love who had believed they controlled their destinies, only to become mired in the emotional debt of their mistakes.

He’d been strong, stoic, and sure.

While she had been shattered, severed, and splintered.

Unfixable.

“So you got what you finally wanted after all,” she said quietly.

“I wouldn’t go that far,” Zach said. “Things are good with my Dad. That was an easier fix than I had anticipated. But my two half-sisters? I’m still working on getting them on board with the changes I’ve made to Tanner Enterprises.”

“You can’t control everything, Zach.”

“If I accepted that way of thinking, I wouldn’t be where I am today.”

She sighed. That kind of thinking had been the reason she had ended their engagement. Because nothing Zach had said or tried to do could mend her broken body. Misunderstandings and youthful pride had driven a wedge between them. He’d wanted a family, but she’d failed to give him one. And when he’d returned from yet another long corporate trip after that terrible loss, he’d expected her to be ready to try to conceive.

And she wasn’t ready. Nor did she believe she could endure losing another child.

And now he was running from her emotionally by avoiding the conversation. Still, moments ago she’d caught a glimpse of the boy behind the man. And that man intrigued her. She wanted to chip away at the chink in his mental armor and discover more.

But to what end? They had nothing but a lie to bind them. Could they ever find a way to reconnect without destroying each other in the process?

Kennedy felt a band tighten around her chest.

Keep it light and keep it fun. That’s what we need, crave, yearn for.

“I was your friend before we became lovers,” she said. “I’d like to be that again.”

Perhaps he’d loosen the grip on his tightly guarded emotions and reveal more if she reestablished their original bond of friendship. It would have to be enough, no matter how much her heart would fracture into pieces after they parted ways.

“We’ve already agreed to be friends-with-benefits.” He lifted a brow and a hint of the man she’d fallen crazy-in-love with sparked in his cocoa-colored eyes. “What more do we need?”

His powerful thighs cocooned her legs beneath the table. Kennedy’s blood thrummed through her veins. Heat flowed low and deep, warming and filling her with a sensual awareness. She’d hoped to extinguish the fire flicking under her skin and burning low in her belly tonight. She raised her goblet of cabernet. “No matter what happens after we’re done working on the renovations, I want our friendship to be real even when you return to your corporate jungle.”

“Agreed.” He pinged his glass against hers. The twinkling sounded like the first ray of sunshine breaking through a cloudy day. “How soon do you want to start the
benefits
part of this deal?”

“Not until after we eat,” she said, unable to contain her smile. “I’m starving.”

Zach’s lips twitched. He shifted to make room for the waiter who’d brought their first course. “Let me know if you like the chef’s dishes. I’d like another opinion before I hire her to run our new resort’s kitchen.”

They spent most of their meal talking about the renovation and the logistics of coordinating the ALS fundraiser in conjunction with the lodge’s grand opening. While Michael rested up for his big speech on Sunday night, his illness prevented him from participating in too many activities. For the first time in weeks, they finally had a nice, normal conversation about everyday work and life.

As the evening progressed, a void grew behind her breastbone. Their conversation couldn’t mask their shared history, though they jumped around the heartbreaking topic hovering like the ghost of their lost child between them with mental acrobatic finesse. Oh, how different would things have been if he hadn’t returned from his business trip with pronouncements and plans for their future.

Plans she couldn’t force herself to obey despite desperately wanting to have another child.

They’d never be an ordinary couple out on a date getting to know each other. They’d never be people without the agonizing memories that had eviscerated their lives on the jagged edges of their splintered dreams. But a part of her, the place in her heart that had never stopped loving Zach, still dreamed of overcoming the aftermath of their horrific loss.

She touched her stomach briefly. After the first rush of their love, the reality hit. Pregnancy. And they’d been obligated to discuss more serious issues. Normal hadn’t been a part of their world as they’d prepared for a baby who’d never live and a wedding that would never occur.

Not then. Not now. Their fake engagement wouldn’t end in a June ceremony. No matter what year. And the string of people they would damage had grown larger by the day. Only her parents hadn’t a clue about her current deception.

“Dessert? Wine?” Zach asked, sliding his strong hand into hers.

She caught sight of the tic in his jaw. He wanted her, not the wine and not the dessert choices they’d been shown minutes earlier. And she desperately craved a way to drum out the history that haunted her heart. She yearned for the physical contact she’d denied herself for so long. If only to feel whole again.

Her nerve endings stirred and tingled with awareness. Just the simple interlacing of their fingers sizzled along her skin and burned desire deeper. “Take me home, Tanner,” she said. “I’ve got what you want.”

His grip tightened ever so slightly. He had what she’d been deprived of for years.

Outside, snow dusted the ground and small flakes fluttered around her, kissing her cheeks and chin with dewy softness.

Zach lifted her and she protested. “You don’t have to carry me.”

“I wouldn’t want you to ruin your sandals.” He kissed the tender dip in her throat. “I’d rather slip them off your feet later. When you’re naked.”

She shivered. Every cell in her body sang with pleasure. Anticipation and the thrilling sensation of being held in his capable arms wove through her. “Hurry then.”

He quickened his pace. “Your wish is my command.”

Once they were inside the limo and the privacy partition was raised, Zach cradled her head in his hands. They were hot on her face and she came alive at his touch.

She saw the flint of arousal darkening his chocolate eyes. The wanting. And her body melded into his as she lost herself in the sensation of being possessed again by the only man who’d ever given her such exquisite release.

…

Zach bent his head and licked a slow trail, gliding his tongue between her lips. He tasted her sweetness, the spices and wine and the woman mingled into a delicious aphrodisiac.

She sighed as they returned to each other, kissing as if they’d never touched each other in the days that they’d been reunited.

He thought he’d gotten used to being alone and had gotten on with his life. Now he felt like a man coming home. Kennedy’s sensuality and her innate knowledge of how to fuse with him left him vulnerable, exposed, and still willing to risk himself for her complete surrender.

She hooked her hands around his neck. Her hot, demanding response dominated his senses.

Zach couldn’t get enough. He dipped his tongue into her mouth, tangling and dueling with hers. Tasting her again as if for the first time. He slowed his assault, savoring her mouth, her face, her cheeks, and the tip of her freckled nose. Then returned to delve into the sweetness of her lips parting to welcome him back inside.

Blood rushed through him and thundered in his ears. He moved his hands over her waist’s dip, the curve of her hips, and higher to capture her breasts. Her nipples strained against the sheer fabric, and he raked his thumb pads across them, triumph surging through him at her answering gasp.

A primal beat pounded inside his chest. He’d never burned so hot for a woman. She was all he’d wanted before everything had been crushed. She was all that he wanted now. And for reasons he couldn’t fathom, the thought of yielding to her “temporary friends with benefits” to quench his thirst this way brought a low, empty feeling into his chest.

He had a month with Kennedy. Two tops. And he’d be damned if he took her in this limo in a blaze of heat. He’d made that mistake before. This time he’d proceed with caution. This time everything would be different. This time he’d remain in command.