Nicole Edwards - Zane

“Are we getting a drink after this?” V prayed they would be, or she might just burst at the seams. Being only two days into the work week, for some reason this was turning out to be one of the longest weeks of her life. She knew she probably could thank Zane for that.

“Definitely.” Zoey sounded as exasperated as V felt. It truly was getting difficult to get up each day and clean houses when there were some substantial changes just around the corner. Some changes that would alter the course of their lives, and the lives of so many others.

Just like the Walker brothers did.

V’s mind drifted to the day before, and the way Zane had pinned her to the wall and fucked her into oblivion. She hadn’t realized just how much her body had craved his until the instant he touched her. How she had ever convinced herself that the memories they had created before his attack would be enough to sustain her for a lifetime, she would never know. Clearly she’d been delusional.

And now Zane wanted to pursue this little affair for as long as it would last. V didn’t have high hopes that it was going to last all that long because hell, sex was sex. She might not have many compelling offers, but she knew, for a fact, the Walker brothers didn’t spend many nights alone. The idea of Zane attempting to change her mind about this being anything more was preposterous. But she had to admit, she was looking forward to him trying.

Ok, so maybe she had a change of heart – it was more like a real slight shift actually – somewhere in the dark of night when she was lying awake, fearful of every single noise she heard, every creak of her house, every brush of the tree branches outside her window against the screen. At that point, V had been willing to run to Zane if she thought it would do her any good. Sure, she was nervous, timid even, but this was Zane Walker and she was undeniably affected by him.

Granted, yesterday could’ve been a fluke as far as she was concerned. Hell, Zane hadn’t been out of the hospital for two hours before she’d been competently persuaded to give in to him. The man made her physically ache with his nearness. Considering he hadn’t had sex in three months, she could almost believe that she’d just been an easy way for him to rectify his celibate slump. Except V didn’t believe that. She wouldn’t have had sex with him if she had either.

For the better part of the morning, V had been satisfied just thinking about what happened between them last night. Now that the day was dwindling on, V was a little disappointed that she hadn’t heard from him yet. But not enough for her to try and reach out to him. There was still time left, so she held out hope. Yes, that dreaded word that she shied away from was right there lingering at the edge of her periphery.

He probably was elbow-deep in an engine somewhere and totally oblivious to the time. That’s what Zane did. He gave one hundred and fifty percent to everything he did and everything else fell to the wayside except what he was working on. Since she’d been privy to his undivided attention a time or two, V couldn’t complain.

“Smiling, huh?” Zoey stood just a few feet away staring down at her while V mindlessly scrubbed. “I know it’s not the job that’s making you light up like that. Must be Zane.”

Zoey turned and walked off; successfully dodging the dry cloth V threw at her. She had to agree with Zoey though. She hadn’t been smiling much lately, and that was mostly because she still couldn’t get over what had happened to Zane that day.

Just last night, when she went home after leaving his house, she’d sat in her car for a good fifteen minutes before she managed to walk to her front porch. She wasn’t quite sure what was wrong with her, but whatever it was, it scared her senseless.

When she was finally finished with the bathroom and she had vacuumed the master bedroom carpet, V met Zoey in the kitchen to find the woman on the phone, looking all googly-eyed and dreamy.

V didn’t need to eavesdrop on the conversation to know Zoey was talking to Kaleb. She wasn’t sure how either of them managed to get anything done during the day with as many times as they stopped to talk on the phone. They’d been together for several months now, and yet they still acted like the relationship was new for both of them. It was cute. And a little nauseating at times.

V felt absolutely no ill will toward the couple though. She was more than happy for her friend and the fact that she had finally found what she’d deserved from the beginning. Kaleb Walker was one of the finest men V had ever known, and his love for Zoey was apparent. It had been for a long, long time, although both Zoey and Kaleb had been oblivious to it. Most of the people who knew them had seen it, but the two of them had denied their physical attraction to one another for years. Thankfully, they’d both found their way, and now they were planning a wedding.

This reminded, V... She was working on the bachelorette party.

Without preamble, V began loading her things into Zoey’s truck while she waited for her to finish her phone call. She’d heard plenty of “I love you” and “I miss you” in the last couple of weeks that she didn’t need to hear any more.

By the time Zoey was heading out of the house, V had loaded her things into the bed of Zoey’s truck and was waiting patiently. Not that patience was one of her virtues, but she was working on it. Probably had a lot to do with Zane’s attack and the fact that there for about a week, they hadn’t known whether he would make it or not.

The thought still made her sick to her stomach.

“I’ve got to go home and shower, but then I’ll pick you up and we’ll head over to Moonshiners,” Zoey mumbled as she approached and at first V thought she was still on the phone. When she looked up, she saw that her friend was, in fact, talking to her.

“Sounds like a plan.” Not that the idea of going home sounded appealing. Especially considering V would actually have to go into the house, but it wasn’t like she had much of a choice.

“How’re the renovations on the house coming along?” V figured idle chit chat was the only way to keep her mind off of going home, so she brought up the safest subject she knew of.

“Fantastic.” Zoey grinned from ear to ear as she settled behind the wheel and started the engine. “With the sale of the land, I’ve got enough money to do some pretty significant improvements to the house. If it weren’t for the age, we wouldn’t be looking at so much money or change, but I think when they’re done, it’ll be totally worth it.”

“When will they be finished?” Completion of the work had been a precarious topic for Zoey last week, although V hadn’t understood why. Considering she and Kaleb were already shacking up at his place while the work was being done, V figured there were other more important battles Zoey should be focused on.

“Now they are telling us about three months. Kaleb talked to the general contractor today, and he’s going to get a crew started this week.”

Since Zoey’s father moved into the guest house that Zoey had originally been occupying, the main house currently stood almost empty which seemed to make her friend a little nervous. Zoey’s little bouts of frustration were few and far between these days though, and V was just happy to see the smile on her friends face. Zoey deserved all the happiness in the world as far as V was concerned.

After finding out that Zoey’s ex-husband, Jason Tribbons had actually got some chick pregnant while the two of them had been married, Zoey’s mood had gone sour there for a little while. Not that V blamed her. If it weren’t for Braydon’s and Brendon’s interference they would have known what happened a long time ago, but instead, the wound was still fresh. According to Zoey, Kaleb was unquestionably worth every ounce of heartache she had gone through in her life just to end up where she was.