Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 145803 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145803 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
She regarded him over the water bottle and then took a slow sip of water. What difference did it make? Maybe he was in the habit of asking Sam about all of Sam’s friends. It didn’t change anything. He’d walked out without a backward glance. She knew because she’d stood at the front of the tent and watched him go until the trees and brush had swallowed him up. He hadn’t looked back.
“What could you have possibly wanted to know?” If there was disbelief in her voice, who could blame her?
“I needed to know that you were safe. You were alive and healthy. I didn’t want another man in your life. At the same time, I wanted you to be happy.”
She contemplated that. “Well, there you go, Zale. I’m safe, alive, healthy and very happy. There’s no other man in my life at this time. You can go away feeling very fulfilled by the news.”
The knock at the door signaled the food was there. “I can get it,” Vienna assured. She was weak, but it wasn’t as if she were helpless. Once he ate, he could leave.
“I’ll get the cart. You stay put.” Zale was already up, a flowing ripple of muscle beneath his clothing, gliding across the floor straight on through to the front door. He looked through the peephole to ensure the server had followed instructions, and then he opened the door and drew the cart inside. After checking it carefully for audio and camera devices, he wheeled it into the bedroom.
The moment she smelled food, she was suddenly starving. Vienna might look as if she rarely ate, but she loved good food. The Northern Lights had the best chefs, and she took full advantage of their menu.
There was silence for a few minutes as the two of them began eating, passing condiments back and forth and automatically sharing with each other as they had so easily when they’d been together before.
“You don’t want to know why I would contact Sam and not you?” he prompted when they were eating the dessert—a strawberry and kiwi tart.
“Absolutely I do not.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “I mean it, Zale. I’m not going to be that woman you have your little holiday fun with and then disappear from for months on end. Find someone else. I know I look tough and act it, but I’m not quite as tough as you might want me to be. One go-around with you was enough.”
“For God’s sake, Vienna, it wasn’t like that.”
She leaned forward, looking him in the eyes. “It was exactly like that. And it’s okay. I was thinking one thing, making it all a fairy tale. Women can do that, misunderstand when things aren’t talked about right up front. You had a few weeks off. We had chemistry that was off the charts, and I was a willing partner. For you, we fucked like bunny rabbits for your vacation, and you packed up and walked off without a word and never looked back. My guess is, you do that quite often. Most women know the score. It isn’t your fault I didn’t. But I didn’t, Zale, and I’m not going to lie, it hurt. I got over it because I’m a big girl and I take responsibility for everything I do. That wasn’t on you, it was on me. But I’m not going there again. Why would I want to stick my hand in a very hot fire and get burned all over again?”
He swore and jumped out of the chair to pace across the room and back, his restless movements reminding her of a caged tiger kept in a cramped space. “That’s not how it was, Vienna. I never once thought of you like that. Not once. You meant something to me. Too much to me. I couldn’t let go of you, even though I knew it was the right thing to do.”
“You let go of me when you walked away without a word. It’s been months, Zale.”
He spun around from the inside of the doorway to the bedroom. “You think I don’t know how fucking long it’s been? I count the weeks, the days and sometimes even the hours when I’m lying in a bed somewhere, or on a plane or a train. When I’m trekking through a jungle. You’re always with me, Vienna. I worry about you. Obsess over you. Dream of you. And yeah, that could get me killed in a hot minute—or worse, get you killed. That’s the reason I contact Sam and not you. I can ask Sam using code on an encrypted line. I protected you by following you when you left to go into the forest alone, instead of going with you. I didn’t want anyone to see us together. I suppose that only added to you thinking I didn’t want a real relationship with you.”