Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Three
W hile holding hands, Zoey and Chance walked around the lake. When she’d first seen it while on her horse, she’d had a flash of a dream. However, since then, nothing. But that wasn’t what was on her mind right now. Her thoughts dwelled on what had happened before they’d left the cabin. Never had she been kissed like that before. It was as if both her lips and tongue had become his, and he was capable of managing and pleasuring both. He’d done so in such a way that had her questioning the very fundamental values she strongly believed in. She never had a man make her do that.
“It’s beautiful here, isn’t it?” he said, capturing her attention.
She switched her gaze from the lake to him and thought he was beautiful, although typically, a man wasn’t defined that way. She’d already decided he was tall, hot, and handsome. Nothing had changed. “Yes, it is. If this is where my parents spent most of their time when they came to visit my grandparents, I can see why.” He was still holding her hand, and she felt comfortable with him doing so.
They stopped walking when they came back to the boat dock. The wind had risen, and her heart skipped when he reached down and brushed a few strands of hair from her face. “I was wrong. You did understand,” she said.
He lifted a brow. “I understood what?”
“That day when I first came to your ranch and explained what I’d gone through to learn to walk again. I told you how painful my physical therapy was. You nodded as if you understood, but I figured there was no way you could have. I was wrong. You did understand because you’d gone through similar challenges.”
He stared out at the lake before returning his gaze to her. “Yes, I understood, and I admired you for it. You went through it as a child. I was a grown-ass man, yet there were days I didn’t think I could take it. I was in so much pain, I wanted to give up.”
“But you didn’t give up.”
“Like I told you, Mama Laverne wouldn’t let me.”
“You and your family are blessed to have her, Chance.”
“Trust me, although she likes to get in our business more than we like, we know she’s a jewel.”
They began walking again. Silence lingered between them. “There’s something I’d like to know,” he said.
Zoey glanced over at him. “What?”
“Are you involved with some guy back in Baltimore?”
She wondered why he wanted to know that. “No. I haven’t been involved with anyone in well over a year. Conrad and I were together for less than six months when I found out he was cheating on me.”
“For real?” He seemed surprised.
“Yes, for real. He thought he was in his right to do so since we were engaged in a long-distance affair.”
“This Conrad sounds like an ass.”
“He was.”
Chance nodded. “It’s time we head back.”
“Alright.”
He tightened her hand in his. “About that kiss, Zoey. Do we need to talk about it?”
“We already have, Chance.”
“Friends don’t normally kiss,” he said, staring at her.
She felt an influx of feelings from the way he looked at her. “I think today we discovered we have a unique friendship.”
He lifted a brow. “What’s unique about it?”
“At a vulnerable point in our lives, we beat the odds regarding our physical health and well-being. When faced with a challenge, we don’t give up easily.”
He didn’t say anything as if he was giving a lot of thought to what she’d said. Still holding her hand, they walked over to the horses.
***
“It’s about time you called me back, Zoe.”
After taking a shower and slipping into her nightgown, Zoey sat on the edge of her bed, using the remote to find something interesting on the television. Chance had driven her back to town and walked her to her hotel room. After placing a quick peck on her forehead, he’d left.
“I’m surprised you hadn’t blown up my phone since I hadn’t returned your call before now.”
“I didn’t have to worry since Chance assured me you were in good hands and wouldn’t be alone.”
Zoey’s hand went still on the remote. “You spoke to Chance?”
“I sure did. I called, and tall, hot, and handsome answered your phone while you were sleeping. Didn’t he tell you?”
“No, he didn’t mention it.”
“Well, no biggie. He has such a nice-sounding voice. I can only assume he was the one knocking on your hotel room door.”
“Yes, it was him.”
“Had you called him?”
“I had earlier, to cancel dinner plans. He had invited me to his place for dinner today.”
“What! You didn’t tell me anything about that, Zoe.”
Knowing she would not be watching television as planned, Zoey placed the remote aside and eased back on the bed. “I had planned to. It was after midnight when I got home from my date with Corbin, and this morning, I got that call from Sharon.”
“So, tell me everything now.”
She started with the dinner she and Corbin had shared and ended with her and Chance riding horses to that cabin by the lake. Surprisingly, Lucky didn’t ask questions every midsentence. She listened to the point where, for a while, Zoey thought her silence was eerie. When she finished, Zoey asked, “Well, Lucky, you don’t have anything to say?”
“Why do I feel you’re leaving a few things out, Zoe?”
Probably because she wasn’t ready to share anything about the kiss she and Chance had shared yet. A kiss that still had parts of her body feeling hot. Nor was she prepared to tell Lucky how it felt being held in his arms while they danced.
“I don’t know why you have such a feeling, Lucky.”
“Probably because I know you. I won’t bug you about anything now since you’ve been through enough for one day. However, you know what I think?”
“No, Lucky. What do you think?”
“I think tall, hot, and handsome has grown on you, and you’ve grown on him. You may be engaging in your first fling after all.”
An hour after her call with Lucky had ended, Zoey was in bed staring at the ceiling. Unlike what Lucky assumed, she wouldn’t be engaging in a fling with Chance, the only man she’d ever been tempted to have one with. He was only into meaningless sex—one-night stands and one and done, something she was not.
She was about to grab the remote to resume searching for something to watch on television when her cell phone rang. She picked it up and recognized the caller’s name. “Ms. Felicia Laverne, this is a pleasant surprise. How are you?”
“I’m doing fine, dear. What about you?”
“I’m doing alright.” She was tempted to tell her about the phone call she’d gotten from Sharon Newberry but decided she would wait to do so when she saw Ms. Felicia Laverne again. To tell anyone else about it today would be too draining.
“I got some good news for you.”
Zoey pulled up in bed. “What is it?”
“That cabin I told you about. The owner permitted you to stay there over the summer.”
She smiled. “That’s great.”
“And he’s not charging you anything to do so. He and his family are going away for the summer and appreciate the cabin being occupied.”
“That’s very generous of him. It’s a nice cabin. I had dinner with Chance, and afterward, we went riding and he took me there. He got the owner’s permission to look inside.”
“How did it go? Did being there spark any of your memory?”
“Not inside the cabin, but when I first saw the lake, I got a quick memory flash of my parents and me having a picnic by the lake. Just like in one of my dreams, so you were correct. That was the lake.”
“Glad to hear it. I’m leaving tomorrow to return home to Whispering Pines. Will you join me for lunch on Thursday?”
“I’d love to. How soon can I move into the cabin?” Zoey asked.
“As soon as you’d like. The security code is 5109. Let me know if you need help moving from the hotel, and I’ll get one of my great-grandsons to help.”
“I don’t need any help, and I appreciate everything you’ve done,” she said, unable to hide the excitement in her voice.
“You don’t have to thank me, and I look forward to seeing you Thursday. I will text you the address. Whispering Pines is like a fortress, so I’ll let my son Jake know I’m expecting you.”
She took a deep breath after she and Ms. Felicia Laverne said their goodbyes. Her day might not have started well, but it definitely was ending better.
***
Before popping open the can of beer, Chance leaned against the refrigerator. Zoey’s scent was still there; he figured it would be for a while. Moving over to the table, he sat down in the chair. Instead of taking a sip, he took a huge gulp. He needed it.
He needed her .
That kiss should not have happened. But it had, and the memory would live amid his brain cells for a while. He took another gulp of beer, putting that theory to work when he thought of how she’d tasted. Sensuously delicious. He could have stood there and sucked on her tongue until the cows came home. The more he would have done so, the more he would have craved her, hungered for and desired her.
A heated rush of need was pushing through all parts of him in a way that even this cold beer couldn’t abate. He wondered how the rest of her would taste if her mouth tasted that good. He would love to find out.
Taking another gulp, he thought about their conversation about the kiss. Their logic. Their decision for it not to happen again. He shook his head, thinking, good luck with that one . He was convinced it would happen again. It had taken all the self-control he possessed not to kiss her good night when he had walked her to her hotel room.
He then remembered his conversation with his great--grandmother that morning. She had made it clear she didn’t think that he, nor any other single Madaris, not to mention those Bannister brothers were who Zoey needed. At the time, he agreed with Mama Laverne’s way of thinking. But that was before he kissed Zoey. Tasted her.
Before she’d wet his shirt with her tears.
He finished off the last of his beer and checked his watch. Starting tomorrow, he and his men would move the herd to a pasture on Whispering Pines; a process that usually took three to four days to complete. That meant he needed to go to bed earlier than usual. He stood and, after disposing of his beer can, moved toward the stairs, thinking there was a good chance Zoey Pritchard would find her way into his dreams that night.