Chapter 14 #2
Kylie set down her wine glass and took his hand. “That must have been hard on all of you.”
“It upset the routine I had with Dad, plus, Harris was not pleasant to be around. He’d been spoiled rotten his entire life. Never corrected for anything he did wrong. He didn’t think rules applied to him.” Zane paused. “He still doesn’t.”
She had seen Harris Wagner’s name on the company’s website and asked, “What does your brother do?”
“Party.”
“I meant at Wagner Enterprises.”
“Same answer. Harris is a professional schmoozer. He carries a VP title and travels the world. Chats people up. He’s charming.
Nice-looking. Persuasive. His conversations lead to business connections.
He goes to parties, everywhere from clubs to ballrooms to yachts.
Dad said Harris does a lot of back room business and brings in more investors and clients than I could imagine. I’ll have to trust him on that.”
“You don’t talk with Harris much?”
“Not if I can help it.”
This time, Kylie heard something different in Zane’s tone. Squeezing his hand, she said, “Talk to me. What has Harris done? I can hear it in your voice.”
He raked his free hand through his hair.
“Just before I flew down to Texas, he asked for a meeting in my office. Harris has never done that. I thought it would be about business. Instead, he blindsided me, telling me that he was going to be marrying my ex-wife—and that I was not invited to the wedding.”
A dozen emotions flitted through her. Anger. Surprise. Outrage. Disgust.
“What on earth was he thinking?” she demanded, hurt for Zane filling her.
“Hell if I know. It’s not as if we have any kind of personal relationship. I didn’t even know they were dating. A part of me thinks Amanda is simply playing a dangerous game. I haven’t seen her since the court date dissolving our marriage, and we hadn’t spoken for months leading up to that.”
Zane shook his head. “I don’t really care. Harris is an adult. He can marry anyone he chooses to. If he wants to crawl into bed with that viper, let him.”
“I’m sorry you have such a poor relationship with your brother.”
“He’s never felt like a brother to me. Harris resented the weekends I came to spend at his house. He really resented coming to live with Dad and me. He was rebellious. Drank. Drugged. Stole. Wound up in rehab countless times. We’re just very different people. We share DNA. That’s it.”
Zane squeezed her hand. “I envy you, having two brothers you love and can count on.”
“They always took good care of me. Sometimes, too good. Danny was only two years older, and he thought he had to personally inspect every boy I dated. He ran off a few he didn’t think suitable for me.”
“Be glad he was looking out for you.”
Kylie sighed. “I wish he and Karl would’ve been with me in college. I think if they’d gotten to know Brady, they would’ve seen through him. I viewed him through rose-colored glasses.”
Zane tensed. “This ex. He didn’t hurt you, did he?”
“Not physically. Just emotionally. Please, let’s don’t waste the time we have together talking about our ex-spouses. I’m a Mayfield again—and I’m going to stay one.”
He released her hand and slipped an arm about her. Leaning over, he retrieved her wine glass for her and handed her the TV remote.
“Let’s just hunker down and watch something together,” he suggested.
She had been certain he would want to have sex again since his time in the Bay was limited, but the thought of watching TV and sipping wine with Zane warm and close to her really appealed to Kylie.
Turning on the TV, it came on Turner Classics, one of her favorite channels. A movie was just starting.
“The Ghost and Mrs. Muir,” Zane said excitedly. “I love this one.”
She turned and faced him. “You’ve seen this movie?”
“I’m a huge fan of forties and fifties movies. If it’s in black-and-white, I’ve seen it. Probably more than once.” He grinned. “This movie is a favorite of mine.”
“Mine, too,” she said softly, turning her head toward the screen.
And placing her head on Zane’s shoulder.
Two hours later, Kylie was crying as the elderly Lucy Muir died and her spirit, now young again, steps from her body. The ghostly Captain Gregg appears, and he and Lucy reunited, disappearing into the mist.
“You shouldn’t cry,” Zane said, using his thumbs to wipe away her tears.
“They loved one another so much,” she sobbed, pressing her cheek against his hard chest. “They fell in love and he stepped away when that asshole Miles Fairley romanced her. And he waited all that time for her. I love how her daughter and granddaughter both married captains. It’s just so sweet—so romantic—that they finally could be together. ”
Zane tilted her chin up and pressed warm lips against her forehead. “I’d like to be together with you now. If that’s what you want.”
She smiled up at him through watery eyes. “Only if I can call you Captain Wagner.”
He burst out laughing and then kissed her, hard and swift. Immediately, heat filled her body in anticipation of what was to come.
Zane stood, pulling Kylie to her feet. He swept her off her feet.
“You’ll have to follow my every order,” he said, his voice low and gruff.
“Aye, Aye, Captain,” she replied saucily.
He carried her into the bedroom, and she would never forget their hours together in that bed.