“It always is. Fingers crossed Fabio lasts longer than I do.” Then I giggle very inappropriately. “My will says that he goes to Summer if something happens to me and even though I know she loves my sweet boy, Fabio will drive her crazy with all his talking.”
“You heard from her this morning?”
I start dishing up our breakfast, then pour some orange juice and coffee. “No. It’s still early and I’m sure she had a very interesting night. You hear from Jackal?”
Zak pulls his phone from his pocket, unlocks it, then after a few taps he slides it toward me with a shit eating grin.
JACKAL:Oh my FUCKING god I think I’m in love.
“Oh no,”I snort. “Oh my gosh. That’s so bad.”
“Yep.” He takes his phone. “Your girl obviously rocked his world.”
I cover my face and laugh even harder. “There is so much wrong with this. Summer lives in New York and is a self-proclaimedcarpet muncherfor life. She hasn’t been with a man since she lost her virginity, and I can guarantee last night was a one off for her.”
“Jackal will be fine. Once I get back to the clubhouse, he’ll more than likely give me too many details and move on. He’s not looking for anything other than a little fun.”
My stomach sinks at that.
Not for Summer; she won’t care at all since that was pretty much her plan too, but it’s just a small reminder that Zak isn’t in short supply of his own fun and everything we’ve shared—worry stones, dream catchers and all—is fleeting and situational only. Forced circumstances driven by my stupidity and nothing more.
“Hey.” I lift my eyes to his as he frowns and I set down the silverware. “Where’d you go, Blondie?”
With a painfully forced smile, I bury all the silly fantasies my mind keeps trying to conjure. “Just thinking about a client I need to call later.”
Zak gives me ayeah fucking rightarch of his brow but doesn’t call me on it. Something I’m more than grateful for because my dumbass would probably start crying if he did.
“Client?”
I blow out a breath. “I do freelance graphic and website design. I moved out here a couple months ago because one of the newer resorts in Vail wanted a total image makeover. Logo, ads, website, pamphlets. They weren’t having a lot of success drawing people in with their launch and felt like a fresher image would help. Apparently, they saw my work for another resort in Keystone that I did back in March and loved it so much they wanted me to redo their entire promotional campaign.”
I actually thought Tony referred them to me because he’s been there, but Arnold, the owner of Vail-hala Resort, had no idea who I was outside of what he saw online because why would my then boyfriend encourage mystupid hobby. “I started sending him mock-ups and before I knew it, Mr. Armstrong asked if I’d be willing to relocate to be closer for any future projects, so I did.”
“You didn’t move to be closer to your ex?” Zak asks seconds before he shovels a huge bite of food into his mouth then groans. “Fuck, this is fantastic, Theo.”
I smile my thanks and sip my coffee. “Not really. At the time it seemed like that would be a benefit of moving out here but I mostly did it for a change of scenery and the work it could provide me with.”
He swallows, the bob of his Adam’s apple too erotic for breakfast. “Hard to find freelance work in New York?”
“No, but big city life isn’t for me. I grew up in a small town in Delaware and wanted to get the hell out of it, but New York wasn’t for me either. Just like Denver isn’t. Sabine Woods seemed nice when I started shopping around and my first weekend visit sealed the deal. I love living here and I’ve only been in town a few months, but this place feels like home.”
Zak clears his plate in record time and I give him seconds without him asking. “You miss anything about New York?”
“Just Summer.” I giggle. “And the pizza, but that’s it. It’s too loud, too angry, too busy. I like things that are simple and relaxed, both of which are hard to achieve out there.” He’s so damn attentive. I seriously can’t get over the way Zak asks questions and actually listens to what I have to say. It’s foreign really, Fabio is the only one who hears me all the time and having someone like this man take a genuine interest in anything that comes out of my mouth is hard to accept. And I guess that’s why my curiosity wins out a little. “Are you from Sabine Woods?”
He nods. “Born and raised. Nowhere else for me either, Blondie.”
I love it when he calls me that.
“Do you have family here?”
Zak tenses briefly, a barely noticeable clench of his strong jaw but it’s gone just as quickly as it came. “Just the club.”
“How long have you been a member?”
“Since I was nineteen. Damn near seventeen years now.”
So, he’s thirty-five or thirty-six. Zak may be rough around the edges, but I didn’t think he was that much older than me. Not that eight years is ridiculous or anything. Late twenties and mid-thirties aren’t that far off by today’s standards. It’s practically the norm for couples to have a slight age gap these days.
