“So, needless to say that once my ex came back into the picture, running away from everything sounded extremely appealing.”
“Your parents would be worried sick.”
“I’d let them know that I was okay.”
“I wish I could tell you that I don’t get it, but I do.”
Surprise washed over me. “You do?”
“Absolutely. It’s exhausting to think you can’t just run to the grocery store without getting bothered or worrying that your ex is waiting for you at the house. Going into hiding makes perfect sense.” He kept his gaze on me.
“Well, that’s my secret. I’ve been fantasizing about it every day.”
He took a sip of his club soda and set it down. I felt a charge run between us as if this confession put a magnet right into my gut, and whatever there was about him pulled me right to him.
“I would miss you,” he said.
“I would miss you too.”
“Since we’re sharing our secrets, I have one too.”
My brows rose in surprise. “You do?”
He nodded. “Yeah. Right before you broke up with me, I’d gone to my brother about staying local more. We’d been toying around with an idea for a few years about building up a tactical facility here where we’d offer training to clients.”
My heart skipped a beat as I nodded for him to continue.
“It was my way of being a better partner to you. I knew you needed me, and I should have listened more.” He flagged down the server with a smile. “I think I’ll have what she’s having, too.”
“Yes, sir.” The server wandered off toward the bar as Zack brought his focus back to me.
“I’d planned on telling you everything, but you broke things off, and I knew if I told you what my plans had been, you wouldn’t have trusted them. You would have thought I was throwing anything at the wall to see what stuck.”
I chuckled, realizing he knew me too well.
“So, when this happened with Carmella, I offered my home to keep you secure.” Zack let out a deep breath just as the server brought over his martini. He took a sip. “But my other intention was to win you back.”
Chapter Eighteen
Zack
Her glassy eyes told me she’d been fighting back tears, and it killed me to think I did that to her. I never should have said what I said, but I also couldn’t go on continuing like I didn’t love her more than life itself. We had an amazing dinner, but the moment I’d told her my intentions, I could tell she'd put her walls back up.
Just when I thought we were making headway, I'd screwed it up.
I stared out my bedroom window as morning sunlight filtered through the glass, bathing my room in prisms of color.
A soft tap on my door made me straighten. I’d tried to avoid most people this morning by grabbing a cup of coffee and heading back up to my room, but I knew I needed to go downstairs and figure things out.
So far, Tim hadn’t set foot anywhere near Sadie’s parents, but that didn’t solve the problem, which was Tim.
“It’s Sadie,” she said softly on the other side of the door.
My pulse quickened just from the thought of seeing her.
“Come on in,” I said, smiling and turning around to see Sadie open the door.
Her hair was in a loose braid with all the fuzzy hairs on top from sleeping on it. She still had on a pair of pink satin boxers and a matching top. She looked dynamite as she held her own cup of coffee.
