Vicki whispered, “Thanks, Dion,” and hung up to text Zane again.
He didn’t answer. Not the texts, not the call she made a little while later, and not the anguished yell she muted with her pillow after it became clear hewasn’tgoing to answer.
Because of course he wasn’t. Of course, of course, ofcourse. She was an idiot, and she’d fallen for a player. Agreatplayer, but a player.
Because Zane had been very, very careful not to say that she was his ‘fated mate.’ Vicki really hadn’t minded that, not at all. She’d meant it when she’d said she didn’t need fate, just as long as what they had was real. And she’d absolutely,completelybelieved him when he’d said it was.
But that was ridiculous. There was no way she could compete with someone like Nora Brusch, a literal ingenue. Vicki was a first grade school teacher in her thirties, for God’s sake. The girl was staggeringly beautiful, wealthy, talented, and as much too young for Zane as she was for Benton Sinclair’s Star Captain. But that never stopped men, did it. Of course it didn’t.
Vicki had known the fairy tale wasn’t going to last, but shehadthought it would last until the end of the ball, at least. That was how the stories were supposed to go. And just to add tothe humiliation, the entireworldknew it had gone completely, horribly wrong. They were going to laugh at her for aiming above her station. The cinder girl left alone at the foot of the palace stairs, wondering what had happened to her prince.
“Fuckthat.” Vicki actually spoke aloud, startling herself with her vehemence. If Zane wasn’t answering her texts, at least her brother would. She sent him a note that sounded furious even to herself, and he wrote back within seconds, saying,You okay? You want me to go punch him in the face?
No.Vicki’s hands were shaking with anger and embarrassment.I mean, tempting, but no. I have a better idea. Can you maybe drive up here and get me tonight?
Yeah. Yeah, of course, Vic. I can’t drive up fast enough, but I’ll fly up and get you and we’ll get it taken care of. It’ll be okay. Love you, sis.
Vicki textedLove you tooback, and lay down on her bed to cry.
CHAPTER 20
Zane’s phone was at the bottom of the river, and Dion, who would have fixedeverything, was three hundred miles away.
He’d dropped the stupid thing when Nora had kissed him, a fumble from pure shock, and hadn’t even realized it had gone over the side of the boat until Nora’s bodyguards had gotten between the paparazzi and them, and Nora had broken the kiss, gazing up at him with laughing adoration. Zane, horrified, said, “Oh my God, Nora, I’m sorry, butno.”
Her pretty expression sharpened into a shark’s smile. “Don’t be silly. I saw all those pictures of you with that blonde woman up in Virtue, and you obviously need a wicked witch to break the fairy tale princess’s heart. I can go foryearson being the home wrecker, and you’ll get all the sympathy you need from the press when it’s over.”
“I don’twantto break her heart!” For some reason Zane was keeping his voice low, trying not to draw attention. He should be drawing attention. He should be making it clear to the entire world that this wasn’t what he wanted at all. “My God, Nora, you’re going to ruin everything!” He stepped away from her,trying to get to the press, but her wretched bodyguards were somehow in the way no matter where he went.
Nora was there, too, right in the way and still smiling like a shark. “Come on, Zane. You know we've been flirting around the edges of each other for years. This is perfect."
"It's not perfect! We haven't been flirting!" Zane said desperately. "Ihaven't been flirting, at least!"
Surprise filtered through her expression, slowly washing the shark's gaze away. "You're kidding."
"I'm not. I'm sorry, Nora, but I really wasn't flirting. You're a good friend and a great, insightful client to design for, but that's all it ever was on my side."
She stared up at him for what felt like a long time before sighing. "Well, great. I guess instead of being the wicked witch home wrecker I'll just be the desperate ingenue making a fool of herself in a last-ditch attempt to win the hero."
"You can probably go for years on that, too." Zane walked away, heart hammering with worry. He didn't care if this had ended his client-designer relationship with Nora. All that mattered was how that hadlooked, and how many people had taken pictures, and how he needed to talk to Vickiimmediately.But the phone was gone, and by slow horrified moments, he realized what a mess he’d gotten himself into.
He’d thought he was beingsoclever, canceling the big hotel in favor of a small, intimate, private suite at a boutique hotel where he and Vicki could have first-class service without anybody knowing where they were. It had been a great idea as a romantic gesture. It was a terrible idea when everybody who knew where he was staying thought it was the big hotel.
It was an even worse idea when hehad no idea what anybody’s phone number was. He knew his own. That was it. His phone—the one at the bottom of the river—remembered the rest of them for him. He didn’t know Vicki’s, he didn’t—mortifyingly—even knowDion's. He wasn’t even sure he knew his own studio number back in California, and his damn business cards were digital, kept on the phone! He stopped a friend on the boat and asked to borrow their phone, only to have Nora appear, pluck it out of his hand, and take some selfies before handing it back to the other actor. The guy laughed and moved along, leaving Zane to his frustration while Nora smiled at him with nasty sharpness.
Theminutethe boat docked, Zane rushed back to his hotel and used their landline to call the Jones’s B&B, which got him voicemail and an invitation to book online. He’d tried calling Virtue Elementary School, but not only was it after business hours, they were absolutely not going to give him Vicki’s number. He even tried calling Kate’s Cafe, and Kate said she’d pass a message along if she saw Vicki, but her tone of voice said the entire town thought he was in the doghouse and no explanation was going to be enough.
In the town’s defense, no explanation wasevergoing to be enough. Zane had never felt the press of somebody’s mouth against his with the same horror he’d felt when Nora Brusch had kissed him. It was lucky he’d only dropped the phone, and not flung himself—or worse, Nora—over the edge of the boat in an attempt to escape.
Although if he’d thrown himself off the boat, it would have made it harder for her to manipulate the press into wondering if he was a predator of some kind.
You are a predator.The wolf’s observation was so unexpected that Zane laughed out loud, and with the laughter, felt a little better.
“All right. I’m a very stupid predator who doesn’t know anybody’s phone numbers, but not so stupid I can’t rent a car and drive up to Virtue and explain myself. Vicki’s not leavinguntil morning. It’ll be okay,” he told the wolf out loud. “Or fly up.”
He took a minute to look at flights, but between the time it would take to get to and wait at the airport, fly to the nearest airport to Virtue, and drive into town, he might as well just drive. Even a private flight wouldn’t be faster, because he’d have to arrange it. Determined to make this right, Zane rented a car and drove out of the city, cursing Nora Brusch, his own reliance on his phone, and the fact that Dion had found true love at such an inconvenient time. Which wasn’t fair or nice, and probably said more about Zane’s reliance on Dion, too, than anything else. It was possible he shouldn’t be allowed out of the house by himself, for heaven’s sake.
At least the snow had melted and the roads were clear, which made the drive north pleasant, once he got out of the city’s traffic. Somewhere around Albany he realized he should have emailed Dion from his tablet, but he rarelyusedthe tablet for email, so it hadn’t occurred to him, and because he was an idiot, he’d left the hotel without anything but his wallet.
