“What way is that?”
He sighed. “Plain, and not feminine at all.” He stopped, pulling her in front of him as he cupped the side of her face. “You’re a very beautiful woman. I just wondered why you didn’t want your co-workers to know that.”
Embarrassment made her face hot. “Zack, you can stop flirting. I know I’m not a pretty woman, and I’m all right with that. I’d rather have people like me for the kind of person I am, not for my looks.”
“Are you stubborn and crabby with your co-workers like you were with me when we first met?”
She shrugged. “Sometimes.”
“Oh, yeah. They’re really going to love the real you now.”
She scowled. She didn’t know what he was getting at. Why was he telling her this, anyway? Stepping back, she yanked her hand from his. “What are you saying?”
“I guess what I’m trying to say is that you’re happier here at the ranch than you are at the FBI office. You’re more comfortable with your beauty here on the ranch, and you can be yourself. When you’re at work, you’re showing them a Whitney Lawson that doesn’t exist.”
Her heart twisted when the truth hit her full force. Zack was right. She’d wanted so badly to make her mother proud of her for being someone important – like an FBI agent – that she didn’t realize it had taken away her true identity.
She blinked back the tears burning in her eyes. “Oh, Zack,” she whispered brokenly. “I can’t believe you noticed.” She tried pulling away, but he wrapped her in his arms, keeping her close.
“Gladys tells me you’re painting again,” he said.
She nodded.
“What made you stop?”
Sad memories flooded her mind, bringing with it more tears. “I was never good enough for my mother. She’d told me once that my paintings looked like a preschooler had colored them.” She swallowed the lump in her throat. “She’d told me I should dress like a guy since my thin body resembled one anyway. She told me I would never amount to anything.”
His jaw hardened, and his nostrils flared. “She was so wrong, Whitney. If only you could see yourself like I see you, and like Joe and Gladys see you.” He expelled a breath. “You are a very pretty woman. You are a wonderful person, and you can excel at anything you put your mind to.”
Where had Zack been all of her life? Why couldn’t she have had this support before now? “You commented before about my lack of knowledge as an agent.”
“Yeah, I’ve seen better. However, I know the reason why you’re not that good.”
She chuckled. “I’m trying to feel offended.”
“I’m not trying to be rude. But think about it. You can be anything you wantifyou put your heart into it. Tell me, Whitney, do you put your whole heart into your job? Are you loving life because you’re in your dream job? Or are you living day to day to see how many people you can make happy – like your mother and your boss?”
Tears slid down her cheeks. “You’re right. I have never put my heart into this job.”
“What job have you put your whole heart in to?”
“Nothing.”
“Why?”
“Because... I didn’t think I deserved it.”
“Oh, my darling Whitney,” he whispered, pulling her against him as he kissed her forehead. “You deserve the best. You always have, and you always will.”
“It’s so hard to think that way,” she closed her eyes, enjoying his attention, and hoping his kisses would move down to her mouth, “when I’ve been told differently for so long.”
He withdrew, staring deeply into her eyes. “Do you remember the fairytale story of Snow White?”
Whitney nodded.
“The Evil Queen didn’t want anyone in the kingdom as beautiful as her, which is why she wanted Snow White killed.” He paused for only a second. “Your mother is the Evil Queen, and you are Snow White.”
She chuckled tightly. “Snow White ended up getting her fairytale romance and happily ever after.”
