“A cluster,” Marlowe said quickly. “I think that would be perfect for you. Especially when you get all your little knick-knacks there, it’ll be a statement wall.”
“Great.” Zane didn’t sound like he thought it was great. But she had a feeling he would’ve responded to either answer and exactly the same way.
Cara nodded. “I agree. I think that will look great. Oh, Ineed to go buy some knick-knacks. We’re going to have to go back to town.”
“Back to town?” Cody was looking at her.
“We had dinner last night. At La Befana.”
“Oh. Was it good?”
“It was. It was great. We… enjoyed ourselves.”
Cara looked at her with a barely suppressed conspiratorial look on her face. And Marlowe tried to get her to chill, using just her eyebrows.
“What?” Cody asked.
“Oh. I just… thank you again for the truck. I did find out that my… My ex took the money. The money that I had saved for a car.”
“Right. Well. Are you going to get a lawyer on him?”
“Yeah. At some point. Right now, there’s so much to do.” And she had a feeling that he wasn’t going to do it. He wasn’t going to initiate the divorce because nothing would benefit him. If anything, he would owe her money back, probably the cost of the move, at least half the money for the car. There wasn’t a house to split, there weren’t kids to work out custody for, and the benefit would be minimal, but he was the one who had started all of this, and there was no reason for him to finish it unless he wanted to marry his new woman, and somehow, she had a feeling he wouldn’t do that.
Not because she didn’t think he… Maybe he was passionately in love with this other woman. Maybe she was the sun and the moon and the stars. Then maybe he would ask for a divorce so that he could make her his wife.
Somehow, though, Marlowe had a feeling that she was a little more than a getaway car. Something he had used to make himself feel special, alive in a way that he had missed.
Well, two people could do that. That was how she felt when she looked at Cody. Alive in a way that she wasn’t sure ifshe ever had been before. She wasn’t the one who had blown all this up.
But why couldn’t she have all the benefits of Aiden blowing it up?
Why couldn’t she be just a little bit wild in response to it all?
“We can help with that,” he said.
“What?”
“Yeah. We have a guy that we used for all the legal stuff with the ranch. I’m sure he can help you, or he’ll know someone who can.”
“Oh. I… That’s really nice of you but –”
“We don’t play about that kind of thing,” Zane said, turning to face her. This was the first time he had looked at her fully, rather than simply continuing to be preoccupied by the work that he was doing. He was holding a hammer, arms crossed over his broad chest. His eyebrows were dark, almost black, and heavy over his brow. His beard was thick and dark. He looked like a lumberjack. A very intimidating one.
“You don’t?” Cara asked. She looked like she was bowled over by him.
“No,” Zane said. “If you work here, then you’re family. And one thing we do here is protect the family.”
“That’s the god’s honest truth,” Cody said. “I told you. I’m going to make sure that you’re taken care of.”
He didn’t mean for it to be erotic. But it felt erotic. Like abedroomsort of promise, and it made her shiver.
“Great,” Zane said. “I’m going to get back to it then.”
His gruff voice broke the moment, though perhaps not as much as it might have. If she weren’t resolved. If she weren’t done fighting it. It was a record for lowest self-control threshold on the planet. She was just giving up. Because if he wanted it, she was going to be looking for signs that themoment was right for her to make a move. Regardless of whether it was smart.
Regardless of whether it was right.
“Are you ready to go look at the cabins?”
