Total pages in book: 60
Estimated words: 56893 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 284(@200wpm)___ 228(@250wpm)___ 190(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56893 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 284(@200wpm)___ 228(@250wpm)___ 190(@300wpm)
“Hey, Dani,” he said.
She looked from Zach to her sister, her nose scrunched as she watched them.
“Zach, I know this must be a shock but can we talk?” Mia–Hadley, he mentally corrected himself, asked.
As much as he wanted to hug her tight, feel her body against his and ask where she’d been all these years, he wouldn’t give her the satisfaction of showing any emotion.
Whatever answers she held, she’d opted to keep to herself for the last decade. He hadn’t been hard to find and she could have come to see him long before now.
Her leaving had been a shock followed by embarrassment when he’d had to face the kids in his class, but her ongoing silence had devastated him. He wouldn’t fall at her feet in gratitude she’d shown up now.
“Sorry, but we’re closed for a private party.” He gestured with a tip of his head toward where his family gathered in the main dining area. “You can show yourselves out.”
Her eyes opened wide, flashing with hurt before she banked the emotion.
Forcing himself not to react or show he cared, he turned, intending to walk away, aware of Remy’s disapproving stare. His friend didn’t have a clue who Mia–Hadley–whatever she called herself had been to him. Although since he’d confided in Remy one drunken night, his friend might be figuring things out.
“This is the guy you said would help us?” he heard Dani ask in a sarcastic voice. He paused mid-step. “Good job, sis.”
“Be quiet,” Hadley hissed. “You have no idea what happened between us.”
“So, he’s not the boyfriend you had and the prom date you had to ditch when dad screwed–”
Dani’s voice cut off.
“We’ll discuss how you know about that later,” Hadley warned the teenager.
He looked over his shoulder to see her hand covering her sister’s mouth and he bit the inside of his cheek in an attempt not to laugh. The kid had spunk and though Hadley was probably used to dealing with her, the flush in her cheeks revealed Dani had embarrassed her.
Zach blew out a breath and forced himself to pivot back to them. Dani had had him at the word help. Saving women was his weakness, for reasons that began with his mother and the way her life came to a tragic end.
But he couldn’t bring himself to make this easy on Hadley. “Fine. Let’s talk.” His tone was deliberately cool.
She glanced at her sister. “Go sit at a table. I want to talk to Zach in private. I’ll come back for you in a few minutes.”
Zach glanced at Remy. “Can you get Dani a menu and let her order whatever she wants?” The cook had come in today for Leah’s party and would be happy to whip up whatever the teenager wanted.
Remy nodded. “Come on, kid. We’ve got milkshakes, burgers and anything else you want to eat.”
“Sweet. I’m starving. We’ve been eating crap since we left–”
Hadley managed an impressive eye roll at the same time she slapped a hand over her sister’s mouth. Again. “Go eat and do not talk.”
Remy chuckled and Dani rushed for a table near the kitchen.
Hadley shook her head and grinned as she watched her sister go. “That kid is a handful,” she muttered but Zach saw the love in her eyes and it caused an unwilling tug on his heart.
“Let’s go to my office where we won’t be interrupted.” He extended his arm in the right direction, grateful his family was occupied with the party girl and her presents in another area of the bar.
Hadley-it was going to take time to get used to calling her by that name–nodded and walked ahead of him to the hallway where his office was located.
He’d had years for his anger and hurt to build but he couldn’t deny his curiosity about her was still strong. And as she walked to his office, her ass swaying in tight black jeans, he was forced to acknowledge that relief wasn’t the only thing he felt upon seeing her again.
* * *
Nerves fluttered in Hadley’s stomach as she walked through the bar to Zach’s office. The décor she passed appeared old-looking by design with dark distressed wood tables and chairs, but the graffiti and hand-painted art on the walls brought some current style into the mix.
Walking into Zach’s office, she looked around, seeing if she could glean any information about the man he’d grown to be. The area was neat with a plain wood-styled desk that could be found in any office supply store and an executive-style leather chair. On the white walls hung family pictures but none were Zach’s relatives, at least none she remembered meeting in the past. But everyone had grown up and changed, including her.
“Have a seat.” He gestured to one of two open-arm guest chairs across from the desk.
She lowered herself into a chair. “Who are all those people in the pictures?”