He didn’t bother her that morning like he wanted to, mainly because he knew how skittish V was. She reminded him of an abused animal. She wanted to trust, but she wasn’t quite to the point where she would open herself up yet, but she was noticeably getting better. She needed space. And after Zane managed to get her to commit to allowing him to pursue her, he figured he’d back off. A little.

He found it amusing that she still wanted to reiterate that whatever this was between them was just sex. Sex with her was certainly on his agenda because what red blooded man wouldn’t jump at the opportunity to have V wrapped around him like a fucking blanket. Shit, Zane had never known anything quite like it, and he wasn’t about to let go of it if he had a say in the matter.

“Awww, shit. Another one bites the dust.” Sawyer’s sarcasm broke into Zane’s thoughts. He glanced over to see his brother smirking at him.

“What the hell are you talking about?” He dared to ask the question.

“Fuck, bro. You’re sitting over there grinning like a fucking girl in love.”

Zane glowered at his brother, but then he broke into a smile. It was harder and harder to get irritated with his brothers at this point. He had just missed them so damn much while he’d been in the hospital. He had enough anger and hatred boiling deep in his gut from the assault that he couldn’t find it in him to let anything else get to him at the moment.

“Do you really want to go there?” Zane questioned, laughing. “I’ve heard some stories about you and a pretty little Sheriff’s daughter that we could relive if you’d like.”

Sawyer’s eyebrows darted downward, a frown replacing his smirk. There was clearly something going on between Sawyer and Kennedy Endsley, but Zane only knew as much as he’d heard from his brothers and Beau, which honestly wasn’t much.

“Are you planning to return to work soon?” Sawyer redirected the conversation, clearly wanting to change the subject.

The question caught Zane off guard, and he tried to get a read on Sawyer’s intentions. Did his brother want him to go back to work? Was Ethan having problems managing the shop while he’d been away? He hadn’t heard anything, but that didn’t mean they weren’t keeping secrets from him. But this was also exactly the opening he needed.

“I’ve been giving that some thought.”

Sawyer’s eyebrow cocked as though he was waiting for the rest of Zane’s explanation.

Zane hadn’t prepared for this conversation yet and he had a hard time finding the right words... “I want in on the resort.” Well hell. That wasn’t what he had in mind.

“What do you want to do?” Again Sawyer asked the question while Kaleb looked on.

“Don’t know. What do you need me to do?”

“I thought you liked being a mechanic,” Kaleb interjected, frowning before he continued. “Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s terrific that you want to be involved in the resort, actually. We never thought to talk to you about it because you always seemed married to your job.”

Married to his job? That was funny.

Yes, Zane enjoyed working on cars and trucks, but that hadn’t necessarily been his long term goal. As the youngest Walker, he’d had to fit in with his brother’s goals because Walker Demo had been started long before he was old enough to work.

With Travis being ten years older, the oldest of them all, Zane didn’t have much of a say in what he started out doing. Not that he hadn’t enjoyed it. Being a mechanic had been all he needed, but thanks to the recent road bumps he’d stumbled over, he was ready to move forward. And it wasn’t like Ethan didn’t have some buddies who would be able to help him. In fact, Zane knew of one person who would be perfect for the job.

“Who’s going to manage the clubs?” Zane asked, glancing between his two brothers.

“I’m planning on taking one of them,” Sawyer explained, “but we don’t have anyone for the other yet. I thought maybe Travis would be interested, but he’s more interested in managing the actual hotel.”

“I’ll take the other.” That was easy enough, although Zane didn’t have the slightest idea what managing a club would entail. He was smart enough that he’d be able to figure it out. He noticed Kaleb and Sawyer and the look that passed between them. “What?”

“Do you have any idea what type of club we’re talking about here?”

Zane had a relatively good idea. After all, he’d spent the last couple of months cooped up with a laptop and too much time on his hands. He knew from all of the stories on the internet exactly what Travis had in mind. “I wasn’t thinking country club if that’s what you’re asking.”

Sawyer smirked at Zane’s comeback. “Definitely not.”

“I think it’s a great idea,” Kaleb offered. “In fact, I think you and Sawyer would be the most logical choice anyway.”

“Not the twins, huh?” Sawyer laughed.

Holy shit. Zane couldn’t imagine Braydon and Brendon managing anything, much less a club. There were a lot of things to consider when it came to the club, including the liquor license, the entertainment – and hell, Zane didn’t even want to know what the twins’ choice in entertainment would be.

“What do you think Travis will say?” Zane knew that Travis was the one person he might have to convince, but with everything the man had going on, he didn’t think it would take much.

“I think his only concern will be whether you and V will be able to work together,” Kaleb stated in that matter of fact voice that grated on Zane’s last nerve. His brother was making reference to what happened at Anderson Croft’s house and the way Zane had gone off on Jake Sanders.

“That wasn’t out of jealousy.” Zane felt the need to convince them.

For months, he’d been defending his own actions considering the repercussions. He’d had to explain to both his mother and father exactly what happened and why. Of course, his mother hadn’t been too happy with him, but his father had understood. Throughout Zane’s childhood, he’d been taught to defend others. Bullying was not tolerated in the Walker household, and, despite this extreme incident and what Jake had done to him, he’d do it again in a heartbeat.

“We didn’t think it was. That doesn’t mean there won’t be other fuckheads who treat women like shit,” Sawyer added.

“You would’ve done the same fucking thing.” Zane’s anger was escalating. Granted, maybe Jake’s retaliation was the worst that any of them had seen, but Zane knew, for a fact, his brothers would ruthlessly defend a woman from a fuck up like Jake.

“I’m not disagreeing with you,” Sawyer stated more firmly. “But we can’t have it go down like that. Not at the resort.”

Nodding his head, Zane agreed. He wouldn’t make any promises verbally just yet because until he sought his own revenge on the bastard who had damn near taken his life, Zane didn’t know what he was capable of.

“I’ll talk to Travis if you want me to,” Kaleb offered.

Again Zane nodded. This was what he wanted, and he was going to make it happen. One way or another.

Changing the subject, Zane glanced back and forth between both Kaleb and Sawyer. “Either of you want to tell me just what the hell Jake is doing harassing V? And why the hell no one’s told me about it yet?”

His brothers looked startled by the direction his question was going, and they glanced back and forth between one another. Zane felt his irritation level rapidly intensifying. He hated that they felt the need to protect him. As the youngest, he’d battled being coddled his entire life. He was a grown man and as far as he was concerned, V was his to worry about. They didn’t have any right to keep him in the dark.

“Travis is trying to nail down where Jake’s at, but we don’t know anything yet.”

“How long’s this been going on?” he asked Sawyer who seemed to be the only one willing to talk. Kaleb had hastily stuck his face back in his laptop.

“From what we know, about two months. About the same time you woke up.”

Zane wondered whether the timing was coincidental or if Jake had been keeping tabs on Zane’s condition. Either way, it didn’t make a damn bit of difference to him.

“Have either of you looked into it?” Zane knew Travis would be keeping an eye out. His brother was known for having eyes and ears all over the place.

It still surprised him that Travis hadn’t yet figured out where Jake was, nor did they have the names of the other three who’d been with him that day. Zane hadn’t known any of them. In fact, he’d never even seen them. The only thing they knew was that those three weren’t from Coyote Ridge.

“We’ve been talking to Beau. He’s taken an interest in V for the last couple of months. He’s watching her back, but I’m pretty sure she doesn’t know that.”

That wasn’t news to Zane. Beau was his best friend. They’d discussed what happened, and they were both on the same page. V was the most important as far as Zane was concerned and while he’d been in the hospital, Beau had agreed to keep an eye on her. As discreetly as possible.

He seriously needed to meet up with Beau. There were some other things Zane was ready to discuss. Like how they were going to handle Vanessa Carmichael now that Zane was home.


♀♂


“When does Gage get back in town?” V asked Zoey as they sat in a booth at Moonshiners a couple of hours later.

After going home and showering, she waited for Zoey to return and pick her up, for a much needed night out. Nursing a beer and watching the few people mulling about the bar, she wondered whether she should’ve just stayed home.

Although she hoped a drink would help alleviate some of her tension, V knew better than to think it would. Her stress was primarily related to one gorgeous as hell cowboy whom she couldn’t seem to get off of her mind lately. No matter how hard she tried.