Chapter 21

Chapter Twenty-One

Zane

“ I ’m sorry I’ve ruined your birthday dinner.”

“Ruined?” I chuckle. “Not at all. I’ve had a great day full of adventure.”

“Thank you for offering to leave.” Her voice is soft and I can see she’s turning inward, lost in thoughts.

“No way in Hell we were staying. Anytime we are together and you ever feel an iota of discomfort, we go. Okay? Life is too fucking short to be in awkward or annoying situations.”

She smiles but it doesn’t quite meet her eyes.

The car slows and turns off onto the road that leads to Hollow Manor.

“You’re not taking me home?” she asks.

“I think we need to talk,” I say. “But if you’d rather go ho?—”

“No, no, it’s fine. I wasn’t ready for our night to end.”

I chuckle. “Not without cake.”

We stop long enough for the gate to open and close. After a minute, we travel down the driveway. The car takes it slower than I do because of the curves and climb.

“I owe you an apology,” I offer.

“You did nothing wrong.” She glances at me.

“I should’ve never referred to Sebastian the way I had. I should’ve controlled my tongue, regardless of how annoyed I was knowing that he’d dressed you like he owned you. It was a dick move and incredibly disrespectful to you. That will never happen again.”

“Zane, it was the truth, and I’ll never ever fault you for being real. I prefer it because most people aren’t.” She moves closer to me and I can smell her hair and skin.

My mind eases anytime we touch and it sets me on fire.

I swallow hard and we sit in silence for a few seconds. “You mentioned you were together for six years.”

“Yes,” she mutters.

I do the simple math in my head. “I might fuck him up.”

Autumn tilts her head at me, noticing how I tense. It isn’t my place to say anything, however, guilt creeps over me.

She silently begs me to tell her and I shake my head, not wanting to discuss this any further. While I don’t know many details about their relationship, I know he hurt her, and I won’t be the one to twist the knife. Deep down, she knows he was a cheating bastard. There are always signs, little hints. It’s how I caught my fiancée with my best friend.

“You saw him with another woman, didn’t you?” Autumn breathlessly says. Can she read my mind? Were the words written on my face?

I don’t have the heart to tell it was more than one.

“At the end of the day, does it matter?” I ask. “Will it change your current opinion of him?”

“He’s at the top of my shit list. Wait, are you protecting Sebastian?” she accuses.

This makes me laugh because he’s the last man on Earth I’d ever help. “Fuck him. I’m protecting you and your heart.”

After the stunt he pulled tonight, I’m tempted to fire him and ban him from all Xander premises.

“He made me believe I was insecure, jealous, and paranoid. I’ve never been any of those things in my life. Several times he asked me why I didn’t trust him. I want answers.”

I search her eyes. “Sweetheart, I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You won’t,” she whispers. “You’re only confirming the suspicions I’ve had and giving me closure. I need this, please.”

She nearly begs and I release a long breath. Autumn deserves to know the truth, but I fucking hate that I’m the one to deliver.

“At the end of the ski season, we always give our celebrity instructors a two-week all-inclusive stay at the private island resort as a thank you. For the past decade, Sebastian has brought a different woman with him. None of them were ever you.”

“Every year ?” Her voice cracks and her jaw tightens.

“Please understand how sorry I am, Autie.” I shake my head and interlock her fingers. “This isn’t a conversation I expected or imagined I'd have with you. It's not my place.”

The sadness on her face breaks my heart. I tuck loose strands of soft hair behind her ear. When a few tears stream down her cheeks, I wipe them away. I’m fucking livid that Sebastian is still hurting her, that he has the goddamn audacity to try to win her back after disrespecting her so deeply.

“You deserve better, Autumn. He’s not worth crying over.”

“I know,” she states, but the silence lingers on. “These are angry tears. Years of pent-up frustration over being lied to. It makes so much sense now. He told me those trips were for end-of-season training. Fuck,” she hisses, forcefully wiping her face. “I’m not a crier.”

“Sometimes it’s the only way the body can release the emotions.” I open my arms, wanting and needing to hold her. “Come here.”

My pretty girl falls into my chest and I hold her tight against me. She sniffles and I pet her hair, trying to comfort her in the only way I know how, by being here, by being close. The car hugs the final curve before taking the long stretch home. Neither of us moves until it stops. She pulls away and wipes her cheeks, forcing a smile.

She chews on the corner of her lip and I rub my thumb across it as she meets my eyes. I want to kiss her, tell her none of it matters, that she’s fucking incredible, but I say nothing.

“You really shouldn’t look at me like that.” I smirk, rolling up my shirt sleeve because my temperature rises when her eyes lock on me in that way.

“I can’t help it,” she says.

“Would you ever take him back?” I ask, needing to know where he stands in her heart.

She glances down at her hands and I appreciate the time she takes to think about it. “No. Being alone with him brought back a lot of memories and none of them were great. Knowing he actually cheated on me and lied about it a handful of times…” She pauses. “The answer is no. I realize why my friends hated him. They saw through it. I’m so glad I went and got tested after we broke up. He could’ve…” She stops and shakes her head. “Tonight, he had the nerve to tell me he wouldn’t stop pursuing me until I was married.”

“You’re kidding.” I deadpan, not sure what kind of game Sebastian thinks he’s playing. Maybe he thought she’d never find out about his sexcapades; bro code and all of that bullshit.

“He’s trying to break us up,” I say with a sarcastic laugh. “Fucking prick.”

Her brows furrow and a hint of anger emerges. “He is. But it’s not like we're together, so he loses anyway.”

We both know what’s going on isn’t fake, even if the title is…for now.

The door opens and we exit. I give my driver a nod and fall in step beside Autumn as she leads the way down the lit sidewalk. There’s a gentle breeze and it carries a crisp reminder that winter is coming. Our pumpkins are on the porch with their electric candles inside.

It makes her smile, and I fucking love to see it.

When we enter, a cool draft drifts through the space so I light the fireplace.

Autumn steps closer to the instant warmth. The flames cast a warm glow across her sun-kissed skin and my eyes trail down her body. From this angle, the material is see-through and clings to her. Her tiny nipples are hard little pebbles and poke through the silk. My eyes wander down to the thong sitting low on her hips. I knew the open back design seemed familiar, but I couldn’t place it until now. He’s dressed every woman he’s been with in something similar to mark his territory.

Sebastian made her a spectacle, after knowing she was mine. He didn’t have the goddamn right.

Had I known he’d delivered it to her house today…

I fight the anger bubbling inside of me. Part of me wants to go back to the resort and beat the fuck out of him, something he’s had coming for a long while.

Instead, I’ll ensure the sorry bastard never has a chance to hurt her again.

“The rage I have when I see you dressed in that.” My nostrils flare and I run my hand through my hair as she takes a step closer to me.

“I feel cheap,” she whispers. “And used.”

I remove the remaining space. Her warm brown eyes lock on me and I slide my hands under the thin sleeves. Then I firmly pull, wanting to destroy everything the material symbolizes. The silk splits in half and reveals her beautifully bare body.

Instinctively, I kiss her shoulder, trailing up the softness of her neck. Seconds later, the sparkly black fabric is in a pile at her feet. Autumn threads her fingers through my hair as her head rocks back on her shoulders.

“You’ll never be his again,” I mutter, sucking on her ear lobe then tasting her skin. Our mouths crash together. We’re desperate and dangerous, despite the alarms sounding in my head telling me to stop. Autumn urges forward, sliding her tongue against mine, moaning against me.

Her beautiful breasts are on full display and her nipples are peaked.

Fuck, I’m in over my head.

She tugs on my tie, removing it, then steadily unbuttons my shirt. I said I wouldn’t pursue anyone else, not until I found my forever person.

She desperately pushes the material from my body, running her hands down my chest. Her hands trail around the muscles of my stomach and I’m hard.

“Pumpkin,” I whisper, leaning my head against her forehead.

“Please,” she whispers.

I study her, not knowing if I’m strong enough to keep denying her when she wants this, wants me.

“It's supposed to be you.”

I run my fingers through her hair, bringing her ear to my mouth. “I want you to want me, and just me, not the idea of erasing someone else.”

“You think that’s what this is?” She studies me, shaking her head. “I want you to claim me.”

“And what happens if I decide I don’t want to let you go once this line is crossed?”

“You will,” she whispers. “You have a life outside of Cozy Creek.”

I shake my head. “Wrong answer, Pumpkin. I don’t want a fling. I need to know that you’re ready for the possibility of forever.”

“I can’t guarantee the future. Just right now,” she mutters, picking up the material and throwing it into the fire. She tosses the shoes in too, then we stand and watch it burn until it’s nothing more than ash. Then, she turns on her heels and walks toward the stairs in nothing but a thong. “I need to find some clothes.”

Fuck.

I can’t let her walk away from me, not like this.

Not ever.