Chapter 24

Chapter Twenty-Four

Rae

I couldn't pull my gaze from Zach's profile as we bumped along the gravel lane in his truck, the lodge growing smaller in the rearview mirror. We reached the T in the lane that would take us off the ranch if we made a right or toward the barn if we went left. Zach cranked the wheel to the left.

"Where are we going?" I asked as a country ballad played at a low volume through the truck's speakers.

"I'm taking you to my place. Thought I might make lunch for you there."

My brows winged up toward my hairline. "You cook?"

He grinned and nodded his head without taking his eyes off the road. "Sure do. Grandma was an incredible cook and taught my mom everything she knew, and in return, Mom taught me."

I felt a tiny smile pull at my lips. "Is that your roundabout way of saying you're a pretty good cook?"

He glanced in my direction, his smirk wolfish. "No, baby. That's my roundabout way of telling you I'm a fuckin' awesome cook."

My head fell back on a laugh. I liked that he wasn't humble about it, that he didn't hesitate to brag about his skills. It wasn't narcissism or false bravado. He knew what he was good at and he owned it. There was something insanely attractive about that.

He pulled his truck up beside his house, ordering me to stay put as he hopped out and jogged around the hood to my side to open my door and help me out. I looked at his place, taking in the outside and noticing that it was kind of a cross between a grownup version of the cabin I was staying in and the large ranch house his grandparents used to live in, the beautiful one near the barn that sat empty.

I'd been curious about Zach's place since I first spotted it tucked into the grove of trees. I wondered how a man like him would decorate, which way his tastes leaned. Was he a messy bachelor, or did he like things tidy? What did he do in his downtime? Did he like videogames or did he prefer to relax in front of the television? There was so much about Zach I wanted to know, and now that we were... whatever we were, I could finally put some of those curiosities to rest. Starting with how he kept house.

A few pairs of boots, all dusty and well used, were beside the front door for easy access, but the living room was spotless. There was a large television mounted above the fireplace, facing a buttery leather couch the color of tobacco, but there were no gaming consoles in sight. Instead, I noticed rows of paperbacks on the built-in shelves on either side of the fireplace. Thrillers mostly, with some murder mysteries thrown in.

"You've got quite the collection here," I said as I moved in the direction of the shelves while he headed for the kitchen at the back of the living room. The open concept of his house made it easy for us to carry on a conversation. I dragged my fingers along the spines. "Have you read all of these?"

"About half, maybe. Some more than once."

"Is that what you like to do when you're trying to relax? Read?"

"Mostly. I also like to watch the sunset from my back deck with a beer or a glass of bourbon. Much better quality than that shit I was drinking in the barn. Or there's a place I have on the ranch where I like to go to clear my head. "

I spotted a couple picture frames and bent forward to get a better look. One of the pictures was of Zach and a group of guys. Some I recognized like Connor and Raylan, but the others weren't familiar. Then there were the obligatory family photos, high school graduations, a couple family Christmas photos. But the one that caught my eye was of a much younger Zach. He couldn't have been more than twelve years old in the photo. He was all arms and legs in the picture, at that awkward age where the growth spurts start, but the weight hasn't quite caught up yet. He was lanky, his hair overly long and falling across his forehead and into his eyes in a style I assumed was popular at that time. The photo was taken in front of a small, red brick courthouse. On either side of Zach stood Rory and Cord Paulson, his parents.

The three of them stood on the wide cement steps, all of them beaming brilliantly at the camera. In Zach's hands was a very official looking piece of paper. I squinted and leaned in to get a better look, reading the words Certificate of Adoption across the top.

The picture warmed my heart at the same time a pang of sadness worked its way through me. If that was a picture from the day he was officially adopted by Rory and Cord, how long had he been in the foster system?

My curiosity got the best of me, and I moved away from the bookshelves and into the kitchen where Zach was in the middle of preparing some kind of pasta salad. I sat on one of the stools across the island from him and rested my chin in my hand as I watched him work.

"How old were you when you were adopted?" I finally asked.

"Twelve." He answered the question easily, like it was nothing at all. "I was raised in foster care my whole life up until that point." He offered the information like he knew how badly I wanted to know, but was too nervous to ask.

When I remained quiet, he lifted his gaze from the tomatoes and cucumbers he was slicing and looked at me. "I don't mind talkin' about it, baby, so if you have questions, just ask."

I started with the one that had been bouncing around in my head since Becky dropped the bomb about the adoption day celebration.

"How in the world did I not know you were adopted until now?"

He lifted one large shoulder in a casual shrug. "I don't mind talkin' about it, but that doesn't mean I advertise it. I don't introduce myself by sayin', ‘Hey, I'm Zach. I'm 35, a Sagittarius, and I was adopted when I was twelve.' If it comes up organically, I'm an open book."

My lips curled in a slow smile. "You're a Sagittarius?" I asked teasingly .

He chuckled at my question. "Hell if I know. I've never really paid any attention to that shit. That was just the first one that came to mind."

"Well, if you're interested in knowing, I'm a Libra. We're compatible with Aquarius, Gemini, Taurus, and..." I paused for dramatic effect, "Sagittarius." I shot him a saucy wink, earning a full-blown laugh that made the apex of my thighs tingle.

"Good to know." He pushed the vegetables to the side and began chopping a bunch of fresh herbs I wouldn't have been able to name if my life depended on it. "Honestly, I'm surprised you didn't realize it until now. I mean, I am the only blond-haired, brown-eyed person in my family."

I shrugged, reaching out and grabbing a tiny piece of cucumber and tossing it into my mouth. "I figured there were relatives farther down the line that you took after, but it makes sense now."

"Yeah, well, whether or not I look like any of them, they're my real family. Cord and Rory took me in, they made me their son when I thought I was going to end up staying in the system until I aged out. I couldn't have asked for better parents if I'd picked them myself."

"I'm really glad you all found each other. How did you guys meet?"

He smiled down at the cutting board as he scooped up the herbs and tossed them into a tiny blender, squeezing in some lime juice by hand and added a couple other liquids to the mixture. He pulsed it for a few seconds until it was all combined before answering.

"I threw a rock through the window of Rory's bar." He looked up at me through his lashes. "I was a bit of a troublemaker. Anyway, I threw the rock and Cord chased me down. He'd been a foster kid too, so he knew one when he saw one. It kind of snowballed from there."

"I love that," I said with a soft smile. "And they brought you here? To the ranch?"

"Yep. This has been home since that night, and I couldn't imagine ever wanting to be anywhere else."

I was starting to understand that feeling. I looked down, tracing the veins of gray in the white marble countertop with my finger. "I get that. The longer I'm here, the more at home I start to feel. I never felt like that in L.A."

"I'm glad to hear that. It would make keeping you kind of difficult if you kept trying to run off to California when I wasn't looking."

My belly swooped as I met his gaze, but I forced out a laugh, trying desperately to play it off. "You say that like you're in this for the long haul." I tried to keep my tone even, injecting lightness into the conversation.

"That's because I am. "

I choked on air, sputtering at the seriousness in his tone. "Zach," I croaked once I was able to breathe. "We've been together for like, five minutes. You can't possibly know me well enough to make a call like that. We haven't even had the talk where we decide if we're dating or if we're putting some kind of label on this."

He pointed the spoon he'd been using to stir the boiling pasta on the stove at my face. "First, it's been a hell of a lot longer than five minutes. I wasn't lying when I told my grandma and Ivy that this has been goin' on since the day you got to the ranch. That's when it started for me. And I know you better than you think. I stood at that window your first night here and watched as you screamed at a bird for five minutes before crying like your heart was being shattered into pieces."

My jaw dropped open as I rocked back on the stool. "You—you saw that?" I squeaked, humiliation burning the tips of my ears.

"I did. First I thought it was cute as hell, then the sound of you crying gutted me. It still cuts me open every time I think about it. I think that might have been the moment I knew you were supposed to be mine, because all I wanted to do was go to you and hold you. Then I wanted to fix everything so you'd never cry again." He stole the breath right from my lungs with that confession. My mouth hung open, but I couldn't find the words.

"As for a label, I don't really care. If you want to call me your boyfriend, go for it. All I know is that I'm yours and you're mine. Nothing else really matters."

I closed my eyes and lifted my hands, my emotions swirling around too fast for me to control. "This is all happening so fast." I tried to steady my breathing and calm my racing heart. "I don't know what to say. I'm kind of overwhelmed right now."

I hadn't realized he'd moved, rounding the counter to reach me until I felt his fingers pressing beneath my chin, startling my eyes open as he lifted my face to his. "There's no set rule saying how fast or slow a relationship is supposed to go. I'm moving at the speed that feels right. But if you need me to slow down so you can catch your breath, all you have to do is say the word, baby. This is real for me. I'm in this, all the way, and I'm willing to wait for you to catch up."

"God," I breathed out. "You've got to stop being so perfect. I can't take it."

His lips curved upward in a beautiful smile before he pressed them to mine in a gentle kiss. "I'm just bein' me, Rae. And you can handle so much more than you give yourself credit for." He kissed me again, this one harder, more urgent .

"Zach," I whispered. "You can't turn me on like this right now. We're supposed to have lunch then get back to work."

He groaned against my mouth and grabbed me by my hips, twisting me around on the stool so he could push my knees open and fit his hips between my legs. He moved in close enough that I could feel his steely erection against my belly as he feasted on my mouth.

"Fuck work. I'm your boss and I'm ordering my girlfriend to take an extra-long lunch break so I can fuck her until this ache she causes beneath my skin goes away."

Who was I to argue with the boss?