He smiled. “Let’s get this show over with.”
…
As the door closed behind him, Dani curled up on her side and pressed her face into the pillow.
Zach loved her?
What did that mean? And did she want him to love her? Did she want anyone to love her?
Everybody she had loved had died or left her.
But maybe just because her family hadn’t loved her enough, that didn’t mean that nobody could.
Zach wanted her to make room for him in her life. Was he talking…commitment?
She remembered how she’d felt when she’d contemplated never seeing him again. Never touching him.
She’d never really considered there was an alternative.
Zach didn’t do commitment.
But people could change.
She had changed so much in the last few weeks, she hardly recognized herself. Even before he’d said the words, Zach had given her confidence, showed that he cared for her as a person, even if she’d believed it was only temporary. And she had other people who loved her. She’d never thought of it in those terms before, but she knew Jess and Kim cared for her deeply.
She wasn’t alone.
She pulled herself up and picked up the phone by the bed, ordered a pizza and beer from room service. She was going to have a long hot bath, eat a meal, but she wasn’t going to sleep.
Excitement bubbled up inside her. She would watch Zach on TV, watch him get his award. Then she would wait for him to come back and she would take an enormous dive into the unknown.
Tell him she loved him, too.
And she would see where they would go from there.
…
Two hours later, she settled back on the sofa, switched on the TV, then found the right channel. The coverage was just starting and she searched for a familiar face.
He hadn’t said if he was going with anyone and she hadn’t asked. Of course, she’d wondered why he didn’t ask her, but maybe it was a security thing.
Either that or he knew she wouldn’t fit into his glamorous world.
Now watching all the beautiful people, she asked herself, could she ever be a part of his life? It was a new thought, because she’d avoided thinking about the future, so it hadn’t entered her mind.
The idea terrified her way more than the thought of going on patrol in Afghanistan. She’d have to make it clear—whatever their future—that she wasn’t going to do the party thing. Or the dress thing. It just wasn’t her, not in a million years.
Maybe they could have clandestine meetings.
She finally caught sight of Zach heading to his seat, and she feasted her eyes on him. Hard to believe only a few hours ago he’d had her pinned up against the bedroom wall with his cock deep inside her. Hard to believe this perfect man had told her he loved her.
Then she looked past him and saw that he wasn’t alone.
She didn’t want to look, didn’t want to see what sort of woman Zach would deem suitable to take to an occasion like this. The woman was tall—that much she saw from first glance. Then the camera honed in on her.
Dani put her beer down slowly.
Gritting her teeth, she tried to pull her thoughts together.
What the fuck was going on?
What the hell was her best friend, Jess, doing with Zach?
Had they decided at the wedding that they liked each other? They’d wanted to get together but didn’t want to hurt her? Jess had discouraged her from suggesting she go to the party. Was that because Zach had already asked Jess?
For a moment, faintness washed through her. Suddenly lightheaded, she sat back against the cushions as the thoughts tumbled through her mind. Nausea churned in her stomach and rose up in her throat.
The camera was back on Zach. She closed her eyes and heard his words…I love you…and knew she was being a total ass.
She’d taken one look at Jess, and all her myriad of insecurities had risen straight to the forefront of her brain. Yes, Jess was beautiful, and in her long black gown, her blond hair piled on her head showing the perfection of her face, her cool beauty, she fit into Zach’s world in a way that Dani never would.
But that wasn’t what this was about.
Watching the two of them, Dani could see that Jess was sticking close to Zach, but she was also watching her surroundings, taking everything in, her gaze searching the room, never stopping.
She was on goddamn duty.
She was guarding him.
Obviously, Zach didn’t think Dani was good enough to keep him safe, but it was okay for Jess to do so.
Why the hell had he agreed to go to the stupid ceremony if there was a risk involved?
Then she remembered something else he had said. That hopefully his “problem” would be over soon. Had he done this on purpose? Jake wouldn’t have let him put himself in danger, would he? Zach had told her that Jess had cleared the ceremony as safe. And she hadn’t taken too much notice, too wrapped up in her own problems and sour grapes because she hadn’t been asked to go.
Now she was pretty sure she knew why.
Because Zach didn’t want her there.
She grabbed her cell phone from the table and stabbed in Jake’s number. It rang ten times, until she was sure he wasn’t going to answer. “Pick up, goddamn you.”
At last he did. “This isn’t a good time, Dani.”
“And why is that? Are you too busy waiting for someone to shoot Zach?”
He was silent, then gave an audible sigh. “We really don’t think it will come to that, but in essence—yes.”
“I’m coming over.”
“Stay away, Dani. He doesn’t want you here.” He sighed again. “I know how you feel, but believe me, you’ll be a distraction and we don’t need that right now.”
She trusted Jake. He was the best at what he did. But it was hard to control things in such a public scenario. “Just tell me that you have everything covered.”
“We have everything covered. We’re not going to allow anything to happen in this situation. We know who they are and we have people watching. They’ll be picked up as soon as they make a move.”
“He’s acting as bait, isn’t he? He’s drawing them out?”
“Yes.”
She slammed the coffee table with her clenched fist, then jumped to her feet and paced the room, the phone gripped tight in her hand. “How could you let him?”
“It wasn’t my choice to make.” Jake’s tone was harsh. “Zach pointed out, quite realistically, that if he spent his life locked away in Spain, then this would never be over.”