Chapter Thirteen

Zach wasn’t a risk taker by nature. Even after enlisting, he’d done what he had his whole life—measured the odds and outcomes and made choices using his gut. There was a difference between that and laying things on the line…taking a chance. As he pulled away from Stella, her taste still on his lips and his tongue, he wondered if, this time, the reward was worth the risk. Jesus. He’d never felt that much over a simple kiss in his life. Not that it had been simple. No. Because, one, it was Stella and there was nothing fucking simple about this woman. Two, because they had an avid audience, and three, because this town traded gossip like currency and he knew she wouldn’t want to be part of that. And four, you work for her, you idiot. This was the exact thing you were supposed to avoid. If you could avoid it last night while she was looking at you with those gorgeous fucking eyes and delectable fucking lips, you should have been able to walk away this time.

But he didn’t regret it. Couldn’t when the fire was still burning in his gut and her gaze. Definitely not when sealing his mouth against hers had felt like he was finally where he was meant to be. He wasn’t some dreamy-eyed sap who attached meaning to every little thing, but there was no way he could write that kiss off as nothing. Even though he had a feeling she would. And that they both should.

“Is that your boyfriend, Stella?” the little kid standing in front of the table asked. Zach presumed this was the infamous Charlie. He turned, giving both him and Stella the physical space they needed. Holding out his hand, he shook the little guy’s hand first.

“You must be Charlie. I’m Zach. I work with Stella.” Charlie beamed a cute grin at him, easing some of the tension out of his body. He held out a hand to the man standing beside Megan.

“Zach Mason.”

Eyes a little cool, definitely assessing, he offered his hand. “Adam Klein.”

“The fiancé,” Zach said.

Adam looked down at Megan, who looked as adorable today as she had the other day when she’d shown up at the clinic, and ran a hand down her hair with so much affection that Zach’s stomach tightened. He wanted that. He wanted the familiarity, the closeness, the certainty that there was a person made for him. Preferably, one who could rock his world with just a kiss. Not Stella. Not Stella. Not Stella. That’s right. Keep telling yourself that.

Glancing over at her, he wondered what she was thinking. Had he embarrassed her in front of her friends? He’d booked it out of the kissing booth when he saw her face go paler than vanilla ice cream, and when he’d found her, she’d been standing too damn close to a guy he thought he could be friends with. But seeing Declan so close to Stella hadn’t made him feel friendly. Instead, it made him feel possessive as fuck and he didn’t like the feeling. Apparently, it made him lose his mind and kiss the woman he was trying to build a long-term business relationship with. Stupid, stupid, stupid. She was already looking for any excuse to throw her walls up.

“Adam, you and Zach went to school at the same time. He’s old, like you,” Megan said, grinning up at her guy.

He tapped her nose with his index finger and muttered, “Good thing you’re cute.” He looked at Zach. “You went to Brockton High?”

Not wanting to talk about his school days or his past, Zach nodded and looked at the time. He cut off any further conversation by announcing, “I have to go do an hour in the dunk tank. Remind me to say no next year.”

Stella looked at him, her gaze unreadable. “I’m sure it wasn’t all that bad.”

Shoving his hands into his pockets so he didn’t reach out and pull her close, he shook his head. On his way around the table, he leaned down to speak to Charlie.

“I hear you like horses.”

The perma-grin the kid wore widened. “I love them. My dad doesn’t, but he’s getting better around them now.”

Zach grinned up at Adam, then back at his kid. “We’re going to be getting a couple more at the farm.”

“Really?” This was said in unison by Adam, Megan, and Charlie.

“We’re looking into the possibility. I think you’re going to be late,” Stella said.

“We’ll be looking for someone to help us brush them and feed them if you know anyone,” he said to Charlie.

As expected, the kid’s eyes went huge. “I could do that. I help with C.C. when I’m there. Right, Stella? I help a lot.”

Stella’s frown finally faded, and she gave Charlie a warm smile. “You do, bud. You’re a great help. We’ll talk about it more after we get the other horses, okay?”

Zach was happy to leave on a better note than he’d shown up on. The last two days had been a freaking see-saw where Stella was concerned, and he knew it was going to be even harder to keep his distance. She got to him on every level without even trying. Maybe getting dunked in a bucket of cold water was exactly what he needed.

…

He didn’t want tension simmering between them like a boiling pot. Stella had given him the keys at the end of the day, after they’d loaded the Cherokee, and crawled into the passenger side. The wordless gesture got to him nearly as much as the kiss. She wasn’t a woman who gave up control or asked for anything. She was tired, possibly hung over, and he wasn’t even sure that they weren’t both mad at each other. If they were, he wasn’t entirely sure why. He knew why he was mad at himself. So much for discipline and long-term planning. It had been more than a little while since he’d gotten close to a woman. He’d dated in the last couple of years, but nothing more than casual hook ups and having a good time. Neither of those involved reading into every little thing. You’re going to drive yourself nuts. But, she’d needed something—even if it was only something as small as a reprieve from driving home—and she’d counted on him. She’d asked him for help. Sort of. You’re kind of making a big deal of her tossing her keys at you. But since she had, he was taking charge.

She didn’t notice until he passed the exit for her place.

“Where are we going?” She sat up straighter and turned her head to look at him. He glanced over. God, he liked the way she looked at him. Always a little on guard, like there was never a simple answer. He wanted to break down that guard and be the one who made her sure.

“Home.” He smiled and looked back at the road. Only a few cars shared the space with them and she stayed quiet until he took the next exit, rounding the corner that would lead them back to Stella’s.

She poked him in the shoulder with her index finger. “You forget to take the exit, Rookie?”

He laughed, happy she was relaxed. He took the road he knew would lead to an area of her property that had untapped potential. The sky was growing dark with the stars beginning to peek out. He’d missed that when he lived in the city. Today had been a long day, but there was enough light for them to get where they were going.

“You think I’m lost?” His chest tightened, a quick, hard spasm as he thought he hadn’t felt more at home—more found— anywhere than he did beside this woman when he’d chipped away at that hard, gorgeous outer shell.

“You took the wrong exit,” she said.

“On purpose, and this goes to your property.”

She was quiet while he drove, the road getting bumpier as he turned down a path that wasn’t used by anyone. Hopefully, he wouldn’t get them stuck. He’d come out this far on one of her ATVs the other night while she’d been pouring over bills. Zach hated seeing the worry that furrowed her brow every time she did that activity.

“This is the edge of your land,” he said, pulling to a stop in the middle of nowhere. Trees surrounded them, the path barely wide enough for her jeep.

“I know.” There was no hiding the curiosity in her tone.

Zach turned off the vehicle and got out. He planned on opening her door, but she was out before he could. He stood at the front of her Jeep and crooked his finger. “Come here.”

She narrowed her eyes at him and stood her ground, making him smile.

Taking a deep breath, he saw that crease in her forehead that meant she was overthinking things. “Zach. What happened earlier can’t happen again,” she said. Her voice was clear and calm, like crystal in the quiet of the forest.

He knew that. They worked together and though he didn’t know her story, he knew enough about life to know mixing business and pleasure, especially a very tiny business where they’d be glued at the hip, had the potential to end poorly. He tried to joke his way out of having a conversation he didn’t want to have. “You mean you getting jealous of my kissing another woman?”

Her mouth dropped open like she couldn’t believe he’d said that. Then she rolled her eyes and huffed out a half laugh, half breath. “The kissing in general.”

Zach nodded. She was right. Didn’t mean he had to like it.

“I know. I get it. I didn’t mean for it to happen today. I’d like to think I’m not the only one who’s been fighting whatever this is between us. But I also know that we want different things. My main priority is making you see what we could have together. Professionally.”

She continued to stare at him, and he wasn’t sure what to make of her expression. Would she admit that she was pushing down her own feelings?

“What are we doing here, Zach?”

Of course not. Stella Lane, admit weakness? “I’ll tell you if you come here and trust me for five seconds.” He didn’t want to be pissed that the only thing she had to say about the kiss that had rocked his world, was “never again.” He didn’t think either of them believed it, but he’d leave it alone for now. This is what you want. Stop being a jackass. You don’t want this complication.

Stella walked to the front of her vehicle like she was on a plank over an alligator-filled body of water.

When she was in front of him, he reached for her and paused. “I’m going to lift you onto the hood of the jeep. Then I’ll climb up beside you. Don’t argue.”

She started to, but he did as he said, putting his hands on her hips, loving the feel of them, and boosted her up. Her hands came to his shoulders, gripped there, and then she was on the hood. He jumped up beside her so they were sitting side by side.

“We going to stare at the stars? I’m not making out with you.”

He pushed back, leaned on the windshield, and grinned. “Again. You mean you’re not making out with me again.”

She looked up at the sky. “I’m pretending you didn’t say that.”

“Mature,” he said, liking the way her lips curved up as he stared at her profile. “We could look at the stars if we wait for it to get darker. You ever sit still long enough to do something so peaceful?”

He wouldn’t admit, not out loud, that she was the kind of woman who made a man want to look at the stars. Maybe even wish on them.

She was perpetual motion in human form. Part of him wondered if that was because standing still, stopping, hurt. He knew the feeling. After Travis had died, he couldn’t stop to breathe or it crushed him. So, he’d packed up, run off, and put every angry, hurt feeling away in a box and focused on the future. On moving forward. Over time, he’d had to unpack those feelings, sort through them, and give himself time to fall apart.

He looked over at Stella where she sat, breathing in the fresh air, her hair loose around her shoulders. Had she ever given herself the luxury of falling apart? It hadn’t been that long since her father died. Those kinds of cracks in someone’s heart didn’t fade quickly, if ever.

“How you feeling, Doc?”

Stella turned her head to look at him. “Tired.”

He feigned shock. “I thought superheroes didn’t get tired.”

She turned her head and those gorgeous lips tipped up. The smile felt almost as intimate as their kiss. Fuck. He was in big trouble if a couple stars, a gorgeous woman, and the tilt of her mouth were turning him inside out and making him forget the reason he was here.

“I’m hardly a superhero. That would be you, Mr. Army Sergeant, Defender of Animals everywhere.”

She looked away, staring out at her property, but Zach couldn’t take his eyes off her.

“Your dad was mine,” he said quietly.

Her quiet intake of breath was not lost on him. It nearly echoed in the silence. Turning her head slowly, she whispered, “Really?”

Zach nodded. His throat tight. “Him and the guy that used to be mayor when I was a kid. That’s probably dumb.”

Stella bit her lip and he looked down at her hand, resting on the hood of her Cherokee. He wanted to reach out and take it, entwine their fingers.

“It’s not dumb. Why?”

“Hmm?” He looked up at her again.

“Why were they your heroes?”

You really do not know how to get to the point. How do you get on these tangents? Focus! But he couldn’t not answer her. “They saw the good in people even when it was buried so deep you’d need an excavator to get it out. Your dad made me feel like I mattered at a time when I wasn’t sure I did.”

Tears filled her eyes, and he forgot to keep his distance. He caught the first one on his thumb as he cupped her cheek. “I didn’t mean to make you cry.”

She sniffled and smiled through watery eyes. “It’s the good kind. He’d have been happy to know that.”

“I thought I’d come back and maybe convince him to let me work at his side. I never expected you,” Zach admitted.

Stella’s breath caught. He heard the snag and he wanted, with every molecule in his being, to lean over and take her mouth in a kiss that would drown them both.

The air pulsed between them. Or maybe his heart was just working its way out of his chest. He looked at her lips, then back up to her eyes. Seeing the turmoil in her gaze had him dropping his hand. He’d never cause her pain. He might not have kept his hands off her like he’d told himself to, but he promised himself, right this second, that he wouldn’t be responsible for the uncertainty on her face.

“What are we doing, Zach?”

“We’re sitting on your Jeep on your land, under a sky that’ll soon be filled with stars. We’re being grateful.”

“Okay. For something in particular, or life in general?”

He wanted to take her hand, but he knew they had to redraw the line. He wanted to be her partner, and she wasn’t the type to be okay with gray areas. Not without a lot of resistance. He figured there was a reason, but before she’d ever tell him, he had to show her that he was someone she could count on. That together, they’d turn things around and maybe she could take a break from staring at the pile of obligations that was dropped on her shoulders along with the weight of her father’s death.

“That, sure. But, also, I’m grateful you’re giving me a chance. That you’ve let me in. Not just to your home and your practice, but maybe even your life. At least a little bit.”

She was quiet a moment and then she pulled her knees up to her chest, wrapped her arms around them. “I’m grateful, Zach. I didn’t want to need anyone. Still don’t. But in a very short period of time, you’ve made my life easier. I’m not always receptive to help. You bulldozed over that, and I’m the one who is benefiting from it.”

Curling his fingers into fists so he didn’t reach out, didn’t touch her, he sat up. “We’re both going to benefit. This land? You never use it. It’s here, but untouched.”

She frowned, and her shoulders stiffened. “Those bills I pour through constantly? There’s a way to make them all go away. My father had multiple offers to buy pieces of his land. To sell it off chunk by chunk until it was a very lucrative puzzle full of pieces that no longer belonged to him. He didn’t do it. And I won’t, either, Zach. No outside sources. I let you in. You clearly caught me at the right time, and I don’t have so much pride that I can’t admit that I’m lucky you did. We’ll turn things around, but I won’t sell off parts of this place so that some big shot investor can throw some condos or box stores down.”

So she had received offers. Not surprising. “I wouldn’t ask you to. That’s not why we’re here.”

She put her head on her knees, turned so she could look at him. It was hard for him not to want to pull her closer, wrap his arms around her.

“Why then?”

Zach pointed to the trees. “You don’t have to sell the land, but if we clear some of it, sell the lumber, we’d bring in some serious coin.”

Sitting up, she looked around. “What?”

He couldn’t hide his smile. “You don’t have to let it all go to get something out of it. I’ve looked into buyers, and I figure if we clear even five acres, we can bring in some money. Every little bit counts, right? Plus, moving forward, if you have this land cleared, we can consider—and don’t shut me down here—renting some of it.”

He’d spent a lot of nights thinking about this. Stella looked around at the trees, like she was seeing them for the first time.

“Who wants to rent this?”

“There are several farms around here busting at the seams. We have options, Stella. You have options. I know you don’t want big business in here, I get that. I did the big business thing for a while with Pet Central. It was great for the time being, but really, it let me save up for what I really wanted.”

“The property by the water?”

He smiled. “Definitely that. Sometimes, thinking about the house I’d build on that piece of land was all that kept me going. I have a rental property as well, but that land is the thing I consider mine. My tie to this town. I grew up wishing I had a stake in this place, literally and figuratively. Like your father did. Like you do.”

She waited so he continued.

“I had an opportunity to stay with Pet Central. I came to you because it’s not what I want either. But we’ve got options if you’re willing to explore them.”

Her demeanor visibly changed, like the little bit of hope he’d given her filled her with a tangible energy. Perpetual energy, he thought again. She smiled at him.

“All this because my dad was nice to you?”

“It was more than that. My family didn’t have a lot of money. I don’t want to rehash the past, but let’s just say it can be hard on a kid when they’re judged for something they can’t change. I always felt like I was on the outside, and in a town like this, that’s the same as not existing. I had my mom, but until my dad died, she had her hands full and I never wanted to be a burden to her. I had your dad. He made me feel like I was part of something. Like Travis did. But then Trav died.” His jaw clenched, and he stopped talking. If he wanted her trust, he had to go all in. As much as he could, anyway. “My best friend died, and I felt like it was my fault. I couldn’t stand it, so I left. But even when I ran, I knew I’d be back. My mom is here. My home is here. Your father was important to me and more than that, he made me feel like I mattered. One day, Brockton is going to be big enough there’ll be other vets in town. Hell, we might even get a Costco. But right now, in this moment, you have the monopoly on taking care of animals. If I want to be here and I want to be a vet, I need you to want me. To need me. I’m trying to find a way to make you need me so I can stay and be part of what your father built. Of what you’re trying to keep going.”

He pushed off the hood because he couldn’t be beside her, baring his soul, and sit still.

Stella pushed to the edge of the hood, her feet dangling, and he turned, stared at her, sitting there in the almost moonlight. He never thought about karma or kismet, like he’d suggested the other night, but he knew, in his gut and his heart, that he was meant to be right here, by her side. Maybe he didn’t know all the reasons yet, but he trusted his gut. They were going to build something together. And it was going to be fucking magnificent.

“I didn’t want to let anyone in. That’s hard for me because people leave. I don’t want to rehash the past, either, but let’s just say I don’t have a whole lot of faith in long term. Or forever. Or things working out in some predestined way. But I like that you have a connection to my father because I’m scared I didn’t have enough of one. I thought there was plenty of time. I could go away to school, come back, and grow old learning from him. Maybe even teach him a thing or two. But then he died without warning and I realized how alone I am. Trying to keep this place going, that’s the only connection to him I can focus on now. I feel like he’d be happy you’re here. So if you want it on paper, I’ll do that. We’ll negotiate, and I’ll obviously take the bigger share, because by now you’ve figured out I need the control. But I don’t need it all. Not if you’re serious.”

He stepped closer, stopping short of moving between her knees. “I’ve never been more serious. This isn’t some passing whim. I want this, Stella. With you.”

Her breath hitched, and he moved in just a little more. “This business. You want the business.”

Zach could only nod as her eyes messed with the cadence of his heart. Fuck. He wanted more than that. Really wanted it. But he’d take what he could get.

“Yes,” he said, his throat suddenly raw.

“Just you and me. No one else, Zach. My dad didn’t bring in others, so we don’t either. I like the ideas you’ve come up with. They’re good. They’re tangible, but the best part of them is that we don’t have to rely on anyone other than us.”

He thought of Andrew’s check, which he’d already cashed and transferred. Worry gnawed at his gut. That was different. Even her father had taken a loan. He hadn’t sold out, but he’d taken that stupid balloon mortgage that was half the reason she was so far in debt.

“Just us,” he promised. He took her hand in his, squeezed. “Just us, Stella.”

He liked the sound of that too much, even knowing she’d only let it be business. He could imagine what they’d be, on every level, if she dropped those shields. One step at a time.

“Okay, then.”

She inched a little closer, her lips hitching up in a smile. “Partner,” she whispered.