Page 127 of Dirty Like Zane
It wasn’t just being inlove.
It was what webecametogether.
It was what we were to each other and what we became in one another’s arms. Something we could never be without each other and something that didn’t exist outside this space. Something that just had to be, that maybe was meant to be; something that was so right, I couldn’t have launched any kind of battle against it if I’dtried.
It was me and Zane together, and there was nothing like it in theworld.
There was a part of me that always knew this would happen… That if I ever really let Zane in, I’d fall for him so fucking hard and so deep I’d never getout.
It was like he said at the tattooparlor…
This wasforever.
No matter what we let happen between us or didn’t, how long we stayed together, how much we fought it or fucked it up… this thing between us, it was a foreverthing.
Eventually, Zane rolled over, taking me with him and arranging us on our sides more comfortably, wedging me in under his arm with his bicep as my pillow. It was his left arm, and is it wrapped around me, his hand resting on my arm, I could see his ringfinger.
“Please tell me,” I whispered, “that you’ll never regret it. That you’re never gonna look at that tattoo on your finger and regretit.”
“It’s just ink on my skin, Maggie,” he said, without even opening his eyes. “You’re already in here.” He laid his other hand over hisheart.
And if I’d never been sure that I loved Zane Traynor before this moment, I would’ve fallen in love with him rightnow.
Thing was, I’d loved Zaneforever.
“You gonna regret it?” he askedme.
“No,” I said. “You were right. This thing between us… it’s forever,Zane.”
He opened his blue eyes and looked deep into mine. “For real,” he asked, “what happens when people see it? You gonna flip out…? Runaway?”
“No. I meant what I said. I’ll wear the wedding band over it. I have it with meanyway.”
“You do?” He seemed genuinely surprised aboutthat.
“Yeah. I carry it and the engagement ring you gave me everywhere. I might not wear them, but they mean a lot to me,Zane.”
“Maggie…” He put his hand on the side of my face, lightly, and drifted his thumb over my bottom lip. “Jesus… you still surpriseme.”
I smiled. He surprised me too, in incredibleways.
We’d just gotten tattooed together. I’d never seen that onecoming.
“I’ll wear the wedding band,” I promised him, “and a lot of people probably won’t notice it. I’ll wear the ruby ring my mom gave me, too. I wear that a lot. And if anyone has the balls to ask… Our friends have already been told we’re married but not together. If they notice the ring, I’m sure it’ll imply that there’s more going on than they’ve been told. But we’re all adults here. I think my friends can respect that I don’t want to talk about it just yet. Hell, if they can’t respect that, what kind of friends are theyanyway?”
I wasn’t sure what he thought of that; he didn’t sayanything.
“And people who don’t know me…” I went on. “They have no reason to think there’s any connection between you andme.”
“Other than the fact you’re with me all thetime.”
“As Dirty’s assistantmanager.”
“Maggie. You start wearing a wedding band and showing up everywhere with me, the media is gonna sniff it out sooner orlater.”
“Let them sniff. They’ve got no proof ofanything.”
“You know we could just make this easier on ourselves and tell them, right? Telleveryone.”
