Page 28 of Zane

"As God is my witness. In your defense, your firm had defended a known drug runner, and as soon as he was free, he kidnapped a fourteen-year-old and slit her throat."

The memory of that had his stomach turning. "That was a very low point in my life." He thanked the server who brought over the drink and took a long swallow. "That was also the point where I decided enough was enough."

"And now you're hooked on a lawyer."

"Yeah." He grimaced. "Not only is she a lawyer, but she's also a churchgoing one. I looked her up. Some hotshot mega church. And she's involved with a lawyer, going on two years."

David stared at him, before bursting out laughing.

"It's not funny," Zane growled.

"It kinda is. Where did you meet this woman?"

Zane told him the story of her car breaking down at the bike stop.

"Ah, the damsel-in-distress deal. That kind would appeal to you."

Zane threw him a dirty look. "What the hell do you mean by that?"

David shrugged. Leaning back in the chair, he cast his eyes around the room, which had emptied out some since they sat down to eat. "You like to be needed."

"No, I don't."

"All right, which might not be the best way to put it. You've a soft spot for women in trouble."

"And that's a crime?"

"No. But ask yourself this: is it the woman you're attracted to, or the fact that she needed you at that moment?"

Zane hissed out an annoyed breath. "I'm not a bloody moron. I have a photo." Fishing out his phone, he brought up the article he had found on her and showed it to him.

"Wow! She's a looker. All right, I take it back." He looked at his friend. "Well, what are you going to do about her?"

"Why, woo her, of course," he responded grimly. "See these?" He pointed to the tattoo on his neck and the one on his arm. "There's also another one on my left thigh and my stomach. She's turned off by the ones she has seen so far." He shrugged. "I don't intend to change the way I am for anyone, no matter how attracted I am. And the baffling thing about it is that for the first time in my life, I wanted to. Christ!"

"Good God! How long ago did you meet this woman?"

"A couple of weeks." Zane smiled mirthlessly and wondered if he could order another drink. He figured he would need it to help get him through the night. He told David about the kiss in the garden. "Wanting her is burning a hole in me."

David nodded in understanding, memories flooding him. "I felt the same way when I was with Hailey for the first time. I knew then that once was never going to be enough." He grinned at Zane. "You're in for the ride of your life."

"Or it might be bloody lust, and I'm making too much of it," he growled.

"You don't believe that."

"No." Zane laughed harshly, downing the rest of the drink and signaling for another. "I don't."

*****

Even though her heart was pounding and her limbs felt weak, she felt the freedom and exhilaration coursing through her body. On the drive home, she belted out Whitney's "I'm Every Woman" at the top of her lungs. That was also a first for her. The quiet, sedate Kara was slowly disappearing. She wasn't going to say thank you to people for walking all over her. Nuh uh, not anymore.

She was going to stand up to her mother from now on. She just did, didn't she? she mused, laughing out loud. She just walked out of that restaurant, leaving the man who had been foisted on her for more than two years, a man who had only proposed because he was pressured by her mother.

She did not even feel humiliated. To hell with him.

Pulling into the driveway, she sat there for a minute, taking it all in. Yes, she felt a little sick to her stomach, but still...

Shoving from the vehicle, she left it right in front of the porch and boogied her way up the steps.