Page 82 of Wild, Wild Cowboy

“Do you want another one?” Janie asked.

I shook my head. “I don’t want to do this drunk.”

“You don’t have time, anyway,” Chloe said. “He just walked in.”

I spun on my toes and there he was, flanked by his brothers. Looking edible, as always. His gaze snagged on mine and everything else faded away. The people, the noise, the smells. He came closer and my heart lodged itself in my throat, which made it impossible to say anything at all when he said, “Hannah.”

Chloe elbowed me in the back, but that didn’t do any good.

“Hi, Zack,” James chirped. Then she rolled up on her toes to give Adam a kiss on the cheek. “Hi, honey.”

Brax had already captured Essie by the waist and dragged her into his side. “What are you ladies up to tonight?”

I had the feeling he already knew. Or at least he knew as much as Essie knew. But Essie didn’t know what I was going to say to Zack. She couldn’t, because I didn’t know myself, despite having thought about literally nothing else all day.

Oh, goodness. This was going to be a disaster.

The conversation swirled around us, but I kept staring at Zack and he kept staring right on back at me. His gaze dipped to the pillow I held protectively against my body and he quirked an eyebrow at me.

“You planning on taking a nap?” he asked, bemused.

I shook my head.

He looked at me like he was waiting—hoping—for more, but when I said nothing, he gave me a sad little smile then turned to the bar. “Can we get three beers, Janie?”

“You got it.”

Their beers in hand, the Hale brothers headed for their usual booth in the corner. Panic clawed at my chest as I watched Zack walk away.

No. No.

I swallowed my heart and found my voice.

“I owe you a grovel, Zack.” The words rang out loud and clear above the din.

Zack froze. Slowly he turned around, his expression completely blank. “What—what did you say?”

Suddenly it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. I licked my lips nervously. “I owe you a grovel. Because you’re wonderful and patient and made me believe…” I swallowed hard. “You made me believe I could win.”

He stared at me. It was…well, it should have been unnerving.

And yet I wasn’t nervous at all. Because I knew—Iknew—that if I jumped, he would catch me. So I was going to jump.

“I’m not apologizing.” I straightened my spine and tilted my chin. A faint smirk ghosted his lips. “I didn’t do anything I need to apologize for. We all have broken pieces inside us. Sometimes those pieces have sharp edges that only time can soften. That’s where I’m at now. I need time to soften some of those sharp pieces. But I think…I think I can do it. I know I hurt you, and I wish I hadn’t. I do. I wish I could say it will never happen again, but I don’t want to make a promise I can’t keep.”

I didn’t look left. I didn’t look right. If I looked anywhere but Zack, at all those people I knew were staring at me, wondering what the heck was wrong with me, I’d freak out.

Zack…he was my safe haven.

So I kept my eyes on his, and pressed on.

“But I will promise you this,” I continued. “I promise that when I hurt you, I will do everything in my power to fix it. I promise I will do the scary thing, whatever it is. Because I love you, Zack. I love you so much. I—” A sob rose in my throat. Oh,no.

“Stop,” he said hoarsely. Three strides and he was taking my glasses off my face and wiping the wetness from my eyes. “Oh, god, stop. Don’t cry, Hannah. I can’t stand it. You don’t need to grovel. You had me at Mr. Hale.”

“What?” I tried to make out his face, but it was so blurry. “I didn’t say Mr. Hale.”

“Yes, you did. You walked into the Painted Cat, and you said,Mr. Hale, I presume?And I said?—”

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