Flawless Surrender (The Surrender Trilogy, #2)(4)
“No cursing,” Parker commanded and Zoey rolled her eyes. The hard glare he gave her had her shrugging and apologizing pretty quickly. “First of all the word sounds terrible coming from a beautiful woman, and second, my Jules doesn’t need to be exposed to that.”
Rachel snorted, “Yeah, because you and your brothers never curse around her, right?”
Parker had the grace to look admonished. “Occasionally, but we’re trying to curb it.”
“I promise, Parker, I will do my best when I’m here or around Juliet to tame my terrible language,” Zoey said, not wanting to be on his bad side for any reason. Ridiculous or not.
“Thank you. Now, ladies, if you will excuse me, I need to get back to the barn. It was good to see you, Zoey, and if you change your mind about asking Tanner, well, let’s just say I would trust that man with my own daughter. He would never do you harm.”
Zoey couldn’t hold his gaze so she just nodded and looked back to Rachel hoping Parker would take the dismissal and let the subject go. She sighed with relief when the front door shut behind him.
“Well, that was a pretty intense reaction to a harmless solution,” Rachel said, eyeballing Zoey.
“Harmless? Do you remember what happened between Tanner and me? That wasn’t harmless. I got kicked in the gut,” Zoey said, belligerently swirling her ice in her empty tea glass.
Rachel was quiet for a moment. “Zoey, you’ve seen him around town, and he’s never been anything but respectful. Surely you don’t still hold a grudge?”
“So you’re telling me that when you see Mitch Edwards and his new fiancée, Connie, that you don’t want to punch him in his overly white toothy smile?”
Zoey smirked when Rachel’s eyes darkened and her eyebrow rose. “That is totally different.”
“I don’t see how. I offered Tanner Keegan my body and my heart and he stomped on it with his boot heel. I have no intention of making myself vulnerable around him again.” Standing abruptly, she waved her glass at Rachel. “Now, is there anymore tea, or do I need to run to the store for emergency rations?”
Chapter Two
An hour later, Zoey and Rachel were sprawled out on the front porch with empty glasses and ice cream bowls that were nearly licked clean, when a sudden thumping music grabbed their attention. A cloud of red dust rose in the air down the road. That could only mean someone was coming down the driveway in their direction.
“Who’s that?” Zoey asked, deciding it didn’t really matter to her that much as long as she didn’t have to move. Rachel’s porch was absolutely perfect for relaxing on a late summer afternoon. It was wide with deep steps that suited Zoey’s wide ass to a T, and it had a slew of inviting rocking chairs, and flower baskets scattered all over it. Heaven on Earth was drinking sweet tea while having girl talk on the front porch.
“I have no idea. The guys have people out here all of the time to look at the horses though, and we have some yearlings that are ready to be sold. Could be a client.” Rachel shifted so her feet were on the floor instead of hanging over the arm of the rocking chair she sat in, but otherwise she didn’t move to go greet the visitor.
As a dark red pickup truck came into view, the sound of Tim McGraw’s “Truck Yeah” thumped through the air. Zoey’s heart skipped a beat and her stomach tightened. That red truck was familiar.
When the vehicle finally came to a stop in the driveway about thirty yards from them, Zoey’s eyes met the drivers and she gasped. No way. It couldn’t be.
Tanner Keegan in all of his male glory stepped from the truck. His six foot tall muscular cowboy frame was encased in a pair of worn Wranglers and a faded black t-shirt that hugged his tight abs like a second skin. Atop his head sat a black cowboy hat that shaded his gorgeous amber colored eyes from her view. Her eyes ate him up as always, until he turned to face them and headed their way.
Damn. Did he catch her staring?
“Hey, ladies.”
“Tanner, this is a surprise. What are you doing so far from home?” Rachel asked calmly. Zoey’s eyes narrowed in on Rachel’s face and she wondered if this was a set-up of some sort.
No, her friend knew how she felt about Tanner. She wouldn’t do that. It had to be some sort of odd coincidence.
“Parker said you have some new foals, and we’ve been talking about coordinating our breeding programs. Ideally it will make us all money when we have stronger stock.” Zoey could feel Tanner’s gaze, but she kept her eyes half closed where she lay slumped on the porch steps trying to keep her breathing and heart rate calm. “Hey, Zoey. Long time no see.”
She had to swallow hard to avoid saying something snarky about their last face to face encounter. “Hi, Tanner, how are you?”
“Really good. Staying busy. I heard you graduated?”
He leaned against the post right next to her, so she was forced to look all the way up his sexy frame from a very bad angle. Trying to stop a blush from climbing her cheeks, she threw a glance at Rachel hoping her friend would help her. Instead, Rachel sat there looking like nothing was wrong. Completely relaxed.
Bitch.
“Yeah, just a couple of months ago. I’ll be working at the Stone River Junior High School.”
Juliet chose that moment to wake from her nap and let out a loud cry so Rachel had to jump up and excuse herself, leaving Zoey to face her dream guy all by herself. It was an awkward sort of nightmare.