Kiss Me (Fool's Gold #17)(29)

“Couldn’t sleep?” he asked as he approached, then stopped by the railing next to her.

She shook her head. “I guess I’m too excited about the cattle drive.”

“It’s keeping me up, too, but not from excitement.”

The simple statement caught her unaware. With a few words, he expressed a vulnerability that made her heart squeeze, even as her hormones hummed a Dixie Chicks song about cowboys and being taken away.

It was the night, she told herself. Or maybe it was just the man. Regardless, wouldn’t this be a good time to suddenly be witty and charming? Or even gorgeous. She would settle for gorgeous and not funny, as long as she didn’t have to talk too much.

“I know it’s a big responsibility,” she said when she neither transformed into a supermodel nor thought of anything brilliant to say. “But you seem to have everything figured out. I’m sure it will be fine.”

He sighed. “Want to guarantee that in writing?”

“Would it help if I did?”

“No.” He stared up at the sky. “I couldn’t get them to leave.”

“Yes, well, you tried.”

He grunted. She guessed that trying and failing didn’t count for much in his world. Yet another strike against her. She screwed up all the time.

“At least everyone seems really nice,” she said.

He turned so he stared at the house. His face was in the light now, and she could see the humor crinkling the corners of his eyes. “Even Andrea?”

She thought about the other woman’s forceful personality. “Well, she’s not easily likable, but I’m sure that once we get to know her, she’ll be lovely.”

He stared at her. “You’re a ‘glass half full’ kind of person, aren’t you?”

“I try to be.” She leaned against the railing as well, mimicking his pose by putting her elbows on the wood and gazing upward.

“I think it’s important to have a positive attitude in life,” she said. “To look for the opportunities.”

“You’re too busy worrying about everyone’s feelings to see an opportunity coming a mile away.” His gaze narrowed. “How’d you and Maya get to be friends?”

Phoebe blinked at him. He’d barely known her forty-eight hours, and in that time, they’d spent less than an hour or two talking. Yet he’d managed to sum up her character in a single sentence. Even more amazing...he’d been right. How did he do that?

She was too busy helping people to advance her career. She often made choices based on her heart rather than her desire to get ahead. From what she’d figured out, opportunities went to the ruthless, and she could never seem to act in a way that put her best interests first. Not if it meant stepping on someone else.

She shook her head, then returned her attention to Zane. “What was the question?”

“How’d you and Maya become friends? You’re nothing alike.”

“You mean she’s a successful TV producer on the fast track and I’m not?”

He shrugged. “I was thinking more in terms of personality.”

“That, too.” She rubbed her right foot against her left calf and tried to ignore the chill seeping through her. What were a few shivers when compared with a midnight conversation with her own private fantasy?

“We met in college, when we were freshmen. Maya was talking with a bunch of people. You know how she is. Always the center of attention.”

She paused, but Zane didn’t speak. So she continued.

“She had this big cup of coffee, which she accidentally spilled all over me. She insisted on taking me back to her place so I could get cleaned up. We started talking, and by the end of the morning, we were friends.”

Phoebe didn’t mention how lonely she’d been at college. While the foster homes hadn’t been the most idyllic setting, after the death of her parents, they’d been all she’d known. At eighteen, she’d had to leave, and it was like losing her family all over again.

“I didn’t have anyone,” Phoebe said. “Maya took me in and made me feel a part of things. She’s been a good friend.”

“I never thanked you for your help today,” he said. “I figured Chase would do all the talking when those folks started arriving. Most of the time I can’t pay him enough to shut up. But he didn’t say a word.”

“Maybe he was overwhelmed by the enormity of what he’s done.”

One dark eyebrow lifted slightly. “I wouldn’t bet on that if I were you.”

“You don’t think he’s remorseful?”

“Not yet, but he’s going to be.” Zane paused, then shook his head. “He’s not the only one who didn’t think things through. I’m just as guilty. Making him go on the cattle drive he’d created seemed like a good way to teach him a lesson, but now that everyone is here and we’re heading out in the morning...”

“It’s not what you thought,” she said, finishing his sentence.

Zane looked at her. She had the sudden thought that maybe she wasn’t supposed to participate at that level. She was about to apologize when he nodded.

“That’s right.”

She shivered again, but this time the involuntary reaction had nothing to do with cold and everything to do with the tingles skittering through her. What was it about this man that got to her? Standing here in the night, freezing her butt off, probably looking like cat gack, she couldn’t help thinking there was nowhere else she wanted to be and no one else she wanted to be with.