“No!” Zoe tucks her hands between her knees. “No,” she hisses again, a little more quietly this time. The flush is now spreading from her neck up to her cheeks.
“I’m sorry for…”
Fast as lighting, Zoe’s hand shoots out and covers my mouth. “Oh, no,” she breathes into my ear in the most menacing tone I’ve heard from anyone in a good long while. “No way. You do not get to talk about that. Not here. Not ever.”
I nod my understanding, and as soon as she takes her hand away, I give her a shit-eating grin that probably deserves a good smack. My mom’s given me a few for that exact expression over the years. I used to grin the same grin at her when she was trying to punish me, and it used to drive her nuts. I wish she would have known I wasn’t trying to defy her. I just found her reactions hilarious, and trying hard not to smile generally seems to produce the exact opposite reaction.
“I was going to say I’m sorry for not trying to contact you before this. I did think that, well, maybe I thought the way my mom did. That since you were younger and still lived with your dad, you wouldn’t want to hear from us. Or rather, he wouldn’t, so he wouldn’t want you to either. I didn’t want to cause trouble or be a reminder of how shit went down between our parents, and then years passed, and it just felt strange and awkward. I guess I talked myself into thinking you didn’t want to hear from me then, so I never looked you up.”
“Didn’t you wonder about me?” Zoe looks like she wishes she could take it back the moment she says it. “No. Never mind. Don’t answer that. I guess we both did, and we did nothing about it. We’ll leave it at that since we can’t do anything about it, and we’re here now.”
“So, you’ll agree not to hate me?”
There’s a glint of surprised amusement in Zoe’s eyes before she rips her gaze away. “No. I won’t agree to that.”
“You didn’t give your notice.”
“I’m planning on milking a free trip first. I’ll have it on Kim’s desk as soon as I get back.”
I’m not able to tell if she’s being facetious or not, so I let it go. “Are you sure you don’t want a whisky?”
“No!” Zoe snaps. She whips back around. “What is wrong with you?” Air hisses out between her tightly ground teeth, and her eyes narrow. “I mean, other than the obvious.”
I glance around, but a quick check tells me that everyone else is engrossed in their conversations, movies, music, and whatever else they might be doing at the moment. They’re not paying any attention to us.
“Speaking of, since you refuse to let it drop, have you booked a doctor appointment for that yet?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Zoe’s eyes flick toward my crotch, and when she catches herself and looks back up at me like she didn’t just get caught doing what she was just doing, her face is scarlet.
I smirk. “Anyway, am I going to have to call my mom and cancel lunch? I have to say, if you decide against it, she’ll be so disappointed.”
Zoe juts her chin out, as stubborn as she ever was. “No. Don’t cancel. Why would you cancel? I might as well milk a free lunch out of you, as well as the free vacation. Your money might as well make one of us happy.”
“We’ll see if you give your notice.”
“We’ll see how you like roughing it.”
“Roughing it?”
“I can’t imagine you dealing with nature. Bugs. Outhouses. Tents.”
“This resort is a premium outfitter. They have log cabins with cable TV, high-speed internet, full bathrooms and kitchens in the cabins, running water, the whole deal. They also have a giant lodge where they feed everyone. I don’t even have to cook for myself. Hardly my version of roughing it.”
Zoe gives me one last fierce scowl before she turns and leans back in her seat. She closes her eyes, and it’s clear we’re at the end of the discussion.
Which is fine with me. I’m just as content to sit here and watch her while she pretends to be sleeping. I’m not weird and creepy at all.
I realize I might be losing it because this is the most at peace and content I’ve felt in a long time. If I’m losing it, at least I’m losing it to Zoe. She’s not a stranger. She’ll never be a stranger. She used to be my best friend, and there might have been a lot of years between then and now, but she’s always going to be special to me.
CHAPTER 10
Zoe
After flying on Monday and attending a full two days of seminars, I’m looking forward to the downtime we have on Wednesday afternoon. I can’t believe how fast whoever planned this got it all together. Even I have to admit the lodge is pretty incredible.
There is a shit pile of cabins, though I’m not sure how many because a lot of them are hidden throughout the woods. It’s all forested and rocky with a lot of lakefront access and a big log lodge to top it all off. It’s all seriously amazing. The skies also light up at night and in the morning. The air is fresh and slightly crisp, and there isn’t the crazy humidity we all just get used to in Miami.
The training, guest speakers, activities, and all are pretty amazing too. There are guest speakers, employees from other companies Raiden owns, specialists in the tech field, HR experts, blah, blah, blah.
