This woman who deserved a much gentler hand. A much gentler touch.
She washed her body then, so I did the same, and by the time we were ready to leave the shower, the water had indeed turned uncomfortably cool.
I opened the glass door, grabbed two fluffy black bath sheets, and wrapped one around Zee. Such a shame to cover her up, but she’d catch a chill otherwise.
I kept my teeth from chattering as I dried off with the other sheet and then wrapped it around my waist.
Her hair was wet and sticking to her forehead and neck, but God…had she ever looked more beautiful?
“I’m not sorry,” she said abruptly.
“I’m glad.”
“Are you?”
“Sorry?” I sighed. “It’s not how I meant for it to go.”
“Really? It was amazing.”
“Well…yeah. It was great. But I didn’t mean to do it at all.”
“Why not? We both wanted it.”
“But you… I didn’t want it like this with you. I shouldn’t have done it.”
“You’re the Wolfe of Manhattan,” she said, looking down. “It’s what you do.”
“Not with you,” I countered, more harshly than I meant to.
She looked up, her eyes glassy, sad. “I’m no different than any other woman.”
“Yes, you are.”
“I’m not. Do you think other women don’t have pasts?”
“Not like yours.”
“Maybe not exactly like mine, but you’d be surprised. You should see the bruising and scarring I see on some of my cast mates. And Reid, some scars aren’t visible.”
“You’re different, though. My father—”
She placed her hand over my mouth harshly. “Don’t go there. I didn’t.”
No, she hadn’t. If she had, none of this would have happened.
“Part of me will always go there,” I said. “Do you think it’s been easy for me? You’re beautiful. I promised my sister I wouldn’t touch you.”
“Your sister? What does she have to do with this?”
“She… Well, all of us were victims of our father, but not like you were.”
“I try not to dwell on it. Some days are better than others, but for the most part I’ve put it in the past.” She took the second towel I handed her and swept her wet hair into a turban.
“And today?” I asked.
She smiled shyly. “Today was the most amazing day of my life.”
29
Zee
My words rang so true.
I’d steered clear of relationships—clear of men, honestly—because I didn’t imagine myself ever being so attracted to a man to become intimate.
I had a boyfriend when I was a teenager. I was homeschooled by a tutor, but he went to the local high school. We met through a local church group. He took my virginity, and then, once we broke up, I had a one-nighter at a party—one of the only parties I attended at that age—with a jock from the local high school. Both were enjoyable, but neither was anything close to my experience with Reid Wolfe.
After the hunt—I could say it now —I was a mess. I turned to drugs, and after I struck a deal with Derek Wolfe to pay off my rehab bills and finance a new start, I still wasn’t interested in men. I was clean, I had a good job that kept me in great physical shape, and I didn’t have to worry about anyone except myself.
It wasn’t exactly heaven, but it was good. As good as I figured things would ever get for me.
Then Reid Wolfe catapulted into my life, asking me to be his date for his family’s double wedding in Las Vegas.
And feelings I never thought I was capable of surfaced.
Raw feelings. Raw yet pure in the most devastatingly wonderful way.
The Wolfe of Manhattan wasn’t in love with me, and I could live with that. I’d been around the block enough to know I wasn’t in love with him either. I could easily mistake the pure emotion I felt for love, but I was skeptical. I’d been beaten down more than most, and I didn’t believe in love at first sight, or even love at first feeling.
Just didn’t happen.
Still, today had been the most amazing day of my life so far, and it had only just begun.
Reid cupped my cheek. “I can’t lie to you, Zee. It was pretty damned amazing for me too.”
A soft sigh escaped my throat. Reid was the Wolfe of Manhattan. He’d probably uttered those same words to dozens of women. Make that hundreds.
But I chose to believe them. This wouldn’t last forever, so I’d take what I was given.
This had been special for him. I’d take him at his word.
“Are you hungry?” he asked. “I can have the chef make you some breakfast.”
Chef. He had his own chef. Wow. “I could eat. What do you like for breakfast?”
“The breakfast will be for you,” he said. “I have a meeting to get to.”
“Oh.” The disappointment was apparent in my voice, but Reid didn’t seem to notice.
“So what will it be? Eggs and bacon? Pancakes?”
Pancakes sounded good. Sort of. I’d just burned a lot of energy, but my appetite had waned in the few seconds after Reid told me he wouldn’t be joining me.
“Zee?”
I bit my lower lip. “Coffee. Black. And a few pancakes would be nice. Thank you.”
“I’ll get it ordered.” He grabbed a towel and rubbed it over his short hair. When he hung the towel back up, his hair was spiky and nearly dry.
“So”—I cleared my throat—“when will I meet with your detective?”
“He’s not my detective,” Reid scoffed.
“I didn’t mean—”
“I’m sorry,” he said kindly. “I didn’t mean to get short with you. It’s just that this guy has been the bane of my existence since the murder. He’s gunning to get one of us to go down for it.”
“You don’t think…”
“Think what?”
“That he’ll try to pin it on me?” My voice came out like a squeak.
Reid touched my shoulder. His hand was warm. “I don’t. I’ve discussed that with my brothers and sister. Your show was dark the night of the murder, but we can easily prove you weren’t anywhere near New York. Flight logs will show you weren’t on a plane, and it would take days to
