“I mean, I didn’t just kiss you for the publicity. I know our relationship is contracted and all, but I never do things just to make other people happy. Especially doom scrollers,” he says.
“I know,” I say softly, and Zane’s eyes narrow in speculation.
“Something’s bothering you,” he says.
I want to lie, but I’ve never been good at it. I bite my lip, and that’s a dead giveaway.
“What is it? Did something happen? You’ve been acting off since you came out of the bathroom at the restaurant. Was it the kiss? Was it too much?”
I cut him off before he spirals. “There was a woman,” I tell him.
“A woman.” he echoes.
“In the bathroom.”
“Okay? Did you know her?”
“No,” I shake my head, replaying it in my mind. “But she acted like she knew me. And you.”
“I hate to say it, Ashlyn, but everyone acts like they know me. Worse than that, they act like they are entitled to my life. It was probably a reporter,” he says.
“Maybe,” I say with a shrug.
“Or worse,” he says with a mischievous smirk, stepping closer to me. “Maybe she was with the paparazzi.”
He’s trying to be funny. But the memory of the encounter has me feeling sick. Zane picks up on it, and his brow furrows in worry.
“What happened? Did she threaten you?”
“No,” I say. “More like…warned me.”
“Warned you? About what?” he asks, his posture stiffening a little.
I shake my head. “I don’t know. It was probably nothing.”
“It was enough to upset you,” Zane says. “You know what you need? A soak in the hot tub.”
I don’t think anything is going to make me feel better about the conversation with the bathroom lady, but the hot tub does sound nice.
“Alright,” I agree with a nod. We both slip into bathing suits. He’s wearing the same shorts he had on the night we met, and I’m in a black bikini. The water feels glorious.
“Okay, yeah,” I nod, sinking lower with a sigh. “This is it. This is what I needed.”
“Told you,” he grins, letting out a husky sigh as he settles in across from me.
“You do this a lot?” I ask.
“Most nights. After a swim. Except for this one time when it was out of order because some chick crash landed through my pergola and I had to get it replaced,” he teases. My eyes are closed, but I lift a hand from the water, flipping him off. He laughs and I smile.
“The only thing better than this would be a massage,” I say.
“Who says you can’t have both?” he asks. The next thing I know, he is hopping out of the tub.
“What are you doing?” I ask as he appears behind me. He sits with his legs on either side of me, dangling them into the water and places his hands on my shoulders. They’re large, warm, and soft. At first, I don’t know what to think. Then he starts to massage my neck, and after that I don’t really care.
“You have no idea how good that feels,” I tell him, and he chuckles softly.
“Yeah?” he asks.
