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As I was eating, there was a knock on the door. I waited, and today, the housekeeper answered it. Maria greeted someone, the voice didn't sound familiar, so I went back to eating.
“Ember?” the voice said. I turned to see Zane in the doorway. “May we talk, please?”
“Uh sure,” I said, standing up to shake his hand. “You're Zane, correct? I don't think we've been introduced.”
“Yes, I am. Good memory,” he said.
Zane was the tallest of Jude's friends. He was almost unreasonably tall. He was the type of man who likely had to bend down as he entered doorways. His dark brown hair and green eyes were an exotic and beautiful combination and the forest green shirt he was wearing only enhanced his tawny skin. He was tall, dark and handsome, a total cliché, but always with a serious face. He was a lot like Jude in that regard.
“Jude is at the office,” I said.
“I know, I'm here to talk to you, actually,” he said. He stood tall and straight. “May I sit?”
“Of course,” I said, motioning for him to sit down at the dining room table.
Zane took the seat next to me and looked at my plate. “I hope I'm not interrupting your meal?”
“Oh no, it's fine,” I said. “I'm just curious what this is about?”
Zane sighed and ran a hand through his thick, brown hair. His face serious, not even a hint of a smile or emotion in his eyes.
“I'm just worried about my friend,” he said. “He seems very – smitten – with you. And to be perfectly honest, Jude has always been a bit of a romantic. Blindly romantic. To his own detriment sometimes. After what happened with your mother, I want to be sure your motives are pure. That you're not just looking to screw him over.”
I stared at him for a second, my jaw on the floor. Although I wanted to be outraged, I supposed I couldn't really blame him for being worried. My mom had pulled some shady shit, but I never expected to have my motives questioned. I was not my mother and she was not me.
“Well, to be fair, I never expected anything to come from it when I told him about my mother,” I said, my voice tight with anger. “I didn't know Jude was attracted to me when I showed up, nor do I expect anything from him.”
“Uh huh,” Zane said, his voice skeptical as he studied my face.
His eyes were narrowed, zoned in on me like a hawk staring down its prey. He glared at me as if he was waiting for me to break under the pressure. To confess that everything I'd done is to trap Jude into giving me what I want. That I was using him for my own benefit. When I said nothing, when I did not rise to his bait, he let out a long breath.
“So, you just decided to knock on his door and hope for the best, then?” he asked, the disbelief in his voice clear.
“I – don't have to explain myself to you,” I said, shaking my head. “I know you're close to Jude, but I care about him too. You're just going to have to trust that I would never hurt or use him. I'm not like that. I stopped my mother from doing it because it's wrong, and I'm not going to follow in her footsteps. And if you can't believe me, then I don't know what to tell you.”
So maybe I did explain myself. A little bit. Not that I explained what I was thinking, or how I showed up on the doorstep, without a stitch of clothing or so much as a penny to my name. I was sure from Zane's perspective, it looked beyond suspect. In his place, maybe I would have questions too.
Everything I told him though, Jude could explain better – if Zane insisted on knowing the details, or even had the right to ask. But, ultimately, it didn't matter. Zane's opinion of me didn't matter. He had no right to make me feel bad.
Zane just continued to stare at me through eyes filled with nothing but harsh judgment, and perhaps even a side of contempt. The way he glared sent chill through my body. Of all Jude's friends, Zane was the most intense. Of course, being the CFO of the company, I'm assuming it was his job to be that intense. To scrutinize every decision the CEO – Jude – made. This, however, went too far. It crossed a line, and I didn't think Jude knew his friend had stopped by to give me the third degree. Nor did I think he would have approved of it.
“We're all just worried about him,” Zane said, finally averting his gaze. “Jude is well – he's different. He's a romantic at heart, and dreams of finding a wife and settling down. Dreams that were shattered by your mother, by the way. I don't want him jumping into another relationship, especially one that has potential for drama. It's the last thing he needs.”
“Understood. And I don't anticipate causing him any drama,” I said. “So you don't have to worry about that.”
“I do worry, though. He has a good heart, and that means sometimes, people can take advanta
ge of him. People like your mom.”
“Are you forgetting that I'm the one who told him the truth about my mom in the first place?” I said, my tone as harsh as his gaze. “I despise what my mom did to him, and I really don't have to explain myself any more than that. Least of all, to you.”
“No, you don't,” he said, his gaze softening a tiny bit. “But I appreciate your time, Ember. You're a beautiful woman. Downright intoxicating, actually. I just don't want Jude drowning if I can save him.”
Zane stood and walked toward the doorway. I resisted the urge to turn and glare at him. His footsteps stopped and forced me to glance over my shoulder to see why he'd stopped walking to the door.
“Just be good to him, Ember,” he said. “That's all I ask of you.”
The front door opened, and heavy footsteps walked into the house. Zane and I looked at each other. Since the person hadn't knocked, I had an idea who it might be. Jude peeked into the dining room, smiling when he saw me. Then he turned to Zane, a surprised and confused look on his face.
