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“Tiffany?” Zane urged, his voice low, husky. She closed her eyes and let his earthy scent fill her nostrils. It felt so right to have his arms around her. Without examining her motives, she clung to him as if she expected him to vanish as quickly as he had appeared.
“I . . . I didn’t think you were coming back,” she whispered, ignoring the doubts filling her mind. He was here, now, with her. Nothing else mattered.
“I said I would.”
“But it’s been—”
“Too long.” The corded arms tightened around her, and his warm hands splayed against the small of her back, pressing her body to his and heating her skin through the thin material of her dress. “I should have called,” he admitted, feeling his body beginning to respond to the soft, yielding contour of hers, “but I’ve been in and out of airports for the better part of a week.”
She lifted her head and studied the weariness in his face. Wherever he’d been, the trip had taken its toll on him. The brackets near the corners of his mouth had deepened, and there was a general look of fatigue in his eyes. His clothes, a pair of jeans and a plaid shirt, were clean but slightly rumpled, and his chin was just beginning to darken from the day’s growth of beard.
“Have you been out of the country?” she asked.
“Part of the time.”
Because of Devil’s Gambit, or your wife?
Tiffany knew that she should pull away from him, now, before she was lost to him forever. She shouldn’t let him into her house or her life. Not again. Too many events in his past were entangled with Ellery’s life and left unexplained. There were too many questions that demanded answers....
For a passing moment she considered confronting him with what she had learned from Dustin, just to gauge his reaction, but she couldn’t. The sight of his drawn face, windblown black hair and slightly wrinkled clothing did strange things to her heart. Despite all of Dustin’s accusations, despite the lies, she still loved this rugged man from Ireland with every fiber of her soul.
“Come inside,” she invited, managing, despite her doubts, the trace of a smile. “Louise is making a special brunch.”
“Why?” Zane’s dark brows cocked expressively. He was getting mixed signals from Tiffany; one moment she seemed to have a wonderful secret she wanted to share with him, and her indigo eyes sparkled; the next second her smile would fade and her lips would compress into a determined line of defiance.
“Alexander’s Lady had a filly—a healthy filly,” Tiffany said, pushing her dark thoughts aside.
Zane relaxed a little, and he gently touched her cheek. She had to concentrate to keep her mind on the conversation. “I assume from your expression that she had been bred to Moon Shadow.”
“Yes.” Tiffany attempted to extract herself from his embrace, to put some mind-clearing distance between his body and hers, but his strong arms refused to release her.
“When was the filly born?”
“Just last night.”
“Isn’t the celebration a little premature?” he asked softly, remembering the other colt, the one that had lived a day or so before collapsing from heart failure and dying.
“Maybe, but I doubt it. Vance thinks the filly will live,” Tiffany said with conviction. She recognized the unspoken question in Zane’s eyes and knew that he was thinking about Charlatan’s short life. “Vance wasn’t so sure last night,” she admitted, “but this morning the filly’s been scampering around her stall like a champion. Even Vance has taken her off the critical list.”
Zane hazarded a charming half-smile that touched Tiffany’s heart. “That is good news.” He kissed her lightly on the forehead, and Tiffany’s heart seemed to miss a beat.How could she react this way, love this man, when he had lied to her?
“And there’s more,” she managed to say. “Hal Reece called and told me that his mare, Mile High, gave birth to twin colts—healthy colts, about three days ago. He’s even been able to insure them.”
Zane’s grin spread slowly over his rugged features. He squeezed her for a minute and laughed. God, when was the last time he’d laughed? It had to have been years ago.... It was so easy with Tiffany, so natural. “You’re right, you should celebrate.”
Tiffany’s eyes warmed. “Louise would love it if you joined us.”
“Us?”
“Mac and his wife Emma, Vance, Louise and myself.” She read the hesitation in his gaze and realized that he felt like an outsider. Her elegant features sobered. “It’s not a private party, Zane,” she said softly with a seductive smile, “and you’re very much a part of it. After all, you were here the night Ebony Wine delivered. Besides, Louise would skin me alive if she knew you were here and wouldn’t have brunch with us after all the work she’s gone to.”
“Then how can I refuse?”
“You can’t.”
She pulled away from him, but his fingers caught her wrist. “Tiffany?”
“What?”
