The Last Husband (Forever Love #2)(37)
Author: J.S. Cooper

“We’ll behave ourselves, Zane. I promise.”

“You’re always a bad girl, Lucky.”

“I suppose you want to bend me over your knee, huh?”

“And give you a good spanking? Yes.”

“I would not be surprised if you tell me you were a Dom in a previous life.”

“You’d like that, huh?”

“Not really.”

“What would you call me? Big daddy?”

“Oh my, Zane.” She burst out laughing uncontrollably. “Please never say those words again.”

“You don’t want to call me big daddy?”

“Hell no, I don’t. That sounds so pervy.”

“I guess you can call me Big Zaney instead.”

“I’ll call you Crazy Zane, more like—or Pervy Zane.”

“At least you’ll be calling.”

“You can’t stop me from calling.”

“Good.” I reached over and squeezed her hand. “I started writing your song.”

“Really?” She turned to me and grinned. “I want to hear it.”

“Not yet.” I laughed at her pout. “That won’t work, baby.”

“But, honey.” She sidled up next to me and rested her head on my shoulder. “Please.”

“Don’t scare me.” I glanced at her face on my shoulder. “You’ll make me think you’ve become a Stepford Wife.”

“I don’t want to get your hopes up.” She moved away from me again. “Well, whatever, I won’t tell you the lyrics I wrote for you either.”

“You did?” I was excited to hear that she had gone through with it. “Are you going to sing it to me?”

“I don’t know,” she said. “It depends on how drunk I am.”

“Tell me the first line.”

“And …?” She raised an eyebrow at me.

“I’ll tell you a first line.”

“Hmmm.” She considered my offer. “I don’t know.”

“Okay, three lines then.”

“Three lines? That’s almost my whole song.”

“Really?” I turned the radio down and cleared my throat and started to sing.

“One day, people shall talk of this day, my love

One day, birds shall sing of my joy, my love

One day, the wind shall scream the truth to the world, my love …”

“Oh, Zane. I love it,” she gasped. “Sing some more. Please.”

“I’ll think about it if you sing some of yours to me.”

“You have to promise not to laugh.”

“I promise I won’t laugh.”

“Liar.” She wrinkled her cute little nose at me and I sighed as I saw we were approaching the airport. I wasn’t ready to share her with her friend. Especially because I had a bad feeling that Leeza wasn’t here just to hang out.

“Okay, now I can’t really sing, but here we go.” She cleared her throat and I looked over and saw that her face was red. I felt bad for asking her to sing when she was obviously not into it, but before I could tell her it was okay, she started singing.

“Zane, there has never been a man like you

Who has taken my heart and swallowed it up

I want you to know that you never have to doubt …”

She stopped and looked at me awkwardly. “I know it’s not as good as yours. I’m not a writer like you.”

“It was beautiful, just like you.”

“Suck up, why don’t you?” she teased me, but I could tell from the pink at the top of her ears that she was happy that I enjoyed it.

She certainly wasn’t a songwriter, but the imperfection of her lyrics hit me hard. I had taken her heart and swallowed it up. The enormity of those lyrics hit me like a ton of bricks. Lucky really loved me. There was no rhyme or reason to it. I couldn’t explain how I knew, but I just knew. A sense of calm filled me. She was in it for the long haul. She was in it for me. She was obviously uncomfortable, but she had sung to make me happy. I wanted to turn the car around and go home. I wanted to forget Leeza and her hidden agenda, I wanted to give up on Angelique, I wanted to forget about bringing Braydon to his knees. I wanted to be able to let go. For a moment I slowed the car, but then I heard the song that was playing on the radio. It brought me back to reality with a swift kick.

“Yesterday.” I looked at her, stating a fact and not asking for confirmation.

She nodded and smiled. “I love the Beatles. I hope it’s okay.”

“It’s fine.” I pressed my foot back down on the accelerator. I had come too far now. I had to do this for Noah’s memory. I had to do this for the brother I had lost, the brother who had never given up hope. I had to do this for the boy inside of me that still loved to hate the Beatles.

***

“Lucky, this house is amazeballs.” Leeza’s mouth dropped as she stood in the entryway of our bedroom. I tried not to let my annoyance show on my face. She had been talking nonstop since we picked her up, and hadn’t really asked Lucky how she was or what she was doing. Her favorite topic seemed to be herself, and I was mad that Lucky had such a selfish best friend. “And this room. Oh my gosh, could you see me in a room like this? Could you imagine the parties we could have here?”

I glanced at Lucky, who was sitting on the bed next to me, and I shook my head. There was no way in hell I was letting Leeza throw a party in my house. Even if I didn’t think she was somehow working with Evan. She just wasn’t trustworthy.

“Do you want to go downstairs and watch TV, Leeza?” Lucky jumped up and I watched as she walked towards her friend. She had the same swinging hips that she’d had in the diner, but now when I stared at her walking, I just felt a deep sense of contentment, as opposed to lust and wanting. I still felt the lust, but it was about more than that now.

“Not really.” Leeza walked over to the bed and sat next to me, flinging her blond hair back in what I could only assume was meant to be a seductive move. “I want to get to know Zane a bit better.” She smiled at me and I noticed that the smile didn’t quite reach her blue eyes.

“He has a business meeting tonight, Leeza. He needs to get ready.”

“He doesn’t have time for his guest?”

“What do you want to know Leeza?”

“Not much.” She lay back on the bed and sighed, and I looked up at Lucky and she stared at us uncomfortably. I jumped up and walked over to her.