had dinner yet and neither have I. There’s no reason why we can’t share one together. If nothing else, I’d like to think we’re still friends.”
Friends? Boy was he wrong. “Look, Zane, I don’t know what this is all about, but the last thing you and I need to do is rekindle any friendship.”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “Why? Are you worried what good old Mack will say if he finds out you had dinner with me? Seems to me that he probably trusts you a lot more than you should trust him.”
She narrowed her gaze at him. “I’m not going to bother asking what you mean by that.”
“No, you won’t, but maybe you should.”
Channing stared down at her shoes. She desperately needed to break eye contact with him. Zane was starting to wear on her last nerve. Thinking she had herself together, she returned her gaze to his. “Why are you so concerned about my relationship with Mack, Zane? You had your chance.”
Zane sighed and dropped his hands to his sides. “Look, will it kill you to have dinner with me?”
“To talk?”
“Yes, to talk.”
Channing studied her shoes again. What harm could come of her having dinner with him? Although he might not like Mack, the one thing Zane would not do was trespass on another man’s territory. He assumed she was an engaged woman, so that would keep him in line. Besides, she was curious about what he wanted to discuss.
“Fine, we’ll talk,” she said, looking back up at him. He still carried a chip on his shoulder because of how she’d left. Maybe it was time they hashed things out once and for all.
“We can go in my car, and I’ll bring you back here,” Zane said.
There was no way she would say yes to being alone with him in a car for any length of time. “No thanks, I can drive my own car and follow you.”
He looked as if he wanted to argue, but she figured her expression made him think twice. “Fine, we’re going to McKays,” he said.
She went still. McKays was a well-known restaurant in town, and she had once considered it their place since they dined there often.
She lifted her chin. “I’ll follow.”
The moment they walked into McKays, Zane knew he should have suggested another place. Denver wasn’t a small city by any stretch of the word, but the people who frequented McKays were regulars, and the Westmorelands were well-known in these parts.
The majority of these people had known Zane, his siblings and his cousins all their lives. And Zane figured most remembered him and Channing coming here together quite a few times. That was probably the reason the two of them drew so much attention as the waitress led them to a table in the middle of the restaurant.
“We need something a little more private, Tasha,” he told their waitress when he saw they would be sitting across from a woman who was straining her neck to stare at them.
“No problem,” Tasha said, smiling as she led them in another direction. “I have the perfect table for you two.”
Channing glanced over at him and said nothing, althougth he knew what she was probably thinking. Tasha had been their regular waitress two years ago. No doubt Tasha saw some great significance with them eating together again after so long. And the engagement ring on Channing’s finger was probably giving Tasha further misconceptions.
He smiled his approval when Tasha led them into a private room in the back. Although it was larger than what they needed, it was perfect. He would be able to hold a conversation with Channing without fear of being overheard. However, he could tell from the look on Channing’s face that she didn’t particularly like the intimate setting.
“I’m not going to bite, you know,” he said, pulling out the chair for her after Tasha had left them alone.
Sitting down, she glanced over her shoulder at him, and he saw a fragment of a smile touch her lips. “Promise?”
Instead of moving away, he leaned down and whispered close to her ear, “Um, I don’t know now. You do look good enough to eat.”
A shiver passed through Channing when Zane moved away to take his seat. Erotic images flooded her brain, and she achingly remembered a time or two when he’d done exactly that—practically made a meal out of her.
She placed her napkin in her lap and noticed him staring at her. It didn’t help matters that he had the most arresting eyes, and at that moment, they were filled with intensity. Zane was a powerfully sensuous man, and there was no doubt in her mind that he knew it. Men didn’t draw women to them in droves the way he did and not know about their own magnetism.
Tasha returned and placed water, a bottle of their usual choice in wine and menus in front of them, said something about coming back later to take their order and then left them alone again. Zane continued to stare as he opened the wine bottle and poured them a glass, and—unable to do anything else—Channing stared back at him. She could feel the heat of his gaze touching every part of her, even parts he couldn’t see.
Raw emotions she’d forced away for two years slowly returned. She felt her skin grow warm under the goose bumps forming on her arms. Then there was the smell of his cologne. She recognized the fragrance. It was one she had purchased for him as a Christmas gift. The masculine scent drove sensuous shivers up her spine.
What was he trying to do to her? What was he trying to make her feel? She was assailed with sensations she only felt while around him: that sinfully seductive consciousness washing passion through her, intense degrees of longing pulsating through her body.
Drawing in a deep breath, she broke eye contact with him and picked up her menu. Whatever it took, she must not forget that he was Zane, the man she had fallen in love with, the same man who had told her that he enjoyed sleeping with her but didn’t love her. He could never love her, and she wanted a man who could.
When she glanced back up at him, he was still staring, which prompted her to ignore the racing of her pulse long enough to ask, “Have you forgotten that I’m engaged to someone?”
She watched as he took a slow swallow of his wine and then licked his lips before answering her.
“No, I haven’t forgotten. Although I would like to,” he said in a deep, husky voice. “I was just sitting here remembering all the good times we had together.”
A shudder worked its way through her body as she remembered those good times, as well. Within a week of being introduced, they had shared a bed. That was unusual for her because she wasn’t the type to become involved in meaningless relationships. But she’d been like most women who’d found him addictive: Zane’s masculine charm had lured her in, conjuring up illusions that he was falling in love with her as much as she was with him. At the end, she’d found out the hard way just how wrong she’d been. Two years later and she could still feel the aftershocks of a broken heart.
“They were good times, weren’t they?” he asked softly, breaking into her thoughts.
She gazed into dark, mesmerizing eyes. Whether she wanted to admit it or not, those had been good times. Candlelit dinners. Sex so hot it burned the sheets. And a closeness she’d never felt with any
