7

      Zienna was asleep in bed when she heard the door buzzer going off several times in rapid succession. She had barely drifted off before she’d been jarred awake by the loud, annoying noise.

      Her eyelids heavy, she lifted her head to glance at the clock: 2:21 a.m.

      Good Lord, she thought, plopping her head back down. It was Nicholas. It had to be.

      He’d called her several times since she’d abandoned him at the restaurant, and had left her at least six text messages. But she hadn’t responded, and had ultimately turned the phone off.

      She wasn’t ready to talk to him about her relationship with Wendell. Not after his reaction at the restaurant.

      The buzzer sounded again. Zienna didn’t get up.

      If she were honest with herself, she knew that a big part of why she wasn’t ready to talk to Nicholas was because it would require telling the absolute truth. And the last thing she wanted to do was confess to him that her feelings for Wendell had been stronger than she’d let on.

      It wasn’t that it mattered anymore, because it didn’t. It was how Nicholas would deal with the knowledge.

      She certainly couldn’t deny that seeing Wendell again had left her reeling. No matter what she said, Nicholas would be smart enough to figure out the truth. And Zienna could only imagine that he would conclude Wendell was a threat on some level.

      Nicholas was tall, dark, handsome and successful—but an ex-past girlfriend had devastated him when she’d had an affair. It was the reason he had put Zienna through the ringer in the beginning. Not in a way she hadn’t been able to handle, because she knew what it was like to have your guard up. But she’d had to work extra hard to put his mind at ease and assure him she was the faithful sort.

      They’d gotten to a happy place...and now Wendell had threatened everything.

      The buzzer sounded again. Clearly, Nicholas wasn’t going away.

      Zienna rolled over, wondering if she should continue to ignore him. If only she knew his frame of mind... If he regretted what had transpired over dinner was one thing. If he still felt she had betrayed him, that was another thing altogether.

      It was too late and she was too tired to rehash the argument. The last thing she wanted was to fight about Wendell—not when he had so easily pointed out that she hadn’t mattered to him in the least.

      She’d been an easy lay. That was all.

      Zienna glanced at the clock: 2:27 a.m. The buzzer hadn’t gone off for a few minutes, and she wondered if Nicholas had finally decided to leave. Snuggling against her pillow, she figured it was just as well.

      Not more than ten seconds later, the knocking started.

      Finally, Zienna threw off the covers. She slipped into a robe and made her way to the door. There was no doubt that Nicholas wouldn’t go away until she answered.

      She looked through the peephole, and there he stood, his expression dour. She grinned a little, suddenly glad he was here. Of course he wouldn’t be here if he was mad at her. Obviously he was here because he, like she, hadn’t been able to sleep with how things had ended between them.

      But Zienna didn’t open the door immediately, letting him suffer a little bit longer. He’d hurt her, and she wasn’t going to let him off that easily.

      “How’d you get in?” she called through the door.

      “I followed someone in through the front door.”

      “What do you want?”

      “Are you going to let me in?”

      “Why should I?”

      “I’m sorry. I was just shocked. But I talked to Wendell, and everything’s cool.”

      “Everything might be cool for the two of you.”

      “Let me in, Zee,” Nicholas pleaded. “Come on.”

      Inhaling a deep breath, Zienna unlocked the door and took a step backward. Saying nothing, she pulled it wide, allowing him to enter.

      He looked wary, his expression uncertain. “I’m sorry,” he said without preamble.

      Zienna walked the short distance to her living room and took a seat on the armchair, where Nicholas couldn’t sit beside her.

      He dropped to his haunches in front of her, the look in his eyes making it clear that he truly regretted having freaked out. He delicately rubbed her right knee. “How’s your knee?”

      “I’ll live.”

      Several seconds passed in silence. Nicholas was looking at her, she knew, but she wasn’t meeting his gaze.

      “You’ve got nothing to say?” he finally asked.

      “Seems to me you and Wendell have it all figured out.”

      “I didn’t dream Wendell would tell me he used to sleep with you. That was the last thing I was expecting tonight.”

      You and me both. “It was a long time ago.”

      “I reacted badly. I admit it.”

      “You didn’t even want to have a decent discussion about it. You just acted like I’d screwed around on you.”

      “No,” Nicholas said firmly. “I didn’t. But I acknowledge that I didn’t handle the news in the most mature fashion. I was caught off guard, and yes, I get that you were, too. But now that Wendell’s investing in my business, I don’t blame him for wanting to get this whole deal into the open.”

      “Why should you blame him when you can blame me?”

      “Zee...”

      They stared at each other for a long beat, neither saying anything. Zienna was the one to speak first. “So...now what?”

      “I told you I was sorry, didn’t I? I talked to Wendell and he assured me that your relationship wasn’t serious. Nothing like what you and I have together.”

      “So Wendell drops his bombshell, and yet he’s the one to reassure you when I can’t? How do you think that makes me feel?”

      “What do you mean?”

      “When I told you the relationship meant nothing, you got mad at me. You weren’t hearing it.”

      “We never got to have a real discussion.” He quickly held up a hand. “Not after my knee-jerk reaction. That’s why I called you all night. That’s why I’m here.”

      “You remember what you said to me, right? You had no problem believing that I meant nothing to Wendell, but you didn’t seem to believe that he meant nothing to me.”

      “I came to apologize,” Nicholas said, sounding a little exasperated. He stood and turned toward the window that faced the river. “But it seems to me you want to keep fighting. I can’t help wondering why.”

      Well, that hadn’t gone the way Zienna had hoped. She stood and wrapped her arms around her torso. “I’d like to go back to bed.”

      Nicholas spun around and stalked toward her, and she actually reeled backward as he reached her. Then he placed both his hands on her shoulders.

      “I got upset, yes. But it’s not so simple.” He paused. “When I heard...” He expelled a sharp breath. “The truth is, Wendell’s my best friend, but we’ve always competed. This isn’t the first time we ended up dating the same girl.”

      Zienna narrowed her eyes in question, but said nothing.

      “Some of the best of