Kaleb (28 page)

“None, whatsoever.”
V said, sounding a little angry. “Do you actually believe if I had known that I
wouldn’t have told you? God, Zoey!” V grabbed her bucket from the back of the
truck. “Way to show how much you trust me.”

Zoey
grabbed her bucket and took off after V. It was harder to keep up because V had
much longer legs and walked fast.
Especially when she was
mad.

“Wait.
V. Stop.” Zoey called out to her, feeling like a total ass yet again. “I do
trust you. I just find it hard to believe that the whole town didn’t know.”

“Well,
we didn’t. Apparently Braydon and Brendon care about you more than you think.
From what I heard, they were all over Jason, forcing him to take his lying,
cheating ass out of town as fast as his scrawny legs could carry him.”

Zoey
laughed. Jason was a little scrawny, now that she thought about it. But, that
was probably because she was comparing him to Kaleb. Something she found
herself doing to every man she knew. No one compared to him.

“I’m
sorry, V. I didn’t mean it like that.” Zoey knew deep in her heart that V and
Kaleb would’ve been the first to tell her had they known.

V
looked back at Zoey, a wicked grin on her face. “I forgive you, but that means
you have to clean all of the toilets.”

Two
hours later, Zoey and V were finally returning to the truck, both of them
exhausted.

“I
swear I’m never having kids.” V exhaled on a sigh as she climbed into the truck.
“If there is any chance my house will look like that every week, you can forget
about it.”

Zoey
laughed. She agreed whole heartedly; however, she wasn’t so sure about the not
having kids part. Admittedly, she’d considered the possibility with Kaleb. In
recent days, she’d considered a million possibilities with Kaleb, none of which
she thought would actually come true, but she could still dream.

“Hey,
V,” Zoey began as they were backing out of the driveway, “what do you think
about the resort the Walker’s want to build?”

“I
don’t know much about it, except what Zane told me, but I think it sounds kinda
cool.”

“Do
you realize it’s not a normal resort?” That was probably the one thing Zoey was
having a hard time wrapping her mind around. It was a sex club, plain and
simple, yet no one had come out and said so.

“Normal?
Define normal?”

“Don’t
get me wrong.” Zoey stated. “I’ve seen the plans, and the place is going to be
amazing. They’ll have shopping, restaurants, and even a spa. Hell, you could
practically live there and never need to go anywhere else.”

“A spa?”
Leave it to V to pick up on that one thing.

“And
two clubs.”

“Two?
As in dance clubs?”

“Not exactly.”
Not that Zoey knew the specifics. From what she had seen on the design, there
would certainly be dancing, but the dancers would be on poles.
And naked.

“Ok,
spill it, woman. What kind of clubs are we talking about here?” V asked,
turning in her seat to face Zoey. “
Oh!
”

“Oh
is right.” It never did take V long to catch on.

“Sex
clubs? Like BDSM and shit?” V sounded even more curious now.

“Well,
I don’t know about all that. I don’t think any of the Walker boys are into
BDSM, but maybe.

“Travis
told me that it’ll be by invitation only, and they’re looking to keep their
guest list secure to protect their privacy. They’ve hired some security firm
out of Dallas, and there are a couple of investors who have already agreed to
back them.”

“Holy shit.”

Zoey
glanced over and noticed the seductive smile tipping V’s full lips. “What? What
are you thinking?”

“I’m
wondering if I can be an exclusive member, of course.”

“Seriously?”
Zoey had never thought of it that way.

“Hell yeah.
If I had the money, I’d invest.”

Hmmm...
That got Zoey to thinking. Invest?
Really?
Now that
could be a logical answer to her problems. Maybe she didn’t have to sell the
land to the Walker’s. Maybe she could just lease it to them. It was definitely
a thought.

“Two clubs?
Exclusive members?
Sex?
I
like it, Zoey.”

V’s
last comment swirled through Zoey’s mind. Maybe she had been going about this
the wrong way.

♂♀

Kaleb
couldn’t stop pacing the office floor, and he knew he was getting on Travis’
last nerve, but he didn’t give a shit. Today was the day. Zoey had asked them to
meet her at her house at four o’clock, and it was only two. He didn’t know if
he was going to survive the wait much longer.

It
wasn’t that he was anxiously awaiting her final decision, although he was, but more
importantly, he knew that as soon as this was over – no matter the outcome –
he’d have the opportunity to talk to Zoey alone.

Since
Gage was leaving town first thing in the morning, Zoey and Kaleb agreed the
night before to meet up with him later tonight. It had been Zoey’s idea and
quite frankly, Kaleb was beginning to wonder about his sweet, innocent little
lover. She was out of control.
Way
out of control.

He
loved it.

But
that was because he loved her.

Yes,
he’d finally come to terms about how he felt about her, and now the only thing
left to do was to tell her. Show her. Granted, he’d have to wait until later,
especially if Gage was going to be at the house, but it was only a matter of
time now.

“Would
you sit your ass down?” Travis barked, shaking Kaleb from his thoughts.

Kaleb
didn’t apologize, but he did make his way to his desk, pulling up his email. As
he sorted through the junk mail, he tried to get his mind off of Zoey and back
on work.
Where it should’ve been.

“The McCoy’s want to meet with us.”
Travis said, finally giving Kaleb something else to think about.

“When?”
Kaleb hadn’t met Luke and Logan McCoy, although he had had several
conversations with Alex McDermott, the owner of CISS – Corporate Investigative
Security Services – as well as his partner Dylan Thomas and one of their
employees, Cole Ackerley.

Since
Travis had sought out CISS for their security, wanting the best for the resort,
they’d all become acquainted over the last few months. And he’d heard about
Luke and Logan, mainly from Travis, but he had yet to meet them.

“Tomorrow
night.” Travis confirmed. “I told them we’d have an answer for them today, and
we’d meet for dinner to discuss the next steps.”

Kaleb
knew that regardless of Zoey’s decision, there would be next steps. Travis,
Sawyer, and Kaleb were all invested in this resort, and if they had to change
the layout because of the land, then so be it.

“Dinner?”

“Yeah.
We’ll meet at the steakhouse in Austin. Their treat, they said. And they’re
bringing their significant others.”

Kaleb
glanced at Travis, wondering why he didn’t say wives.

“It’s
an interesting situation, let’s put it that way.” Travis smirked.

“Interesting
how?”

“Logan
is married, but Luke is in a three way relationship.”

“Three way?
Like as in two women?” Kaleb tried to picture it in his mind.

“No.
He’s in a relationship with a man and a woman. Cole Ackerley is Luke’s lover.”

“Ahhh.
Well, that makes sense.” It didn’t actually, but to each his own and all that.
Kaleb didn’t care whom they were with, just as long as they could help to get
this resort off the ground. Knowing the plans Travis had come up with, the type
of clientele they would be after would likely make a three way relationship
look tame.

“So, dinner tomorrow night.
Bring Zoey if you want.” Travis said, and Kaleb made a mental note to talk to
her about it.

Two
hours later, Kaleb was pulling up to Zoey’s house, both Sawyer and Travis
following behind him in
their own
vehicles. Since
Kaleb wasn’t planning to run out as soon as the meeting was over, they’d all
decided to drive separately.

He
had to admit he was a little nervous about this meeting. Since he had left her
house that morning, Kaleb hadn’t spoken to Zoey, except for a couple of texts
during the day. She said she’d been busy getting ready and Kaleb couldn’t
imagine what the woman was up to. With Zoey, he wouldn’t put anything past her.

The
thought made him smile.

When
he approached the door, he rapped his knuckles on the wooden screen before opening
it and walking in. There before him was the sexiest thing he’d seen in his
life.

Zoey
was wearing a tight blue jean skirt, short enough to make his eyes wander and
his dick to rise to the occasion. She had on an oversized cream colored sweater
– nearly see thru, mind you – and a brown tank top beneath. She was also
sporting her damn cowgirl boots, and he was half tempted to take her straight
to her bedroom just to show her what he thought about the outfit.

“Damn,
baby.” He whistled as he approached. “I thought you wanted to have a meeting.”

Grinning
from ear to ear, Zoey met him in the living room, reached up and kissed him
lightly on the lips before turning back to the kitchen. “Are Sawyer and Travis
with you?”

“They’re
behind me. We took separate vehicles.”

A
knowing smile tipped her lips and made her blue eyes shine. God he loved that
smile.

“Well,
as soon as they get here, we’ll get started. I’ve set everything up in the
kitchen.”

Set
everything up? Kaleb glanced in the kitchen and noticed there were some papers
on the table. What was she up to?

♀♂

Zoey
was nervous as hell, and she’d had more than one pep talk with herself since
that morning. Thankfully, she’d busied herself by running down to Austin so she
could get a couple of things for the meeting. And now, the time had come for
her presentation.

Never
in her life had she given a presentation before, but after her conversation
with Vanessa, she finally figured out a way to make this work for everyone. She
only hoped the
Walker’s
were receptive to her
proposal.

“Hey, Zoe.”
Travis greeted when he walked through the door, followed closely by Sawyer.

“Hey.
Thanks for coming.” Ok, so now her nerves were making her a jumbled mess. This
plan had seemed so easy in her mind, but with her tiny house filled with three
of the Walker brothers, she was beginning to doubt herself.

“Let’s
go in the kitchen.” Kaleb told his brother’s, obviously picking up on her
sudden dry mouth. She smiled at him in thanks.

She
noticed the look Travis shot at Sawyer, but they didn’t say anything as they
made their way through the living room.

Once
the three men were seated at the table, she swallowed hard, trying to scrounge
up the courage to go through with this proposal. She’d run it by her father
earlier that morning and had been pleasantly surprised by his support.

“Have
you made a decision?” Travis asked, always the one to get right down to
business.

“That
depends.” Zoey grinned. “I’ve actually come up with a proposal for you. One I think
will benefit us all in the long run.”

“A proposal?”
Travis sounded skeptical, and the look he threw at Kaleb said so. When Kaleb
just shrugged his shoulders and turned his attention back to her, Zoey
continued.

“After
giving this some serious thought, I’d be interested in letting you use my
land.”

“Use
it? As in letting us purchase it?” Sawyer asked.

“Not exactly.”

“What
the fuck?” Travis exclaimed pushing up from his chair and startling Zoey with
his outrage.

“Sit
the fuck down and listen to her.” Kaleb demanded.

Zoey
jumped, jolted by Kaleb’s adamant tone. She’d never seen Kaleb react like that.
He was always the level headed one, never showing his anger in public.

Apparently
Travis hadn’t seen that side of his brother either because he lowered himself
back to his chair, looking none too happy about her initial comment.

For
the next half hour, Zoey went through her spiel, showing them – on paper –
exactly what her proposal looked like. She informed them that she liked the
idea of the resort, was more interested once she found out that it wouldn’t be
open to the general public which would help to keep their quaint little town
off the map.