Seducing Zeb (Tarnished Saints Series) (6 page)

“How could you
do that to my brother?” he rallied.

“Because of you, I’ve just lost my job.”

“What a shame,” he said, letting his eyes drop down her cleavage. “Well, then I guess you won’t be needing this anymore.” He reached into her cleavage, plucking out a small earpiece between his two fingers and then dropping it to the ground, smashing it under the toe of his shoe.

Her eyes were wide in surprise and she looked sexier than hell in her tight black dress with her long dark locks cascading down over her shoulders.

“What am I supposed to do now?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” he said. “Nor do I care.” He turned to go, but she grabbed his arm and he spun back around toward her.

“You can’t just walk away like this. You’re my husband.”

“I can and I will,” he told her, drinking in her beauty and watching her tongue shoot out to moisten her lush lips. “In a few hours I’ll be on a plane to Sweet Water, Michigan, and we’ll never h
ave to see each other again. I’ve already phoned my connections and the annulment is in progress. It will be finalized in a few weeks and with any luck, we’ll not even have to go to court.”

“So I’
ll never see you again?” Her eyes darted to his mouth, and her lips turned down into a practiced pout, using her seductive, manipulative charm.

“That’s right, sweetheart, so take your last look at your husband, because if you ever see me again, I’ll be a bachelor. And a bachelor is what I’ll be for the rest of my life.”

Then she did something Zeb never expected. She leaned over and pressed her lips against his in a delicious, seductive kiss. He felt his groin stir immediately. His hands rested on her shoulders and he pulled her closer. Her tongue shot out into his mouth next, about sending him through the roof. And then she rubbed those big beautiful breasts up against him and let her hand slide down his chest between them, moving closer and closer to his waist.

He wanted her more than anything. Th
e taste of her lips was like ambrosia of the gods. She was sweet, succulent and all woman. His hands moved closer to the sides of her breasts, and as the kiss became more passionate, he slipped them down to her waist and around her back side, resting them atop the curves of her bottom end. He was so hot for her that he wanted to not only bring her home with him right now, but to throw her atop the blackjack table and take her with everyone watching.

What was it with this beautiful, seductive woman that when she turned on her charms, he
couldn’t turn off his reactions? He wanted her badly. He needed her. And if he didn’t bed her soon, he was sure he was going to burst.

“No!” he cried out, pushing her away, gaining the attention of both his brother and his aunt. “I won’t let you manipulate me the way you do to all men to get what you want. I don’t care if you are my wife and out of a job, you are not coming to Sweet Water with me. That is the last place
I want to take you, you devious little siren, do you understand? This marriage is a farce and it is over. And I never want to see you again.”

As he stormed away, he could have sworn he heard her whisper the words, “we’ll just see about that.” The throbbing was back in his
head as well as below his belt, and he had the sick feeling in the pit of his stomach that this girl was going to be like a bad penny and keep showing up, and maybe it wouldn’t be so easy to rid himself of her after all.

Chapter 5

Zeb felt bad about leaving Cat behind, but he couldn’t bring along any more baggage on the plane without having to pay for it. And he already paid dearly in his opinion, after giving away ten grand to his brother while trying to make amends for the whole wedding mix-up, not to mention getting married when he didn’t want to, even if it was by accident in his opinion.

He knew
Denny the casino owner was crooked, so he was sure he wouldn’t have Cat arrested or it would point a finger at himself. Being a lawyer, Zeb knew he should sue him or report him or do something so he wouldn’t get away with this. He would have, if he didn’t think it would mean trouble for Cat. But while she was a cheat and a seductress, she was still his wife, and he couldn’t do that to her. Damn it, he hated the fact he’d been having second thoughts since he left the hotel, and wondered if he should pick up the phone and try to call her and tell her he was sorry for not taking her with him.

Too late for that.
And he didn’t even know how to reach her anyway. For all he knew, she was already flirting with some rich guy to buy her way to where she wanted to go. He sat waiting in the airport, getting ready to board the plane, and pulled out the ring box from the top of his travel bag and popped it open.

“Wow, those rings must be for someone special,” said the elderly man sitting next t
o him. “She must be some wonderful girl. When are you popping the question to her?”

“I’m not.” Zeb snapped the box closed and
stuck it back into his bag.

“Why not?” the man asked,
then looked down at Zeb’s hand. “Oh, you’re already married to someone else I see.”

“Don’t worry about it, old man,” said Zeb, loosening his tie around his neck
, feeling like he was being choked all of a sudden. He shouldn’t have even worn the damned tie. He knew he didn’t need to dress in a suit to come to Vegas, but he enjoyed dressing up and displaying the finer things in life that he was able to afford. After all, he’d earned every bit of it himself. Nothing was given to him on a silver platter. He worked hard to put himself through law school since his parents were land poor and couldn’t afford college for any of their twelve boys.

He glanced at his Rol
ex, realizing they’d be boarding any minute. He heard the woman at the desk call for the passengers with first class tickets and he and the old man next to him both got up and got in line.

“I feel sorry for your wife,” the man grumbled. “She’s probably not even aware you have a girlfriend.”

“I told you - don’t worry about it,” Zeb said. “And she’s not going to be my wife in a few weeks anyway.”

“How could you?” he asked, shaking his head.

“You have no idea what kind of girl I married.”

Just then Zeb
heard his aunt call out his name and he turned to see James, Aunt Cappy and lo and behold, his traitorous wife, Cat hurrying to catch him before he got on the plane.

“Zeb, wait up,” called out
Cappy as she ran toward him, her large breasts bouncing back and forth and surprisingly not knocking her out in the process. He wasn’t even sure it was safe for her to try to run at her age. Hell, she had to be pushing sixty-five at least. But then again, she never let things like age or weight stop her from doing whatever she wanted. That was always one thing he admired about her. Fearless – or stupid, he wasn’t sure which, but either of them had merit in her case.

“
Slow down, Aunt Cappy before you kill yourself,” Zeb called out. “Now tell me, what’s going on?” He noticed that James was not only pulling a small wheeled suitcase behind him but also had a very large bag that looked a lot like one of Cappy’s old carpetbags on his shoulder.

“Wait for Cat,
” said Cappy, taking the carpetbag from James’s shoulder and giving it to Cat. “Now, dear, you can give me the bag back next time you see me, as I’ll be in Sweet Water in the next day or two.”

“Next day or two
?” Zeb could see where this was leading. “Aunt Cappy, you told me that you were leaving today. And how the hell did you all get through security without tickets?”

“I was supposed to leave today
sweetie, but I gave my ticket to your wife instead,” Cappy answered with a wink of the eye. “And Cat got us through security. She has her ways of getting what she wants and she’s good at it.”

Point proven, Zeb thought.

“She’s the wife you’re divorcing?” asked the old man in surprise, looking over his shoulder. “You’re nuts,” he said scanning Cat’s body.

“Just stay out of this,” he told the old man. The man just shook his head and gave his ticket to the attendant and headed down the ramp leading to the
plane. “Cat,” Zeb said, looking back to his new wife. “You can’t come back to Sweet Water with me.”

“Why not?” asked James, handing over
the wheeled suitcase to Cat. “After all, she is your wife. If she were my wife, I’d make sure she was with me wherever I went and not leave her stranded without a job or a place to live like you did.”

“Well, she’s not your wife, James, and I don’t need you deciding what I should do.” Then he looked over to Cat. “What does he mean you have no place to live?”

“I was . . . living with Denny,” she said with downcast eyes. “He not only fired me but kicked me out.”

“You are
unbelievable,” shouted Zeb. “You were married to me and still shacking up with that louse?”

“It’s not what you think,” she said
, and her precisely manicured brows dipped as she spoke. “It was purely platonic . . . or at least for the last few years, anyway.”

“Your ticket please, sir, you are holding up
the line.” The woman collecting the tickets held out her hand. Zeb gave her his ticket and just shook his head. Then Cat tried to give her ticket to the woman, but the woman just gave it back. “I’m sorry ma’am but you’ll have to wait until the others board. Your seat is at the back of the plane.”

“Oh,” said Cat and then looked up to
Zeb as if she were waiting for him to do something.

“Don’t look at me,” he told her
, “I’m not giving up my first-class seat. You will have to wait just like the lady said. And just because you coerced my brother into carrying your luggage, don’t think you’re going to talk me into carrying it for you when we land.”

“I’ll see you in Sweet Water in a day or two,” Cappy called out with a wave of her hand.

“What about you, James?” Zeb asked, looking over to his brother. “What do you plan on doing?”

“I’ll be
there, but not right away,” he told him. “I’ve got to get back to Texas to get my horses. I’ll be driving to Sweet Water with the horse trailer.”

“Horses? Where are you putting them, and how many?”

“I’ve got a half dozen I’m bringing with,” James told him. “Thomas said I can keep them in his barn until I find a place of my own.”

“Who’s Thomas?” Cat broke in.

“Our eldest brother,” James explained. “He’s got six boys.”

“Oh,” said Cat with raised brows. “Well, I can’t wait to meet them all.”

Zeb suddenly felt a pang of pity in his heart for his brother. James had given up everything for the new life he thought he was going to have with a wife. A wife that Zeb ended up having even though he didn’t want her. This was the most James had spoken to him since he’d found out about the marriage. Zeb missed talking to his brother and he wanted more than anything to show him that he was sorry. But it was no secret that the Taylor men didn’t know how to say they were sorry. That’s why they always did it in their own ways, by showing it instead.

He reached into his bag
and pulled out the ring box and tossed it to James. James caught it in one hand and looked up to him in question. “Did you want your money back?” he asked. “The casino let me keep all my winnings if I promised not to say anything about the cheating. So I have your ten grand if you want me to buy back the rings.”

“No, keep the money,” said Zeb, “I don’t need it.” This was his way of saying I’m sorry without
actually having to say it. “And get yourself a good place to board those horses with the money you can get from those rings.”

A smile crossed over James’s face
, and that, Zeb knew meant that James had accepted his apology. “You were right, Zeb, maybe I wasn’t ready for marriage and just rebounding from breaking up with Denise. I think I’m going to enjoy bachelorhood the way you do from now on.”

“You mean the way I
did
,” said Zeb, glancing over to Cat. She wasn’t even paying attention. She was digging frantically through the carpetbag looking for something. And Zeb wasn’t surprised when she gave a sigh of relief and pulled out a tube of lipstick, popped it open and started painting her lips, looking like she was having an orgasm with the way she formed a perfect O with her mouth.

And between that and being clothed
in her tight black dress with the low cleavage and wearing spiked heels, she looked more like a hooker than someone’s wife. Especially with the gobs of makeup she wore. And the worst part about the whole thing was that it somehow exited him. Damn, this woman had a hold on him and he hated the fact he felt so out of control around her.

“Bachelorhood – yeah, do me a favor and enjoy it
for me as well.” He turned and walked the ramp to the plane, just glad he was sitting in first class and she was going to be as far away from him as possible at the back of the plane.

* * *

Cat sat smashed between a huge balding woman who smelled like sweat and a little bratty boy not more than six years of age who was crying because he was sitting across the aisle from his mother who was busy paying attention to another kid who was just as whiny.