Czytaj książkę: «Revenge With Benefits»

One

Fingers biting into the armrest of the hair salon’s cheap vinyl chair, Zoe Crosby—Alston, she reminded herself yet again—stared at her reflection. As of today it was official. Forevermore she would check the divorced box on every survey form or application that asked her marital status. Even though for the last year she’d told herself it wasn’t her fault, the shame of failure sent heat rushing over her skin, leaving her feeling sweaty and miserable.

“Are you sure about this?” the stylist asked, her face screwed into doubtful lines. Penny raked her fingers through Zoe’s long, silky hair. “Your hair is so gorgeous. The caramel color with the paler blond streaks. Are you sure you don’t want me to take an inch off and call it good?”

Zoe set her jaw and shook her head. “No. I want you to shave it all off.”

The stylist looked even more pained, if that was possible. “It’s none of my business, and you are beautiful enough to wear your hair whatever length you want, but I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t talk you out of doing something that radical.”

Tristan had been very particular about her hair. He’d wanted it to end exactly at her nipples, deeming it the perfect length. She was not allowed to have bangs or layers. Just a silky, straight curtain with blunt ends. She hadn’t been allowed to curl it or to put it up when he’d been around. It was just one of the many ways he’d controlled her.

Zoe sighed, her courage deflating. She’d marched into the hair salon after deciding to shave her head as a middle finger salute to her ex. Tristan couldn’t control her anymore and that was empowering, but maybe getting rid of all her hair was a bit extreme. Still, she needed to do something to mark the day that she was utterly and joyfully free of Tristan Crosby. Her gaze swept the photos of women modeling various haircuts lining the walls, snagging on one in particular.

“What about that?” She pointed to a brunette sporting a short, spiky cut. “Only I’d like to go platinum blond.”

The stylist looked relieved. “With your bone structure, that look would be fantastic on you.”

“Do it.”

An hour and a half later Zoe regarded her reflection and didn’t recognize herself. Gone was the traditional wife of a successful Charleston businessman with her sweater sets and pretty floral dresses. In her place was an edgy replacement in a graphic T-shirt and torn black jeans. Zoe shivered as she raked her fingers through her new do.

Tristan would hate her dramatic transformation.

But then dismay flooded her. When would she stop running all her decisions through the filter of pleasing her ex-husband? All the more reason to make the change. She needed to think about what made her happy.

Plus, she had another reason for altering her appearance.

With step one of her transformation complete, Zoe exited the salon and popped into a drugstore to purchase lipstick and an eye shadow kit in smoky shades that Tristan Crosby’s ex-wife would never have been allowed to wear. In the parking lot, she sat in her car and applied the makeup.

Drawing confidence from her new look, Zoe put her car in gear and headed to the campaign headquarters for Susannah Dailey-Kirby’s state senate race. She intended to volunteer for the campaign, making herself indispensable and gathering as much dirt as she could to take down Ryan Dailey’s twin.

Everly had suggested the strategy to get back at him for Everly’s sister, Kelly.

At the time Zoe had been happy for the input. She’d had absolutely no idea how one went about seeking revenge. Her time married to Tristan had been all about surviving his psychological battery, leaving her little energy for schemes or the gumption to carry them out.

Yet that wasn’t completely true. As a safety net, she’d managed to siphon off tens of thousands of dollars from her allowance during her marriage. Having grown up not exactly poor but with a family that lived paycheck to paycheck, she’d liked the idea of financial independence that ready access to the secret stash offered her.

She should have realized Tristan would view any attempt at self-sufficiency as a threat to his power. When he’d found out, he’d reclaimed her stash and monitored her spending more closely. But instead of intimidating her, his actions had made her more determined, and less trusting of her so-called friends and allies.

The crushing loneliness of being married to Tristan was almost as bad as the emotional and psychological abuse he’d heaped on her. Maybe she shouldn’t have let Tristan convince her to quit college after her junior year. But she’d chosen to plan an elaborate wedding instead of finishing her degree. Floating down the aisle mere months before her twenty-first birthday, she’d actually believed the rest of her life would be like a fairy tale. And in some ways it had. Only she hadn’t been the lucky princess rescued by Prince Charming. Tristan had turned out to be more like the evil king who overtaxed the peasants and punished his subjects whenever the mood struck him.

She’d had no real friends, as was glaringly obvious in the wake of her separation from Tristan and subsequent divorce. No one had stepped up to support or to help her. She’d become a pariah in their tight social circles as Tristan had leaked false stories of her infidelity. No one had cared or believed her when she’d denied the allegations. It was one thing if a man strayed, but unseemly for a Southern woman.

Zoe came out of her reverie as she neared North Charleston. Susannah Dailey-Kirby’s campaign headquarters wasn’t far from the humane society where Zoe volunteered once a week, loving the time she got to spend with the animals. She’d grown up with dogs and cats, but Tristan had refused to allow her to have a pet.

After parking her car in the strip mall parking lot, Zoe strode along the sidewalk in the direction of the campaign’s storefront. For the last week or so she’d been sitting at the fast-food franchise across the street, contemplating the comings and goings of the staff and gathering courage to make her approach. In the weeks since she’d agreed to the revenge bargain, her enthusiasm for the project had waned.

But she’d made a promise and staying true to her commitments was an intrinsic element of her personality she couldn’t just set aside. She couldn’t help it, even when that trait had kept her in a bad marriage past all self-preservation. She’d meant it when she’d stood before family and friends and pledged to love, honor and cherish Tristan until death. That he’d done everything to destroy her good intentions hadn’t lessened her dedication to her vows. No doubt she’d still be married and miserable if he hadn’t decided to cast her aside.

Some days it was hard for her to distinguish whether the brunt of her anger over the failure of her marriage was directed at Tristan or herself. The rational part of her mind blamed Tristan’s unreasonable expectations, but her emotions turned the fault on her shortcomings.

Approaching the campaign headquarters, Zoe took a deep breath and held it while she pushed all doubts and worries out of her mind. She needed to focus on the task at hand or everything would be lost.

She’d decided to keep her backstory vague, because she didn’t want to talk about her ex-husband or the messy divorce he’d put her through. She was restarting her life as Zoe Alston and that opened up a whole range of possibilities. But first she had to see her commitment through.

Gathering a deep breath for courage, Zoe pushed through the front door, expecting the campaign office to be buzzing despite the election being a year off. But the space she entered was static and tense, as if she’d burst onto the scene of a tragedy.

A tiny bell had rung as she’d entered, but no one had noticed. The same chime sounded now as the door swung shut behind her. The campaign staff remained focused on a large TV. Feeling like an intruder, she advanced two steps into the room and then hesitated, unsure if she should continue or retreat. She’d obviously stumbled into something dire.

Four people stood in a semicircle surrounding a tall, slender man with thick, neatly combed gray hair. Phones rang at several desks but no one paid them any heed. In fact, the staffers’ only reaction was to dial the TV volume up.

Zoe shifted her focus from the campaign workers to the news footage that held their attention. It took her a couple of seconds to realize that someone new had entered the race and apparently this was very bad indeed. Realizing this was not a good time for her to approach the campaign team about volunteering, she started to pivot back the way she’d come and promptly collided with someone.

Like the campaign staff, she’d been so focused on the television coverage she hadn’t noticed the tinkling bell. Now, however, as her nose took a hit from the man’s cologne, her senses went on full alert. She was still reeling from the masculine scent of him as her right shoulder impacted with his rock-solid chest. It was like hitting a wall. Zoe bounced off him like a kitten off a mastiff.

She stumbled and might’ve fallen had he not caught her by the arm. His fingers were strong. His grip firm and steadying. It sent her heart sprinting as he guided her back the way she’d come. Her brain struggled to catch up with the to-and-fro movements of her body and decode the electric jolt she felt when he’d first touched her.

Her gaze collided with pale gray eyes of incredible intensity. For a moment she was utterly mesmerized. And then recognition flared. She gulped in panic.

Ryan Dailey.

Less than thirty seconds had passed since she’d initiated her part of the revenge plot and already she’d bumped into her target. And what an unexpected encounter it was shaping up to be.

The man’s sharp jawline, hawkish gaze, impossibly wide shoulders and sensual grin packed a solid wallop. Tingles raced across her nerve endings as heat built beneath her skin. It raced past her throat and exploded in her cheeks.

“You okay?” Ryan Dailey asked, his deep, rich voice rumbling against her eardrums and awakening queer flutters in her stomach.

“Yeah.” It was all she could manage.

“I’m Ryan Dailey,” he said, letting his focus flow over her white-blond spikes, dark plum lips and edgy bohemian outfit. “Susannah’s brother.”

While he checked her out, she took in his custom navy suit, white shirt and pale blue tie. Even with the four-inch heels on her ankle boots making her about five-nine, the man towered over her. Yet despite his imposing stature, she didn’t experience the bitter taste of anxiety her ex-husband had often awakened.

But that didn’t mean she felt calm.

“I’m Zoe...” Her mind froze before she could add her last name. For eight years she’d gone by Zoe Crosby. Those days were done.

“Nice to meet you, Zoe,” Ryan said, smoothly filling in the awkward gap. The way his gray eyes sharpened with interest, he seemed to mean it.

“Nice to meet you, too.” She couldn’t seem to peel her gaze free, but had enough presence of mind to lift her elbow and alert him that she no longer needed his continued support.

His steely fingers relaxed and slid away, but her skin prickled beneath her black leather jacket as she continued to react to the pressure of his touch.

“You’re new to Susannah’s campaign,” he remarked.

“What makes you say that?”

“If you’d been around before, I would’ve noticed you.”

His comment reawakened those anxious flutters in her stomach. The interest in his eyes was a little too keen, so Zoe settled deeper into playing her role of eager volunteer with nothing to hide.

“I’m really interested in volunteering for the campaign, but it seems like today might not be the best day to be here.” She indicated the cluster of staff and then glanced toward the front door. “They seem really busy. Maybe I’ll come back another time.”

“Don’t go.” His cajoling smile sent a lance of delight through her. “Come on. I’ll introduce you.”

Zoe found herself smiling in return. “How about I wait right here and if they have time, you wave me over.”

Offering her a brief nod, he moved past her.

Zoe stared after him, appalled and thrilled in turns.

That was Ryan Dailey?

Despite her promise to stay, she slipped out the front door, sucking in a huge breath of air as she escaped the charged atmosphere. No wonder Everly had suggested Zoe focus on the sister. Taking down such a formidable man would’ve been beyond Zoe’s abilities even if she hadn’t been brought low by her ex-husband’s cold-blooded machinations.

Yet, Ryan Dailey wasn’t Tristan. He didn’t seem the sort who took pleasure in being ruthless. That didn’t mean he wasn’t dangerous, especially given what had happened to Everly’s sister, but Zoe didn’t sense she was in peril.

At least not yet.

* * *

Interesting, Ryan mused. Bumping into her had stirred something that had been missing from his life for a long time. Lust. When was the last time he’d noticed a woman and wanted to put his mark on her? To take her to bed and satisfy a basic physical need, indulge in a whole host of dirty fantasies?

The chemistry between them had shivered across his nerve endings and rattled his bones. As he headed to the back of the office, he continued to be aware of her presence. He rubbed his chest where her shoulder had struck him. The spot seemed to buzz in the aftermath of the contact. In fact, the collision had started a chain reaction through his body.

But the uptick in Ryan’s mood faded fast as he approached the campaign staffers huddled in front of the TV. The news segment on Lyle Abernathy entering the state senate race was over, but the strategizing about how to handle things was just getting started.

Ryan joined the group, noting Gil Moore’s grim expression. “Hi, Gil.”

“Hey, Ryan. I take it you heard.”

“About Abernathy? Yeah.”

“It’s going to be bad,” the campaign manager said.

“How’s Susannah doing?”

“You know her motto. Never let them see you sweat.”

Ryan acknowledged Gil’s words with a nod. “Someone is here to volunteer. Her name is...” Ryan turned to where he’d left Zoe standing only to discover she’d gone. “Damn it.”

He couldn’t believe he was panicking. It spoke to the strong effect she had on him. Now that she’d bolted, he couldn’t bear the thought that he’d never see her again.

“Looks like she took off.”

“She didn’t think her timing was right.”

“Hopefully we haven’t scared her off for good,” Gil said. “Did you get a name?”

“Zoe.” It wasn’t much. Definitely not enough to track her down. “If she comes back, can you let me know? She has really short blond hair and a black leather jacket. Sort of a bohemian style.”

Gil nodded. “We’ll keep a lookout.”

“Thanks.” Ryan was grateful the campaign manager didn’t ask any more questions. “I’d better go find out how Susannah’s doing.”

He headed towards his twin sister’s office near the back of the building. On entering, he found her seated at her desk, staring at her computer. Her long black hair lay in a sleek curtain against her royal blue suit. Her beautiful face was relaxed; she looked not the least bit flustered that her campaign had just gotten that much harder.

Susannah looked up, her gray eyes narrowing. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to see if you’re okay.” Ryan knew it was a useless gesture as soon as he spoke. Still, he didn’t regret rushing over. It had enabled him to meet Zoe.

“Oh, for heaven’s sake! You and Mom. I just got off the phone with her a few minutes ago. I’m fine.” And she meant it. Even when they were kids nothing had seemed to faze Susannah. Her unflappability would serve her well in the months to come. “Lyle is barely more than a speed bump.”

Ryan glanced over his shoulder to where her staff had fallen to conversing in low tones among themselves. “Gil doesn’t seem to share your opinion.”

“He likes to worry.”

“You don’t worry enough.”

“What good would it do me?” Susannah asked, her brows coming together. “Lyle switched districts because he wasn’t going to get elected to a fourth term, and he’s too arrogant to believe that I won’t be as much competition as Jeb Harrell.”

“It’s your first shot at running for state senate.”

And you’re a woman. Ryan knew better than to add the second part. Abernathy would throw dirt at Susannah any way he could. It was a sure bet he would use her gender against her.

“I’m a fantastic candidate for this district and everyone knows it.” She paused and gave him a cocky little smile. “Including Lyle Abernathy.”

“That’ll just make him play dirty.”

“I’m as squeaky clean as it gets,” his twin reminded him. Then, seeing Ryan’s continued doubt, she huffed impatiently. “There’s nothing for him to use against me.”

“That won’t stop him. He’ll make stuff up.”

“We’ll be ready.”

Ryan opened his mouth to argue but decided he’d be wasting his breath. Susannah Dailey-Kirby was not a woman in need of his assistance.

The walls separating Susannah’s office from the rest of the campaign headquarters were made of glass. Blinds had been added in case she needed privacy, but at the moment they were open. Ryan caught himself glancing a third time toward the front door where he’d last glimpsed Zoe.

Susannah followed the direction of his gaze. “Looking for something?”

“Someone. Your newest volunteer.”

“I don’t see anyone.”

“With everything going on, she left before anyone met her. I was hoping she’d changed her mind and come back.”

“My,” his sister drawled, “she must’ve been something for you to be this interested. Was she pretty?”

“Yes.”

Was he crazy to be so preoccupied with a woman he’d talked to for less than a minute? But then he remembered how bumping into her had short-circuited his system and knocked all thoughts of politics and Lyle Abernathy from his mind.

“Very pretty?”

“Very pretty. But she was different from the women I’m usually attracted to.”

“How so?”

For a second Ryan wondered if he could put into words his unexpected reaction. He met hundreds of women a year. Why this particular one? While beautiful, she wasn’t the most stunning woman he’d ever met and he hadn’t spoken with her long enough to determine if she was bright or funny. Yet her impact on him lingered.

“She dressed like a badass. Black jeans and a graphic tee. Spiky blond hair and dark makeup. Sort of a ‘flower child meets rock-and-roll’ vibe.” Yet beneath the tough-girl exterior he’d sensed her vulnerability.

“Seriously?” His sister made no attempt to hide her amusement. “You’re right. That doesn’t sound like your type at all.”

He was tired of dating successful, sophisticated women like his sister—women who made it their mission to kick the world’s ass. He wanted someone who could use his help. A woman who wasn’t afraid to need him. “Maybe what I need is someone totally different.”

Despite his mistakes with Kelly Briggs, Ryan liked the idea of being someone’s hero and he refused to shy away from the arrogance of being convinced he was right when he acted in another person’s best interest. Sure, maybe in this day and age women didn’t want to be rescued or helped. Maybe they demanded the power in their relationships be balanced and equal. Ryan wasn’t opposed to that, but what was wrong with letting their guard down and letting a guy flex his muscles once in a while?

Zoe intrigued him. He’d glimpsed something in her eyes that triggered his protective instincts. Which might prove problematic, given what had happened when he’d tried to help Kelly Briggs. She’d misinterpreted his assistance as some deep emotional connection between them. When he’d explained his concern was strictly platonic, she’d struck out against his company in a vicious act of revenge.

“But this isn’t about me,” Ryan objected. “It’s about your campaign. You need all the help you can get. Especially now that Lyle has joined the race.”

“Sure.” His sister gave him a wry smile. “You keep telling yourself that. I hope she comes back.” Susannah’s eyes twinkled. “For the campaign’s sake, of course.” She paused to let her ribbing sink in and then added, “What did you say her name was?”

“Zoe. Hopefully she’ll come back.”

“If she does, we’ll make sure we get all her details. I don’t want her to disappear on you a second time.”

Ryan opened his mouth to deny his interest and sighed instead. “That would be great. I have to get going. Call me if anything new comes up.”

Before he could go, Susannah caught his arm. “I love you, big brother. Thanks for worrying about me even if I don’t really need it.”

He covered her hand with his. “It’s what I do.”

“I know. And I worry about you in turn.” She spoke in a low tone. “I hope your mystery woman comes back and that she’s great because you deserve someone fabulous in your life.”

“I’m fine,” he said automatically.

“Of course you’re fine,” she countered. “But I want you to be fantastic and the right woman could do that for you.”

Susannah had married the first man she’d ever dated and they lived the blissful life of the perfect couple. She and Jefferson had been married for ten years and had two beautiful children, Violet and Casey, ages six and eight. In addition to being a supportive wife and supermom, she was a corporate attorney with the top law firm in the city. Every day she strove to take successful to new levels and did it with grace and ease.

“Jeff is a lucky man to have you,” Ryan said. “I’m afraid you might have set the bar too high for my future wife.”