Isolated Encounter (Meadow Pines Series Book 1) Read online

  “It wasn’t your fault, Zack. Things like that just happen.”

  He didn’t look convinced at what I was saying, and I wasn’t sure I should keep trying to convince him, so I decided to let it go—for now.

  He pulled us both from our internal turmoil by changing the subject.

  “How was your tour? Tell me all the places inside and out that you explored while I was gone.”

  “Before I do that, how did it go?”

  I wanted to make sure everything was okay with the situation he had left to deal with.

  Zack pulled back to get a better look into my eyes.

  “You really want to know, don’t you?”

  “Uh, yes?”

  Alarmed by his reaction, I found myself a little taken back by his bewilderment.

  “I’m sorry, I just never thought to tell you about what happened.”

  “Why? You know how much I love this town. I want to help however I can to keep it such a wonderful place.”

  “You really mean that, don’t you?”

  “Of course.”

  My brows furrowed in indignation at his words. I’d thought that he knew me better than this. He’d been the one saying, I know you better than you think. I pay attention, Katie. Had all that just been a line to get together with me? Suddenly questioning his sincerity, I took several steps back to get away from his touch.

  “Shit, Katie, I’m so sorry! Wait a second, I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. I just didn’t think about telling you what had happened, that’s all. Please forgive me, I’m such an idiot! I’m just not used to having someone to share my day with is all.”

  That made sense. He was not used to having someone to share his burdens and successes with. It made me think that he was probably just getting his footing with us, like I was.

  Once he was within reach, I pulled him in for the kiss I’d been dying for since he’d left earlier. As our mouths touched, I couldn’t help but pull him closer still. I wrapped my legs around his waist as his hands cupped my ass to keep me right where he wanted me. I was snug-tight against the bulge outlined by his jeans. As I twisted into a more comfortable position, his gasp made us part, eliciting a drawn-out fuck from him. Usually not one for such brazen language, he claimed my lips again at an angle that allowed his tongue to delve deeper into my mouth.

  “Jesus, Katie!”

  We gasped for breath as he continued pressing his fingers into my ass, keeping me wrapped around his waist.

  Half-lidded eyes stared back at me as we panted, trying to catch our breath. Once we found ourselves starting to regain our composure, he lowered my legs down to the floor, still holding on tightly as I slid down his body.

  “Sorry.”

  “Don’t be. I just don’t want to go any further until we’re ready.”

  As I looked down at the bulge threatening to escape its confines, I giggled.

  “He may have other plans.”

  Looking at the tight material against his erection, I couldn’t believe how he was able to get that inside those jeans.

  “It’s not always this hard, but you seem to do that to me whenever we are together.”

  Giggles escaped my lips again as Zack tried to adjust himself to a more comfortable position.

  “Stop giggling, little girl, or I may have to make you sorry.”

  “How would you do that?” I responded, not missing a beat.

  “Oh, I have my ways. Don’t push me.”

  I gave him a little wiggle with my shoulders, my breasts swaying back and forth just enough to elicit a moan from him.

  “Stop it.”

  He twisted again in an attempt to regain some composure and relief.

  “Maybe I want to see how you’re gonna stop me from giggling.”

  Before I was able to turn on my heel and run across the room, Zack picked me up and tossed me over his shoulder, smacking my ass as he made his way to the couch.

  “Ow! You big brute! Put me down.”

  “You done giggling, little girl?”

  “Yes! Put me down, Zack!”

  But a rogue giggle escaped anyway, and I’m promptly rewarded with another smack against the other cheek.

  “O! Damnit, Zack! Put me down.”

  “Nope. I quite like smacking your delicious ass. Now, be a good little girl, and I won’t have to torture you anymore.”

  I was hardly able to breathe from all the laughing and the angle he now had me in. Then he flipped me onto the couch, making me bounce onto the cushion.

  “Are you ready to surrender?”

  Scooting back only to find myself pinned between him and the armrest, I smiled as I watched him stalk his prey.

  “Um,” I hummed as my breasts swayed back and forth as I rocked from side to side.

  “Nope, can’t say that I am ready to surrender.”

  When I turned to make my way off the couch, Zack grabbed a hold of my legs to keep me still and quickly eased his way up my body. He was covering me completely, pinning me down with his weight.

  “Now I got you.”

  Just as he was beginning to kiss his way up between my breasts, I experienced a flashback of Randall pinning me down to force himself on me. I screamed as the vivid images suddenly surrounded me.

  “Fuck, Katie!”

  Zack quickly got off of me, but it was too late. I was stuck in the flashback, once again enduring all that had happened to me. Tears streamed down my face and I clenched my legs against my chest, unable to get the memory to stop playing. Rocking myself into the fetal position, I simply waited for the scene to finish playing itself out.

  “It’s okay, Katie. It’s just me, Zack. It’s okay. Whatever is happening right now, I’m here for you.”

  As the rocking began to subside, I felt his arms around me, pulling me into his broad chest. He stroked and soothed me with his words of love, engulfing me in his protective arms. I was stunned at how quickly he could talk me out of the flashback that had invaded our special moment.

  “Shush. Relax, and just let it play itself out. Everything’s alright. I’m right here. I got you, babe. I got you. You’re safe.”

  He chanted it over and over, as though I could hear him through the nightmare playing before my eyes.

  “Zack.”

  The tears continued to fall, but I wanted to accept the lifeline he’d given me.

  “I’m right here, baby. I’m not going anywhere.”

  “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

  “Shush.”

  It was all he kept saying as I hiccupped out the words, over and over.

  “Zack, I’m so sorry.”

  “Baby, you have nothing to be sorry for, so please stop. It’s killing me that you’re apologizing to me for something you have absolutely no control over.”

  “I’m sorry,” I said, apologizing for apologizing.

  Zack just chuckled and held me tighter.

  “Is this helping, or am I making it worse?”

  “It’s helping. I never had anything help me before during a flashback. Thank you.”

  “Baby, you don’t need to thank me. I will do anything in my power to keep you safe and protected. This is just the perk of the job I have.”

  I laughed at the way he could turn a horrible situation into something completely natural.

  “That’s my girl. You doing okay now?”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Katie, I swear, if you don’t stop apologizing, I’m going to call your mother.”

  That did it. I sat up so fast that his arms fell to his sides.

  “Now that I have your attention, are you ready to talk about it?”

  The look of horror on my face must have taken him back, but he was too determined to change course now. Instead, he decided to distract me by finishing our earlier conversation.

  “Well, in the meantime, yes, we had a very productive meeting with the business people and the contractor. We even worked it out so that the pipes get fixed starting today. They should
be done by Monday.”

  I was trying to remember what he was talking about when it dawned on me that the reason he left earlier was to come up with a solution for the broken pipe down on Main Street.

  “Good, I’m glad it all worked out. I knew you’d figure something out.”

  I was finally able to regain my composure and catch my breath. I stared into his eyes, waiting for him to say anything to push me into talking. Instead he just waited, patiently. It was kind of uncanny how patient he was. For a politician, you’d expect that instant gratification would be a strong motivator, but not Zack. His patience was legendary.

  “Can I get a glass of water?”

  “Of course. Wait here, and I’ll grab you one.”

  He left me just long enough to grab the water and return. I figured this was his way of ensuring that I didn’t try to escape.

  “You’re not leaving me yet.”

  He watched me as I took several sips.

  “I said that out loud, didn’t I?”

  He just smiled, waiting.

  “I tend to do that around you, don’t I?”

  “What?”

  “Say whatever pops into my mind.”

  “Not everyone hears it. Just me. I think it’s because I pay attention to you more than most people.”

  “I think that’s it, too.”

  “Are you ready to tell me now?”

  “Zack, I never intended to hold anything back. I just spent so much of these last several years trying to forget. I didn’t want to let my past interfere with the future I so desperately want.”

  “Baby, I can understand that, but after what just happened, I’m certain that unless you talk about it with me, the past may never be laid to rest. You need to do this so you can move on with your future. With me.”

  How could I not have loved this man when he gave me so much, not only with his words, but his actions, too? I wanted to explain everything to him. Tell him all that had happened to me. Show him my scars, so he could heal them for both of us.

  “Promise me one thing.”

  “Anything.”

  “Promise me that what I tell you doesn’t change the way you look at me. I don’t want us to change. I think what I need to say will change a lot of things about your ideas of who I am.”

  “Sweetheart, did you ever think that the change in my feelings will actually be so much better than you imagined?”

  “How do you mean?”

  “If I understand correctly, something bad happened in your life to give you these flashbacks, and you’re concerned that when I find out what happened, I will see you as what—a victim? Damaged in some way from the circumstances you had no control over? That’s what you’re worried about, right?”

  I once thought it was his ability to read people so well that made him a fantastic politician, but this trait was actually what made him a wonderfully supportive boyfriend. Yep, I said it. Boyfriend.

  “That’s right, baby. Your boyfriend.”

  As he emphasized the word, it righted my world in a way no therapy ever could.

  “I was in my early twenties, in my last year of college, when I met Randall Kirkland.” As soon as I spoke his name, Zack went white as a sheet.

  “Did you say Randall Kirkland?”

  Oh fuck! That was not good.

  “Yes?”

  I barely got the word out, trying to brace myself for whatever he was about to say.

  “Shit, Katie, I know him.”

  I launched from my seat as though the devil himself had touched me, clearing half the room before Zack was able to pull me into his hold.

  “What did he do to you, Katie?”

  Sobs broke the silence. I felt like a wreck, and I needed to get out of there. I needed to find my safe place. If Randall knew I was here, it was only a matter of time before he came for me. No amount of time, distance, or a divorce would stop him from taking what he felt was rightfully his.

  “Jesus, Katie, I wouldn’t let that happen! Just talk to me, and tell me what happened. We can figure this out. You and I can get through this together. I know we can. But you have to talk to me!”

  My world felt like it was coming apart, but Zack kept his arms tight around me. For security or to make sure I didn’t run, I wasn’t sure. All I knew was that when I was in his arms, I felt safe and protected in a way I had never felt before. I liked that feeling. I never wanted that feeling to end.

  “Come back and sit down, and tell me what happened.”

  He guided me across the room to the sofa, then kept me in his arms as I began to tell my story.

  “I was a waitress at this restaurant Randall frequented. We would flirt, but it was all so innocent. When he asked me out on a date, I didn’t hesitate, but I said yes to him not knowing who he was, or what he was like outside of the occasional encounters at the restaurant. I was so naïve. I played right into his charm and good looks.”

  Zack just continued to hold me, not commenting or saying a word.

  “We got married at the courthouse shortly after we started dating, surrounded by most of my family and some of our friends. I didn’t know until a few weeks later he had kids.”

  Surprise flashed on Zack’s face, but he remained silent as I continued with my story.

  “At first I was shocked. There were so many of them I couldn’t even keep their names straight in the beginning, but eventually I decided that his kids were now my kids. Even though that wasn’t what I had been expecting, I realized we’d probably just been too overwhelmed with each other and let some things slip through our minds.”

  I looked over to see his expression, but Zack stayed his stoic self, patiently listening and offering support by tightening his hold on me.

  “Randall’s work also took him around the country at a moment’s notice, so we really didn’t have the luxury of talking about our lives a whole lot before the wedding. I was so in love with the idea of being in love that I overlooked a lot of things that normally would have raised a lot of concerns in me.”

  “Like what?”

  “Like my mom not liking him from the get-go.”

  “Really?”

  Shocked was the word I would use to describe his face at that moment.

  “But your mom likes everyone!”

  “Obviously not. She always hated Randall. He would try to charm her by taking her out, buying expensive meals, treating us to the spa. Nothing worked. For some reason, I decided that it wasn’t a big deal that she didn’t care for him. I was the one marrying him, not her, so what did it matter in the end?”

  “Uh-oh.”

  “Yeah, uh-oh is right. After she found out we got married, she was livid with me for making such a bad decision. She refused to allow him to step through her door. I was still able to go to her place, but not Randall or the kids.”

  “The kids, either?”

  “My mom just said that something wasn’t right with this whole situation, and refused to be sucked into the drama of it all. She insisted I come over every week to see her, but as for the others, she put her foot down.”

  Zack shook his head, not believing that this was the same woman he knew from the community center. The same woman that had regularly invited everyone over for cookies afterward.

  “Oh, she was right to be. I learned this after a few weeks living at Randall’s house, where I cooked all the meals, tended to the children, and took care of all the ‘womanly tasks,’ as he liked to call them. Randal also insisted I quit school at the time, as he said it was getting in the way of our life together.”

  “You were how close to graduating?”

  “About a year away.”

  “And he insisted that you quit?”

  I nodded, blanking out when I recalled the argument that had erupted into our first fight.

  “When I said no, that we could use the additional income for when we had more kids, he backhand-slapped me so hard across the face that I fell to the floor.”

  Even now I could feel the
pain that had radiated from his slap, and I unconsciously brought my hand over my cheek.

  Zack broke at this; he couldn’t help it. The woman he loved had been hurt so badly by this man that she’d carried all of this torment with her, even all these years later. How could he listen to the horrors she had endured when he was already so wound up he wanted to punch something? Or better yet, someone in particular. Trying to not give into his rash feeling of anger, he took several steadying breaths.

  “I don’t have to continue with this, Zack.”

  “What? Why?”

  “You look like you’re about to kill someone, and I’d rather it not be me that gets into that particular line of fire.”

  “No, no, no. I would never ever do that to you, or anyone. You know that, right? Well, how could you after what you’ve been through before…”

  He just kept rambling on after that. Most of the things he said made no sense, but other things were clear. He was pissed as hell, and he wanted to kill Randall for hurting her.

  “Zack, please calm down.”

  “Calm down? How can I calm down when I just found out that someone brutally hurt the woman I love and I can’t do anything about it? I assume there is much more to your story, too. That son of a bitch should be in jail for what he did.”

  “Zack, stop it, or I won’t be able to tell you the rest.”

  I could tell he wanted to know, but he wasn’t sure how much restraint he had to keep from going off the rails. He wouldn’t care about his career. Someone had hurt the woman he loved, and in his mind, they would have to pay. After taking several deep breaths and counting to ten a couple of times, I was relieved when he came back to sit on the couch beside me.

  “Okay, please continue.”

  I was unsure I should after his reaction, so I just waited to see if he meant it, or if he would change his mind.

  “It’s okay, go on.”

  “After he hit me, he apologized profusely, saying he’d never do it again. That I just made him so upset that I would put my needs ahead of our family’s needs without even discussing it.”

  “Oh, he’s a real piece of work. Blaming you for him hitting you. Piece of shit!”

  “Zack! Maybe we should forget talking about this right now.”

  “No! You need to get this out. I’ll listen and try not to react anymore, I promise.”