“What are you doing here?”
Chapter Nine
Jude
“I just saw you at the office,” I said.
“I know. I didn't come here to speak to you though,” Zane said, his eyes flickering over to Ember. “I wanted to meet your new roommate.”
“Ember is not my roommate,” I said.
I tensed up, my fists balled at my sides. Zane was a skeptic. A cynic. He didn't trust anyone. Not that I could blame him, given his past. But, he tended to see everything and everybody through that negative lens that colored his own vision. He never gave anybody the benefit of the doubt and made sure to ask you anything that entered his mind – no matter how intrusive the question might be.
It was a trait that served him well in his role at the company, but less well in his role as my friend.
Zane flinched at the tone in my voice. “If not your roommate, then what is she, exactly?”
“She's my –”
I stopped and shared a look with Ember. What was she, exactly? She was no longer my stepdaughter. She was more than a friend, though not technically a girlfriend. Did they have words for the type of thing wewere involved in, and I simply wasn't able to think of them? Or was my life really that complicated?
“It doesn't matter what I am to him, Zane,” Ember finally snapped. “It's none of your business.”
She stood and faced him, and even though she was much shorter than my friend, she stared at him with an intimidating look on her face, danger flashing through her eyes. It was almost like she was saying, “Come at me. I dare you” knowing she'd win.
Zane clenched his jaw but held his head high. Giving a curt nod, he said, “Very well. I guess I should be going now.”
I followed him to the door, right on his heels. Once we were far enough away, I spat out, “What is this all about, Zane? Seriously?”
“I don't trust her,” he said at last, cutting his eyes toward the dining room. “She's young, gorgeous, and the daughter of the woman who tried to screw you over. Can you blame me for being wary?”
“I can take care of myself, Zane. I don't need you policing my – my –” I stumbled at the words again. What was she to me? I settled on finishing with, “my love life.”
“Maybe if I'd said something sooner with Lydia –” he said.
“I know you had your doubts, but Zane,” I said. “And, don't take this the wrong way – but, you don't trust anyone.”
He snorted, tried to scoff at the comment, but a tight smile appeared on his face. “I know. Naomi really left an indelible mark on me, didn't she?”
“I'd say so.”
The evil witch had pulled a Lydia on him. Except, of course, she was so good at it, no one saw it coming until she'd saddled him with divorce papers and took off with her new boyfriend, bound for some exotic locale – on Zane's dime, of course.
“Women love us for our money, Jude,” he said. “It's a sad fact of life. Trust no one – especially gorgeous, too-good-to-be-true younger women who just show up on your doorstep looking for a handout.”
“That's not –”
I cut myself off before finishing that statement. Yeah, it was what it was like, but I trusted Ember. It was more than the fact that she was honest with me – and that her honesty had cost her everything. I didn't allow her to stay purely out of guilt. I allowed her to stay because I liked her. I cared about her.
“You wear your heart on your sleeve, Jude,” he said. “Just be careful. We all see it, you're falling hard. And who can blame you? She's a knockout.”
“She's more than just a pretty face,” I said sternly.
He sighed and ran a hand over his short-cropped hair. “I know. And that's why I fear for you, Jude,” he said. “I really hope I'm wrong about her, but –”
“You are wrong about her,” I said.
I held the door open and Zane knew what to do. He stepped outside and didn't even bother to say goodbye.