Vienna sat tailor fashion, and the chair molded around her. She loved the chair. She made a mental note to find out where to get one like it.
“He offered to go with me to take the heat off so Mom would relax. At first I was going to say no, but then I realized it was exactly what would distract her.”
“Vienna.” There was caution in Stella’s voice. “Tell me what’s going on.”
“I’m not certain yet. He says he doesn’t want us to be over. We’ve been talking quite a bit and I’m listening, but I’m not sure I want to go there again. You know how I am, careful.”
There was that thoughtful silence. Stella never rushed judgment. She wasn’t that person, which was one of the hundreds of reasons Vienna loved her. “Do you believe him?”
It was Vienna’s turn to think the question over. Did she? She was certain Zale believed what he was telling her. She just didn’t know how long what he felt for her would last. Admittedly, he wasn’t a man who had relationships. He had no clue what that first rush felt like. Their sexual chemistry had been explosive. He could easily mistake that for something else. Once the fire mellowed, even a little, he could get bored and move on. Then what? Where would she be?
“I think he believes what he’s telling me. I just don’t know if he has staying power.”
“Vienna.” Stella’s voice was gentle. “No one ever knows. It’s a leap of faith. You have to decide if taking that chance on someone is worth it or not.”
Vienna sighed. “I did take that chance. I invested in him once already. He packed his things and walked off, Stella. He explained, but even now, with his explanation, it’s wrenching just thinking about it. I don’t let people in easily. I’ve never let a man in, not until him.”
They can’t be trusted. They lie to you. They’ll say anything they think you want to hear in order to get their way.
“Why is that? Have you ever thought about why you’ve never gotten close to a man?” Stella asked.
Stella always got right down to the heart of the matter. Not just Stella. Her other friends were the same. All of them were thoughtful and considerate, but they believed in the hard questions. They all asked and answered them with each other. Vienna had thought about it many times. She just lost interest very quickly—and then there was that voice in her head she couldn’t quite get out, but she wasn’t going to talk about that.
“At first, I thought I was so busy with school, trying to get ahead and make things work so I could take care of Mom. But then I realized I’d get bored just talking with someone at dinner. I know that sounds so terrible and vain of me, but it’s the truth. I don’t know if it’s because I chose all the wrong men to date.”
“We all have a type,” Stella conceded.
“I didn’t go for looks, I always went for men with brains. But they were all about how they were so intelligent and I couldn’t possibly keep up. It always turned out just the opposite. And not one of them liked to hike or climb. You’d think that outdoors was a dirty word.”
Stella laughed softly. “I’m sorry, I know I shouldn’t laugh, but you do look like a model, Vienna. You’re tall and gorgeous. Unfortunately, I think the old prejudices still remain against women with a good part of the male population. You just can’t be as intelligent as they are. I did think it was mostly uneducated men, but now that you say that, I’m just discouraged.”
That made Vienna laugh. “I think we’ll have to stay in Knightly, where we can climb our beloved boulders and go hiking whenever we want.”
“Has he quit?” Stella asked when they both sobered.
Vienna looked up to find Zale standing in front of her. Her heart jumped at his sudden appearance. He’d come right through the door, and she hadn’t even heard him enter. She needed to tell the service people they should have a squeak in the door. Then again, he probably carried an oil can in his back pocket.
“No, he hasn’t quit. He still works for them. He’s here, Stella, standing right in front of me. I think he can float through walls.”
He held up a key just like her golden one, a smirk on his face and a hint of laughter in his eyes she found hard to resist.
“I’m pretty sure Sam can do that too. We need to learn, Vienna.”
“Gotta go. See you soon.” Vienna ended the call and regarded Zale with a small shake of her head. “You stole my key right in front of me and made a replica of it, didn’t you?”
He nodded. “You really should be more careful. You let Rainier distract you.”
“I was seeing to his wounds.”
“His wounds weren’t that bad.” He pushed the key into his wallet and sank into the cuddle chair across from her, holding out his hands for her feet.
He’d always given the best foot massages. She stretched her legs out to put her feet in his lap. She wasn’t going to pretend she didn’t want a massage from him, even if she kicked him out later for stealing her key.
“You acted like you were very worried.”
“I needed you distracted so I could make an impression of your key.”
She started laughing. “You’re impossible.”
“But practical. You’ll need to remember that when you want to throw things at me. Preferably not the knife you sleep with.”
“I didn’t always sleep with it. That came after the scare.” Vienna studied his face. Even just sitting across from her, seemingly relaxed, he gave little away, but she could see the intelligence in his eyes, the vigilant alertness that never left him.
He was so much like Sam. He had those same traits. She knew Sam had a master’s degree in something to do with law, which was ironic considering his father was Mafia. She knew he was extremely intelligent and learned at a high rate of speed. Stella told her she’d discovered a box of medals, tons of them, ones he never showed her and she never asked about. She also found his uniforms and was not shocked to discover he’d been an officer. Considering that Zale was Sam’s best friend and they’d trained together for whatever program they both had served in, Vienna thought it very possible Zale was an officer as well—or had been one. Most likely he held at least a master’s degree in his chosen subject.
“I want a relationship, Vienna.” His voice was quiet. “I want you to give us a chance. Tell me what to do so you know I’m serious.”
“How long would you stay working, Zale, if we did start a relationship? Your work seems dangerous, and it’s obvious you could disappear for months and I wouldn’t know if you were alive or dead. That doesn’t seem like a good fit with me. I’m a worrier.”