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“We’re together.”
“Together?” He stared at Zack. “As in—you’re sleeping with her?” Travis leaned back against his plane again, jammed his hands through his hair in a gesture Zack knew meant he was really troubled. “Are you just screwing around? Or does it mean something? We’re talking about Laurel. She’s hardly dated since she got divorced. She’s…vulnerable.”
Zack thought about Laurel the night before. Vulnerable was the last description that came to mind. Sexy, exciting, but sure as hell not vulnerable. “It means everything. I’m in love with her.”
Travis stared at him. “You’re in love with Laurel.”
“That’s what I said.”
“I’ll be damned. Tobi called it. She told me when she first came back that you had a thing for Laurel, but I didn’t believe her.”
“The point is, Laurel and I are together. If you have any objections you’d better tell me now.”
“What if I did? Would you back off?”
“No. But I’d listen to your objections.”
“And blow them off?”
“That depends. What are you objecting to?”
“Not objecting, exactly.” He dropped his arms and stood up straight. “You’re in love with Laurel. You’re serious about this? About her?”
“Are you asking my intentions? Don’t you think you’re carrying this overprotective brother a bit too far?”
“No. Tell me, is this just a fling for you or are you serious about her?”
He sighed and answered truthfully. “It’s not a fling for me. I’m not sure what it is for Laurel. What happens from here on out depends on Laurel. We just started dating. We haven’t had time to know where this is going.”
“You had time to talk her into the sack,” he said dryly.
Zack counted to ten. “Come on, Travis. She’s a grown woman. Divorced with two kids. She’s perfectly capable of deciding what she wants without me having to talk her into it.”
Travis shrugged. “Does she know you’re in love with her?”
“No. I haven’t told her yet.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s too soon. And it’s too important for me to rush things.”
Travis looked a little mollified. “What made you suddenly decide you were in love with her?”
“It wasn’t sudden.” Deciding to do something about it was sudden, but his feelings weren’t.
“How long?”
“Jesus, Travis, how much more are you going to interrogate me? A long time, okay?”
“So why the hell have you waited this long to do something? She’s been divorced for two years.” Travis waited for an answer and when he didn’t get one he said, “Since before she met the turd?”
The turd was the nicest thing Travis ever called Laurel’s ex. At least since he’d left her with two kids, no money and a mountain of debt. “It’s been a long time. Can we, for fuck’s sake, quit talking about this?”
“She was in high school? High school?” Travis repeated, his voice rising.
“Goddamn, Travis.” He ran a hand through his hair, wishing he’d never started this conversation. But it had to be done. “Yes. Both of us were. She was too young and I knew it and then I went to college and law school and she wound up with that shithead Lewis.”
Travis shook his head. “Wow. How could I not know any of this?”
