Page 27 of Zane

With a laugh, she punched the gas pedal and sped away.

*****

"So, how's the very lovely Hailey?" Zane was feeling marginally better with a well-cooked meal in his belly and a friend to shoot the breeze with. "I wouldn't mind getting an eyeful of her." He grinned as the other man aimed a dark look at him. "What? You cannot have a wife like that and not expect men like me to notice."

"She's older than you are," David pointed out.

"So? She's hot and one of the sexiest women I've ever seen. The first time I was introduced to her, I went to bed that night- Well-" He wisely stopped when he noticed that his friend's eyes had an ominous glint in them.

"Please tell me you did not jerk off thinking of my wife."

"Then I won't tell you." Lifting the glass of water to his lips, Zane hid a grin.

"You're sick."

"No, I'm a man who admires beauty, and that is one helluva beautiful woman." His smile faded. "And you're obviously still in love with her after all these years. The great David Snyder, playboy extraordinaire." He shook his head.

"Like you said, she's gorgeous." David grinned like an idiot. "I know you heard the story of when we first met."

Zane nodded. He had heard it several times but knew his friend liked telling it.

"You hooked up at a party."

"We had sex right out there in the garden. I was with someone else and caught sight of her. She came in with friends and stood out. I had to meet her. When she finished blowing my mind in that garden, I knew I had to see her again."

"She disappeared on you." The mention of the garden had his memories stirring of his own encounter with a woman he could not get out of his head.

"She did. I was determined to find her, and when I did, it was only to discover that she wasn't only beautiful, but smart as hell. A professor and ten years my senior. I could not believe it." He took a sip of his water and smiled in memory. "She wanted nothing to do with me, and when I persisted and told her I wasn't going anywhere, she suggested a physical relationship. She refused to take me seriously."

"Who could blame her?" Zane mused. "A respectable professor at a prestigious institution, and you just a playboy with a pretty face and a terrible reputation." He grinned at the dirty look he received.

"I fell in love with her, just simply slid into it headlong, until I thought I was going mad. She was so cool and collected, and when we were finished rocking each other's world, she would tell me to get lost. Christ, I was in such bloody despair, I didn't know whether I was coming or going. For the first time in my life, I didn't have the situation under control."

"But you persisted."

"Yeah. She got engaged to another man, and I felt as if the bottom had fallen out of my world." He took another sip of water. "Mother told me to keep the faith." Amusement colored his tone. "She was definitely in my corner."

"And Hailey became pregnant."

David nodded. "Even then she wanted nothing to do with me. Said she was too old for me, and she didn't trust me to stick."

"You did."

"How could I not? I love her," he said simply. Eyeing the other man, he asked curiously, "What's this about? Usually, you would tell me to shut up about a story I'd spun too many times to count. What's the deal?"

"There's this woman."

"Ah." David leaned forward, a glint in his eyes. "This is proving to be very interesting."

"Just shut up," Zane growled. Signaling the wait staff, he ordered two glasses of scotch. "She's an ADA."

David simply stared at him. "You hate lawyers, and considering that you happen to be one, along with your entire family, it's baffling. You also swore one drunken night at a private card game that you would rather date an escort than hook up with a lawyer."

A frown pleated his brow. "I said that?"

"Yep."

"You're making it up."