Hearts on Fire (The Hunter Family) Page 11

  After rehearsal, I invited a couple of my friends to come out to the club opening but they weren’t in the mood. Claire overheard me and she shot me a look.

  “Do you really think you should be going out to a bar, Abby? You’re drinking way too much lately.”

  I wasn’t drinking that much, but it was none of her business. That instantly pissed me off and I shot her a withering glare.

  “The last time I checked, you were not my mother. I have a great idea, why don't you focus on your own life and stop trying to meddle in mine. I’m not interested in taking advice from a goody-goody who does not know how to have fun. Life is short, Claire, it is meant to be lived to the fullest. You should try it sometime, you might like it!”

  I walked out of the studio filled with a mixture of emotion. I was happy that I stood up to my bossy sister, but I was sad that we were in the place we were. I missed the days when I could go to her for anything. I pushed those thoughts out of my mind as I recalled how snotty she had been to me lately and I focused on the fun night that lay ahead of me.

  When Barbi and I arrived at the bar there were tons of people there and the music was blaring. We made our way over to the bar and ordered pomegranate martinis and took in the crowd. There were a lot of gorgeous guys and Barbi and I weren’t standing at the bar for more than a minute before a couple of guys came over to us. One was super hot, and his friend? Not so much. Barbi scored the good-looking one and I was just not in the mood to talk to the other guy so before he could say anything to me, I told Barbi I was going to look for our friend.

  That was a code we used when we wanted to get away from someone. I made my way through the crowded bar, taking in all of the cool décor and I found myself in one of the smaller rooms which was tucked away in a corner. It was really cool in there, the walls were a deep red, there was a beautiful mural on the back wall and there were a few huge overstuffed chairs on either side of the room. The music was mellow and I slid into a chair and sipped my martini, taking a few minutes to take it all in. I saw a couple making out in the corner and I missed having that kind of connection with someone. A deep sigh escaped my lips and I decided it was time to go find Barbi to see if she needed to be rescued or if she was okay hanging out with that guy.

  I stood up, took another sip of my martini, and started to make my way toward the entryway when I stopped dead in my tracks. Standing right in front of me, staring back at me, was Zane looking more beautiful than I had remembered. I literally almost dropped my drink but thankfully my brain registered that the glass was slipping out of my hand before I dropped it and I was able to tighten my grip before it slipped.

  His dark hair fell gently over his eye in that super sexy way that only he could pull off and I wanted to rip his clothes off right there in the bar. I don’t remember how, but all of a sudden he was talking to me.

  “Hi Abby, it’s good to see you. What has it been? Three years?”

  His eyes searched mine waiting for a reply and I really tried to say something but I couldn’t. I was completely frozen. He looked really worried and as he gently placed his hand on my arm, I jumped and moved away from his touch. That snapped me out of my daze.

  “Hi, Zane. Sorry, I was just so surprised to see you. Yeah, I think three years sounds about right.” My voice was hoarse so I cleared my throat and I tried to look like he hadn’t just shaken my world. “How have you been?”

  “I’ve been good, real good. Busy, very busy.”

  Was he nervous too?

  “Oh yeah? Well busy is good. How is the band? I haven’t heard much about you guys lately.”

  “We decided to call it quits a couple of years ago because everyone had other stuff that was getting in the way and we couldn't commit and practice the way we needed to. It actually worked out for the best.”

  “Oh wow, I know how much you loved being in the band and that you were really hoping for a record deal. That sucks.”

  “No, actually it really did turn out to be a good thing.”

  “Oh, well that’s good. It sounds like everything is going well for you, I’m happy for you, Zane.”

  “Thanks. What about you? How have you been?”

  “I’ve been good, still dancing of course.”

  “Oh yeah? Are you still at the same company as your sister?”

  I hesitated to tell him because I felt like a little bit of a loser that I had not had the guts to strike out on my own, but I was not going to lie to him.

  "Yes, we are still at the same company but I have been able to get bigger roles so I've really been enjoying the opportunity to dance in front of an audience.”

  His eyes widened with excitement. “You’ve been the lead dancer?”

  I really felt like a loser then. “No, but I have had bigger roles so it’s been good, I’ve been happy.”

  I could have sworn I saw disappointment in his eyes, which he quickly covered up.

  “I think it’s great that you’ve been able to get out there and dance more, I knew that you had it in you.”

  I looked at him, appreciation beaming in my eyes.

  “Thanks, Zane.”

  His eyes searched mine and then they slowly perused my face.

  “Man Abby, you look so beautiful.”

  The familiar flutter of butterflies reminded me what it felt like to be around a guy I really liked. The last time I felt that way I was standing in front of the exact same man who was looking at me with his gorgeous eyes. It had been way too long. I opened my mouth to thank him for the compliment when a beautiful blonde woman came up behind him and grabbed his arm. My heart immediately sank.

  Of course he has a girlfriend. I was stupid to think that Zane would be single.

  “There you are. Boss we need you in the Morocco room.”

  Did she say boss?

  Zane must have seen the confusion in my eyes because he gently touched my arm as he looked at the blonde.

  “Okay Shana, I’ll be there in a sec.”

  Shana quickly glanced at me and then turned and was gone as fast as she had arrived. Zane turned his attention back to me.

  “Do you remember when I told you that I wanted to open a bar one day with Logan?”

  I slowly answered him. “Yes.” My eyes searched his and then it all registered. “No! This is your place?”

  A huge grin spread across his face and he looked as proud as could be. “Yep, this is our second bar.”

  My eyes were as big as saucers. “You’re kidding! Zane, that is so awesome! I am so happy for you, you actually did it!”

  “Thanks. Hey, I need to go see what’s going on in the other room, are you going to be here for a while?”

  “Yeah, my girlfriend is around here somewhere so I’m going to go find her.”

  “Okay, I’ll look for you.”

  He dashed away and left me standing there trying to make sense of what had just happened. He said he’d look for me, did that mean he wanted to hang out with me? Did he really mean it? I probably looked like an idiot standing in place, staring at the doorway, but it took a few minutes for me to be able to get myself together and leave the room. I walked through the bar in a bit of a daze looking for Barbi.

  I found her where I left her, still talking to the same guy and I went over to them to let her know I was back. Barbi put her arm around me when she saw me.

  “Hey, Mario, this is my friend, Abby. Abby, this is Mario. He’s been telling me about his trip to Paris.”

  “Oh, you’ve been talking about Paris this whole time?”

  Mario thought he was super cool and he had this silly looking smirk on his face. I immediately could tell that he was a douchebag.

  “Yeah, it was a rad trip.”

  I raised my eyebrows at him. “Rad trip? Where are you from?”

  “California, a bunch of my buddies and I came for the weekend. We love hanging out in New York.”

  I was already bored. I don’t know how Barbi was able to talk to him for so long.

  �
��Barbi, do you need to go to the ladies’ room?” I gave her a pointed look so that she could get my message.

  “Sure. I’ll be back in a few minutes, Mario.”

  When we were out of earshot I stopped and turned to her.

  “Do you really like him?”

  She wasn’t overly enthusiastic. “He’s okay.”

  “He doesn’t even live here, Barbi, and when you graduate you’re going to live here, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I wouldn’t waste my time with him if I were you. There are much better guys out there. The night is young, you can still meet someone else here tonight.”

  “You know what? You’re right. So where were you all that time?”

  “I ran into Zane, my ex.”

  “Oh wow, how did that go?”

  “It was weird, I didn’t expect to see him and the second I saw him all of these feelings came flooding back.”

  “Oh Abby, wow, do you think he still has feelings for you?”

  “I have no idea, I couldn’t tell. But he did tell me that he would look for me later.”

  “What do you think you would say if he wanted to get back together with you?”

  I had to think about that for a minute. “You know, I can’t even wrap my mind around that possibility. I’m still a little freaked out that I saw him tonight, I haven’t seen him in three years.”

  “Well, maybe you…” Her words trailed off as she stared at something behind me, her mouth literally hanging open.

  I turned to see what she was looking at and Zane and Logan looked like they had just stepped out of a fashion magazine. Zane was absolutely gorgeous, and I had forgotten just how striking the two of them were together. They came over to us and Barbi still stood there, speechless.

  Zane did not take his eyes off of me. “I was looking for you, I thought you left.”

  Butterflies danced in my belly as my eyes searched his. “No, I told you I’d be here.”

  “I’m glad you’re still here because I couldn’t believe that I ran into you. We haven’t seen each other in three years and here you are at the opening of my bar, it has to mean something.”

  I have to say I was really surprised that he was saying that in front of Logan and Barbi, he had no idea who she was and he was being quite open about his feelings. Speaking of Barbie, I realized that I had not introduced her. I turn to her and put my arm around her.

  “Oh, how rude of me, this is my friend Barbi, Barbi this is Logan and Zane.”

  Logan smiled at Barbi and then looked at me. "It's really good to see you, Abby. It's been a really long time, how have you been? How is your sister?”

  “It’s good to see you too, Logan. I’ve been good, busy with the dance company, and Claire is good too.” I didn’t want to get into the specifics about my rift with Claire, especially since I had not seen either of them in such a long time.

  “Oh, that’s good to hear. Tell her I say hello.”

  I looked at him and smiled. "Okay, I will. Congrats on the bar by the way. Zane told me that this is your second bar and I think it’s awesome that you guys were able to do that! Plus this place seems really cool.”

  “Thanks, yeah, we’ve been pretty lucky.” He turned his attention to Barbi. “So, Barbi, what do you do?”

  While they were talking, Zane gently grabbed my elbow and steered me toward a more secluded corner of the bar. He stood there for what felt like forever just looking at me. I felt everyone around us fall away until it seemed as if it was just me and him, alone in the bar.

  His eyes slowly perused my face as he crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, before they settled in my eyes.

  “So.” That’s all he said.

  “Yes?” I didn’t know what else to say.

  “It’s good to see you.”

  “It’s good to see you too, Zane.”

  “The last three years look like they have been good to you.”

  “Thanks, the same goes for you.” I looked around the bar and then my eyes landed back on him. “It looks like tonight was a huge success, I’m sure you guys are ecstatic about that.”

  “Yeah, we’re happy that it worked out.”

  “How many bars do you guys want to open?”

  He didn’t say anything so I didn’t know if he heard my question, so I started to repeat it and he interrupted me.

  “I heard you, Abby. But are we really going to make small talk?”

  “I’m not sure I know what you mean.”

  “I mean, I’m really glad we ran into each other and I don’t want to spend my time with you making small talk.” He took a step closer to me and I was finding it hard to breathe.

  “What do you want to talk about?” I could barely get the words out.

  “I want to see you. Can I take you out to dinner?”

  I was stunned. I totally did not expect him to say that.

  “Do you think that’s a good idea, with the history we have?”

  “Yes, I do. I’m sure we’ve both grown up in the last three years, and to be honest, I haven’t been able to get you out of my mind. Look, I didn’t handle things with us the right way. I should have been more understanding about your feelings because my world was completely new to you. I should have had more patience with your questions and I guess my pride got in the way. I really messed things up.”

  Was I hearing him right?

  “Wow. I didn’t expect that. But I can’t let you take all the blame. I should have trusted you because you never gave me a reason not to.”

  He took a deep breath and smiled. “Well, it’s too bad we didn’t talk like this back then. I’m really sorry, Abby.” His eyes were so sincere.

  “I’m sorry too.”

  “I’d like to try again. Will you go out to dinner with me?”

  I didn’t even hesitate. “I would love to.”

  He leaned down and kissed me on the cheek and that familiar pitter-patter came rushing back. It had all happened so fast that I was still trying to tell myself that it was real.

  “Logan and I have to go check on a few things and then we have to go to the other bar, so can I give you a call tomorrow?”

  “Sure.”

  “You still have the same number?”

  “I do.”

  “Okay, I’ll call you tomorrow. Stay and enjoy yourself tonight.”

  We made our way back over to Logan and Barbi who was completely mesmerized by whatever he was saying, and I tapped her on the arm to let her know we were there.

  “They have to get going.”

  Barbi looked totally bummed and didn’t try to hide it.

  Zane gently put his hand on my arm. “Before we go can I get you girls something to drink?”

  The martini I had been nursing was long gone, and after what had just happened I did want another drink.

  “Sure, I’ll have a dirty martini.”

  Barbi chimed in. “Make that two.”

  Zane grabbed a waitress and told her to bring us our drinks on the house.

  Logan was whispering something in Barbi’s ear and she giggled like a lovesick schoolgirl. It seemed like he was into her, which surprised me, because she was nothing like my sister, in fact, she was the exact opposite.

  Zane stood there looking at me for a few seconds and then he gently caressed my cheek. “It was really good to see you again, Abby.”

  I smiled at him. “It was good to see you too.”

  Chapter 8

  I was a nervous wreck as I got ready for my date with Zane later the next week. It was going to be the first time I was seeing him since the previous Saturday night and I was shaking as I applied my lipstick. I smeared my lipstick and put the tube down and took three deep breaths to try to calm down. It was ridiculous that I was so nervous, but I couldn’t help it. I’d had all week to allow myself to remember all of the things Zane and I had done together when we were dating, and my feelings for him were as strong as they were back then. I didn’t want to screw things up and
I really wanted us to work this time. The fact that he wasn’t in the band anymore was probably a good thing because I wouldn’t have to deal with his “fans” anymore, and I had to be honest, that was huge relief for me.

  My doorman buzzed up a few minutes later and I felt super giddy as I told him to let Zane come upstairs. I had just enough time to fix my smeared lipstick. He knocked on the door and when I opened it he completely took my breath away. He looked so gorgeous as he leaned against the doorframe with a sexy smile on his lips.