Everly
“I wanted to take you somewhere nice for lunch,” Zane said as they headed to Jaguar Realty.
Everly stopped on the sidewalk using their held hands to tug him back to her. She stood on her toes and wrapped her arms around his neck. “I don’t need a nice lunch. Burgers at the Lunchbucket was perfect.”
Zane’s hands settled on her hips and pulled her body to him. Heat flared between them, and Everly felt a coy smile play around her lips. “It fits the overall tone. Plastic ring. Our wedding shared with our friends in front of a belligerent mayor. Burgers at a diner. And now a meeting with a realtor and a lawyer.”
She wrinkled her nose playfully. “What could be more romantic than that?” She looked up at him. “Wait. Are you smirking at me?”
If anything, he smirked harder.
“What are you up to, Mr. Dixon?”
He kissed her nose. “That’s for me to know and you to find out, Mrs. Dixon.”
They resumed walking, but every few seconds, Everly gave him some side eye. He was definitely up to something.
The bell hanging over the door of Jaguar Realty jangled as they entered. Rafe, a jaguar shifter, met them in the foyer.
“Hey, thanks for meeting us on such short notice,” Zane said. He turned to Everly. “You know my wife?”
Rafe’s smile was warm and generous as he offered his hand to them both. “We’ve met at the Leopard.”
“The macaw cocktail,” Everly recited, naming his favorite drink. She found it was easier to associate a name with a face and a face with a drink.
Rafe’s eyes opened wide for an undiluted second of surprise before he tilted his head back and laughed. “I’ve been called many things. A parrot isn’t usually one of them.”
Everly shrugged. “It’s what you always order.”
Rafe snorted as he led them into his office. “When Jason or Cree decide to order guava juice and decent rum.”
Another man was already there. “I’m Mateo Garcia. Rafael said you needed a lawyer you could trust.”
Everly looked at her new husband. “We do?”
Zane’s good humor fell away as he faced her. “You didn’t actually read your grandfather’s will, and frankly, I don’t trust your cousin. She was trying to pull a fast one on you.”
The little bubble of happiness that had filled Everly with hope since Zane proposed emptied like a balloon. She even imagined the wheezing sound effect of a rapidly deflating balloon. “Zane,” she argued, feeling her shoulders fall. “I did read it. I can read. I wish you had told me why we were coming here. There’s no need.”
Mateo looked between them before cautiously interjecting. “Maybe if you could explain in a little more detail.”
Still feeling hurt that Zane went behind her back, Everly turned to face the lawyer. “My grandfather recently passed away. He had some gifts and things for the other relatives, but he left his house to my cousin and me.”
Mateo took a seat and grabbed for a yellow legal pad. He asked a few specific questions and jotted the answers down. “And you’re saying there is a stipulation about being married?”
“Yes. That whoever got married first had a controlling share. Granddad wanted us girls married.”
Mateo nodded to the ring on Everly’s finger. “Is that what the hasty visit to the courthouse was for?”
Everly flushed. “In part. I was living with Granddad when he died. It’s the only home I have, but when he passed, all the utilities were in his name. Some were past due. It’s been kind of a mess, and without having clear ownership, I can’t access his bank account to pay anything.”
Mateo held up his hand. “I understand,” he said. He pulled his cell phone out of his jacket pocket. “Let me send an email to my paralegal. I’ll have the will pulled, the deed, and anything else.”
“There really is no need,” Everly said stubbornly.
“Can we have a minute?” Zane said to the other two men. With polite nods, they both left. He turned to Everly. “What’s going on?”
“Did you tell them I’m dyslexic? I told you that in confidence. It’s not something I want to be broadcasted across the entire town!”
Zane sighed and pulled Everly into a hug. With strong, gentle fingers he massaged her scalp. “Sassy girl, I would never tell anyone something you don’t want me to tell them. What happens between us belongs to us. No one else.”
Everly nodded, letting his hands work their magic. “I hate being called stupid,” she confessed in a tiny little voice.
“I do not think you’re stupid.” Zane’s voice hardened. “You worked your ass off to get through high school. You are working on a college degree. You memorize drinks and menu orders. No one ever better call my wife stupid.”
“This isn’t because you think I can’t read?” She pulled back so she could look into his stormy grey eyes.
“Ev, lawyers go to school for years to learn how to decipher a contract or a will. This has nothing to do with me thinking you can’t read what your Granddad put in a will. There are hundreds of acres, possibly hundreds of thousands of dollars, and your cousin in this mix. Don’t you want to have an expert opinion?”
Everly sighed and mulled over her choices. “Sometimes, I get a little defensive about the whole reading thing. My parents never understood why it took me longer. Why I struggled.”
“I understand.” Zane tilted her chin up with a gentle finger. “But talk to me if I stumble into something, okay? I can’t read your mind.”
She nodded. “Deal. Let’s bring Mateo and Rafe in and have them do what they need to do.”
Zane crossed to the door, frowning when he heard voices raised in anger. He turned to exchange a confused look with Everly.
“That’s Fannie,” Everly said, racing past him to open the door.
Sure enough, Fannie was standing in the office like she owned the place. Chin mulishly set and arms folded tightly across her chest, Fannie was here for a battle.
“What are you doing here?” Everly demanded.
“Looking for you. Did you really think I was going to let you cheat me out of my half of Granddad’s property?”
“Like you were to me?” Everly challenged.
“That’s not the point. This is a marriage of convenience. Where’s the ring? That ugly little plastic thing? I’m sure I can fight this. Take you to court on some kind of fraud charges. Maybe even have the will nullified and you tossed out on your flat rear.”
“Yeah, well, the joke is on you, Fannie. This is no marriage of convenience.” Everly reached behind her for Zane’s hand. Holding it tightly, she turned to face him and kiss him. Taking his face in her hands, she mashed her lips against his.
At first, it was admittedly awkward. Maybe not as awkward as a Joey and Rachel kiss from Friends, but nowhere near as hot as a The Notebook kiss in the rain, either. But somewhere, Zane’s response went from startled surprise to gentle inquisitiveness.
His mouth softened against hers, coaching her, slowing her down with each gentle caress. Zane’s hands trailed down her stiff spine and brought her closer to him.
From fear and frustration, Everly felt soft, heated desire begin to burn within her. He broke the kiss and brushed his nose against hers in a playful motion.
Panting slightly, Everly raised her eyes to his. Maybe their kiss was more Rick and Elsa from Casablanca. Yeah, she thought, she could live with that.
Zane
Holding his wife close, Zane turned to the other curious gazes in the room. “This is Mateo Garcia. He’s going to review the will and make a determination on its contents and codicils.”
Mateo nodded and held up his cell phone. “Already in the works,” he promised. He nodded to Everly. “I will call you when I’ve gone over everything.”
Everly nodded weakly, still clinging to Zane. Not that Zane was complaining.
Mateo left in a haze of expensive cologne with barely a look to anyone else. He was all business. A man on a mission and Zane appreciated his focus.
Zane continued to introduce Fannie. “I’m your new cousin, Zane Dixon. And this is Rafael Chamorro. He’s a realtor here in town. He has land that borders yours and is very interested in the future of it.”
Rafe looked from Zane to Fannie. “I run a bobcat sanctuary. Selling that land to a developer would cause serious harm to both their natural habitat, the running land of the shifters who live here, and have a major impact on the town.”
“Like I give a shit about that? I just want my money, and they’re offering to give it to me!”
“The land isn’t even yours,” Everly said, coming out from beneath Zane’s embrace. “How about if we let the lawyer figure it all out, and then we decide what we’re going to do.”
“Sounds like a sensible plan,” Zane agreed. “Fannie? Don’t you think that sounds like the best way to move forward?”
The scent of Fannie’s impotent anger was like a tidal wave. Zane glanced over at Rafe and noted that the jaguar shifter registered the change of the woman’s mood.
“I had an attorney look it over. Remember, Everly? He told you exactly what was in it. I told him how you were too stupid to learn to read.”
Zane’s world zoned out and zeroed in on Fannie.
Like a warrior in battle, he registered multiple things at once. Everly’s sharp inhale. Rafe’s questioning glance. And the haze of anger that surrounded him.
He’d been a fighter for years. He took body punches with the best of them. Had dislocated enough joints to send his orthopedist’s grandkids to college. But only once had he ever been this furious.
He’d been sparring with some kid, barely old enough to be in the cage. And the little shit had gone straight for a groin punch. No glancing blow, this kid had been out for blood, tears, and puke.
And had received it, in spades.
Of all the soft spots on the human body, nothing registered the same kind of incapacitating, end-of-the-world pain as getting hit in the nuts. Oh, the pain there had been bad enough. And if it had stayed there, he might have shaken it off.
Might have.
But the thing with a hit to the groin was, the pain was generous and needed to share with the rest of his body. It didn’t just stay down there in the scrotum. Oh, hell, no. It insisted on radiating throughout the groin and up into the abdomen leaving the recipient gasping with a weird stomach ache.
Not to be outdone, the agony spread to cover all the real estate in the groin and abdomen, around the spine and even part way down the ass. All of which combined to make it feel like death had come for the lower half of Zane’s body.
Once Zane had caught his breath, he’d returned the misery to the little piece of goat dung.
And as he stared into the horrified embarrassment of his wife’s beautiful face, Zane would have gladly taken another blow to the family jewels if he never had to hear Everly described as “stupid” ever again.
“And that is why we’re seeking our own lawyer,” Zane returned, still firmly in control but nonetheless wanting to protect what he considered his.
As though in a distance, he felt Everly’s small, delicate hand touch his chest, right over his heart. Zane glanced down and covered it with his own.
“Fannie, I’ll call you when the lawyer we trust finishes going over the deed. If it’s as you said it was, you’ve got nothing to worry about. The ink may be barely dry on my marriage license, but it’s valid.”
“I should have known you’d side with those ani—. I mean shifters.” Despite Fannie catching herself, it was clear she thought both Zane and Rafe were animals.
Straightening her shoulders, Everly turned to Rafe. “My grandfather’s house sits on over a hundred acres. That sounds like a lot to a town girl like me, but I’m not sure what that means. Fannie has had an offer to sell it, but they want to put in a bunch of mountainside townhouses. Each one will have a beautiful view but will destroy the town’s view of the mountains.”
Rafe nodded. “And what do you want to do?”
At this Everly looked suddenly uncertain. “Can you get an estimate of what the land is worth? I guess that’s the best place to start. Decide what we have.”
“I already did all that, cuz,” Fannie pointed out. “Or couldn’t you read the emails I sent you?”
“You had best not insult my wife again.” Zane’s ire was on the rise again. “She’s your cousin, not your verbal punching bag.”
Fannie glared so hard Zane was surprised she didn’t leave a bruise on his cheek. He caught a whiff of emotion from her. Anger, certainly with just an undertone of jealousy. He made a mental note to talk to Everly about it later.
“Do what you want. You always do, anyway.” Fannie sniffed and with a toss of her hair left the office.
Everly sighed. “I don’t want her as an enemy.”
“I don’t think it’s up to you, Sassy.” Zane hugged her gently before turning back to Rafe. “Could you run a few sets of numbers? How much it will cost if we sell the majority of the land to your charity, Bobcat Alley. If we sell the house outright and split it with Fannie. Or if we keep it, how much will we owe her?”
Rafe whistled. “That could be a lot of money. Does the gym pay you that well?”
Zane shrugged. “There’s an upcoming fight I could get into. Has a very healthy purse.”
Everly’s little whimper wasn’t lost on him. “I thought you were retired.”
“One last fight won’t do me in.”
“You sure, man? How’re your wrists? Cree said you were having a hard time hauling water up at the well.”
“What’s wrong with your wrists?” Everly demanded, green eyes growing wide with worry.
“Nothing. Just some minor spraining.” Zane turned back to Rafe. “And tell Cree he has a big mouth.”
“But I want to know what he meant,” Everly protested.
“We’ll talk later. Over dinner.”
Right now, Zane had had his fill of people. He wanted a nice dinner with his wife and to give her a wedding gift.
“I’ll get on it,” Rafe promised as they left. “And call you later in the week.”