led her away, leaving Zev alone with his dirty thoughts of Carly and her talented mouth.
No one knew Zev had run into Carly in Mexico when she was on spring break the year after Tory’s death. He’d just finished a diving expedition, and he was having a drink in a bar when he’d heard her infectious laugh. He’d thought he’d imagined it, but then he’d seen her across the room, stunningly beautiful and enticingly familiar. The second their eyes had connected, an inferno had blazed between them, and the all-consuming emotions he’d been trying to forget had nearly swallowed him whole. Their connection had always been so strong they’d never needed many words to convey their thoughts, and that night had been no different. They hadn’t talked about losing Tory, or his leaving Pleasant Hill. In fact, they hadn’t talked much at all, except for Zev to say he was in no position to make any promises, to which Carly had said, I don’t want promises. I only want tonight. They’d spent one incredible night in each other’s arms. Zev had known then that he’d made a mistake leaving the way he had, and he’d thought—hoped—they might be able to find their way back into each other’s lives. But when he’d woken up the next morning, Carly was gone without a trace, leaving him confused, hurt, angry, and fiercely determined never to feel that way again.
As he looked at her now, flashing her radiant smile at that fucking cowboy, he accepted the truth he’d spent years trying to deny. Carly Dylan hadn’t just captured his heart when they were kids. She’d claimed his entire being—mind, body, and soul—and she’d own them until long after the day he took his last breath.
CARLY HAD BEEN given months to prepare for seeing Zev again, and she’d used her time wisely, coming up with a solid plan where she’d act confident and unfazed by his presence. A plan that would allow her to make it through the evening with her self-respect intact and her panties in place. She’d practiced with her employee and bestie, Birdie Whiskey, until small talk and confident mannerisms were rote. She’d trained herself not to play with her earring, which Zev had always called her tell because she only did it when she was skating around the truth. She’d even dressed the part in a peach wraparound dress Birdie had helped her pick out. Birdie said it exuded class and sophistication with just enough sex appeal to make any man lose his mind. But Carly’s carefully constructed plan had gone to shit when she’d walked around the corner of the inn and had come face-to-face with the man whose younger self had been her first everything—crush, kiss, intimate touch…The man she’d once planned to marry.
The man who shredded my heart into a million pieces.
Twice.
The second time had been unknowingly, but still…
Cutter nudged Carly’s arm, jerking her from her thoughts. She must have zoned out while Jax and Jillian were talking because they were all looking at her expectantly, and she had no idea what she’d missed.
“You holding up okay?” Cutter asked.
She had known the cocky cowboy for years. Cutter was the barn manager for the Woodlands dude ranch, owned by Wes Braden and Chip Shelton, two of their friends. She’d met them all through Treat Braden, a real estate mogul who she’d later learned was a second cousin to Zev. Treat and his now-wife, Max, had wandered into her aunt’s chocolate shop in Allure, Colorado, when Carly had been working. Once she’d connected the familial dots, she was glad she’d never said anything to him about having dated Zev. Outside of her friends and family in Pleasant Hill, she’d never confided in anyone but Birdie, Charlotte, and Cutter about her history with Zev after her best friend, Tory, had been killed. And other than confiding in a therapist, she’d never said a word to anyone about having run into him in Mexico. She’d been lucky to have been embraced by so many wonderful people when she’d moved to Colorado the summer after their encounter in Mexico. It had made her painful transition a little easier, even though it had taken a long time before she’d found her footing and had truly begun building a life there.
“She’s fine. She’s just in shock from seeing my brother again,” Jillian said. Tory and Carly had been like sisters to Jillian, and she’d been torn up by Tory’s death and Carly and Zev’s breakup,