Women.

"I wish we could get stuff like that here," Lo says and sips her drink.

"Yes, it's one of the things I miss about LA," Jill replies, and my heart stops. She misses LA? "I have to shop online more than anything."

"Oh, I'm sure that's not a hardship," Ty says. "You like to shop any way you can get it."

"True." Jill giggles and shrugs. "Thank G.o.d for the internet."

"Where are you from, Hannah?" Cara asks.

I glance around the balcony, looking for my brother and see that he's talking with Jacob, Max, Brad, and Grace.

"Excuse me, sugar," I whisper into Jill's ear. "I'll be right over there if you need me." I kiss her cheek and walk away toward my brother.

"Max was just telling us about the ranching software he sold to Google," Josh says excitedly.

"Seriously?" I turn to Max and shake his hand. "Congrats, man."

"Thank you."

"Jilly says you're moving back to town," I reply and sip my beer.

"Yeah, she's going to sell me a house." He cringes and leans in to talk quietly. "I don't want any weirdness between us. I didn't know you were dating her when I asked her out."

"I wasn't then, man. If we were, Jill wouldn't have gone with you. It's all good."

He nods and we're sucked back into the conversation with the others. Finally, Grace yawns.

"Sorry guys, I love you all, but this is boring. I'm going to go talk about s.e.xy shoes with the girls, even though I can never wear shoes like theirs because I would die a very violent, painful death."

"Enjoy, darling."

"Cheerio, love," she calls back to him in a horrible accent, making us all laugh.

"She's always doing that," Jacob murmurs as he watches Grace with lovesick eyes.

Ty and Brad wander over to join us, and now we are officially split, men versus women.

"Couldn't take the shoe talk anymore?" I ask Ty.

"Dude, they're on to purses now."

"Handbags," Brad corrects him with a shudder. "We got schooled on the whole, 'they're not purses, they're handbags' thing. So we came over here where it's safe."

"Who the f.u.c.k spends a thousand dollars on a purse?" Ty asks.

"Handbag," Brad says again. "We don't ever want that lecture again."

"Oh, some spend more than that," Jacob adds with a wince. "It's ridiculous."

"Cara spends hundreds on her hair, just to keep it straight. I don't get it. It's hair. Wash it and be done with it." Josh shakes his head in confusion.

"I pay fifteen dollars to get my hair cut," I reply with a shake of the head. Is this what will keep Jillian happy? Thousands of dollars' worth of accessories and designer clothes and hair and nails? I'm not a poor man, but I can't give her that. I glance over at her and see her laughing with Jenna, with her designer shoes and jeans, the handbag with the MK emblem on the side.

"My apologies, mates, but if spoiling my Grace with a trip to the hair salon makes her smile, I'm happy to do it." Jacob shrugs but doesn't look in the least bit embarra.s.sed.

I take a deep breath to clear my head, then feel Jill's small hand on my arm. "Zack?"

"Hey, sugar." I turn to smile at her, and my heart stills in my chest at the happy grin on her gorgeous face. Her blue eyes are big and bright, and she bites that luscious lower lip of hers as she slips her arm through mine and presses her round breast to my arm.

f.u.c.k, I love her t.i.ts.

"What are you guys talking about?"

"Women," I reply honestly and tweak her nose with my fingertip.

"Oh good, I came at the right time." She laughs and leans her cheek against my upper arm.

"Actually," Jacob begins as he checks his watch, "it looks like things are about to start."

The night-skiing lights on the mountain go out, leaving the small ski village in utter darkness. Suddenly, music begins to play from a DJ booth near the ski lift. As Rihanna sings, asking someone to stay, an MC takes a mike.

"Welcome to the annual torchlight parade! In just a few moments you'll be able to see the skiers come down the mountain with their red torches. There will also be a fireworks show, courtesy of Jacob Paxton, the generous sponsor of this event!"

A round of applause is heard, then the music volume goes up and we all gather around the railing, watching the dark hill.

I pull Jill in front of me and wrap my arms around her shoulders. She holds on to my arms and leans against my chest. I plant my lips in her hair and breathe her in, her scent, her warmth, mentally counting the hours until I can scoop her up and carry her down to our room and bury myself inside her for the night, forgetting about everything but her.

But us.

"Look!" Jill points to the top of the hill, where we can barely see a warm red glow as the skiers begin to ski down the mountain.

They ski down in a crisscross pattern at a relatively slow pace. When the skiers in the front reach the halfway mark down the mountain, the fireworks begin.

And this is the part I've been dreading all night. Jill looks up at me to watch my face. I kiss her forehead and murmur, "I'm fine."

And I will be.

But while everyone around me enjoys the fireworks display, it's a private h.e.l.l for me. The sounds, the bursts of light, are all too reminiscent of warfare, and I've seen enough of that to last me a f.u.c.king lifetime.

If I never saw fireworks again, it would be too soon.

I keep my eyes trained on the lights of the pyrotechnics. It helps if I can keep my eyes on them, rather than just hearing the loud boom, wondering where it's coming from. I let go of Jill and brace my hands on the railing before her, still caging her in, but now I'm able to tighten my fists without her knowing.

I bury my nose in Jill's hair, take a long, deep breath, and pray that it's almost over.

The skiers are almost all down the mountain now, and the fireworks are coming faster and bigger now, signaling the finale.

Thank f.u.c.king Christ.

Finally, the last burst of light is ignited and the crowd roars with excited yells and applause. Some of the spectators will file into the few bars up here on the mountain, while still more will drive down to town and party it up down there.

"That was beautiful!" Cara exclaims. "Why have I never come up here to watch this before?"

"Locals rarely experience all of the fun things in a tourist town," Max reminds her.

"True," Lo agrees. "We should do more of them."

Jill turns in my arms and wraps herself around my torso, hugging me tightly, rubbing her small hands up and down my back soothingly.

"Are you okay?" she murmurs softly.

I kiss her forehead tenderly and take a deep breath of the fresh mountain air. "I'm fine, baby."

She can feel the tension rolling through me and frowns up at me, but I shake my head and kiss her lips gently. "I'm okay. We'll talk later, okay? Just enjoy the party."

She studies me for a moment and then nods.

"I'll go get us a couple of drinks," I offer.

"Perfect, thank you." She smiles widely as I walk into the kitchen to grab two fresh drinks. Jacob went all out for this small party. If I hadn't met him, I would think it was just to impress us all, but I have a feeling it was purely for the convenience of having the food prepared, and staff on hand to help so he and Grace could enjoy their guests.

I can respect that.

When I walk back out to the balcony, I hear Jill's laughter tickling the air, and my d.i.c.k immediately hardens. Jesus, I have it bad. Just the sound of her voice turns me on. I survey the small crowd and find Jill and Max, their heads together, laughing loudly. Max wraps his arm around her shoulders and pulls her into his side in a half hug, and that's it. The lack of sleep, the stress from the day, the fireworks, and now seeing Max with his hands on my woman all just push me over the edge.

I stalk over to Jill, glaring at my friend, and hand her her drink.

"Are you ready to go back to the room?" My voice is hard and distant. Jill's eyes widen before she glares at me and props her hands on her hips.

"No, I'm not."

"I think it's time we have a talk, Jilly."

Max shakes his head and mutters under his breath. "Zack." His voice is low so he doesn't draw attention from the others. "We were just talking about-"

"I don't care," I reply calmly, but fist my hands at my sides. "This really isn't about you, Max."

The other man shrugs and pats Jill on the back before walking away.

"What is wrong with you tonight?" Jill's face is worried now, and I don't know how to soothe her. f.u.c.k, I'm just a jumbled mess, and I know that I'm done being in this crowd of people, and I need to get her out of here.

"I'd like to leave now, please."

"Babe, are you . . .?"

"Let's go, Jilly."

She shrugs and we say our good-byes to our hosts and friends. Josh stares at me with questions in his eyes, but I just shrug and keep walking.

The walk to the room is quiet and tense. The valet delivered our overnight bags to the room while we were upstairs. When I close the door behind me and lock the dead bolt, Jill immediately turns on me.

"Tell me what's going on."

"Just drop it, Jill."

"f.u.c.k that." She's p.i.s.sed now, her cheeks flushed with anger, her blue eyes burning with fire.

Good.

I prowl around the room as I peel off my vest and throw it on a chair.

"You've been in a p.i.s.ser of a mood since you picked me up, and then you insulted both Max and me up on that balcony. What the f.u.c.k, Zack? Did you think we were planning a secret time to screw each other's brains out and laughing about it?"

The thought of it sends me into a rage. I advance on her and take her shoulders in my hands and push her up against the wall, caging her. I'm breathing hard as I take in her gorgeous face, her hair, and I know I'm a f.u.c.king b.a.s.t.a.r.d for what I'm about to say.

"I know I'm not f.u.c.king good enough for you, Jillian. I get it. You deserve so much better than the likes of me. I'm just a broken soldier with a kid and a f.u.c.king b.i.t.c.h of an ex-wife, but G.o.d d.a.m.n it, you're mine. I'm not letting you go back to LA."

Her mouth opens and closes and her brow furrows in confusion.

"What are you talking about?"

"I know that I can't just run out and spoil you with all of those fancy things you love. We're simple here, Jill. And I'm okay with that, but I see it eating at you. I heard you say that you miss LA."

She pushes on my chest, and begins to pace the room when I back away from her, giving her s.p.a.ce. The loss of her heat against me is painful.

"You think I want to move back to LA so I can go shopping?" she asks incredulously.

"I think-"

"You're a f.u.c.king idiot, Zack King." She props her hands on her hips and glares at me. "I've made it pretty clear that I want to be here, with you. So if that's not what you want, you need to say so now and stop playing these d.a.m.n games with me."

"It's not a d.a.m.n game!" I pull her to me again, plant my hands on her a.s.s, and lift her, wrapping her legs around my waist, then brace her against the wall so I can look into her eyes.

"Just tell me what's happening! Talk to me!"

I brush my fingers down her smooth face and then bury my face in her neck, holding on tight.

"Kensie called today," I murmur softly. Jill stills and I can feel her pulse speed up.

"What did she want?" Her voice is low and hard.

"Seth." I pull back and meet her gaze with mine. "She says things didn't work out with the f.u.c.ker she was with and she misses Seth."

"f.u.c.k that!" Jill's lips peel back from her teeth, and I swear to G.o.d, she snarls. "She'll never touch him again."

"I told her that she couldn't have him and she'd best not set one foot on my property or she'd land her a.s.s in jail."