Love Like This (The Romance Chronicles-Book #1)

CHAPTER TWO

Later that evening, when Keira arrived back home to the apartment she shared with her boyfriend, she found herself still shaking with excitement and disbelief. Her hand trembled as she tried to get her key in the lock of their apartment door.

Finally, she opened the door and walked inside. The smell of cooked food lingered in the air, mixed with the smell of cleaning fluids. Zachary had been cleaning. That meant he was angry.

"I know, I know, I know," she began before he'd even come into her eye shot. "You're mad. And I'm sorry." She chucked her keys into the pot by the door and slammed the door shut. "But, babe, I have great news!" She slipped her heels off and rubbed her aching feet.

Zachary appeared in the doorway of the living room, his arms folded. His dark hair mirrored his dark expression.

"You missed brunch," he said. "The whole thing."

"I'm sorry!" Keira implored. She threw her arms around his neck but found he was resistant, so decided to change tack. She put on her sultry voice. "How about we argue about it and then I make it up to you?"

Zachary shoved her arms off of him and stomped into the living room, where he slumped onto the couch. The room was immaculately clean. Even his PlayStation had been dusted. He was more pissed off this time than ever, Keira realized.

She sat next to him and gently rested a hand on his knee, stroking the denim texture beneath her fingertips. Zachary stared ahead at the TV that wasn't on.

"What do you want me to do, Zach?" she asked softly. "I have to work. You know that."

He exhaled and shook his head. "I get that you have to work. I work too. The whole world works. But not everyone has a boss that clicks his fingers and makes his staff come running like drones!"

It was a fair point.

"Wait, you're not jealous of Josh, are you?" Keira asked. The thought was laughable. "If you only saw him!"

"Keira," Zachary barked, finally looking at her. "I'm not jealous of your boss. At least not in that way. I'm jealous that he gets so much of you, of your energy and your focus in life."

Now it was Keira's turn to sigh. She understood where Zach was coming from on one hand, but on the other she wished he could be supportive of her success. She wanted him to ride out this wave while she was at the bottom of the ladder. Things were about to get easier, once she'd made this next step in her career.

"I wish he didn't, either," Keira agreed. "But putting that much effort and energy into my career isn't going to change. At least not for the next month."

Zachary frowned. "What do you mean?"

Keira wanted to keep her excitement contained out of respect for Zach but she just couldn't help herself. She almost squealed as she said, "I'm going to Ireland!"

There was a long, long pause, as Zach absorbed the information.

"When?" he said, coolly.

"That's the thing," Keira replied. "It's a last-minute change of staff. Josh broke his leg. It's a whole long story."

Zach just glared as she rambled, looking at her expectantly for the punch line.

Keira hunkered down into the couch, trying to make herself seem as small as possible. "I leave tomorrow."

Zachary's expression turned as quickly as a flash storm. If he'd been rain clouds before, he was now thunder and lightning.

"But the wedding is tomorrow," he said.