Zeke stoodin his kitchen and watched Nina and Montgomery laugh. He was telling her stories about SEAL training, about life in the military, and about Rose Protection Agency.
It hit Zeke that it was all either of them had. No wives, girlfriends, kids, or anyone significant besides each other. They’d both had their share of flings and hookups over the years, but no one they wanted to keep around for longer than a few nights.
The woman Zeke was staring at was his reason. Hands down.
He could still remember the moment he fell in love with Nina. He was out of high school. Floundered for years without a path or a plan. He worked and built up some skills, but he didn’t know what he wanted to do with his life.
Monty was on a break from school and invited Zeke over. Even though Montgomery lived at home with his mom and Nina, between working full time and going to school full time, they didn’t see much of each other.
Zeke couldn’t remember the last time he’d been there, but the night he went was Nina’s birthday. She was sixteen.
Zeke was twenty-one, like Montgomery, but neither of them drank at his house after the violence Mont’s father inflicted on the family. Their mom bought sparkling grape juice for Nina’s birthday and baked her a cake and made mac-and-cheese for her birthday dinner.
She looked so happy. Her smile was magnetic, and the four of them laughed and talked all through dinner and cake and when they settled in the living room.
Nina sat next to Zeke on the couch, and her soft, sweet scent hit him. Her skin glowed, and he felt more than his usual stirring of desire.
Then she mentioned a boyfriend. A boy named Jeremy, who wanted to take her out on a date. She said he was nice and he was cute and she wanted to go. That weekend for her birthday.
Zeke couldn’t see straight. He was so angry and so jealous that he nearly threw up. But he couldn’t tell her no. He couldn’t say anything. He had to stuff down his desire and keep his distance from her. She was too young, and she was his best friend’s little sister.
She went on the date, and she was blissfully in love with Jeremy for a month.
Zeke went to their house every week for dinner after that. He punished himself with her presence, reminding himself she was untouchable and she deserved better than a man with no direction and no future.
Thirteen years later, Zeke couldn’t say he thought any differently. Nina still deserved better than him. She was still untouchable. But she was no longer too young for him.
“Can we do anything to help with dinner?” Nina asked from the couch, laughing when Gene bumped her hand to get her attention again.
“No. All good,” Zeke said, busying himself with checking on the steaks in the oven. Brussel sprouts were perfectly roasted, and the mashed potatoes were creamy and lump-free. Unlike his throat.
He wanted his best friend’s little sister. And that made him an asshole. Because she was not just off-limits, but she was fragile and wounded and she needed to heal.
Zeke fixed two plates and carried them to the living room.
Nina gushed over the scent of the food, closing her eyes and inhaling deep.
Zeke excused himself, needing the solitude of the kitchen before Nina and Mont both caught the raging hard-on he was sporting. Zeke fixed his own plate, taking his time and ignoring the voices in the living room while he controlled the desire he couldn’t control.
“Are you okay?” Nina asked when Zeke sat on the chair across from the couch.
“Yep. How’s the food?”
“Amazing,” Nina said with a groan.
Fucking hell, he was not going to survive dinner with her.
“Always good, man,” Mont said.
Zeke nodded and focused on his plate. He barely tasted the food with Nina in the room. She still smelled like him, her skin soaked in his body wash. After a full day, it should have worn off, but somehow it hadn’t.
Every damn thing about her was making him crazy. He thought he only had to keep it together for one night, but she wanted to stay with him. She would be in his bed again. In his shower. On his couch and in his kitchen and in his SUV. She was invading his space, and he loved it.
And hated it.
He’d always dreamed of a life with Nina. When he dreamed of his future, it was her by his side. He’d never met another woman who made him feel the way she did.
But she wasn’t there because she wanted the same thing. She was there because she needed protection.
