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His tires squealed as he sped out of the parking lot. It was time to take care of some loose ends.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Bridget scanned all the names of the books on Marlowe’s shelves, checking for the particular title her niece requested. It took her two passes until she finally found the publication with the slick black book jacket and red lettering. Shaking her head at how she’d missed the book with the first pass, she retreated to her bedroom to add it to the overnight bag.

After she zipped the bag, she glanced around her room, making sure she hadn’t forgotten anything. Yearning stirred within her. She longed to spend the night in her bed, sleeping until she forgot the last forty-eight hours. But when Sydney and Cole opened their home to them so they wouldn’t have to be alone after their ordeal, she could read relief in her niece and nephew’s faces. They wanted to stay. They felt safe with the couple, and that was more important right now than her own wants.

When the doorbell rang, she stiffened. She had assured Cole she was fine going to the house by herself, but she wasn’t expecting anyone to come by. After her confrontation with Seth at the hospital and what happened to Maggie, Marlowe and Mathias, she debated whether or not to hide instead of answering the door.

When a knock followed the doorbell, she hurried to the living room to peer through the peephole. She closed her eyes to shut out the sight, and she leaned her head foreword to carefully rest it against the wood without making a sound.

It was a sin for Zane Wilder to look so good after the day they’d had. Exhaustion was etched in every line of his face, but his strong jaw, beautiful mouth, and breathtaking eyes did crazy things to her insides. They spent one night together, and she could still feel his kiss against her skin and his fingertips making her nerve endings zing. Even now, she grew damp thinking of his cock moving inside her.

He was more of a complication than she ever bargained for. He was under her skin and entangled in her life.

“I know you’re home.” His voice was muffled as it carried through the door. “I should give you a lecture for coming here without a bodyguard, but I’m glad we’re alone. We need to talk.”

“I can’t,” she called.

“Please. Hear me out. If you want to hate me the rest of your life after that, I swear I’ll walk away.”

“If I let you in, I won’t be able to let you go.” She had no idea where the words came from or why she thought it made sense to share them with him.

“I’m sorry. I never meant for you or the kids to be hurt. I never thought my job would ever touch you and them like that. I’ll never be able to make it up to you. I don’t blame you for hating me after all of this.”

She pushed away from the door. “Dammit, I don’t. I want to, and I should, but I don’t hate you. You’re a decent man, and I haven’t met a lot of those. But I’m not ready for you.”

“Open the door, baby.”

She opened her mouth fully intending to order him away. Forever. But no words came out. Even if her brain insisted it was the thing to do, her body refused to allow it to happen. So she opened the door with a flourish…and turned away before she fell captive to his intense eyes and heady presence.

She heard the door close. Muscular arms wrapped around her, holding her arms to her sides with a grip loose enough for her to break free of if she wanted to. She closed her eyes and gave in to the temptation to lean into his body. His breath stirred her hair as he rested his lips against the part in her hairline.

“My mom was the reason I enlisted in the army. I was content to live out my days working and taking care of her and my sisters. I was young when my dad died. My mother described him as a hard-working and honorable man, and that’s how I remember him. He wanted to enlist when he was right out of high school, but they wouldn’t accept him because he was deaf in his left ear. Momma told me how proud Dad would have been to know I served my country like he always wanted to.

“I knew I was never a lifer. I’m proud of the time I served, but I was ready to step out after two tours. That’s when Tryst called me with the chance to work for KSI. The job was a perfect fit for me. A lot of what we do is kept under wraps for safety reasons, so Momma doesn’t know the true nature of my job. But I always felt my dad would be proud of the work I’m doing too.

“For the first time in the last two days, I’ve started to reevaluate certain aspects of my job. I hate it touched the people in my life. I thought I’d managed to protect them all from it, but I failed. For the first time, I considered walking away. For good. If I thought it meant you would forgive me for exposing your children to danger, I would walk away without a second thought.”

She turned in his arms. She folded her arms between them until she was able to cradle his face in her hands.

“You can’t walk away. You’re a protector. It’s in your blood. There are people left in this world who need you, and I don’t want to be the reason their hero doesn’t save the day for them. You’re drawn to people who need to be rescued. That’s why you’re so attached to Sydney and why you and I connected. I understand that. I don’t hate you for what happened, but I do realize we’re not meant to be more than friends.”

“Is that what you want? To be friends and nothing else?”

“We could be friends with benefits, I suppose, but we’ve already said we don’t need the complications we bring to each other. You’ve done your job with me, so it’s okay for you to step away and move on to the next damsel in distress.”

He grasped her hands and pulled them away from his face. As he bent her arms to lower them to her side, he jerked her closer to him, her breasts mashed against him. Her head tilted at an unnatural angle as she peered up at him. His irises smoldered with a fiery passion she wasn’t expecting to find.

She saw his head lowering. She knew what he had in mind. Even as she admitted to herself it wasn’t a good idea, she didn’t pull away. His lips fused to hers, his tongue teasing the seam until she opened her mouth in response. His tongue swept inside, tasting every inch of her mouth. It tangled with her tongue, and she was lost to the sensations rocking her body. As she was melting against him and surrendering to the passion of their kiss, he pulled away. His lips curved into a sexy smirk, and she almost leapt into his arms to continue what he started.

“You, baby, are full of shit.”

She blinked, caught off guard by his words. It took a second for her fury to catch up, and she pushed against his chest with as much force as she could muster. He swayed on his feet but didn’t stumble or fall.

“Who the hell do you think you are?”

“I’m the guy who’s gotten under your skin. The same as you’ve gotten under mine. I don’t want a damsel in distress. I want a fiercely independent woman who keeps me on my toes. Last I checked, that description fit you perfectly.”