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T alia delivered groceries on Wednesday and was on her last delivery. She was excited to see Zip. They’d texted a few times, talking about nothing much, just sharing things like what kind of food they liked and which restaurants they avoided.

She pulled up at the address and grabbed the bags. She was halfway to the door when it opened, and a middle-aged man stepped out. She hated when men stepped out as she was carrying up a bunch of bags.

“You can come on in and set it on the counter.”

“No, sir. I can not. I’ll leave them here for you.”

“No, that won’t do. I need you to bring them inside.”

“I’m not going inside your house.”

“Come on, you know you want it.”

Anger filled her. She hated being treated less than human. She put the bags down, bending at the knees as she kept her eyes on the guy. There was no trusting a guy like him.

Before she could stand, he lunged, and she jerked back, landing on her ass. The man started laughing as she scrambled up and took off toward her car. Her hands shook, and her heart raced as she took off. She was never happier that she had a car with a push-button start than at that moment. If she’d had to fuss with keys, she would have been sitting there long enough for that bastard to attack.

A few blocks away, she pulled into a parking lot and marked the address as somewhere she would never deliver again. After detailing the interaction, she blew out a breath, wishing life wasn’t so shitty. Maybe she did bring it on herself like her sister said she did.

Once home, she showered, noticing her lower back and rear were sore from falling. Anger rose, and she was thinking of some way to go back and make that man pay when her phone buzzed. Zip had texted, stating that he was ready for her to come over. He wanted to make her dinner. She shrugged, thinking it sounded good. She texted back that she would be there in about twenty minutes.

Dating someone who knew about what happened to her was weird. She was glad it seemed like he didn’t care, but eventually it would become something for him, and he would leave just like all the other people in her life had.

By the time she made it to Zip’s place, she’d calmed down some. She no longer wanted to randomly kill people who got in her way. Getting this angry wasn’t healthy, but she didn’t have money for therapy.

Zip opened the door as she was on her way up to his door and stood with open arms. The pressure and pain of the day hit hard, and she moved to him, wrapping her arms around his waist. He hugged her back, holding her tight before he stepped them inside and closed the door.

“How was your day?” Zip asked when they were inside.

“Fuck.” She hadn’t wanted to say anything but having him welcome her with open arms had broken something inside.

He leaned back and met her gaze. “What happened?”

She blew out a breath and shook her head. “It probably wasn’t anything, but my last delivery was some jerk. He came outside and met me on his porch, telling me I had to go inside his house to set the bags down on his counter.”

“What the hell?”

“Yeah. I set the bags on the ground. He lunged toward me while I was placing them, and I fell. My ass hurts.”

Zip chuckled. “I’m not going to offer to kiss it.”

His words made her laugh. It felt good to laugh about it. She’d been so hot before, but now that she was in Zip’s arms, she could see the funny side.

Zip stopped laughing and sobered. “I want you to be careful while you’re out there. Do you have mace?”

She shook her head. “No. I used to, but it was cheap, and the thing broke. Ruined my purse.”

“I’ll buy you some that is good. I want you to practice using it.”

“How?”

“We could use a spray bottle. You don’t have to mace me, though I have been maced before. It’s part of our training so you could if you feel you need to.”

She nodded. “I wouldn’t want to mace you. I guess we could practice with a spray bottle.”

“I want you to feel safe.”

“I wish I didn’t have to work two jobs, but I can’t make it without the extra money delivering stuff.”

“I’m sorry that happened to you.”

She nodded. “Yeah. How was your day?”

He shrugged. She wondered if he was going to stay silent when he turned to face her, his lips down in a frown. Worry hit.

“What?”

“One of the other SEALs was at the beach. He saw me confront those two jerks.”

Heat filled her, racing up her neck to her face. Breathing became difficult, and her head started to swim. Zip held onto her elbows and lowered his head, locking his gaze with hers.

“He said he had my back. I don’t know how much he heard, but he told me he supports me—us.”

She shook her head. “He doesn’t know me.”

“No, but he knows me, and he knows I’m solid.”

She shook her head and tried to turn. “I shouldn’t?—”

“No. I’m not losing you because of some idiot.”

“I’m not yours.”

“You may not be yet, but I’m not giving up.”

Her heart swelled at his words, and her throat closed. He knew what to say to make her feel like she couldn’t walk away from him. She hated that she was becoming dependent on him. He could easily crush her, but she couldn’t pull away, not yet. She wanted to see what was next for them.