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Z ip hated what he’d learned about Talia. Not that she’d done porn. That didn’t matter to him. He’d killed people, so who was he to judge? It was funny to him that he’d gone from trying to prove to her he wasn’t a good person to bending over backward to get her to trust him.

He’d wanted to stay and end up in bed with her, but he’d left, making sure she locked up behind him. He texted first thing in the morning, wanting her to know he was thinking of her.

When she responded, he decided he wanted to see her. He called, hoping she picked up.

“Hey, what’s up?” Talia’s voice sounded like she’d just woken. His stomach tightened as desire rose.

“I was wondering if you wanted to go for a walk on the beach?”

He could hear her yawning on the other end of the line. “Give me a few minutes to wake up.”

“Sure. I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”

“Gosh, you’re chipper in the morning. I bet it’s because of the Navy. They make you get up early and shit, right?”

“Sometimes they don’t even let us go to bed. I’ve got to say that living off base is nice. It’s quieter, that’s for sure.”

“I’ll try to be awake enough to talk, but I’m not one for the morning.”

“I’ll remember that. I’ll see you in a few.”

He was glad she wanted to hang out. He really wanted to get to know her. He pulled on his socks, worry striking hard. What was he doing? He’d gone from never wanting a relationship to tracking down a woman he hadn’t even had sex with to spend the morning with her. He must be out of his mind.

* * *

Talia finished dressing and stepped into the bathroom. She picked up her lipstick and held it up. Why was she even trying? No question, this guy would leave once he figured out exactly what her being in porn meant. A part of her wanted to run into someone who remembered her time on screen and show Zip exactly how awful it could be.

She heard a car door shut outside and figured it was Zip. Few people showed up this early on Sunday for the restaurant, and no one else should be looking for her.

The knock on her door made her heart rate pick up. She hoped it was Zip and not someone else. There was a small probability her sister would show up, but she doubted Cheryl would stop by. They usually left each other alone, except for when she thought warning her sister about danger was a good idea.

She opened the door, relieved to see Zip. “Ah, it is you.”

“If you’re going to stay living here, you need to have a peephole. I’ll put it in this afternoon.”

“The landlord?—”

“They can shut up. It’s California. They have to provide one for you, but they haven’t. I’ll put it in so you can see who is at your door.”

She stared at him, shocked that he cared. No one had ever cared this much about her.

“You okay with that?” His question seemed ridiculous after telling her what he was going to do.

She shrugged. “Yes. Thank you. I’m surprised.”

“Don’t be. How about we stop by a bagel place I know and grab some coffee and something to eat? Then we can head out to the beach.”

“Sure. Sounds good. It has been ages since I’ve been at the beach before noon.”

“I like it better. Fewer people. Lots more space to have conversations without someone encroaching.”

She nodded and stepped outside. He took her key and locked up for her, testing the door before he stepped away. They were on the way in minutes and the stop to get bagels didn’t take long.

When they stepped out of the car at the beach, he led her over to one of the park benches. It was nearly magical being here with him, the low light bouncing off the waves, a few people jogging, and one family about fifty yards away with kids playing in the sand. It wasn’t anywhere near as crazy as the crowds were when she usually showed up.

They munched on their food, sitting quietly. She enjoyed his company. It was nice that neither of them felt any need to talk.

She turned to him, wondering if this was what being together with someone was supposed to feel like.

“I guess you like the food and coffee.”

She nodded. “Yes. It’s good. I’ve never been there before. I usually work late and don’t go out in the morning.”

“You know I’m in the Navy. What do you do?”

She shrugged. “Nothing impressive.”

“Why don’t you tell me, and I’ll decide for myself.”

“Jesus, you’re annoying.”

His shoulders shook as he laughed. She liked the way his lips spread in a smile, too. “Yeah. I’m annoying. So spill. What do you do for work?”

“I clean buildings three nights a week. Then I deliver food the other days. Sometimes I work late, sometimes early. It just depends.”

“So, cleaning buildings, you mean inside or outside?”

“Inside. Like picking up trash, cleaning the bathrooms, and vacuuming, though a lot of companies are using robot vacuums, so we don’t have to spend hours moving the vacuum.”

“That’s impressive. Do you know how filthy places would be if you didn’t do that? When I was in boot camp, we learned why cleaning was necessary. Let me tell you, people are disgusting.”

“Oh, I know.”

“So yeah, your job is impressive.”

She didn’t know what to say about his reaction. He’d surprised her when he didn’t care that she’d done porn, and now he was impressed that she was a cleaner. He wasn’t at all what she expected.

“What do you do with the Navy? Most Navy guys have short hair and none of this stuff.” Talia patted the fuzz on his cheek.

He shrugged. “I’m not regular Navy.”

She narrowed her gaze as confusion swirled. “Oh. What does that mean?”

His lips thinned and his eyebrows rose. “You don’t know?”

She shook her head. “I never paid attention. A lot of the guys in those videos were military. I’ve never really had a good impression of military types.”

His lips curled and he looked disgusted. For a second she thought he was angry at her, but then he shook his head.

“I’m not like them. I’m special forces. I don’t fuck around with regulations. I follow the rules and keep my nose clean. Not saying I’m perfect, but losing my job would more than suck and doing shit like what they did to you would break rules that would get me kicked out.”

She was surprised by his words. She’d never even considered that the men could get in trouble for what they’d done. “You seem like a rule follower.”

“Really? You see that?”

“Yeah. You seem like a good person.”

He shrugged. “As long as you’re on my good side, I am.”

She finished her bagel and noticed he was done, too. “Want to walk?”

“Sure. I’d like that.”

They headed toward the water, and midway there, he took her hand. Her hand in his felt good. She was having intense feelings for him, and it scared her. She would pull back. She had to. But not yet. Zip made her feel special and she wanted to spend more time with him. Surely it wouldn’t hurt for her to spend a few weeks getting to know him, enjoying his company, maybe fooling around a bit.

They were on their way back to the car when she noticed a guy looking at her weirdly. Her stomach twisted. This couldn’t be good. The man was older, around forty. He was about the right age for men who would have watched the porn she’d been featured in.

Zip wasn’t paying attention, or it didn’t seem like he was. Her stomach twisted when the guy pointed at her and started talking to his friend and then he held up his phone.

“Shit.” She shouldn’t have let the word slip out, but she couldn’t hold back.

“What’s wrong?” Zip asked.

She shook her head. “Nothing.”

He glanced around and held her hand tighter. The men were coming their way. She hated that Zip had to see this. He would walk, no question. This would be the last time they went for coffee and bagels, the last time they walked on the beach together. This was it. She would never see him again.

“Hey, aren’t you Natalie Goodgirl?” the guy called out.

Heat washed over her as the old name she’d performed under hit her ears. She wanted to hide. Both guys lifted their phones like they were going to take photos of her. They were close enough that she could see the color of their eyes.

Zip didn’t say anything, making her feel the loss so deeply it made her heart hurt. Then he moved so fast it made her yelp. He had their phones and was doing something. As he punched things on their screen, he started speaking.

“Let me teach you a lesson right now. Don’t you ever talk to another woman like that again. Better, don’t speak to women again. I’m deleting your videos and photos?—”

“You can’t do that!” one of the guys yelled.

“Really? Because I just did. Erased it from your system completely. I don’t know who you think my girlfriend is, but I’m here to tell you, it doesn’t matter. You aren’t even going to look at her again. You feel me?”

Both men dropped their heads and stared at the ground. They weren’t smiling or laughing any more. They seemed scared.

Zip continued speaking as he pulled out his phone. “Now then, if you ever speak disrespectfully to another woman and I find out, I’ll hunt you down. I’m connecting to your social media, and I’ll watch. I can find out where you live, and I will make your life hell if you ever do anything like this again. Do you understand?”

Both men nodded. Zip handed them back their phones and then took her hand, leading her away from the mess. She glanced back, noticing the men were looking the other way. Zip had shut them down. But this wouldn’t be the last time something like this happened. Could he keep it up?

They were at his car, and he opened the door. She slid in and waited for him to walk around and get in. Would he tell her goodbye after this?

When he slid into the driver’s seat she spoke, still looking straight ahead. “You know that won’t be the last time something like that happens.”

He put his hand on the steering wheel and blew out a heavy sigh. He turned his head and stared at her. “Then I’ll do the same thing again.”

“You can’t stop all the men from being jerks.”

“No, but I can stop some by standing up for you.”

“I’m not having sex with you just because you did that.”

He nodded. “I wouldn’t expect you to. When we decide to have sex, I want you to want me, not think you owe me. If we never have sex, I’m fine with that, too. I get hard in your presence, and sure, I want you, but I would never force it.”

“Why are you so good to me?”

He shook his head. “This isn’t good. This is the minimum of how it should be. I’m just above average at best.”

“No, no way. You’re freaking amazing, and don’t forget it.”

“So are you, then. And don’t you forget it.”

She couldn’t believe Zip stood up for her and he wasn’t trying to fuck her. That surprised the heck out of her. She reached over and put her hand on his leg as he started the engine.

She could allow herself to feel hope, but Zip was making her wonder if good things were possible. It had been a long time since she’d felt good about her future. Maybe her luck was changing.