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“Stalking you.” Barbi props her hands on her hips. “Aka—Deranged.”
“I don’t know about that, but it gave me the heebie-jeebies. When I rushed inside, Zeb picked up on it and came inside to see if I was okay.”
“See, already he’s protecting you.” She slaps me on the arm. “Way to land yourself a Guardian.”
“Not mine. I’m not interested in men right now.”
“You can say that all you want, but you’re not being honest with yourself.”
Barbi doesn’t agree with me and she’s not the kind of friend who tells me what I want to hear. Always a straight shooter, I’ve learned to respect her intuition. Doesn’t mean I have to agree with it.
“I’m honest about my feelings.” I can’t help but argue, even when I know she’s right.
“Then explain why you’re pretending not to want Zeb when we both know you’re totally into him.”
“I’m not‘into’him.” I punctuate my comment with air quotes.
If I deny my feelings loudly enough, maybe they’ll become true. Honestly, I can’t think about another man when things with Scott remain unsettled.
“You’ve got a crush on the man.” Barbi’s not giving up. Not when she’s got a point to prove and knows she’s right.
“Do not.”
She might be the Queen of Intuition, but I’m the Goddess of Stubborn. I will not give in.
“Do so, but like I said, it’s not a bad thing. Zeb could be very useful to have around, and, as far as being around, have you heard we’re going to be surrounded by Guardians?”
“Zeb mentioned something about 24/7 protection until this thing with Carmen’s dad is finished.”
“Yeah.” Barbi leans against the dresser. “I can’t even begin to grasp what the two of them have been through. And what happened to those other women?” Her entire body shudders as if a chill shoots down her spine. “It’s horrifying.”
I feel the same. Even though neither of us were directly involved, Carmen told us everything. It shook me to my core.
“Yeah, how do we handle that?”
“As far as?”
“Do we say nothing and wait for them to bring it up? Or do we just ask?” I honestly don’t know how to broach such a subject. Compared to what Carmen and Rosalie endured, my life’s been a cake walk.
“I say we wait for them to bring it up. If they don’t, then we have a friendly sit down and ask them to share.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
“Now, back to Zeb.” Barbi’s like a dog with a bone. She’s not letting this go.
FOUR
Zeb
Halfway through breakingdown the empty boxes, Brady sends a group text to the team. Looks like we’re needed back at HQ, which kind of sucks. I was looking forward to getting to know the beautiful blonde.
Her delicate scent remains with me: a mix of a flowers and champagne. Makes me eager to taste her pretty lips and find out if the light effervescence of champagne is really there.
Strawberries.
I bet she tastes like strawberries.
She’s a vision to behold; warm, inviting eyes and long, luscious, blonde hair. Her skin glows with an ethereal luminescence and I love the confidence of her smirk.
