Page 7 of Protecting Talia

“Is nine good?”

“I’ll be there on Saturday morning at nine. Thank you.”

“Of course. I’m looking forward to getting to know you.”

The call ended, and Talia leaned against the wall, wondering if she was making a mistake. If Cheryl ever found out she was making friends with these people, she would do whatever she could to poison them against her.

Maybe this time she could have something for herself. The key was to keep her family from finding out that she had friends. But that was easier said than done.

* * *

Zip still feltthe tingle from Talia licking his lips. The quick flick of her tongue had shocked him. He’d been dumbfounded by the bold move. Maybe he was a cream puff or whatever she’d called him. He wanted to drop everything and do whatever she needed.

“Zip, what are you doing?” Q yelled from in front of him.

“Shit, sorry.” He grabbed the rope and tied it off. Luckily, he wasn’t doing anything dangerous. Still, it was shitty of him not to be one hundred percent present for this exercise. If he didn’t get it together, he would get someone hurt.

“What’s your deal?” Rider asked a little later.

“It won’t happen again.” He hated being called out for having his head up his ass. Everyone he knew suffered from being distracted at some point in training. Still, it wasn’t an acceptable excuse.

Trip came over and tapped him on the back. “What’s got your mind working overtime?”

“It’s nothing.”

Bud snorted. “It doesn’t sound like nothing. Let me guess, you met someone.”

“No.” He sounded way too defensive. They all knew he was lying. He needed to get his shit together and keep it together so they had no reason to call him out. Now, he was telling them half-truths. That wouldn’t work in their environment. Dealing honestly with these guys was the only way to go, but there wasn’t anything with Talia—not really.

Q snorted. “Well, if she’s as good-looking as you are distracted, then she’s a looker.”

Zip shook his head. “There isn’t anyone.”

“That’s a lie,” Q said.

Zip pressed his lips together and shook his head. “I’m not dating anyone.”

Q tipped his water bottle at Zip and narrowed his gaze. “But there is someone you’re interested in.”

Zip didn’t want to talk about this right now. He would catch hell for his prior statements about never settling down.

Trip held his gaze, his eyes narrowing slightly. “Let’s get back to work.”

Zip wanted to thank Trip, but he was trying not to bring attention to his calling Trip for Ellis’s help. He didn’t want the guys asking questions yet. They would have enough questions once word got out that he’d met someone he wanted to get to know. There wasn’t any crime in that. They weren’t even dating. In fact, he wanted to prove to her that he wasn’t a marshmallow. He was a badass who couldn’t be trusted.

5

Talia felt giddy walking into the coffee shop. No one had ever invited her to coffee, and no one polite had ever wanted to hang out with her. Her family had done a number on her.

She pushed away thoughts of the crap in her past and looked for the woman wearing the green t-shirt. She spied a woman sitting in the corner, and her stomach dropped. Ellis looked like she had her shit together. Her dark hair and pale skin made her look elegant, and Talia was anything but elegant.

“Oh, Talia.” Ellis waved from her seat and stood, moving to her.

Talia froze. Was this woman connected to her family? There was no way. Her family didn’t know everyone, or did they?

Ellis pulled her into a hug. She sucked in a sharp breath, trying to figure out what was going on. Ellis leaned back, not giving any indication she’d noticed Talia’s stiffness or the ugly bruises and cuts she’d gotten from the beating.

“I’m Ellis. It’s nice to meet you. I’m so glad I could help you. I ordered a latte for you. I hope that’s okay.”

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