Page 23 of Bitten By Zombie

“If I pass the vibe check and you’ll take me on, you’re hired.”

Virus and Wall Street stared at her in stunned silence as Zombie sauntered in, sniffing the air exaggeratedly but stopped dead in his tracks.

“Who’s hired and for what?”

Heidi was well aware of how nervous her smile was, but it couldn’t be helped.

“The security firm. To help me with Stan. If they’ll take me on as a client, that is.”

If she hadn’t been staring directly at him, she would’ve missed the falter in his smile and the clenching of his teeth before he shook it off and spoke.

“That’s an excellent idea, and of course they’ll take you. I promised to help, didn’t I, Rabbit?”

He walked over to the stove. “This smells so good I was floating like a cartoon following the smell.”

“So, um, prez, you want it to be a Royal Guard S.O.P.?”

Heidi may not know what their SOP was, but she knew it stood for standard operating procedure.

She answered yes at the same time Zombie answered no. All eyes shifted to him, but she spoke first.

“You guys have done more than you had to, so please, let me pay you and make this official. No more charity. I’ll even pay for room and board as soon as I can get to my apartment, get ID, and access my bank accounts and cash. I’ll move into the girls’ room and help out around here until then.”

All of the sudden, every man in the room acted as if her biscuits were drier than Popeye’s and started choking, except Zombie.

He took a bite, made a satisfied sound, and swallowed before smiling at her. “If that makes you more comfortable, then by all means, hire us, but you can stay in my room. I can make other arrangements.”

His tone was sweet, his body was relaxed, and his eyes sparkled.

But Heidi knew he was hurt and maybe angry. She wanted to hug him and tell him it was for the best. It wasn’t him; it was her. She was toxic right now, but she couldn’t, or he might think there was hope.

CHAPTERSEVEN

ZOMBIE

The blows just kept coming.

He really hadn’t expected that from Heidi. Sure, he was aware she was dealing with shit, and she seemed like relationships were not on her radar, hell, his either. Butshewas on his radar, and that somehow put a relationship with her there too. He hadn’t realized how much he craved it until she pulled the rug out from under him.

Once more, he cursed Outlaw under his breath for planting the seed he’d apparently cultivated and tended.

She’s been acting strange ever since…his leg.

That had to be it.

Apparently, seeing his foot in the bathroom really drove home the extent of his handicap. Not that he’d ever considered himself handicapped before.

Some people could only see what wasn’t there and overlooked what was.

Zombie didn’t have experience as an adult dealing with something of that nature. He’d been a ridiculously fortunate person in that arena. Once his dad had gotten him his first bike as a teen and modified it so he could clutch and shift with his hand only, Zombie had shut out anything that didn’t feed his confidence. The double-takes, the pointing and whispering, any and everything that could potentially make him feel less.

The only time since then he’d taken notice was when it was a kid. Kids were innocent and not being asshats when they stared or were curious like most adults were.

Kids were a whole different species, it felt like. Which is why he spent a lot of his free time at the hospital with kids who’d lost a limb or been born without. He even had special gifts for any kid he talked to. His hand instinctively went to his cut, patting where the inside breast pocket was, making sure he had extras.

Zombie was never without his ROYAL BUDDIES stickers, temporary tattoos, and pins. He fucking loved kids and couldn’t wait to have a big family.

Without his permission, his eyes drifted to where Heidi sat chatting with Virus. The ease with which she talked to his brother gave him pause.

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