Page 39 of Faith
She thought for sure he’d be ready to kick Monty out so they could be alone together. Maybe she read the day, and all his looks, wrong.
“Do you have anything good in here?” Monty asked, searching Zeke’s freezer.
“Not much. I haven’t gotten to the store in a few days.”
Nina flushed with guilt. Zeke was putting his life on hold for her, to the point he didn’t have food.
“I have some chicken and a few bags of vegetables. Let me go grab some stuff. I’ll be right back,” Monty said, already heading for the door.
“Thanks, man,” Zeke said, waving as Monty left.
Nina opened her mouth to say something to Zeke, but he turned to her with one of those looks that made her mouth dry, and other parts of her not even close to dry.
“I don’t know where the lines are here. I don’t know how I’m supposed to act around you when he’s here. What I do know isI’m barely keeping my shit together right now and I can’t wait until he leaves so I can kiss you again.”
Nina’s smile was immediate and genuine. “I was starting to worry you wanted him as a buffer.”
Zeke’s head shook slowly, his gaze running over her body just as slowly. “No.”
Nina breathed a husky sound, a sound she was sure she’d never made before in her life.
“I can’t wait to hear what sounds you make when I get my hands on you.”
Nina moaned and clenched her thighs together.
The front door opened before she could say anything. Monty held up a package of chicken and a frozen bag of mixed vegetables. “Dinner.”
Nina smiled at her brother, wondering how quickly she could get him to leave.
Zeke made a noise in the back of his throat that was part laugh and part growl and all sexy. “Thanks, Mont. We wouldn’t have known what to do without you.”
Monty flipped Zeke off. “You’re such an ass.”
Zeke grinned. “Yep.”
Monty chuckled, and Nina knew it wasn’t the first time the two of them had done something similar.
Their friendship was on display every minute she spent with them. Living next door to each other. Working together. Being comfortable in each other’s spaces, to the point where they had keys to each other’s homes. They were brothers in every sense. Family.
And she was threatening that. Her presence was threatening that. The way she wanted Zeke was threatening that.
“I’ll be right back,” she whispered, heading toward the stairs.
Both men mumbled something as she walked up the stairs, neither paying much attention to her.
Nina made it into Zeke’s bedroom and to the bathroom, closing and locking the door behind her. She’d spent years being watched every minute of the day and having the option to walk away and be alone was odd. Like she was doing something wrong.
Was she doing something wrong with Zeke? The way he touched her that morning made it seem as though he wasn’t feeling pressured into it. He wanted her just as much as she wanted him. She could feel it in his touch and see it in the way he looked at her. He even said it just a few minutes earlier downstairs.
But she couldn’t shake that she was a danger to more than just his safety.
If Gwendolyn found out where Nina was, she’d kill Zeke without a second thought. She’d kill Montgomery, too. She’d kill anyone in her path to get what she wanted.
Did she want Nina back? Did she care that she left?
A sharp pang had her clutching her chest. Tears flooded her eyes.
Nina wanted Gwendolyn to miss her. To want her back.
