Page 66 of Faith
Monty shook his head. “I’m not going to argue with you anymore. I know you’re doing this. Just… be careful, okay?”
Nina nodded. “Yeah.”
Zeke wantedto go back in and pretend like nothing was wrong, but he couldn’t. It might be the last night he had with Nina, but it was also the last night for Montgomery. Zeke was not going to intrude on the siblings’ time together. He would have Nina overnight, and that had to be enough.
“What did the FBI want?” Berkeley asked when they walked back up front. She had two more bags of food on her desk, chips and drinks and more sandwiches. She grabbed one and handed it to Zeke, leaving one sandwich and a bag of chips on the desk.
“What are you doing?” Zeke asked, eyeing the food.
“Eating my lunch.” Berkeley looked at him like he was crazy. “What am I supposed to be doing?”
“Come back and eat with everyone else.”
Berkeley shook her head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
Zeke tossed her food into the bag and grabbed the second one. “Let’s go.”
Berkeley scowled but followed him to the back where everyone else was going through the bags of food and looking for a sandwich.
Zeke added the other two bags to the mix and pulled Berkeley’s food out before the rest of them could steal her lunch. “Here.”
She grabbed the sandwich and eyed him.
“Don’t run back out there. Sit and talk. We haven’t seen much of you lately. It’s like you’re hiding from us back here,” Zeke said.
“Yeah, Berk. What gives?” Austin asked. Austin flirted with Berkeley as much as anyone else, but she told Zeke she knew Austin was a good man, even though he and Samuel got into it sometimes about Samuel’s daughter.
“It’s been busy,” Berkeley said, smiling at Austin. “It’s a full-time job keeping all of you in line.”
The men chorused boos at her and laughed when she winked.
“That’s mean, Berk. We are perfect gentlemen,” Samuel said.
“You are. Valerie trained you right,” Berkeley teased.
Samuel chuckled while the others razzed him. “She did. I’m not going to argue with that one. The rest of you are just jealous that I have a good woman to go home to at the end of the day and you’re all playing with yourselves.”
Berkeley laughed. The other men cursed at Samuel. Zeke just sat back and listened. He wasn’t really either at the moment. He had a good woman to go home to, but she wasn’t his woman. Not entirely. What would happen when Gwendolyn Lennox was no longer a threat? Where would Nina go? Would Nina go?
Zeke hoped she wouldn’t. He wanted her with him for good. But Samuel was right earlier when he told Zeke he had to let her make her own choices. Would she choose him?
The question rattled around in his mind the rest of the day. Montgomery and Nina spent time together in his office, probably planning out the next day. Zeke struggled to focus on his work and answered questions when any of the guys needed something, telling them to leave Mont alone so he could spend time with Nina.
Zeke hated that he was planning for her to not come back, but he preferred to think he was being considerate. Giving her time with her brother. They hadn’t had a lot together with Nina staying at Zeke’s house. He was trying to be thoughtful.
“Are you ready to head out?” Mont asked from the door.
“Yeah, whenever.” Zeke stood, closing his laptop and locking his desk. He avoided meeting his best friend’s gaze. A part of Zeke felt guilty for talking to Samuel about Nina, but another part of him knew it was easier to talk to Samuel than Montgomery.
Their whole lives, Montgomery and Zeke agreed they weren’t meant for permanent relationships. That women were lucky to have dodged a bullet where they were concerned. It never bothered Zeke because he felt that way. He wasn’t a good fit for any other woman because he always compared them to Nina. Nina was his model, his angel, his fantasy woman. He never wanted another woman.
But it didn’t mean Montgomery would change his mind about Zeke and what any woman deserved when she set her sights on him.
Mont wasn’t any different, but he was a good man. If he decided there was a woman who suited him, Zeke had no doubt Mont would change his entire life for her. But he wasn’t sure Mont would see the same in Zeke. If he would be okay withZeke getting involved with Nina. Especially after all she’d been through.
“Listen, I know you don’t like this. I don’t either, but we both know she’s stubborn and telling her not to do something is only going to make her want to do it more.”
Zeke nodded. “I get it.” He tried to walk past Montgomery, but Mont put a hand on his shoulder and waited until Zeke looked up at him.
