Under Fire by Lynn H. Blackburn

Author:Lynn H. Blackburn
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romantic Suspense;FIC042060;FIC042040;FIC027110
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2022-12-20T00:00:00+00:00

20

ZANE FORCED HIMSELF to stay put when Tessa entered the kitchen. He wanted to pull her into his arms, drag her into a room where no one was around, and hold her.

Unfortunately, he had no right to do that.

But that was going to change. And soon. He was done pretending he was okay with the status quo. Done pretending that his feelings for her were platonic. Done with keeping his distance. Done with secrets. And done with trying to find anyone who could take her place.

She slid onto a stool at the bar. With her eyes on the counter, she asked, “What’s the verdict?”

His so-called friends all dropped their eyes to the floor, then to him. Great. So he was going to have to be the one to tell her? Fine. “Twenty-four-hour companionship. You don’t go anywhere alone. You’re either at work or home or one of our homes. If you’re here, someone is with you. If you’re at work, you don’t leave the office without a shadow. If you need to go to the grocery store, make a list. Someone will pick up whatever you need. This continues until we’ve agreed the danger has passed.”

Tessa looked at each man. Each man, that was, except Zane. “I expected as much.”

“We care about you, Tessa.” Gil walked around the counter and stood beside her. Luke took her other side. Benjamin stood in front of her. Zane maintained his position, holding up the refrigerator.

“These guys”—Benjamin pointed at Luke and Gil—“tell me that you have no room to argue with our gross overstepping of all reasonable boundaries, given that you yourself have, in the not-so-distant past, undertaken extreme measures to keep them safe. Is this true?”

A grin flirted on the edges of Tessa’s mouth. “Maybe.”

Luke and Gil both reacted with gasps and shakes of their heads. “Maybe?” Gil said. “If you can’t remember the way you drove by my house in the middle of the night when Ivy was in trouble or the way you refused to leave Zane’s hospital room in case he woke up and needed an ice chip, then we need to have a chat about your mental capacity.”

She still looked wan, exhausted, and her eyes were red and puffy, but her shoulders had dropped and her hands were no longer clenched, the affection and humor all around her having the expected effect on her stress level. “My mental capacity is fine, and you’d do well to remember that. Especially if you want me to use my brain the next time you’re ready to buy your wives gifts and you come to me wanting assistance. I may have to conveniently forget exactly which type of oar Faith was hoping would be under the tree.”

Luke winced.

“Or the earrings Ivy showed me a few weeks ago that would make the perfect ‘just because I adore you’ gift.”

Gil groaned.

“As for you”—she turned her attention to Benjamin—“your wife is hoping for some new vinyl records to add to her collection.”

“I know.” Benjamin sounded smug.

“Do

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