Beast Brothers 2

I go through the same performance, my heart beating a little too fast. When I get to the part where I’m licking the spoon and moaning … nothing happens. Opening my eyes, I look at him, forgetting to pretend this is all a simple coincidence.

Finally, he speaks. “I’m keeping track, you know.” He says it in the same ultra-soft voice he used that morning in the kitchen, and shivers go up my spine.

When I start toward him with the spread, he points at me. “No. Stay there.”

“You don’t want any?” I ask, in my innocent voice this time.

“If you come over here I will not be responsible for my actions. Don’t push me, Zoe.”

Well. That’s clear enough. But damn, now I’m more turned on than ever. With a sigh, I clean everything up and go back to bed. My “torment the twins” project has backfired big time. Maybe they’re worked up, but I’ve tortured myself just as much.

The next morning, I tell Lucas I want to meet my friends for lunch, and we agree on a new sushi place downtown. I’m there first, and when Megan and Tara arrive, they can’t help but notice that the booths on either side of me are empty, and the ones flanking them contain men who are not even trying to blend in. They’re watching the entrance, the restaurant, the waitstaff … and my friends.

The girls slide in on either side of me with wide eyes. “What the heck?” Megan whispers. “Is it always like this?”

“If I want to actually go somewhere, yeah.” Honestly, I’m a bit freaked out by the show of strength. It brings home that Alex and Lucas think there really is someone out there who wants to hurt me. I remind myself for the millionth time that the Wolf brothers didn’t take over my life on a whim; I have my father to thank for this situation.

“What exactly is going on?” Tara wants to know.

“I don’t know. Just that there’s some kind of threat against my father, and he put me under protection.” I tell them what little I can, keeping my voice low — which is a challenge for me — because even with a buffer on either side, sound carries. When I’m done, they just stare at me for a few seconds.

Megan’s the first to recover. She glances to either side at the men, one of whom is Lucas, though she doesn’t know that. Normally it would be Alex, since Lucas was with me last night, but he had something else to handle today.

Leaning in, she says in a conspiratorial tone, “So how do these guys compare to your twins?”

I almost smile at the bombshell I’m about to drop. They’re going to be so mad at me for not telling them sooner. “In a minute,” I tell her, “you’re going to glance casually around the restaurant. As you do that, you’re going to notice, without blatantly staring at him, the man farthest from you in the booth on our right. Okay, go.”

The waitress arrives just then to take our orders, and while that’s going on, Megan does as instructed. Tara, who’s to my left, can just flick her eyes in that direction and away again. A few seconds later, Megan whispers, “Damn. Who’s that hottie?”

“That,” I say, “is one of my twins.”

Their eyes almost pop out of their heads. “The twins are in charge of your security?” Tara hisses.

“Yes. Don’t kill me,” I say before they can do just that. “I wanted to tell you, but in person. I kept thinking this would be all over in a day or two.”

“Wait,” Tara persists. “Didn’t you say you had bodyguards sleeping in your apartment?”

“Yes.”

Tara sends Megan a look. “Let me guess,” Megan says. “The twins are not keen on letting anyone but themselves get that close to you.”

“Got it in one,” I confirm.

“Oh my god,” Tara whispers. “Have you — I mean, I know you said no more, but are you —”

“They are being completely courteous and professional,” I say. “And I do mean completely.”

“Is that good?” Megan asks. “Since you didn’t want to see them again ...”

I give her a “

what do you think?” look. “Oh god,” she says in turn. “You poor thing.”

“Now you understand the hell I’m in.”

Tara sends another lighting-quick glance Lucas’s way, then gasps. “We made eye contact,” she whispers. “Holy crap, he’s intense.”

21

Megan’s Men

Zoe

“You don’t know the half of it,” I tell her.

Our food arrives quickly, and we spend the next few minutes enjoying it. Even in the midst of everything that’s going on, it’s never a bad day for sushi. Finally, Megan says, “At least tell me you’ve used this period of … extreme purgatory to learn more about them.”

“Well,” I say. “We don’t exactly engage in friendly chitchat since they’re on the job. And talking to them just makes me want to jump them.”

“Understandable,” Tara says, stealing another look at Lucas.

I bump her knee with mine. “Hey. Get your own twins.” It’s said with a smile, but my friends both know I’m not really joking.

“Changed your mind?” Tara says, an answering smile flitting around her mouth.

“It’s gone too far,” I confess. “All this enforced proximity, all the tension that’s built up … we’re going to need at least one more time to let it all out.”

“Mm-hmm.” Megan’s eyes are dancing with a mischievous light.

“Your guys are your guys,” I remind her. “If I ran away to a mountain cabin, I can’t see mine coming after me. Once their assignment’s over, I mean.”

“Try it and see.”

“I don’t think the boutique would appreciate that. Speaking of which, I’ll have to get going soon.” I signal for the check, and from the corner of my eye glimpse a large form heading toward us. “Oh, hey, Cody’s here.”