With Every Heartbeat (Forbidden Men 4)

I couldn’t say yes. I didn’t want to say yes. But what if Cora kept pressuring me until she found someone else, someone I didn’t know. Ten was the antithesis of any guy I would consider dating, but for some reason I trusted him, and I somehow knew he didn’t want to go out with me because he was interested in me. He had some kind of agenda. And whatever it was, I’d rather take a chance on him and his ulterior motive than someone else.

“I don’t know,” I mumbled. “I guess.”

I guess.

She’d said I guess.

Why in the world had she said I guess?

Did she like Ten? I could tell Caroline was into him, but I’d never caught that vibe from Zoey. So why would she ever agree to go out with him? And what’s more, why had he asked her to? Ten didn’t do the dating thing. He was more of a one-night stand kind of guy.

Zoey was part of our group too. Why would he risk strife within the group to go out with her? Strife with me?

I was irritable as I dressed for the bar that evening, not to work but to go out...on a double freaking date.

“’Bout ready yet, princess?” Ten appeared in my opened door and caught my eye in the mirror before he stepped inside and dropped onto my bed, rumpling the bedsp

read.

“Almost.” Tugging at the cuffs of my shirt, I found my shoes in the doorway to my closet and pushed my feet into them with probably a bit too much force.

I turned to face my roommate, who looked as if he could just close his eyes and sleep on my mattress for the rest of the night. Wanting to shove him off, I muttered, “Let’s get this over with.”

Ten stopped swinging his foot and blinked up at me. “Damn, Hammy. You sound about as enthusiastic about tonight as I feel.”

Unable to keep my thoughts bottled a second longer, I said, “If you didn’t want to go, then why did you volunteer?”

“Finally!” Ten cheered, spreading his arms wide as he bounded off the bed. “The lecture. I’ve been waiting for this little talk since the moment your woman orchestrated this whole fucking night.”

“My woman didn’t—” I clenched my teeth and scowled at him, following him from the room as he left. “What little talk?” I growled.

“The one where you warn me away from Blondie and tell me to keep my hands to myself or you’ll break them off at the wrists.”

Dang it. How did he know I was dying to give him that very lecture? I shook my head though, refusing to admit it. “Why would I tell you that?”

Ten paused, glanced back at me, and then stepped closer. “Because you can’t handle the idea of anyone putting his hands on her, that’s why.”

I rolled my eyes, but inside, my stomach burned. Listening to him say that made me want to curl my hands into fists and punch something. Punch him. Because what he said was true.

This was bad. This was so bad.

My roommate gave a sudden grin before he patted my shoulder in reassurance. “Don’t worry, bud. I feel the same way.”

With that, he turned around and strolled off. I blinked. He felt the same way? He wanted to murder anyone who even thought about touching Zoey? He...wait. Did this mean he liked her?

What about Caroline? I thought he had a thing for Caroline. Why couldn’t he just keep his sights set on Caroline?

“What?” I asked, hurrying after him.

He laughed and opened the front door of the apartment, stepping aside to let me exit first. I didn’t. I just stared at him.

So he threw his head back and gave an exhausted sigh. “Believe it or not, I like Blondie exactly how she is. All sweet, and innocent, and untouched. But Cora wasn’t going to let up until she found someone to take your girl out. And you and I both know someone else would probably try to get into her panties. So...I volunteered.”

I shook my head. This just wasn’t anything Ten would do. I couldn’t compute or make any sense of it. “What?” I finally said. “Does this mean you’re not going to try to, you know...?”

As I waved a hand, he lifted an eyebrow. “Get into her panties?”

I curled my lip into a snarl as I growled, “Yes.”