“Sorry, Cap,” Joseph said. “You know she loves to brag about you like you’re one of her own.”
At least Joseph got it. Zeke had no idea how to respond to the introduction. What was he supposed to say to this captivating and stunning woman? He couldn’t think of another option besides escape. This was not a good situation. Beautiful women didn’t affect him. Emotions like warm flashes in his body and needing to breathe from a pretty lady’s smile couldn’t happen to him. He felt like he was soaring on some emotional high just having her smile at him. He couldn’t complete whatever mission they had in mind if this woman was involved.
Mia bounced across the space toward him, and he should’ve either run or taken her out. But he froze. Zeke never froze. It was as if she’d captured him in a snare he’d never been trained to defend against.
She was pint-sized, but there was energy and power in that small frame that intimidated him.
Intimidated? Yeah, right. Suicidal insurgents in Afghanistan hadn’t intimidated him. This miniscule blonde was no match for his strength or skills. She couldn’t capture or incapacitate him.
Not physically. But what about emotionally?
He pushed that away. There was no time to deal with it anyway, as she was right in his space. Close. Far too close. She smelled like lemon candy. He absolutely loved lemon candy. Old-fashioned lemon drops. Pretty much the only good memory from his childhood. A grandma at his church had given him one every week if he sat still during the children’s class. She had kept giving them to him even as a teenager. Grandma Hendrickson, she’d asked him to call her. He’d stolen her surname for his last name. He’d thought she was the nicest woman he’d ever met. Until Holly Delta.
The delicious-smelling woman standing in front of him stuck out her hand and used that smile on him. It made him feel strangely weak. He’d never felt weak before in his life. At least not since he’d escaped from his parents’ house, changed his name so they couldn’t find him and so he could have his own identity, and joined the military. He’d had so many drill sergeants try to break him, but their belittlement and abuse was nothing compared to what he’d lived with throughout childhood and teenage years. He’d absolutely excelled in the military.
He looked down at the woman’s hand and then back into those golden-brown eyes. Were those long lashes real? They were pretty; that was all he knew. Not many blondes had brown eyes, but maybe her hair was dyed. His throat was dry and his pulse thrummed far too fast. He was trying to catalogue, but the draw of her made everything off, and his head felt too big for his body.
“Zeke,” Holly said. “You can shake her hand.”
That broke his concentration on the woman, and he glanced quickly at Holly. He wanted to ask if he had to, but he could only imagine the answer, and asking would make him look weak in front of this beauty. He never wanted to look weak in front of anyone, but the thought of thisMiathinking he was weak when he wanted her to listen to Holly’s bragging about him and think he was a superhero had him sticking out his hand. Shaking hands was no big deal. He’d learned to do that as an adult and could get through it without making a fuss or obviously cringing and offending the other person.
Her hand slid along his so slowly he felt like the entire world had stopped, except for his heart that was thundering out of control and the delicious tingling filling his stomach.
First her fingertips caressed his, for far longer than was probably necessary, but who was he to complain? Then their fingers glided across each other, and finally the soft palm slid along his fingers and palms until they were aligned. She gently wrapped her fingers around the back of his hand and held on. Her small, soft, tantalizing hand fit in his better than any gun ever had.
His breath shortened, and he had absolutely no clue what he was feeling. This was new, and he’d never felt anything like it. He appreciated Holly’s mama hugs, and they gave him that odd comfort that he somewhat liked. Accepting hugs should be a positive thing; he recognized that.
But holding this woman’s hand had nothing to do with comfort. Her palm and fingers were warm, and it felt like his hand had found the spot it’d been searching for all his life. He didn’t move as she held his hand and blinked up at him with those intriguing brown eyes of hers, but he realized something in that moment …
Helikedher touching him.
That shocked him enough to pull away and clench his hand into a fist at his side. Crazily enough, he could still feel the warmth and feminine softness of her much smaller hand. He hadn’t really liked it, right? He’d just imagined he had because she was so pretty and seemed nice and soft and feminine and innocent …
Zeke took a step back. He had no choice. It was either that or he would touch her again, and Captain Zeke Hendrickson never voluntarily touched anyone. Unless he was fighting them.
“Blimey,” Mia said, shocking him yet again, blinking up at him with those big brown eyes and grinning invitingly. “You’re a right big and tough one, aren’t you now?”
She was British. That shouldn’t have surprised him with the security guard’s choice of weapon, but everything was surprising him today. Her accent was adorable.
Adorable. Really?
If Chaos could get ahold of his thoughts right now, he’d never stop laughing. And then Zeke could pummel him. Chaos always put up a good fight. That’d be fun. A lot more fun than the discomfort of this moment.
Zeke only raised his eyebrows. She’d probably think he was a mute, but he didn’t really care what she thought. He didn’t care what anyone thought. Caring what people thought only brought either pride or pain.
Both could disable a man. Both could get him killed.
“He is big and tough,” Holly said. “And more importantly, he’s experienced in all kinds of weapons, hand-to-hand combat, and defense. Zeke will keep you safe.”
“Safe sounds … lovely,” Mia said, but her voice quavered, and her big brown eyes looked … terrified. “Thank you, Auntie.”
“Safe from who?” Zeke demanded, ripping his gaze from her to pin it on Holly. Auntie? They’d get into the relationship later. He needed to know who would dare endanger an innocent beauty like the one within a hand’s reach. Honestly, it wouldn’t take much effort at all just to reach out and touch her again. Just to see if it had truly been pleasant or if her appealing looks and smile had influenced him into thinking it was pleasant. He absolutely needed to do the research. Then he recoiled inside. Had he just wanted to … touch someone?
Joseph stepped up and put an arm around Mia’s shoulders. She looked even smaller next to the tall, well-built Delta man, and it thankfully distracted Zeke from thinking about the unthinkable, willingly touching someone. Research or not, it was a stupid idea.
“Cap …” Joseph said. “We asked you here hoping you could protect Mia from a vicious stalker. He’s recently set his sights on Mia and promised to kidnap her and sell her to the highest bidder on the dark web. The terrifying thing is, we believe he’s done the same thing to nine other women now.”
If Joseph was hoping to coerce him into being invested, he’d done it. Sell this sparkling sweetheart on the dark web? Not on Zeke’s watch.