Page 23 of Keeping Her Safe

“Yes and no. I was a lawyer once, but now I write books. I enjoy that a lot more,” Max said.

“What kind of books?” Zephyr perked up at the information.

It was the only thing she had said except for ‘snow.’ Zachary watched the older man’s face to see if he recognized his wife’s voice coming from another woman, but it seemed Max didn’t notice at all.

“Historical. My first was about the mob, but lately, I have been working on the history of this town. It has been very interesting. What do you two do?” Max asked.

The two looked at each other—they had not talked about this at all. Zachary answered, “I’m in real estate, and she’s getting her doctorate.”

“Wow. So do not tell my wife; she dreams of a doctorate. In what?” Max looked at her.

Again, Zachary answered, “Creative writing.”

“I hadn’t heard of that one. Good luck, but if you’ve made it this far, you don’t need luck. You don’t look old enough to have made it through that much school,” Max observed.

“She’s smarter than she lets on. Maybe young but has put in the work.” He pulled her into a side hug.

“I’ve got one of those as well. She’s a judge and whines about not getting a doctorate. A judge by thirty-five, but still she complains,” Max said as he led them up the stairs.

“This one will probably be like that in ten years, too,” Zachary replied.

“Twelve.” Zephyr quietly corrected him. Della was twelve years older than she was.

“I’ve put you in the turret room since it’s one of the bigger ones and is close to the bathroom. If you want to change to another, that is fine.” Max opened the door to the decent-sized room. The bed was in the middle of the floor, but there was enough room for a large comfy chair and a desk.

“It’s very nice. I think it will work for us,” Zachary said.

When Zachary turned from surveying the room, he saw Max was staring at Zephyr, who wasn’t noticing the attention. Zachary wondered if the man had seen something that would connect the dots. Max must have noticed Zachary was staring at him.

“Are you sure you don’t have any relatives around here, Mrs. Wainwright?” Max asked again.

“You can call me, Zephyr. No, I have never even been to Minnesota before.” He had noticed she never really lied, just talked around the answer—her doctorate in creative writing in action.

“I’m sorry. I guess it’s just because my wife comes from a family of redheads. The Hart family is known for their red hair,” Max explained.

“Is your wife a redhead?” Zephyr avoided his explanation.

“Yes, but hers is curly. She’s short like you, though,” Max explained.

“Well, we should get our bags, honey.” Zachary broke up the discussion.

Max stopped looking at Zephyr. “Yes, I will be over to make breakfast in the morning around seven or eight. Is that okay?”

“You, not your wife?” Zephyr was unaware of the scrutiny.

“Me. This is my baby, so she doesn’t help me with it unless she wants to.” He grinned.

“Oh.” Zephyr followed him down the hallway.

Once Max was gone, Zachary started to bring in the luggage. For them having nothing a few hours ago, they suddenly had more than he could take into the house in three trips. While he was taking in the bags, he surveyed the neighborhood for something strange or out of place. Nothing caught his eye. When he made it to the room with the last of the loads, Zephyr was putting things away like she lived here. Hair stuff went in the bathroom, and then she went back to putting clothes in the empty dresser.

Sitting on the bed, he watched her fold her new clothes and place them into the drawers. Each outfit got a half of a drawer. Her movements were slow and mesmerizing, and soon, his eyes were wandering. He should put his own stuff away, but his body was too heavy to make it do that. He had been up too long today.

CHAPTER 9

Instantly, he was awake. Instantly, he was on alert. Instantly, he grabbed the person in front of him to subdue them. Get the intruder subdued, think later. He flipped them on the bed and rolled onto them to pin their legs. Get their hands above their head. All done in an instant; no thinking involved.

Then his mind cleared, and he started thinking and feeling again. Zephyr’s body wiggled under his, and her breasts pressed into his chest. He could feel Zephyr’s heat pressing against his erection and her small hands in his. Zephyr’s breath came, stopped, then started again with a deep breath.

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