Page 8 of Line of Resistance

Her words hit a little closer to home than he’d like, but old habits are hard to break and an easy smile slipped on his lips before he could stop it. “What I’m hearing is you think I’m charming.” Nate took a step closer, reeled in by the same invisible something he’d refused to put a name to in the hopes it would eventually unravel. “And handsome.”

He learned early on how far charm and a smile could get him. Coasted his way through every high school class on their back. Expected to do the same in college. But that wasn’t the way his life worked out, and it ended up being a whole lot harder to bullshit his way into the Marines than it was to get through Intro to Chemistry.

But he did it. By the skin of his fucking teeth.

“Stop it.” Eloise’s eyes shifted around the room and suddenly her bright smile was back, full and wide.

And fake.

Before he could consider the reason for the sudden change, Naomi was at his side, offering up an interruption and a reminder. He was supposed to be staying as far from Eloise as he could get. Keeping his distance from the woman who was now closely connected to the people he considered family.

“I’m so glad you could make it.” Naomi slung one arm around his shoulders, giving him a sideways hug. “Tyson said you were out on an assignment and wouldn’t be back until tomorrow.”

Nate tried to keep his focus on Naomi, but ignoring Eloise had always been a near impossible feat, so his answer ended up being directed at her. “We got done early and hurried home because I didn’t want to miss the party.”

It wasn’t a complete lie. This family, the one he’d been lucky enough to find his way into, meant everything to him. The more it grew, the more space they took up in his life and the more he was willing to do to keep them there. Nothing was more important than them.

Not even the way he felt about a tone deaf, doe-eyed, elementary school principal.

“I know Emmett’s excited you made it.” Naomi gave him a pat in the center of his chest. “Especially considering the gift you got him.”

He’d been in Florida, cleaning up a lingering mess Alaskan Security had been trying to resolve for years, when he realized it wouldn’t take more than a car ride and a single-day pass to the happiest place on earth to make his nephew’s day.

Naomi’s eyes drift over to where Emmett stands with his classmates, proudly displaying the custom lightsaber he’d spent way too much money procuring. The smile on his nephew’s face was worth every fucking penny. The things he would do for the kid knew no limits.

The swell of love and pride he felt as Emmett passed around the overpriced toy dimmed a little at the sight of a shaggy head lingering at the edge of the group. Bryson stood by himself, an outsider looking in, watching with longing and sadness in an all-too-familiar way.

“While you’re here,” Nate dragged his eyes from the little boy, letting them rest on Eloise a second before meeting Naomi’s gaze. “I invited Bryson to come over and swim. Maybe you can help me get in touch with his parents to set something up.”

A strange man reaching out to them certainly wouldn’t go over well, especially one asking to take their son to the pool. And as much as he would love to figure out a way to get Eloise over for the same play date, it probably wasn’t smart for the principal to get involved in a student’s friendships. That meant he’d have to go through Naomi, which was probably better anyway. Remembering what was important around Eloise was already a struggle. There was no telling what would happen if she was half naked and soaking wet.

Especially now that he knew there was so much more to her than smiles and an agreeable personality.

Naomi frowned. “You know what, I don’t think I’ve ever talked to his dad.” Her dark eyes moved to Eloise. “I think Luke’s mom brought him to the party.”

Eloise shifted on her feet, looking a little uncomfortable and a lot like she had something to hide. Like maybe she knew there was more to the story.

It was an unsurprising revelation. One he saw coming the second he walked into the party and set eyes on Eloise and the unkempt little boy she clearly cared for.

“That’s no problem.” Nate kept his tone light and easy, just like always. “I’ll figure something out.”

Naomi gave him a wink. “I don’t doubt it.” Her grin held as she walked away, leaving him alone with Eloise once again.

And unfortunately he was going to take full advantage of the opportunity. Because he was weak. Too weak to walk away from Eloise in spite of the problems she would cause in his life.

“What do you know about Bryson’s father?” He cut straight to the point. Normally, he would spend a little more time—dish out a few more smiles—as he coaxed the information out of her. But Eloise seemed to have developed a sudden and irritating immunity to the charm he used like a weapon.

It was yet another development that made her even more appealing than she already was.

“That’s confidential.” Eloise smiled, the fakeness of the expression unmissable now that he recognized it for what it was. Her eyes dropped down his frame, hanging on the gear still strapped to his chest and waist. “I’m sure you understand how confidential information works.”

He laughed. It was impossible not to. He’d gotten peeks of the snark Eloise did her best to hide behind a façade of sweetness and agreeability, but right now it was on full, glorious display.

And it was all for him.

“I do.” He reached up to scratch at an itch crawling along his jawline, but the scrape of his fingers did nothing to ease what was gnawing at his skin. “I was just hoping you would make my life easier by offering up information I can find out anyway.”

“If you can find it out anyway then why are you asking me?” Her tone was a little bit breathless and for a second he didn’t realize why. But then the soft scent of her skin reached his nose, providing unavoidable evidence that once again he was moving closer to her without realizing it.

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