Page 3 of Protecting Talia

His lips thinned, and he met her gaze. “Navy. Now be quiet.”

She nodded. “What’s your name? Figure I need to know since you’re all up in my business.”

“Zip.”

“Zip? Are you trying to tell me to shut up?”

He shook his head. “No. Call me Zip. That’s what I go by.”

She narrowed her eyes, not believing a word he was saying. Maybe he didn’t want to tell her his name. “Do you have another name?”

His lips turned down in a deeper frown under his mustache and beard. “I told you mine. Now you tell me yours.”

Was he trustworthy? She had no clue. She’d come to her sister because she knew some shit and wanted to help, but Cheryl had once again proven that blood was the thinnest substance on earth. “It’s Talia. That was my sister, Cheryl. You should probably stay clear of her. She won’t like that you helped me. Like I said, you’ll be banned.”

He shrugged like he really didn’t care. “That’s okay. It was a shit place, anyway.”

“Tell me your real name.”

“Lewis.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, first name is Lewis. Zip fits me better.”

She snorted a laugh, and embarrassment filled her. He probably thought she was a real dork. Heck, she was a total mess. Might as well add dork to the list.

He opened the bag and pulled out some supplies. “I need to clean you up before I put the antiseptic on. It’s not too bad. Maybe one stitch.”

“Can you give stitches?”

He nodded and met her gaze. “Yes. But I won’t use stitches, really. I’ll use some medical glue before I use stitches.”

“Great. Now you’re going to be gluing my head closed.”

“I sure am. Now be quiet so I can work.”

“You’re bossy, aren’t you?”

“Yeah. Now zip it so I don’t make a mistake. Your face moves when you speak, and I don’t want to mess anything up.”

She studied him as he worked, taking in his brown eyes that were kind, and his lips that thinned as he worked on her. He had a good tan and though he looked serious, she could see kindness in his eyes. It had been a while since anyone had looked at her with kindness. She was used to getting the worst from people.

“Almost got you cleaned up enough to see that indeed, you do need some glue on that. If I was doing stitches, it would be at least three. We could go to the hospital if you feel better about it.”

“No. Dickwad is working tonight.”

Zip’s eyebrows shot up. “Dickwad?”

“Richard. He’s my ex. I caught him fucking my sister.”

Zip didn’t say anything, but he leaned back and caught her gaze for a few seconds. When he went back to fixing her up, his lips thinned, and she could tell he was concentrating hard.

“This may hurt a little.”

“Why would gluing my head closed hurt?”

“I’m going to have to push the edges together and line up the skin so it doesn’t pucker. I’d like to leave you without a scar.”

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