Page 1 of The Hero I Can't Resist
CHAPTER 1
ZACH
The last time I saw her, she was a kid. She was a tomboy who trailed after her five older brothers and swore to anyone that would listen that she was going to marry me someday.
I was a twenty-something-year-old and was too busy and too dumb to pay her any real attention.
Now her older brother, my best friend and business partner, wants me to protect her.
“Check your phone,” Logan orders me.
I hesitate. My gut has never steered me wrong, and right now it’s screaming that this is something big and not to be taken lightly. I should hand this job off to Alex. He’s solid. He’s a good bodyguard and has plenty of military experience.
Even though I know I shouldn’t, I open the video Logan just sent me, and immediately I forget how to breathe.
The woman staring back at me is not a kid. She’s a grown, curvy woman. She has her hair twisted up in a messy knot, flour on her cheek, and she’s giggling at something off camera. For the first time in my life, I can’t look away from a woman.
A thousand questions go through my head, but I know I can’t ask Logan any of them. He’s overprotective of his sister.
I can just imagine how it would go if I asked him if she was single.
“Zach,” Logan says.
I force my eyes off my phone and look at my friend. “What does she need protection for?”
Logan growls. “She’s been doing these silly videos, and now she has a stalker.”
My heart starts to race, my blood starts to boil, and I’m fighting to remain calm. I start to ask and then stop and clear my throat before trying again. “What do you mean a stalker? And what is this?” I ask, holding up my phone.
Logan shakes his head and waves his hand around. “It’s ClipClap.”
I am trying to keep the frustration out of my voice, but it’s getting hard. “Logan, I know it’s ClipClap. I know what ClipClap is. I mean, what is it? Does she do videos like this all the time?”
He rolls his eyes. “It’s her job… I mean, that’s how she makes her money, and no matter what my brothers or I say, she won’t quit.”
I cross my arms over my chest. “What do you want me to do? Find the stalker and neutralize him?”
He blows out a breath. “If only it was that easy. I’ve had the team working on it, and they said that whoever it is has a VPN set up, and we can’t trace the IP address.”
I turn away from Logan and walk over to the big window. Logan knows me, and there’s no hiding from him, but the last thing I need is for him to know I am attracted to his sister. “So what’s the plan?”
I can hear the frustration in Logan’s voice. “I have to finish this last mission for Walker. I don’t have a choice, but I can’t just leave my baby sister unprotected.”
I’m taking the job. I took one look at her and decided that, but I don’t want to seem too interested. “Logan, we’re just getting Stronghold started. We have so much to do and?—”
“Miller is paying the bill. He put up two hundred and fifty thousand dollars to keep our sister safe.”
I turn and look at him in shock. I know Miller. He’s Logan’s older brother, and I knew he had money, but I didn’t realize he had that kind of money. “Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars?”
He shrugs. “He’s a millionaire. He wanted to invest in Stronghold, and when I told him I wanted to do it on my own, this was his way of keeping our sister safe and helping me out.”
I think about my sister Abby. If she was in danger, I would do—or pay—whatever necessary to do to make sure she was safe.
We’re a start-up. We really aren’t in a position to turn down paying cases, but getting paid for this doesn’t sit right with me. “I’m not taking any money. I’ll do it for free.”
As soon as the words are out of my mouth, I know it was the wrong thing to say. Logan is instantlycurious. He tilts his head. “You want to turn down the money?”
I shrug. “It’s your sister, man. She’s your family.”
