Page 2 of Deadly Protector
“Ah, not a friend really.” She was part of an all-women’s kitesurfing group that met once a week but lately there’d been a group of younger people meeting up at the same time near them. “The guy’s just a rando who kitesurfs near my group and he’s like, maybe twenty-three.”
“So? You’re only thirty-one.”
“Thirty-two.” She’d just had a birthday.
“Tomato, tomahto.”
“A hookup isn’t what I’m looking for.” When her sister didn’t respond, she cleared her throat. “That’s what kids say now, right? Hookup?”
Angel snort-laughed. “I have no idea what ‘the kids’ are saying. And fine, you’re not looking for a fling, so what are you looking for?”
“I don’t know. The opposite of my past,” she murmured.
“Oof.” Angel was silent for a long moment. “What about that huge hottie from my wedding? The one you danced with a few times.”
“Ah…” An image of Dimitri flashed in her brain. Huge hottie was an apt description of the man. And he certainly wasn’t twenty-three. He was more likely forty-three and simply gorgeous. Big, broad shoulders, jet-black hair with just a bit of salt at the temples. His eyes were such a dark blue that they almost looked brown in darker settings. But in the light…
Gah, she had to stop thinking about him. It was hard though, considering she’d helped him during his physical therapy from a knee injury, had seen exactly how ripped he was all over. Well, she hadn’t literally seen him all over, but his gym shorts and T-shirts couldn’t hide his muscular physique.
“I was his physical therapist. So…” She’d met him at Angel and Juan’s wedding—Juan knew him somehow, from work at Red Stone Security maybe—and the chemistry had been immediate, at least on her part. But he’d never asked her out, and then he’d ended up in her office needing physical therapy not long after. She’d thought he’d been into her, but he’d never made a move and they were just friends now. They were both so busy anyway. Ugh. This whole question was moot so she didn’t even need to consider it.
“Oh my God, so what? You’re not his physical therapist anymore. So you’re legally allowed to date him if you want. You drive me crazy,” Angel grumbled. “All my sisters drive me crazy. Mama is a saint. Just don’t tell her I said that,” she tacked on.
“I won’t. And I think I’m going to say no for tonight. I’m going to head to the beach in a bit, get in some kitesurfing. It’s a gorgeous day.” She glanced out the window at the brilliant blue, cloudless sky. “I’ll want to crash afterward and I doubt you want me to crash on your couch.”
“You’re always welcome, but I get it. Will you be at Mama’s on Sunday?”
“Of course.”
“Okay, see you then. Love you.”
“Love you too.” She opened her sunroof as she headed home, glad it was such a gorgeous day. Getting a healthy dose of salt water and sunshine was just what she needed.
Yep,this had been exactly what she needed, Zamira decided as she finished folding up her parachute. She would lay it out in the grass of her backyard later and blow off the stray sand with her pump, but she was ready to get home and relax. Her muscles were loose and she’d gotten a text from Amelia that everyone was now in Seattle and enjoying ice creams during the layover. Everything was good in her world.
“You gonna be out here next week?” Kia, one of her kitesurfing friends, a forty-five-year-old real estate agent, asked as she approached. In a low-cut one-piece blue bathing suit, she was stunning as always. She got out here more often than Zamira and it showed in every line of her muscular legs. “I know you’ve got some down time coming up.”
“Definitely. I was thinking I’d be down here next Tuesday and Wednesday since there tends to be less traffic then.” There were a lot of things she’d planned for her two weeks off, but she was definitely getting in extra kitesurfing.
“Ha, same. Good stuff then, I’ll text you if anything changes but I’ll plan on meeting up with you.”
“Sounds good.” Zamira stood, stretched as she looked out at the ocean. The sky had shifted quickly, as it often did here. Gray clouds rolled in from the horizon and she’d been here for hours so it was a good time to leave. Before the thunder and lightning started.
“Zamira?”
She turned at the sound of a male voice, frowned slightly as a huge man approached her. In a white tank top and jogging-style pants that didn’t quite fit his big frame, he didn’t fit here either. No bathing suit, no towel or cooler. Something about him was familiar but she couldn’t place him.
“Zamira LeBlanc?”
She blinked at the use of her former name. Lucas, her husband, had been gone a long time. She rarely thought of him anymore, had gone back to being Zamira Nowak.
Then it clicked into place where she knew this man from. Ugh, great. She feigned ignorance, however. “Ah, do I know you?” In her periphery, she was well aware of at least eight other kitesurfers close by and within shouting distance. Instinctively, she pulled the zipper on her rash guard top a little higher.
His jaw clenched as he approached, his eyes narrowing against the sun peeking out from the clouds. Or he was glaring at her, she wasn’t sure.
Right about now, she was glad for her sunglasses. She started putting her kite into its bag and zipping it up as he reached her.
“I’m Kurt. I was friends with your husband.”
