Bound by Their Kisses(10)

Zander caught her staring and grinned at her. “Hey! We’re growing boys. It takes a lot to keep us in top shape.”

“You’re hardly boys, Zander, and men don’t grow after about twenty-three,” she said.

“Ah, so you do see us as men,” Tag said. He gave her a knowing look that had heat rushing up her neck to burn her cheeks.

“I love seeing you blush, Tessa,” Zander told her. “I bet when you’re lost in passion you look just like that.”

Tessa quickly looked down at her plate and concentrated on eating. She needed to hurry to get back to work. That and get away from the two men who were intent in breaking down her defenses. Nothing more was said while they ate, but once she’d finished, Tessa started gathering up her mess to throw it in the garbage can she’d seen on the way.

“Whoa, kitten. No need to do that. We’ll take care of the trash and clean up. All you have to do is sit and relax for a few minutes,” Zander admonished her.

“I really appreciate the meal. It was thoughtful, and it is such a pretty day for a picnic, but I’ve got to get back. I only have thirty minutes for lunch.” She started to stand up once again, but Zander stopped her.

“Steve said you could take an hour today. I asked, so just sit down and let’s talk and enjoy how nice it is out here,” he said.

With that, he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close enough their bodies touched. Tessa knew it would do her no good to try and pull away. He was much stronger than she was, and though she didn’t worry that he’d hurt her, she knew he wouldn’t allow her to move off.

“W–what did you want to talk about?” she asked, looking up at Tag.

“How about another Diet Coke,” Tag said and bent over to retrieve another from the cooler at his feet. “We want to get to know you better. Where are you from originally?”

“Alabama, Hillsboro. It’s a small town outside of Decatur. I doubt if there are six hundred people there,” she told them.

“What about family? Do they know where you are?” Zander asked.

“There’s nobody left but my brother, Keifer, and he’s in the Marines. We keep in touch, but he’s rarely around. I never know where he’ll be next. I don’t think he does either.” Thinking about her older brother had her wishing he was home.

“You miss him.” Tag made it a statement.

“Yeah. Well, he’s my older brother, and we were close until he enlisted. It was probably for the best. After our parents died in a boating accident, we lived with my aunt in Chicago for a couple of years. The gangs there are tough. You can’t really say no without some kind of backlash. He was worried they’d take it out on me and Aunt Lacy, so when I was old enough to go to college, he enlisted to get away.”

“He sounds like he was very mature for his age to choose something that would give him a means to support himself instead of taking the easy way and easy money,” Tag said.

“He’s a good man. I just wish he’d call it done there and do something here where he’d be safe.” She didn’t often allow herself to think about how dangerous it was for him on a daily basis. She had more than she could handle worrying about the day-to-day crap in her life.

“Have you asked him to?” Zander asked.

“No. I hint that it would be nice to have him around and that I miss him, but I’m not going to guilt him into doing something he doesn’t want to do. That’s not fair to him. He’s got friends now that are like a family to him. Sometimes he sounds far away, but I think he feels strongly about what he does.”

Tag nodded and reached across the table to snag her hand before she could move it out of the way. He squeezed it then let it go.

“Sounds like both of you have good heads on your shoulders,” he said.

“How did you end up here?” Zander asked.

Tessa was having a really hard time concentrating with Zander’s arm around her. His scent was getting to her. She wanted to lean into him and let him hold her for a few minutes, safe from the world and all the things she worried about. But that was folly. He was one of the very things that kept her up at night.

“Just where I ended up. I’ve been moving around for a few years. Didn’t want to live back home after Mom and Dad were gone, and Chicago isn’t for me. My aunt is living with her daughter in Skokie now anyway. I was never very close to Sandy. I just kept moving until I ended up here, and I like it. The people are nicer than a lot of places I’ve lived.” She closed her mouth, hating that she’d somehow dropped the fortress she’d built around her past and shared it with Tag and Zander of all people.