Prelude to a Fantasy: Prequel to Harmless Book 8 by Melissa Schroeder Page A

with Rory…well, that would end the friendship
and their company more than likely.
    “Your brother didn’t finance this trip for
that and you know it. Besides, what do you know about your
needs?”
    Okay, now he sounded like an ass. She rolled
her eyes and started to walk away. He grabbed her again and pulled
her back. This time he stepped closer. He caught a whiff of her
scent just then. She always smelled of cinnamon…like some kind of
sweet treat.
    God help him, he wanted to take a big long
lick.
    He shook his head and tried to get his mind
back on the discussion. “Listen up, Maura. Those guys in there
don’t play around.”
    Her lips curved and he couldn’t help the way
his heart did a little tap dance. Her tongue darted out over her
bottom lip. It took every bit of his control not to swoop in for a
taste.
    “I thought that’s what these guys were here
for.”
    “They are more than you can handle, little
girl.”
    If anything, her chin went up higher. Damn
her for being so fucking determined. And damn him for being in love
with her.
    His brain stopped right there and then. In
love. Him. With his best friend’s sister.
    Well, bugger me.
    “Zeke?”
    He shook his head trying to ignore the
dominant thought. Fuck, he was in love with her. What the
bloody hell was wrong with him?
    “Are you going to continue to stand there
and say nothing?”
    He grabbed her hand and hauled her down the
street. If he was lucky, he would ignore just how perfectly right
it felt to touch her this way.
    “Your brother said to keep a low
profile.”
    She didn’t snort but he knew she was close.
Lately, Maura had been trying to break away from her brother. Not
completely, but enough to spread her wings. The former FBI agent
wasn’t too happy that his sister was so open. Zeke was caught in
the middle. It was hard enough dealing with Maura on a daily basis,
but now that she had decided to explore her sexual options he was
having problems forming words.
    Zeke wanted to be one of those options more
than he wanted his own breath.
    “Why are we heading back to the hotel?” she
asked sounding more like a pissed off teenager. Dammit, why was
that attractive to him?
    “Because, we have to report in.”
    The moment he said it, her phone rang with
the Darth Vader Death March music.
    She smiled and answered.
    “Hello, brother, dear.”
    She frowned. “There is nothing wrong with my
tone. And to answer your question—although you didn’t ask it but I
am assuming you would—yes, we found her. Not sure how long she’ll
last here so you might get here as fast as you can.
    She was silent as she listened to her
brother and Zeke found himself losing his thoughts again. Lately,
whenever he looked at her, really looked at her, he couldn’t
think. There had only been one other person who had done that to
him, and it scared the hell out of Zeke.
    The wind caught a strand of her hair and she
brushed it away. The gesture was small but so feminine that he
found himself mesmerized by it.
    “Of course he’s still here.”
    She held the phone out to him. For a second,
he couldn’t act. His brain just couldn’t seem to work.
    “Zeke?” she asked, annoyance threading her
voice.
    He took the phone. “Hey, Conner, shouldn’t
you be in bed?”
    His best friend grunted. “I’ve been to bed
already. It’s almost six here in Miami.”
    “Ah.”
    “I want you to stay there.”
    He held the phone out and looked at it. Then
he brought it back to his ear. “What?”
    “I’m going to head out that way and should
get there tomorrow or the next day. I want you two to stay there
and keep an eye on the girl.”
    “You want us to stay here?” Zeke asked,
cursing inwardly.
    There was a pause. “Do you have a problem
with that?”
    It wasn’t a good idea, but he couldn’t say
that to Conner. He would ask Zeke why he didn’t think it was a good
idea. Telling Conner he wanted to fuck Maura until they were both
too tired to walk, probably wouldn’t go