Protecting Fate by Katee Robert

in his veins, so the thought of him being swept away by a woman was stretching credibility. But apparently it’d happened. “I hear his woman is a force of nature.”
    “Penelope? Yeah, I guess she’s okay.” She sighed. “Sorry, I’m being catty. She is great. And Will has been as happy as I’ve ever seen him since they got together. It’s just… It was always me and him, you know? He stayed when Garrett left. I used to joke about him and me being like our dad and Uncle Rodger with standing game nights once we hit middle age. And now he’s got…her. He proposed. Did you know that? It’s only a matter of time before they set a date and get married.”
    Marriage. The thought was nearly enough to make him break out in hives. He’d sworn that he’d never put a ring on another woman’s finger after that nightmare finally ended. Z mentally shook himself. “I’m sorry.”
    “Don’t be. I guess it was kind of silly to think they’d go their entire lives without settling down. I just… They moved out, you know? Not too long after my mom left they were both in their own places. I saw the damage it did to my father, how hard it was for him to pick up the pieces. He almost lost his job because he could barely get up the energy to go to work, and I basically had to fend for myself.”
    Hearing that made him want to wrap her up and protect her. She didn’t need it. She’d come through—bringing her father with her, if his current happiness was any indication—and prospered. But it couldn’t be more obvious that, despite everything she’d done to succeed, she still wore the scars. “Sara.”
    She lifted her head and looked at him. “Yeah?”
    “I won’t make you sleep next to me again if you don’t want to.”

Chapter Eleven
    Sara couldn’t believe she was telling him some of this stuff—she hadn’t even been able to tell Ridley her feelings about Will because her friend was so jazzed up on her own happiness. And she was happy for her brothers. But it still stung.
    Z hadn’t called her a monster or told her that she was selfish for feeling this way. And now he was offering to take away one of the things that had spooked her in the first place. She bit her lip. Now that she’d calmed down a little, it seemed kind of ridiculous for her to react so strongly in the first place. “I feel a little silly for freaking out.”
    “Don’t. You’re entitled to feel the way you do, regardless of the cause.” He gripped the back of her neck, the feeling of his hand more a comfort than she ever could have anticipated. “But you will talk to me about it next time, instead of trying to run.”
    Next time.
    More talking.
    The thought should panic her even more, but there was something steady about Z that settled her in spite of herself. He was a rock—if one that liked to toss her around and beat her ass and make her come… She shifted, half-surprised at how quickly things had gone from fear to heat. She licked her lips. “Okay.”
    “Now, be honest with me—do you want this to stop?” He asked it without anything in his tone condemning her decision one way or another. If she said she never wanted him to touch her again, he’d back off and they’d spend the rest of this exile…what? Warily? Awkwardly? Fighting every second to keep from touching each other? All of the above?
    Or she could let go of her fear and grab this thing with both hands and ride it out to its conclusion.
    When she thought of it that way, there wasn’t much of a choice. As much as she hated the idea of letting him in enough to really hurt her, she hated the idea of ending this now even more. She dredged up what remained of her courage. “I don’t want this to stop… Sir.”
    His green eyes bored into hers, demanding the truth. “Are you sure?”
    “I’m sure.”
    Z sat back and took off his necklace. It was a small golden circle with a compass rose over the top, the directions holding their normal positions—north on top,