“I’m not a bodyguard. I’m her boyfriend.” That damn Max was riding an awfully thin line. Somewhere in the back of Zane’s head, logic was telling him he should back off. He might have to leave at any moment. He might have to break Callie’s heart again. He wasn’t listening to logic. He was listening to his ego, and it wanted to get Max away from his woman. Maybe it was time to shake the asshole up a little. “Well, I’m one of her boyfriends, anyway.” Let that sink in. Maybe if he shocked backwoods Max, he would go away.
A big grin spread across the cowboy’s face. He turned to Callie. “I hope the other one is a little smaller, darlin’.” He took a long drink from Callie’s mug. “This one looks like he could do some damage.”
Callie flushed prettily and didn’t seem to care that the jerk was drinking her coffee. “Max, you hush, and don’t you say a word to Rye.”
Just like that, it clicked. Max and Rye Harper were the twins Callie had been in love with. They had been the reason she wanted a ménage in the first place. This jerk with the perfect face was Callie’s ideal man. He wasn’t ridiculously oversized, and he didn’t have a face full of scars. He probably didn’t come with enough baggage to strangle an elephant, either. Old pretty-boy Max didn’t have a past filled with regret. Max leaned over to Callie. He invaded her space.
“You know I gotta tell Rye, sweet thing. He’s going to think it’s real damn funny that you’ve taken to the lifestyle.”
Max put a hand on Callie’s head, and Zane lost it. He didn’t even think about what he was doing. It was like watching a movie. He felt a bit outside of himself. He moved quickly, exiting his side of the booth, reaching for the asshole cowboy who dared to put a hand on his woman. He neatly picked him up by the throat and slammed him onto a nearby table. It was just chance that it was empty.
“Zane!”
Zane heard Callie’s outraged shout, but it seemed a far-off thing. There was only him and Max in that moment, and Zane needed to clear up a few issues before they could proceed. As for Callie, well, she’d made her choice the night before when she accepted him into her body. When she’d offered up that sweet pussy of hers, he’d taken more. She fucking belonged to him, and no goddamn cowboy was going to drink her coffee and touch her hair.
“Now, maybe we should talk about this, big guy.” Max was staring up at him with a slightly rueful expression. “You know, I think of her as my sister.”
“You touch your sister’s hair as often as you touch Callie’s?” Zane wasn’t letting him get off with that excuse. At least Talbot had taken a step back when he understood Zane and Nate had marked her as theirs.
“Yeah, but I’ll be honest, Brooke is more like my daughter than my sister. I had to raise her after my mom died and my dad left town. I’m a very affectionate guy. I swear on my unborn child’s life that I have zero interest in Callie on a sexual level.”
“Gee, thanks, Max,” Callie said, sarcasm dripping as she stood beside him. Zane’s hand was still wrapped around Max’s throat, but he wasn’t squeezing. Callie rolled those gorgeous dark eyes and sighed. “Do you mind, Zane? You’re causing a scene.”
Zane looked around the diner. Sure enough, every eye in the place was on them. Some were horrified at the scene and had cell phones in hand. Most, though, had big grins on their faces, including Stella, the diner owner, who was walking toward their table. She seemed completely unfazed by the potential ass kicking that was taking place in her establishment.
“Go rough on him,” Stella said as she neatly placed their food on the table. “He deserves it.” She looked at Callie. “I like your man, hon. He makes up for the other one. You gotta talk to the sheriff, girl. He keeps ticketing the tourists. I need the tourists in a good mood.” She frowned as she looked down at Max. “You know, I’ve been around enough of these crazy threesomes to know that there’s a hardass and a sweet one.” She patted Zane’s scarred face. “You’re the sweet one, hon. You get free fries.” She walked off, her boots ringing across the floor.
“Damn,” Max said, turning his head to watch Stella. “I don’t get free fries. Cal, I think Stella thinks I’m the hardass. She doesn’t know Rye at all, damn it. I am completely misunderstood.”
A few things fell into place, and Zane let his hand drift to his side. “You’re in a threesome?”
Max sat up and felt his neck for damage. “I don’t consider it a threesome. It’s a marriage. My brother and I are married to a lovely woman named Rachel. We have a baby on the way.” A sly grin crossed his face. “Did you think you were shocking me, city boy?”
Zane wasn’t sure how to answer that. He had thought it would shock him.
Max gave him a good-natured punch in the arm. “Nothing shocks a Bliss boy.” His face suddenly went cold and dark, and Zane decided he’d completely underestimated the cowboy. “But we take our relationships serious, you understand? I wasn’t joking. Callie’s like my sister. You play around with her, and you deal with me and Rye.”
“I’m not playing,” Zane said automatically.
Max seemed to take his measure. Callie’s arm wound around Zane’s waist, and he pulled her close, waiting for the judgment of her childhood friend.
“All right then,” Max said, scooting back into the booth. “As long as we understand each other.”
This time Zane pulled Callie along and pushed her gently into the booth on his side. Her sardonic look let him know she didn’t miss his reasons for changing the seating arrangement. He slung an arm around her possessively but decided to play the white knight as well. Callie needed someone who looked out for her. He passed the amazing-looking cheeseburger over to her.
Callie looked up at him. “But I ordered the burger for you.”
He winked at her and picked up the fork that went with the ceviche. “I’d like to try the special, babe. You take the burger.”
He was surprised to find he really liked ceviche de hongos with black beans and lemon, and he was starting to like Bliss.
Chapter Nine
Nate hung up the phone and felt his stomach drop. It was worse than he could imagine. There really was a bounty on Zane’s head, or rather on his chest, and there was next to nothing the authorities could do about it. It was all rumors. No one undercover was willing to risk their assignment for an agent who had gone down in a blaze of questionable behavior. Nate knew that Zane hadn’t done anything wrong, but his cover had been blown. He had left the agency without trying to fight for his job, and Zane had never really tried to fit in there in the first place. He wasn’t a “climb the ladder” kind of guy.
Luckily, Nate was. Special Agents Ben Leander and Marcus Worthington were on their way to Bliss. Nate had to call in a couple of favors, but he had some backup. Ben and Marcus were two of the best connected men the agency had. Nate sat back in his chair. His head was starting to pound. He’d had to promise his old boss that he would give serious consideration to coming back in three months. It meant breaking the deal he had with Stefan. Stef might understand, but he had to consider Callie and Zane. He always meant to go back to the DEA. He was on a fast track there. He would move up in the DEA and then look for a job in Washington. He might never get back the money his father had lost, but he could support Callie in the way she should be supported. He could give her a good life. He would find something for Zane. They would work it out. Nate’s mind raced. He would get a house with a guest house, and Zane could “live” there. Nate would marry Callie, and no one needed to know what their arrangement was. That could work, right?
Why were they coming after Zane and not him? The question nagged at Nate. They had both testified in the trial that sent Ellis to jail. They had him locked up good and tight. Everything had been tied up. Years and years of information gathering had led to numerous arrests and the end of the largest drug operation in the Southwest. Some of the group had gotten away. They hadn’t found all the money, but otherwise it had been a highly successful operation.