Flawless Surrender (The Surrender Trilogy, #2)(16)

When the doorbell rang, Zoey plastered a smile on and swung it open. She was anticipating the blast of sex appeal from Tanner, but the electricity nearly singed her when her eyes met Dalton’s.

“Zoey Carson. Wow! I haven’t seen you since you were in pigtails,” Dalton said. His slightly shell-shocked appearance soothed her ego a little and she sighed.

“Ah yes, Dalton the demi-God who broke dozens of teenage hearts in Stone River when he left for medical school!” She threw back dramatically. His laughter was warm and he stepped forward wrapping her in a hug.

“Damn it’s good to see you too, woman. You grew up good!” Dalton’s hand rested on her hip with his arm holding her close, in an affectionate sort of way, as he looked her over. She returned the favor taking in his golden locks, dimpled chin, and midnight blue eyes. That combo alone would make for a teenage wet dream, but when settled over the top of a six foot tall perfectly sculpted specimen of man meat, it was nuclear.

“I’m not the only one. Age has done you well, Mr. Keegan.” She threw a glance at Tanner, surprised to find him glaring at the pair of them. “Morning, Tanner, is everything alright?”

“It’s fine. If you two are done drooling on each other, I would like to get a move on loading this stuff up. Unlike you two, I have chores to do when we get back.” He sounded gruff, but Zoey saw his eyes roam over her semi-empty place and soften when he realized what a small pile of belongings there was to move. “Did you get everything packed, Zoey?”

“Yep, this is it. Once we have it all loaded I just need to drop the key off to Mrs. Flannigan downstairs. Mr. Langley is going to be by tomorrow to collect all of the keys from her. She has a moving company coming to help move her out today.” She was still standing in the curve of Dalton’s arm, but sensing that it was making Tanner tense she took a step away from his younger brother and slid her hands into her back pockets. “Thank you both for helping me out. I’m sure Rogan, Parker, and Hudson would have, but with Sawyer down and the new baby—”

“New baby? What new baby?” Dalton asked, looking confused.

“The Brooks brothers married Rachel Morgan. You remember Rachel, she and I are best friends. The five of them got married almost a year ago now, and they just had a little girl named Juliet.”

“fu-ck me! You have got to be kidding. Parker Brooks got someone to marry him? And he has a kid? Wait, did you just say all four of them are married to her? How the hell does that work?”

Tanner and Zoey shared a look and a laugh, “Oddly enough, brother, it seems to work for them. She married Rogan legally, but they are all well and truly married to her.”

“And the town didn’t burn her at the stake for bewitching the four of them?” Dalton joked, and Zoey started giggling harder.

“Nope, in fact they seem to have embraced and accepted their family pretty easily. It’s unusual, but as long as they aren’t hurting anyone, they are allowed to love whoever they want.”

“Alright, you can catch up on all of the gossip at home. I’m sure Zoey will be glad to fill you in. Let’s get moving.” Tanner picked up the closest box and passed it to Dalton’s waiting arms.

“You got it boss,” Dalton said with a sharp nod to Tanner and a wink at Zoey before he spun on his heel and marched out of the apartment.

“I see your brother is still an enormous flirt,” Zoey said, picking up a smaller box and following behind Tanner as he carried two boxes at once.

Tanner snorted, “Are you surprised? Dalton’s flirting was legendary. There’s no way Africa could change him that much.”

Zoey dropped the subject as they stepped out into the sunshine and Dalton relieved her of her armful. Tanner might think Dalton had all of the flirting skills, but he wasn’t giving himself enough credit. He had been doing a number on her body ever since she was thirteen and she spotted him and Lindsay Self making out in the back of Dottie’s ice cream shop. How she was going to survive even a couple of weeks in the same house as these two was anyone’s guess.



*****



The scent of food drifted on the air as Dalton stepped into the living room, and his stomach growled. How long had it been since he had eaten a home cooked dinner?

Watching from the end of the hallway, he looked Zoey over. She had certainly grown into a stunning woman. Her curvy body was on the shorter side, but she far made up for it with her big personality. She was sexy as hell, and his cock took note as her long black hair swung down her back with her movements. Her back was to him as she worked at the stove, and if he wanted a better look at her perfectly round ass, he would have to move closer.

“Something smells delicious,” he said as he walked across the living room. Her head came up and she turned those enormous blue eyes on him with a million dollar smile.

“Tanner doesn’t keep the kitchen very well stocked, so I’m making do tonight. I found a beef pot roast in the freezer and I made up some egg noodles. There’s corn bread in the oven, would you mind setting the table?”

Dalton smiled back at the easy way Zoey made herself at home. The girl hadn’t even had time to unpack her stuff, and yet she was scrambling around the kitchen making noodles from scratch. She was a gem. “You got it, pretty lady, and believe me, I’m not a picky eater. If you knew some of the things I’ve eaten during the last ten years…” He shivered and shook his head making her laugh. The husky tinkle of her giggle went straight to his nuts and the moment her back was to him, he adjusted himself.