Letters from Home (Love Beyond Reason #1)(12)

“What the hell is going on, Benson?”

Zack rubbed away the impression of Mike’s fingers against his chest and peered over his friend’s shoulder. Lena sat with her sisters. She hadn’t gone far. “Just a friendly game of pool and some decent conversation for a change,” he answered with a roll of his shoulders as he picked up his cue.

“What are you doing with my sister?” Mike stood at the ready—shoot first and ask questions later. His fists clenched at his sides. “Zack?”

Zack hit the ten ball into the side pocket and straightened. None of your damn business. But that wasn’t going to fly. He shrugged. “Nothing…anymore.”

“Is that supposed to be funny?” Mike’s voice vibrated with restrained fury.

“No,” Zack bit off, stopping the harsher words that wanted let loose. He threw the cue down on the table. “I better go.” He did not want to fight with Mike about this.

Mike grabbed his arm. “You might be my friend.” He shook his head. “But don’t mess with Lena. She’s inexperienced…and fragile. She’s not used to dealing with guys like you.”

“Let go of my arm.” Zack frowned, pulling out of Mike’s grasp as he tried to reconcile the woman Mike described with the woman he knew.

Mike filled the doorway and crossed his arms over his chest.

Zack blew out a breath. “How long have we been friends, Mike?”

Mike didn’t answer right away.

“How long?” he demanded.

“How the hell should I know? Twenty years?”

“Twenty-five, you shithead.” Zack let the endearment slip as the irritation inside of him started to boil over. “I’m not messing with Lena.”

Mike opened his mouth as if to object.

“Besides,” Zack interrupted. “Lena deals with guys like us… All. The. Time. She can handle herself better than a lot of soldiers I know.” He shook his head. “Wake up, Mike. I want your sister. I’ve wanted your sister for years. Now I have to convince her I’m worth her time.”

He left Mike speechless in his wake and made his excuses to the rest of the family. He waved a hand at their protests. “I gotta go.”

Go blow off some steam.

Lena avoided his gaze, but he didn’t let that stop him from giving her shoulder a squeeze before he left.

Zack reached his car, blew out a breath, and leaned against the hood. She’d kissed him, and she’d kissed him good. There was no mistaking her response. But then she’d run away like the Taliban were on her heels. So, what did she want?

Frustrated, he hopped into the car and headed home. This had all seemed so simple when it started. How the heck was he supposed to win Lena over with her brothers and sisters overlooking their every move? Maybe she really had joined the Army to be alone.

Back at the house, he still crackled with nervous energy. He wanted to go for a run, but chose to occupy his brain instead, so he compiled a new version of the code and started running compliance tests for the Sacramento project. Still, his thoughts kept returning to Lena. He needed to get her alone, tell her everything, and beg her to kiss him again, because that kiss was proof. Proof that some part of her was willing to give him a shot.

Over and over, he ran more trials, testing again and again, while playing out various scenarios in his mind. He was running out of time. The annual Christmas Concert was in two days, and the Winter Carnival would be winding down. He could almost picture Catalina performing in the finale, surrounded by poinsettias—

He jumped up from his desk so fast he knocked over the chair. The concert. It was true the Rodriguez family was everywhere, but maybe he could turn that to his advantage. With a sly grin, he picked up his phone and dialed the familiar number.





Chapter Six


…I heard about your spell with the flu. Your dad said you were sent to Germany for a week where they hooked you up with fluids. Must have been hard for you. Everyone at home was worried and praying for you. Your mom lit at least ten candles on her first visit to church. Haha.

I think of you often and can’t wait until you’re home where those of us who love you can take care of you for a change…

Lena read through bits of the letter she’d gotten in June. On the shorter side, compared to the others, which were filled with pages of small town talk, this one had been short and sweet. The first letter to indicate that he loved her, even if it had been grouped with ‘those of us’.

This man had seen what she needed even from thousands of miles away. Someone to take care of her. She took a deep breath. She really was in love with the letter writer.

Anger crept into her thoughts. Where had Zack been all year while she was deployed? Working? Playing? Moving home?

Staying busy, that’s for sure. He hadn’t stopped to write her a letter. How could he kiss her like that? She clenched her hands into fists.

She looked down to where she’d been icing cookies with her mother’s decorating tips. A swipe of black icing left an angry belt across Frosty’s middle. “Oops.”

Calmly, like the adult she was, she set the pastry bag on the table. She had a box full of letters. And she wasn’t going to ruin the feelings they’d evoked because a man, who was more like a brother, suddenly had romantical feelings for her. “Romantical. Is that even a word?”