Protecting Her Heart (Seals Security Book 3) (9 page)

Luke stood in his office staring through the slit in the blinds at Evie. She was wearing a thin blouse that fit her properly today and his eyes were glued to her breasts. It had been about a month since she’d blown up at him over being late. He’d brought her into his office later that day to explain his seeming rudeness and she’d apologized for yelling at him. After that little snafu they’d gotten along great except he couldn’t seem to stop thinking about her sexually.

Wanting her had become a habit over the past few weeks. He burned daily, watching her like some kind of obsessed maniac. Just like he was staring at her now with his cock throbbing and he wondered how he could get her off his mind. He hadn’t tried dating again since he went out with Kate because the Texas office was taking up a lot of his time.

Eric had handled the details of getting the office constructed the way they wanted but now it was finished and the men were here being trained. It was taking more time than he wanted to get the teams ready to start working. He was also trying to figure out who should manage the office there. Eric would be there for the first three months of operation but then someone would need to take over. They had four interested candidates and choosing one was hard because all four of the men were damned good options. 

Eric entered the outer office carrying a white bag and Luke expected him to walk over to his office but watched instead as he sat on the edge of Evie’s desk. He dangled the bag in front of her and she glanced up at him with a bright smile that set Luke’s teeth on edge. He stepped closer to his door so he could hear what was being said.

“Hello, beautiful,” Eric said, his grin wolfish. “How are you today? Ready for our date tonight?”

Luke felt fury burst through him and his body felt stiff, almost rigid. What the hell was Eric doing dating Evie? He was about to storm out his door and grab him by the scruff of his neck when Evie spoke.

“Oh, stop. It’s self-defense training, not a date.” She laughed and hit Eric’s arm, shaking her head.

“What? It’s not a date? I’m devastated,” Eric said, grabbing at his heart like he was upset with a goofy grin on his face. Luke wanted to put his fist through his friend’s teeth. What the hell was wrong with him? He shouldn’t be so upset over the suggestion that Eric and Evie were dating but he was and to the point that he wanted to kill his best friend.
Shit
, he needed to get a grip.

All he could see in his mind were images of Eric shirtless while teaching Evie to defend herself and suddenly he knew that he wasn’t allowing Eric to continue her training. He would be doing her self-defense classes from now on, not Eric. No way in hell was he going to allow Eric to put his hands on Evie. Shit, that thought was fucked up. He knew that he was slightly obsessed with her but he hadn’t realized it was so strong. 

He didn’t do relationships after his fucked up engagement. It didn’t matter that his parents had been happily married for over thirty-five years or that his sister and Tina were now happy with their new husbands. He refused to allow himself to be hurt by another woman. He needed to get a handle on this need he had for Evie because she was not the one-night-stand type. Nor was she the friends-with-benefits type either, which made his wanting her even more complicated. Maybe he s
hould
let Eric do her self-defense classes. 

Luke discarded that idea after a scene of Eric shirtless while touching Evie flashed into his head setting his teeth on edge. His jaw tightened and his fists curled at his sides. Yeah, that wasn’t going to be happening. He pushed his door open and stepped out into the outer office.

“Eric, I need to speak with you,” he grunted, drawing his friend’s attention from Evie, who was opening the bag Eric had just handed her. The bright smile she flashed at Eric as she drew out a muffin of some type had him taking a step forward. Eric’s eyes held a questioning look but he nodded and stood up from where he was sitting on the edge of Evie’s desk and moved towards Luke’s office. Luke felt something that had coiled into a knot inside him slowly unclench as Eric moved away from Evie.

“Thanks for the blueberry muffin,” Evie said to Eric, who flashed a grin at her over his shoulder making Luke want to plant his fist in his face for the second time that morning.

When the hell had they gotten so chummy?

Stepping back to allow Eric into his office, he shut the door behind him with more force than was necessary. Eric’s brow raised and he sat down on the edge of the chair staring at him. Luke felt like his insides were boiling.

“I’ll take over teaching Evie,” Luke said, his voice low and gruff. Eric tilted his head, studying him for a long moment.

“I don’t know if she would be okay with that, Luke. She’s already had two classes with me and seems comfortable. Changing it on her now might slow down her self-defense training. She was lacking majorly in that department and I want to get her up to speed quickly. It’s a miracle no one has hurt her before now and I think it best if she learn as quickly as possible. She’s a sweetheart and someone is bound to try and take advantage of that.” Eric ran a hand through his hair before adding. “I don’t know how some men can live with themselves. Evie was defenseless and it always worries me when a woman is that woefully out-matched.”

Luke could see the dark frown in Eric’s eyes and knew that he was thinking of Jessie again. He almost sighed because he couldn’t stay pissed at his friend despite the anger thinking of him training Evie brought to the surface. Jessie was Eric’s step sister and while he was in the Navy with Craig and Luke, she’d been raped because she hadn’t known how to get away from her attacker. It had devastated Eric because she was really the only family he had and her being hurt while he was away had nearly destroyed him.

It was why they’d made the policy that everyone at Seals Security was given self-defense training. Eric also did a one-week class once a month that was taught in their private gym and offered for free to the community. Despite knowing Eric’s reason for wanting Evie trained, he wasn’t able to allow Eric to continue training her. He couldn’t help the almost feral need to separate them that overcame him. 

“Regardless, I will be taking over effective tonight,” Luke told him flatly.

“Luke, what the hell, man? You know that she needs to feel comfortable with her instructor in order to learn the moves. Throwing you into the mix with you being her boss is likely to cause an issue. She won’t want to throw you down because she’ll worry you will get upset. When we set this up we agreed that direct employees should be trained by someone else because of that very—” Eric was saying, his frown dark as he scowled at Luke, who interrupted him.

“I know what we said but I’m changing my view on that today. I will be taking over and it’s not negotiable,” Luke growled.

“Luke—” Eric began again.

Luke sliced his hand through the air, “No, I said it’s not negotiable. I won’t argue about this. I will be the one teaching Evie from now on and that’s final. I’ll make sure she’s comfortable. Now, go find something to do and don’t tell her I’m taking over either.”

Eric watched him, his fists clenching at his sides as a muscle along his jaw jumped and Luke could tell he wanted to argue. Luke didn’t give a fuck. He wasn’t going to be tortured by visions of Eric and Evie sweaty and touching. Oh hell no, that was not happening.
Ever
.

“Have you lost your mind? There is a damned good reason we made that rule, Luke,” Eric demanded, his face grim.

“Look, I don’t care what you think, her training is no longer your concern,” Luke muttered, his fists pressing into the desk as he leaned forward glaring at Eric.

“I don’t think this is a good idea, Luke. You are her boss and it will make her hesitant to toss you around and you know that. Why are you being so stubborn about this?” Eric demanded, his face contorted in confusion.

“It’s not your business anymore. I said I’d handle it and I will.” 

“Fine, but don’t blame me when it doesn’t work and you have to ask me to take over,” Eric grumbled before he stormed out of Luke’s office, slamming the door behind him. Luke let out a little growl of displeasure over Eric’s parting shot. There was no way in hell he was going to ask Eric to resume training Evie.

Evie was waiting in the gym at six for Eric to show for their training session. She was actually becoming more comfortable with the moves he was teaching her. At first she’d been awkward and a little hesitant but she was getting better. At their last session, Eric said she could invite Rory to the class he had once a month and attend it with her if she wanted. Rory had thought the idea was great and Evie planned to get the details on the class from him tonight.

She was curious as to why he’d been so angry when he left Luke’s office today and she intended to ask him about that tonight too because she was nosey. Yep, she was a little messed up when it came to Luke. She was constantly aware of him as a man. The other morning he’d leaned over her to grab the stapler and she’d almost had an orgasm from the feeling of his body so close to hers.
Ugh, she was pathetic.

She hadn’t had sex in so long it was likely that she would spontaneously combust from the hot maleness he exuded. She could still smell the dark woodsy scent of his cologne that had surrounded her. Evie shifted slightly, feeling her desires burn through her when she thought of Luke. Why couldn’t it be Eric she was attracted to? He was just as good looking and he wasn’t always around to torture her. She finished her stretching routine and wondered why Eric was late. She glanced at the time, seeing that it was six ten and he still wasn’t here yet.

She glanced up when the door opened and she was surprised to see Luke entering the gym wearing a pair of workout pants and a t-shirt. Damn, what was he doing here? Another vision of him to add to her nightly sexual fantasies was the last thing she needed because they were already out of control.

“Sorry I’m late, got stuck in traffic on the way back. I’ll be taking over for Eric because he had something he needed to do tonight,” Luke said as he neared her.

Evie stared at him, her mind refusing to comprehend the fact that he was going to be throwing her down on the mat tonight instead of Eric. He would be pinning her with those hard arms or pressing against her back with his thickly muscled chest. Her heart rate picked up and her ears rang as she tried to catch her breath that was suddenly coming out in little pants.

“It’s okay. I can wait till Eric is able to teach me,” she muttered, trying not to let her girly bits command her to just go with it. Being surrounded by his scent and held to the mat with those hard male hands she’d fantasized about repeatedly was so not a good idea.

Nope, not a good idea at all
.

Luke frowned darkly at her before he muttered, “No, he’s turned your training over to me because he has stuff he needs to handle for the Texas office.”

Evie frowned. Why would Eric have confirmed earlier today if he didn’t want to teach her anymore? Had she offended him in some way? Or was this why Eric had been so mad when he left Luke’s office earlier. Did Luke think that she was trying to do something unsavory? She knew that he had read the background check about her; was he thinking she was going to try to use Eric in some way? Evie didn’t know what was going on but she was a little upset over this turn of events. Not only because he might think she was a bad person but also because she wasn’t sure her working with Luke was a good idea when she already had a hard time keeping her mind out of the gutter where he was concerned.

“Okay,” Evie finally said, her blood still rushing through her like a racehorse galloping across the finish line. She couldn’t refuse because then he would want to know why she was refusing and then what would she tell him? She couldn’t say that she was already having issues controlling her libido around him—now could she?