Page 45 of Meant for Two

“Actually, my apartment isn’t far from here. I picked up a few items. I spotted the spaghetti and figured we’d need a strainer and such. I didn’t plan on Zane dumping the spaghetti sauce into the pan before cooking the meat and veggies, however.”

“Hey, that’s not fair.” Zane’s protest was totally fake. “I told you I’m not a great cook. I do breakfast, and that’s it.”

They must never have lived together if Jeff didn’t know that about Zane.

Blair poured their wine and then returned to her stool. She had the perfect vantage point for watching the men work. They stayed on task but would glance at each other quite often. The odd part was that they said nothing.

When Blair wasn't being sidetracked by this odd behavior, she admired how amazing these men looked. Both were incredibly strong not to mention handsome. “When do you have the chance to work out?” she asked. “You both seem so busy.”

Jeff looked away, but Zane turned toward her. “We both were into bodybuilding before we decided to start our company. To be honest, we haven’t hit the gym in a while, but we both have good genetics.”

She guessed that made sense. “What made you decide to go into the security business?”

Jeff stirred the veggies he’d just put into the saucepan and then turned around. “It was my father’s suggestion—and my uncle’s. When my dad was building one of his other complexes, there were quite a lot of break-ins, and he wanted to make sure that Woodland Estates had a reputation for being ultra-safe. It was one of the reasons why he chose that piece of land. It lent itself to being secure—or so we thought.”

“Have you taken any steps to improve security since the theft? Knowing that would help reassure prospective buyers,” she said.

Jeff told her about the work he and Zane did today around the perimeter. “Even if Dad were to invest in having cameras cover every inch of the complex, the fact remains that the amount of surveillance might scare off a prospective buyer. There is a delicate balance between security and esthetics.”

Blair smiled. “Throwing my words back at me, I see.”

“Just speaking the truth.”

When the men finished the meal, they carried it over to the coffee table. “I am working on some ideas for this place. A dining room table might have to be your first purchase,” she said.

“You might be right about that,” Jeff said.

Zane served up a delicious-looking plate of spaghetti and handed it to her. “Be kind. I’m a novice.”

She chuckled. “I’m sure it will be wonderful.” On her first bite, she groaned. “This is divine. Good job.”

Both men looked relieved. They acted as if they were interviewing for a job and had just learned they were on the short list.

While Blair wanted to ask them about their theories on who might have robbed poor Mr. and Mrs. Hensley, and if they thought the same person ran her off the road, Blair didn’t want to spend the night worrying about it. Her goal was to be with these two men.

She was still trying to wrap her head around the fact that her body practically vibrated with need whenever she was near them. No explanation made sense. Perhaps she had been working too hard and was in need of some nice diversion.

For the rest of the meal, they talked about the Development, as well as why she decided to get into real estate. By the time she’d finished her second glass of wine, Blair was beat. She hadn’t planned on yawning, but her body was trying to tell her something.

Zane picked up his plate and hers. “We should let you get some sleep.”

“Leave the dishes. I’ll clean up later,” she said.

He smiled. “If later means tomorrow morning, I think you’ll have a real mess on your hands. Caked-on tomato sauce will be hard to clean. Go climb into bed, and Jeff and I will clean up in a jiff.”

It wasn’t right that she was always sitting around while they did all of the work, but her wrist was sore and her body needed some rest. “Thank you. I promise I’ll make it up to you.”

Her eyes were having a hard time staying open, so there was no use lying and saying she was fine. Blair stood and walked into the bedroom. All she needed was a minute to rest, and then she’d change and clean up.

* * *

As soon as the bedroom door closed, Zane placed the dishes in the sink. “Do you think she knows?” Zane kept his voice low. It was possible she had good hearing.

“I doubt think so, because if she did, she might recognize that we are werewolves.” Jeff’s logic was sound. Female werewolves weren't as good at identifying their own kind as the males were.

“I saw the way her eyes flashed gold. I figure if her dad left when she was young, her father might not have said anything about him being a werewolf—and her too.”

When Jeff’s uncle had called and told him about Chris Czepanik’s fight in the prison, he’d mentioned a few more details—like he clawed the man’s eye out. He also revealed that both were werewolves. The warden had been transferred to this prison after both men had been incarcerated. Otherwise, he would have figured out a way to have them spend their time in a prison with their own kind.