Burned: Black Cipher Files #3 (Black Cipher Files series) by Lisa Hughey Read Free Book Online

Surfer dude extended his right hand toward my mother as his left arm curled around my shoulder. The heat of his body warmed me, his bare arm burned through the cotton of my sweater. He was practically naked next to me in miniscule running shorts and a tight runner’s bro tank. Didn’t he ever wear clothes?
    “Nice to meet you, Mrs. Smith.”
    Oh, it was worse than I thought. I stiffened, prepping my body, going over possible defensive moves, calculating the angle of his body next to, and slightly behind, mine, analyzing how to protect my mother. If I needed to. Maybe his knowledge of our names was nothing to be scared about. Then again, maybe it was.
    Shit, shit, shit.
    Had we been found? Would we have to leave this town, the life we’d built here?
    Waiting for his next move, I stood mutely while he charmed the suspicion out of my mother. My body primed, and vibrating with tension.
    Suddenly Blue was there. Right next to Mama.
    “Blue Harrison.” His deep voice rumbled in his chest. Blue didn’t seem as charmed as my mother.
    Big, scary, former-Marine Blue, owner of a bar and apparently my mother’s fiancé, was sizing up Zeke. I was used to dealing with things alone, but in this instance I’d take his help. Blue would back me up and things would be fine.
    Blue shook Zeke’s hand, his own large, strong hand fully engulfing Zeke’s long slender fingers. Blue was a giant bull.
    Zeke on the other hand was built like a wrestler. Wide shoulders tapered to a small waist, his arms were corded with muscle, veins prominent, and his long fingers were filled with strength. I remembered the resilient, smooth skin of his naked shoulders in the moonlight.
    Blue let go of Zeke’s hand. “How do you and Sunshine know each other?”
    Another gauntlet. “It’s a little embarrassing.” Zeke straightened and looked like he was going to call Blue sir.
    And I knew, without a doubt he was going to tell them the truth, that I’d been on the beach in the middle of the night. That I’d pulled him from the surf after his ill-fated wipeout. I absolutely did not want that 411 to come out.
    I needed to get him out of our store, make sure he wasn’t dangerous to my mother or me, and then send him on his way.
    “Cal Poly,” I blurted out.
    Surfer dude—Zeke, I repeated to myself, Zeke —canted his head and raised a brow. A tiny smile played around his mouth. His mouth. His lips were a little red, and we’d hardly even kissed. It had been chaste and romantic and—
    “Are you a student?” My mother asked politely but I could see speculation in her gaze.
    “Teacher’s assistant.” Desperately I tried, my brain going at about a hundred miles an hour, terminal velocity as I accelerated toward an absolutely catastrophic crash, to come up with something believable and get him the heck out of our store. Last night he’d referenced Hanlon’s razor, so hopefully he’d know something about physics. “Remember that physics class I audited last year?”
    My Goddess I wanted to get out of here. I wanted this stranger away from my mother. Away from our shop. I had to protect her, protect us.
    “How is that embarrassing?” Blue asked. His gaze moved between me and my supposedly former ISA, arms crossed over his chest, his appearance bigger and bulkier than it had been a minute ago. My mother put her hand, the one with the engagement ring, on Blue’s forearm.
    “Hey, are you the Blue from Blue’s Bar?” Zeke asked. I assumed he was trying to deflect Blue’s attention. I couldn’t figure out if that would work in my favor or against me. I was off balance from Zeke’s appearance and his kiss. Why had he done that?
    “Yeah.”
    “Looks like a great place.”
    “It serves its purpose.” Blue’s tone made it clear he didn’t want to let the question go. “Embarrassing?”
    “How about if I explain later,” I said desperately, and knew I’d have to come up with something plausible. “Zeke,” I hesitated over his name, “has