Waiting For Nick: the classic story from the queen of romance that you won’t be able to put down

“Hit it off,” Nick repeated. “And you just let her walk out of here with a stranger.”

“Come on, Nick, Ben’s no stranger. We’ve known him for years.”

“Yeah,” Nick said grimly, imagining slipping the cloth noose around Zack’s neck. “He hangs around bars.”

Surprised and amused, Zack glanced over. “So do we.”

“That’s not the point, and you know it.” Nick rattled bottles and resisted the urge to pour a stiff shot of whiskey for himself. “You can’t just hook her up with some guy and let her waltz off with him.”

“I didn’t hook them up. I introduced them, they talked for a while and decided to catch a movie.”

“Yeah, right.” Movie, my ass, he thought. What man in his right mind would want to waste time at the movies with a woman with big, liquid gray eyes and a mouth like heaven? Oh, God, he thought, his stomach clenching as he imagined Fred at Ben Stipley’s mercy. “Ben just wanted a little company at this week’s box-office hit. Damn it, Zack, are you crazy?”

“Okay, I’ll give it to you straight. I sold her to him for five hundred and season tickets to the Yankees. He should have her to the opium den by this time.”

Nick managed to get his vivid imagination under control, but didn’t have the same luck with his temper. “That’s real funny, bro. Let’s see how funny you are if he hits on her.”

After setting the drinks aside, Zack turned to study his brother. Fury, he noted, which he’d seen plenty of times before on Nick’s face. Since it seemed so incredibly out of place under the circumstances, he kept his tone mild.