ground as pain flooded her senses. “It’s okay, everyone. He works for me.” She struggled to catch her breath.
Her hands moved to her chest. A trickle of blood seeped between her fingers.
We should have done more testing.
Or maybe Trish is calling me out for using her death to profit. If she was still here, I would tell her this was for her...all for her...
The world spun as Zoey tumbled downward and darkness swallowed her whole.
What in the hell was that woman thinking, having her man shoot her to demonstrate one of her products?
Eli raced to the front of the tent and elbowed his way through the throngs of people who had rushed to help Zoey Martin.
Damn that woman.
He couldn’t believe she would ever do something so foolish, so brash. Then again, should he really be surprised? All she ever cared about was being at the center of everything—attention, plans, a firefight—it didn’t matter. It was Zoey Martin’s way or no way at all.
Damn her.
And damn himself for thinking he could come here and walk away from her unscathed. Whenever he was near Zoey, he should know something bad was bound to happen.
If she was dead...he’d kill the man who’d pulled the trigger.
Who would have ever gone through with such a stupid publicity stunt?
Zoey lay in a fetal position as he got to her, her pink dress pulled up high on her thigh and exposing a little pair of black shorts. Her side rose and fell as she breathed, and aside from her lying there, and him having watched her being shot, she didn’t look too much the worse for wear.
He pushed the crowd back from her, yelling at them to give her some space. He knelt down in front of her. “Zoey?”
Her eyes were closed and her lips were pursed as though she were trying to Lamaze her way through the pain. Even doing that, he’d be damned if she still wasn’t one of the most beautiful women he’d ever seen. And that dress...
He held his chuckle as he realized once again he had found himself in trouble because of the perfect dress...and once again it was on Zoey, the woman his world had revolved around just two years ago.
Oh, how the mighty fall.
Zoey’s eyes fluttered open, revealing her caramel-colored eyes. If only she were half as sweet as those eyes looked.
“Eli?” she said, her voice ragged with pain. As she moved to sit up he could see the blood on her fingers.
His heart dropped. She was really actually hurt.
His anger morphed into panic. “Zoey, we need to get you out of here and to the hospital. Do you think I can move you?” He leaned in and moved her hand.
There was a crushed slug embedded into the fabric of her dress.
Though he had heard rumors about the bulletproof capabilities of her new clothing line, he hadn’t truly believed it until now. It seemed unfathomable that something like this was possible.
“Holy crap, Zoe...” he said. His breath escaped him as he reached down and pulled the slug from her dress.
The pink fabric was still in place, with not even a single tear. Where the bullet had impacted, there was a bit of blood seeping up and through the fabric. How could something stop a bullet, but then let blood through?
He stared as he tried to make sense of it until he finally pulled himself back to the task at hand.
“Zoey, are you okay? Can you move?” he asked.
She stared at him. “Eli, what in the hell are you doing here?” She moved to sit up. “You... You shouldn’t have come.”
“And you shouldn’t have done what you just did.” He gave her a hand and she pulled herself to standing. As their fingers touched, he couldn’t help but be a little surprised that she had taken him up on his offer of help. She must have been hurting.
She pulled her hand from his. With a nod of acknowledgment, she made her way back up to the podium.
“Everyone,” she said, clearing her throat and forcing herself to stand straight. “Everyone, please quiet down,” she said over the manic cacophony of sound. “Excuse me.”
The room silenced.
“As you can see, our new Monster Wear has the capability to stop a bullet at close range, all while being cool, comfortable and stylish,” she said, stepping out just slightly so all could see her dress. “I am fine.”
“You’re bleeding!” someone in the crowd yelled.
“I said our clothing was bulletproof, I didn’t say being shot would be pain-free.” Zoey laughed, the sound tight and high like it hurt for her to breathe. “Like I always say, if you can’t handle a bee sting then you need to stay out of the nest.”
Eli shook his head.
Once again, he felt as if she had played him for a fool. Why did he have to be so stupid when it came to Zoey Martin?
He turned, about to walk out.
“Can we all give my assistant who was willing to pull the trigger, at my request, a big round of applause? And can we also please do the same for Mr. Eli Wayne for coming to the rescue of a lady?” She motioned in his direction and gave him her perfect, sexy smile...the one that always drew him back into her nest.
Applause filled the tent. Heat rose in his cheeks as men came up and patted him on the shoulder. He wasn’t a hero. And though Zoey put on one hell of an act, she definitely wasn’t a lady...at least not in the bedroom.
Almost as if she could read his mind, Zoey reached up and unzipped her dress. The fabric gripped her body and she had to roll it down in order to get it off her. Beneath the dress were those little black shorts and a black sports bra and nothing else.
His mind went to the last night they had spent together. What had it been, two years ago now? Sometimes their breakup seemed like a lifetime ago and then on days like this, it seemed like only yesterday.
He could still recall the way she smelled after her runs, a mixture of fresh air, sweat and strength. And when she was happy, her voice always took on a special lilt as though whatever she was saying was just for him. That was one thing he missed the most, the way she had always made him feel like he was the only man she had ever loved. And yet, he was left with nothing but a broken heart and fantasies of what could have been.
Oh, Zoey... Why did she do this to him?
She turned and smiled at him as her hand moved down her waist and rested gently on her hip.
His body disobeyed his mind and he could feel himself stirring to life in all the wrong places at the sight of her half-naked body.
The last time he had seen her this unclothed, it hadn’t taken but a matter of seconds to get her into nothing at all. He could still remember the way she had tasted of salt and sweat on his lips as they made love. They had been on a takedown outside Tikrit, working a small village where a group of high-grade mercenaries, or mercs, had been holed up.
As he closed his eyes, he could almost feel the sand that had stuck to her skin as he worked his fingers down to her navel.
He stiffened further.
No.
He couldn’t think of anything sultry about Zoey. No. She had watched his heart break and left him standing alone, without a job, without a home, without a family and completely adrift.
No matter what, he couldn’t forgive her for all she