NFH 02 Perfection (25 page)

Maybe he should have picked up a
couple of steaks with the works, he thought and then quickly
dismissed the idea. Zoe would have balked at breaking her diet like
that. Once she realized she could eat regular food, but with
healthy choices she'd be fine.

"Here you go," he said, grabbing her
sandwich and drink and setting it in front of her. "I grabbed you a
turkey, no cheese, extra veggies and fat free mayo on wheat. It's
healthy food and it won't leave you starving, Zoe," he explained,
hoping she wouldn't give him much of a fight, because at this point
he was willing to pin her to the ground and force feed
her.

She'd lost too much weight to be
healthy and worst of all she was making all of his favorite curves
smaller. He loved those fucking curves and he'd be damned if she
denied him. Plus, she really was making him nervous.

Not that he really cared or
anything.

Okay, so he cared a little bit. She
was his friend and they were sleeping together after all. It was
only natural that he be concerned when she was putting her health
and more importantly their arrangement at risk. He needed to work
her out of his system and he wouldn't be able to do that if she was
constantly sick.

At least that's what he told
himself.

Truth was he really didn't like seeing
her suffer. She'd been really good to him and he loved their time
together. She was the highlight of his day and as much as that
frightened him he couldn't ignore it. He'd help get her where she
needed to be, finish this arrangement after he found his future
wife and keep tabs on her afterwards to make sure she was okay.
Maybe he'd put her in one of his nicer apartment houses and let her
live there free. It was the least he could do for her and it would
make it so much easier to make sure that she was okay.

"What if I get fat again?" she
muttered so softly that he almost missed it.

He just barely stopped himself from
snapping at her. "Zoe, you really need to eat. This isn't healthy
and if you make better choices and continue to exercise you should
be fine."

She tore her eyes away from her
sandwich and gave him a sad little sheepish smile. "I always gain
back the weight plus a little extra when I break a diet," she
admitted, her little chin wobbling.

Sighing heavily, he reached out and
took her hand into his. "You're not breaking your diet, Zoe. You're
just switching it around. Plus, I'm around and if I see you eating
something unhealthy I'll just steal it from you," he said with a
shrug.

Her lips twitched even as her eyes
shinned with unspent tears. "That's really nice of you."

"I know," he sighed, picking up her
sandwich and placing it on her lap. "I'm so damn
giving."

He heard what suspiciously sound like
a snort of laughter, but decided to ignore it as he devoured his
four sandwiches. It didn't take Zoe long to tear through her sub
and when she shot his last sandwich a wistful look he sighed and
pulled out the small side salad he'd bought just in case Zoe busted
his balls over the sub. She took it with a smile, leaving him to
finish off his sandwich and pick out a movie.

"So, what else happened today?" he
asked as he sat back down and threw his arm around her shoulders
and pulled her against him.

She shrugged, snuggling up against
him. "Not much else. I had a problem getting my car started, fell,
bruised my bottom, got to go home early and Jared yelled at me for
starving myself," she announced around another yawn.

"Seriously?" he asked, not really all
that surprised. If anyone would notice what Zoe wasn't feeding
herself it would be a Bradford and since he knew his uncle cared
for Zoe he wasn't at all surprised that the man had taken it upon
himself to have a word with her instead of pushing the duty onto
someone else. No wonder she left the trailer crying. When his uncle
cared about someone who was doing something stupid he really let
them know it and he should know since he had firsthand experience
dealing with his uncle's "concerns."

When he'd dropped out of school at
sixteen and got into a screaming match with his mother over that
and his demand that she sign the release form so that he could join
the army, Jared had been the one to handle him. As he yelled at his
mother his uncle quietly walked into the room, crossed his arms
over his chest and leaned back against the kitchen wall while he
patiently waited for the argument to end. The moment his mother
told him his choices were to get his ass back in school or move out
he told her to have a nice life and headed for his room to pack up
his shit.

Since he was big for his age and
looked at least eighteen and had twenty-five dollars to his name he
figured he was more than ready to start a new life. After his
father humiliated and abandoned him along with all his friends
because of the special classes he had to attend he was damn
determined never to return to school. He hadn't seen any real
reason to. He was a man and more than able to support
himself.

After he packed a duffle bag he
stormed out of the house and past his hysterically sobbing mother.
He didn't make it three feet past the door before he found himself
flat on his stomach, on the grass that he'd forgotten to mow and
his uncle's knee between his shoulder blades.

While he struggled to free himself his
uncle held him there, calmly explaining to him, in detail, what
would happen to him if he tried to leave the house again without
his mother's permission and what he would personally do to Trevor
if he ever heard him talk disrespectfully to his mother again. As
soon as Trevor apologized, with a mouthful of grass and god only
knows what else, Jared continued to tell him that he was going to
come work for him full-time where he could keep an eye on him, but
that he was also going to get his GED.

His uncle didn't ask him what he
wanted. He just told him to have his ass up by six in the morning
and be ready for work or his ass better be going to school. Six the
next morning he groggily waited for his uncle to pick him up and by
the end of the day he wished he was dead. He'd hurt everywhere, had
blisters on his hands, was sunburned, exhausted, starving and more
than ready to go home and crash, but his uncle had other plans for
him.

Trevor woke up when his uncle
announced that they were there, only to discover "there" was the
community center. With a simple nod he told Trevor to get out and
go inside for his GED class and that his mother would be there to
pick him up in two hours. Before he drove off he explained what
would happen if Trevor didn't stay awake and pay attention. Knowing
his uncle didn't make idle threats he stumbled inside and forced
himself to stay awake and pay attention.

Eight months later he had his GED and
a pay raise for doing a good job. By then he liked his job and was
pretty good at it so he stayed. He saved his money, learned to flip
homes with his uncle and by twenty owned his first rental property,
a beat up tiny cottage by the pond that he fixed up and once he did
he never had a problem finding tenants that were willing to pay his
asking price. Since then he'd bought several more rental properties
and flipped at least two houses a year.

He knew there might come a day when
his uncle decided to sell the place and retire and he didn't want
to find himself dependent on some asshole who didn't want some guy
who couldn't read well working for him. When the day came that he
no longer had a job working for his uncle he knew he could more
than take care of himself. He also knew that if his uncle hadn't
threatened to beat the shit out of him numerous times over the
years that he would have probably fucked up his life big time and
been screwed when his mother passed away ten years ago.

Of course his uncle was also a big
softie when it came to woman so he was probably beating himself up
right now for making Zoe cry, but it had been for the best. He'd
wondered why she gave in, not that he really thought she gave in
that easily, but he figured he was going to have to tie her down to
feed her. He was glad that his uncle did most of his dirty work for
him. Not that he really expected this to be the end of it. He
wasn't fucking stupid after all.

"Yeah, it's really sore," she said,
squirming next to him to shift some of the weight off her
bottom.

"I didn't mean that, smartass," he
said, moving away from her. "Lay down," he said, grabbing the
pillow and quilt.

When she shot him a nervous look, he
bit out, "To rest, Zoe. No sex tonight. I promise."

Did she not trust him? That just plain
hurt.

"Are you sure?"

"Didn't I just say no sex tonight?" he
demanded, wondering why the woman didn't just take his word for it.
It wasn't as though he acted like some horny bastard that couldn't
keep his hands off of her.....at least he hadn't
tonight.

"I can survive a day without sex,
Zoe," he pointed out, purposely not mentioning the mind blowing sex
they'd had this morning since it would only weaken his
point.

"Okay," she answered slowly, keeping
an eye on him as she lay down and snuggled beneath the
comforter.

It was insulting and if she wasn't so
damn tired he'd do that thing with his tongue that he knew she
liked and make her apologize for ever doubting him. He really
couldn't believe that she didn't trust him, he thought as he
started to climb behind her, pausing to adjust the bulge in his
pants.

He was just wondering how in the hell
he was going to lie behind her without her finding out that he was
a lying bastard when the doorbell rang. With an annoyed groan he
climbed back off the couch and was about to tell her he'd be right
back when he realized that she was already fast asleep.

Poor thing really was exhausted, he
thought as he pressed a kiss to the top of her head and earned a
little grumble and a swat. So of course he did it again, chuckling
when she tried to hide beneath the comforter as she called him a
"Muking mastid."

He quietly left his apartment,
shutting the door halfway to give her privacy as he wondered who
the hell could be at his door this late at night. Then he wondered
if Zoe had called for Black Jack's and simply forgot to tell him
about it. She was tired and he was a Bradford after all. She knew
damn well if she put enough food in front of him that she could
distract him for a while. Poor thing was probably hoping to buy
some time, he thought as his poor neglected stomach growled in
anticipation of finally getting some proper nourishment.

So when he opened the door and
discovered that it was not a Black Jacks delivery boy waiting to
hand him a box full of deliciousness, but Hank with two incredibly
beautiful women he scowled, just a little bit.

"Ah," Hank started, clearing his
throat nervously, "Mandy this is Trevor. Trevor this is Mandy,"
Hank said gesturing to the gorgeous blonde who was busy running an
appreciative eye over his bare chest.

"What do you need?" he asked Hank,
feeling his patience fray. Not only had the man interrupted some
decent cuddling time with Zoe, but he'd made him think that he was
getting Black Jacks' pizza, something that he just couldn't
forgive.

"Did you forget about our double date
tonight?" Hank bit out, gesturing discretely to the two women
standing behind him.

Frowning, Trevor looked back at the
woman named Mandy and looked her over. She was beautiful,
stunningly so. She had just the right amount of makeup, perfect
silky long black hair ending halfway down her back. Her breasts
were high and full without the look of plastic and her figure was
absolutely perfect.

"We thought we'd head back to the
girl's place so that Mandy could cook us all dinner. She's a chef,"
Hank announced with a cocky grin, no doubt knowing how attractive a
woman who could cook was to a Bradford.

What he didn't know was that so far
Mandy was scoring pretty high on Trevor's perfect woman list. He
shot a look over his shoulder before stepping out onto the front
stoop and closing the door behind him.

He shot Mandy a smile that she quickly
returned.

"So, Mandy, tell me....are you a
Yankees fan?"

"Yes," she said, giving him a flirty
little smile.

"Are you close to your
family?"

"Yes."

"Large family?"

"Yes," she answered, frowning a bit at
his questions or the rapid fire way he was asking them, he didn't
know or care.

"Do you think you're fat?" he asked,
narrowing his eyes on her as he waited for her to
answer.

Her beautiful, perfectly painted mouth
worked soundlessly for a moment before she answered. "A little, but
I'm on a diet," she rushed to explain as if that's what he wanted
to hear.

"Do you like dogs?"

"Yes, but I'm more of a cat
person."

"Are you clingy?" he
demanded.

"No," she answered with a nervous
laugh as she shot her sister, who only shrugged, a look.

With a regrettable sigh he shook his
head. "I'm sorry, but this isn't going to work out."

"What the hell are you doing, Trevor?"
Hank demanded anxiously. No doubt the man wouldn't be getting laid
tonight, but Trevor couldn't help it. He had his standards and this
woman failed them.