Page 22 of Commander

Maybe I could get Casey up for a sparring match in the basement. He’d probably bitch, but he had offered.

Besides, even if I decided to go for a run, he’d have to go with me. So, a workout in my townhouse was the better alternative.

I reached over and grabbed my cell phone and dialed his number.

* * *

“Stop dawdling and hit me,”Casey yelled as he knocked me on my ass for the fourth time in less than twenty minutes.

“I hate you,” I muttered.

I’d thought getting Casey up for sparring match was a good idea, but now I was rethinking my stupidity. My fifth-degree black belt skills meant nothing against his seventh. Especially when I hadn’t trained properly in over a year and a half.

Casey was killing me, and from the look on his face, he loved it.

Bastard.

When I’d first met Casey, he’d been one of my training instructors in Solon. His job had been to weed out anyone who couldn’t cut it as part of the organization. By the end of the eight-week course, I’d called Casey every name in the book and believed he was the spawn of Satan, but I’d made it to the next level. I hadn’t realized it at the time, that Casey was hardest on those he saw potential. And to this day I am forever grateful he taught me ways to use my petite, five-foot-two size as an asset.

He’d remained a mentor until I’d started taking assignments and moved up in the chain of command. Then, he’d become a friend. I’d known it was more than a coincidence that he was now the lead in my Secret Service detail. The man had connections and a way of maneuvering bureaucratic red tape that could boggle the mind. Casey viewed me as the daughter he’d never had and wouldn’t let anyone else head my protection.

No one outside of Solon knew of my connection to Casey beyond his current position. In the public eye, we’d kept a professional relationship. It was only in situations like this one, where we were trying to beat the shit out of each other at four forty-five in the morning, that we let our guard down.

I rested my head on the concrete floor, gasped in shallow breaths, and then glared at Casey. “I’m exhausted, dammit.”

His bright green eyes crinkled at the corners and his lips turned up in amusement. “I’m not the masochist who wanted an MMA workout the day before her wedding.”

“You’re my security. You’re supposed to talk me out of stupid decisions.” I grimaced as I struggled to stand. “If I have bruises, Neya is never going to forgive me.”

“When the wife to my new boss wakes me at a god-awful hour and asks to work out, I give her what she wants. Plus, you have something more to worry about than Neya.”

I frowned and took the proper stance. “Like what?”

“How you’re going to explain the bruises to your soon-to-be husband. If I hadn’t pulled back in time, you’d have a nice black-and-blue shoulder accessory to go with your sleeveless wedding lengha. That man notices everything about you, if you haven’t realized.”

I straightened. I hadn’t thought about that. In less than twenty-four hours we’d be married and on our way to our honeymoon. And I was already going to have to explain a few of my older scars. It would be better not to add a new one to the list.

“Shit. That puts a damper on any more sparring.” I released a deep breath. “You’re mean whenever anyone wakes you early and more than likely will continue this beat-down if I don’t end this now.”

“Excellent observation, Commander.”

“Not you too with the Commander shit. Really? Tyler put you up to it, didn’t he?”

Casey’s lips turned up a bit before he went back to his usual serious expression. “Secretary Camden is too busy of a man to discuss ways to annoy you.”

I walked over to a bin of towels and picked up two, throwing one to Casey.

“Yes, Mr. I’m-a-Prankster would never put you up to anything. Especially not something that gets me riled up.”

“It is who you are.”

I rolled my eyes and decided to change the subject. “I let you knock me around for the last half-hour to help me release aggression not antagonize me. Now, I’m back to square one.”

Casey wiped his face. “You could sneak into your fiancé’s bedroom and take it out on him. I’m sure he’d be more than happy to accommodate you.”

“Not funny. I thought you were on my side.”

“I’ve been on your side since the moment you walked through the doors of that training facility in Geneva.”

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