Page 18 of Her Delta Force Protector

“You can call me Harper.”

“Okay.”

He headed down, and when he was out of sight, Harper said, “He’s a sweetheart. He has Down’s, right?”

“Yeah. Word of warning. Don’t try to help him do his job, which includes any housecleaning, cooking when it’s his night in the kitchen, or cleaning up after dinner. He takes it to mean that you don’t think he’s doing a good job, and it upsets him.”

“Gotcha.”

He led her to Tristan’s second-floor rooms. “This floor is all yours.”

“What about your brother? I don’t want to—”

“Not a problem. Like I said, he spends most of his time at Skylar’s. I’m on the floor above you. I need a shower. We’ll leave in about thirty minutes if that works for you.”

“Oh, we’re not eating here?”

“No, I thought you might want to check out our little town.”

“Great. If there’s a clothing store, I need to pick up a few things since I packed so light.”

“There is. See you shortly.”

“Wait, I need to send those license plate numbers and the photos to Skylar. She said you’d give me her email address.”

“Right. Let’s do that now.”

“I’m ready,” she said after turning her computer on and logging in.

He gave her Skylar’s email address.

“I’m sending her the whole file. It’s got everything in it plus a timeline of events I created.”

“Skylar will let us know when she has something. I’ll be back in a few.” He headed for the stairs, stopped, and said, “I’m really glad you’re alive, Harper.”

“Me, too.”

And he was going to keep her that way.

“We’ll eat first, then you can go shopping.” Kade clipped Duke’s leash to the hook screwed into the outside wall of Katie’s Corner Kitchen. Duke knew the drill and didn’t fuss about being left outside.

“He’ll be okay here?”

“Yep. Katie makes sure there’s water for him and Fuzz, and half the people around here carry dog biscuits to give the two of them. He loves the attention.” He opened the door of the diner. “The locals just call this the Kitchen. Katie serves up some damn good food, but her cheeseburgers are the best.”

As usual, the diner was busy, and he should have considered that because every head in the place turned their way, wondering who the woman with him was. The phone lines would be burning up. He put his hand on Harper’s back and guided her to the only empty booth. He nodded at people he knew as they passed, but he didn’t stop and talk. Let them wonder who she was.

They’d barely gotten seated when Katie appeared with two glasses of water and a menu, which she placed in front of Harper. “Hi, Kade.” She gave Harper a friendly smile. “Welcome to the Kitchen. Would you like something besides water?”

Harper smiled back. “Thanks. Water’s fine, and Kade said your cheeseburgers are the best, so sign me up for one.”

“Kade’s right. Fries, a side salad, or a bowl of homemade wild rice and mushroom soup?”

“The soup sounds yummy, so I’ll have that.”

Katie turned to Kade. “The usual?”

“Always.” He lifted a chin toward Harper. “Katie, this is my friend...” He grinned at Harper. “Petunia. Petunia, Katie Dawson, who will get a hundred questions as soon as we leave from all the nosy locals wondering who you are.”

---