Page 8 of Her Delta Force Protector

Harper choked down a laugh. And she thought she was being covert. She fished a fifty and a twenty from her wallet. “Here, plus a tip.”

Like magic, the twenty disappeared into the waitress’s bra. “One hour, hon, then you leave.” The woman headed back to the bar and handed the fifty to her old man.

It wasn’t surprising that the couple was scraping by. Even with it being bike week, during the time Harper had been here, only a few men had come in, stayed for a beer or two, then left. At the moment, there were three customers besides her. Harper didn’t think any of them were tailing her, but that was an assumption, so she stayed alert for anyone paying too much attention to her.

Everyone but her father believed she was dead. Her friends from Fort Bragg had held a Celebration of Life for her, which her father had attended. When they’d called her dad and asked if he could come up for it, he had agreed, telling Harper it would be suspicious if he didn’t. That hadn’t sat well, letting them believe she was dead.

Her biggest regret was that she’d given up her place with the Peace Corps. That dream was never going to happen now. How could someone who jumped at shadows traipse off to some foreign country and not see danger behind every corner? She just couldn’t do it.

Eight o’clock finally arrived, and she turned on her phone. Seconds later, it vibrated, Kade’s name coming up on the screen. “Kade.”

“Where are you?”

“At a dive bar like you said. It’s Bottoms Up.” She gave him the address.

“On the way.” He disconnected.

“A man of few words,” she muttered. Didon the waymean ten minutes or another hour?

Since he should be here soon and she was thirsty, she drank a little bit of the warm beer. “Yuck.” She hadn’t stopped for food since getting off the bus in Myrtle Beach this morning, and that bit of beer didn’t feel so great in her stomach.

She thought about asking for a glass of water, but the waitress was studiously ignoring her now, and she didn’t want to be ordered out before Kade arrived. She wanted to call her father, but she didn’t dare. Had he gone to her cousin’s beach condo like he’d said he would? No one should be able to find him there. That was her hope, anyway.

A trio of men wearing biker leathers came in, loudly laughing and pushing each other. This was obviously not their first bar stop. Two of them headed to the bar, but one glanced around, then his gaze fixed on her, and he grinned.

“Crap,” she muttered when he headed for her.

“Hello, there,” he slurred as he swayed on his feet. “You want some company, babe?”

“No.”

He sat anyway. “Aw, don’t be like that. What’s your name, babe?”

“Get lost.”

“Well, now, that’s a funny name. I think I’ll just call you babe. Whatcha drinking, babe? I’ll get us another round.”

“I said get lost.” Her gaze was caught by the man slipping up behind the biker on silent feet. Kade had shaved his beard since she’d last seen him, but his hair was still that messy, wind-blown look that she liked on him. Good gracious, he was hot.

“The lady said get lost, so do it.”

“I’m busy here. You get lost,” the creep said.

She wasn’t sure exactly what Kade did, but he put his hand on the back of the man’s neck and lifted him out of the seat. It made her think of a puppet controlled by a puppeteer.

“Walk away now,” Kade said, menace dripping from his voice.

The man didn’t just walk away, he ran.

Well, wow! She wanted to know how Kade did that.

He picked up her duffel bag. “Let’s go.”

“Okay.” She slipped her purse over her shoulder, and for the first time since she’d “died,” she felt safe. As he followed her out, the waitress fanned her face. Harper gave her a yes-he-sure-is-hot grin.

Parked on the sidewalk outside was a black motorcycle. When Kade stopped by it, she frowned. “That’s yours?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

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