Page 34 of Her Delta Force Protector

It was a perfect fit. She’d gotten a glimpse of the price tag as Fanny held it up, and it was more than she wanted to spend out of the cash her dad had given her. But she did need a coat, and she did love this one.

“This comes with the family and friends’ discount. Twenty percent off,” Fanny said.

Harper grinned. “I think you just made that up on the spot, but I’ll take it.” If she ran out of money, her father would send her more, so that really wasn’t a big issue. Still, she didn’t want to irresponsibly blow through the cash she had. She’d be more careful with how she spent what was left.

She kept it on but pulled off the tags and handed them to Fanny. “I love your store. I could spend a fortune in here.”

“That works for me,” Fanny said, smiling. “Let’s get you checked out so you can get on with your day with that sexy man of yours.”

“Oh, he’s not my man. We’re just friends.” As much as she wished otherwise.

“The way he watches you, hon, could’ve fooled me.”

Harper snuck a glance at Kade, and sure enough his eyes were on her. He winked, then turned his attention back to Miss Mabel. When he winked at her like that, it felt as if they were sharing an intimate moment. The man was sending her mixed signals, and it was confusing. She didn’t know whether to ignore this attraction between them, or to go for what she wanted.

As she was taking her wallet out, Kade reached past her and handed Fanny a credit card. “That jacket looks awesome on you, P.”

She’d forgotten how he shortened her name to letters. She’d been both H and LT to him during their year of being friends. Now she was P, and she’d take that over Petunia. She tried to bush his arm away. “Thank you, but you’re not paying for it.”

“Am, too. Happy Birthday.” He turned mischievous eyes on Fanny. “You take her money, and I’ll sneak Earl’s goat in here. You know how much he loves to eat dresses.”

“But it’s not my birthday,” Harper said.

“Don’t care,” Fanny said. “Earl’s dress-eating goat tops all. Been there, not letting it happen again.” She slid Kade’s card through the machine, then handed it back to him. “You might want to go rescue your motorcycle. Miss Mabel’s backing out.”

He glanced out the window. “Oh, shit.”

“What?” Harper said as Kade ran out of the store.

“The woman’s a menace behind the wheel of that boat she drives.”

“Whoa! She almost hit Kade.” Was he out of his mind? He’d put himself between his bike and Miss Mabel’s car, and her front bumper had come awfully close to his legs. He hadn’t moved an inch. The man had nerves of steel.

Once Miss Mabel was backed out of the space, she gave a merry wave, then the car jerked, and then...good Lord, she floored it and the car shot forward.

“You should go make sure his heart’s still beating,” Fanny said.

“Good idea.”

Outside, she expected to see him look irritated or mad or something. Nope, none of those. “Why are you grinning? I thought she was going to run over you.”

“And hurt her favorite boy? Not a chance. Ready to go check out some space aliens?”

Men!

Chapter Seventeen

“This is the coolest hokey place ever,” Harper said as she peeked in the window of a spaceship about the size of a dining room table. “Look, there are even little green men and women in here. Who knew space girls had boobs and wore lipstick?”

Kade grinned. “What? You didn’t learn that in school?” He knew she’d get a kick out of the museum. She’d examined every supposed moon rock and photo of spacemen and UFOs in the place.

She glanced over her shoulder and grinned back at him. “That must have been the day I skipped class to make out with Jimmy Brickell behind the bleachers.” She turned and leaned back against the fake spaceship. “I had a huge crush on him, and I was so excited he was going to be my first kiss.”

“Something tells me this story isn’t going to have a happy ending.”

“Bingo! He stuck his tongue in my mouth, and it was gross.” She wrinkled her nose, but there was laughter in her eyes.

There she is, the fun girl I know.He stepped closer. “How do you feel about tongue now?”

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