Page 83 of Her Delta Force Protector

“That had to make him happy.”

She laughed. “Understatement of the year. He’s coming to get me.”

Did someone just stab him in the heart with an ice pick? She was looking at him as if waiting for...he didn’t know what. “When will he get here?”

“He’s leaving now and driving all night, so in the morning.”

It wasn’t an ice pick. It was a damn sledgehammer. He rubbed his chest. “Stay with me tonight.” He’d always known she’d leave when this was over, but he wasn’t ready to let her go yet.

“Not sure that’s a good idea.”

It was the best idea. She had her arms wrapped around her knees, as if protecting herself. From him? He’d never hurt her. That was why he wasn’t trying to stop her from leaving. “Please stay.” He’d never begged a woman before, and he wasn’t sure why he was now. He filed that away to examine later. “After everyone’s gone, we’ll grill a couple of steaks, sit on the porch while they’re cooking, and have a beer or two, and then some you-and-me time.”

She lowered her face, resting it on her knees. “Okay.”

The word was whispered so quietly that he barely heard her, but he had. He could count on one hand the times in his life he’d truly been happy, and this one moved to the top. “Good.”Good?That was the best he could do when a girl had just given him what he wanted more than anything?

“How’s your head?”

“It’s fine.”

He wanted to touch her, but since making it back to his cabin, she’d seemed distant, as if she already had one foot out the door. This urge to wrap his arms around her and not let her leave was only because he liked having his best friend around.

Yeah, keep telling yourself that’s the only reason.He’d already accepted that he was falling in love with her, and since he still didn’t know what to do with that revelation, he’d wish her the best and send her on her way. But for tonight, she was his.

After their steak dinner, Kade sat on the porch drinking a beer, his eyes on Harper as she stood in the yard talking to her dad. He’d stopped to eat somewhere in Georgia and was returning her call so she could tell him where she’d meet him.

The easiest place to meet up was the Kitchen, and Kade would take her there in the morning. They’d promised to stay in touch, so he should be good with how everything had turned out.Should bewere the operative words because he wasn’t feeling so good. Maybe he was coming down with the flu.

“I’m going to miss her,” he told Duke. The dog tried to lick his face. “Sit.” Duke rolled over. “So, you’re back to pretending you were absent when the brains were passed out? Sorry, bud, won’t work. I’m onto you now.”

“Okay, Dad will meet us at nine at the Kitchen,” she said, returning to the porch.

“Come here.” He took her hand and pulled her onto his lap. She leaned her head on his shoulder, and he wrapped an arm around her back. “What are you going to do when you get home?”

“I don’t know, and I don’t want to think about it right now.”

“Hmm. What do you want to think about?”

“This.” She kissed him.

He loved everything about this woman—how soft her lips were on his, her coconut scent, how her body fit his, the way she brought peace to his soul. “Bed,” he murmured. He stood, chuckling when she yelped.

“I can walk, you know.”

“I know.” He wanted her in his arms for as long as he could have her. When he reached the bedroom, he lowered her to the mattress. He had a sound machine on the night table that sometimes helped him sleep, and he reached over and turned it on. Because her coconut scent made him think of the beach, he selected the ocean.

“Are we at the beach?”

“Yes, and I’m admiring the pretty girl walking by in her tiny bikini.” He unzipped her hoodie. “I’m trying to think of my best line because I have to meet her.” He leaned down and kissed her. “I might die if I miss my chance.”

“Oh, you better have a good line then.”

“So much pressure. Sit up.” He slipped the hoodie off, then slid his hands under her sweater. “No bra?” If he’d known that, his hands would have been sneaking under her sweater all through dinner.

“Didn’t see the point. My girls are happier when they’re free.”

“I’m happier when they’re free.”

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