Page 73 of Over the Top

“She’s great. Cute as a button,” Spencer replied.

“Is she making noise? Baby babbling or crying?” Chas asked anxiously. “When she’s afraid she goes completely silent. Is she safe? You’re sure these Oshiro guys can’t get to her?”

Drago answered more gently than Gunner would have guessed the guy was capable of. “She’s babbling up a storm. The gal from the agency who’s watching her speaks some Japanese, and Poppy seems to be responding very well to that. As for her safety, we’ve got that place protected like Fort Knox. Spencer and I have called in a few favors, and some of our friends are supplementing the already formidable security team at the estate.”

“Why don’t you guys start swinging back around toward this side of the country over the next few days,” Spencer suggested. “If this comes to a fight, I’d rather do it on my home turf.”

“But we’ll be leading reinforcements back to possibly even more Oshiros!” Chas protested.

“I swear to you, Chas. We’ve got this under control,” Spencer responded. “With the team we’ve got in place around Poppy, she’s safer than any baby on the planet. I stand by our plan of taking out as many of these Oshiro dudes as we can before we hand her over to her father.”

Gunner ended the call after that and watched pensively as Chas wandered into the bathroom, trailing his fingers in the hot tub’s bubbling water. The bottles of port arrived. Gunner signed for them and carried them into the bathroom, where Chas now sat in the tub, staring out the window.

Gunner stripped silently and slid into the tub beside him. “You really love kids, don’t you?” he asked quietly.

“Yeah. I do.”

“You’re going to be a great parent.”

Chas sighed. “I don’t know if it’ll ever work out.”

“I learned in SEAL training that if you want something bad enough, you should refuse to give up on it until you get it.”

“I’m no SEAL, Gunner. I’m just a slightly neurotic kindergarten teacher from a small town without much of a dating pool.”

Gunner turned to stare at Chas. “Are you kidding me? You’re a great catch. And God knows you’re the most loyal friend I’ve ever had. Why you stuck with me for all these years, I’ll never know.”

Chas glanced up at him. “You were a bit of an asshole there for a while.”

“Still am, last time I checked. But I’m working on being better.”

“When you’re not going all SEAL on me, you’re fine just the way you are,” Chas declared.

If only.“I’m sorry about this morning,” he murmured.

“What do you have to be sorry about? I’m the one who blurted out something stupid and awkward.”

Gunner frowned. “I’m no great expert on relationship shit, but I hear that expressing your feelings is supposed to be a good thing.”

Chas laughed. “Wow. Spoken like the most clueless man ever. You realize you just verified all the stereotypes about strong, silent males being emotionally unavailable, right?”

“Like I said, I’m no expert at relationships.”

“Or feelings, apparently.”

“Or deep conversations.”

“Or basic manners,” Chas added.

“Hey, now. I know how to saypleaseandthank you. And I call womenma’am.” He poured a glass of the deep burgundy port and held it out to Chas. “Here. Drink.”

“A toast,” Chas murmured, waiting for Gunner to pour himself a glass.

“What shall we toast?”

“To Poppy being safe.”

“Well, duh. Anything else you’d like to toast?” Gunner asked.

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