Page 29 of Protecting Clove
The other guys echoed Trip’s sentiment. He knew the other SEALs were golden, but still, it made his breath catch a little as they voiced their support for him and Clove. He hadn’t even known Clove when the year started, and now she was an important person in his life. It was weird how people slipped in and became important.
After the workout, he showered and made a grocery list for the next week. Before heading to the grocery store, he went over to Clove’s place to check in on her. She opened the door and waved him in before rushing over to the kitchen, where Neo was stirring something in a bowl.
“Hey, what’s going on?”
Neo’s lips stretched into a wide smile. “I wanted to make brownies.”
He glanced at the dark brown gloop in the bowl and nodded. “Oh, yum.”
“She talked me into it.”
“Nice. I’m going to the grocery store. Do you need anything?”
She shook her head. “No, I’m good for now. I have to go shopping on Sunday.”
He nodded. “Okay. I’m going to buy a pizza from their deli section. Would you be okay having that for dinner tonight?”
“Yes! Pizza!” Neo cheered.
“I guess you should pick up something for us. Neo likes cheese. Could you buy a personal cheese pizza from the freezer section?”
Neo huffed. “Okay, I’ll try a bite of the other ones, just to see if I like it this time.”
“Sure,” Clove said as she patted her shoulder.
He liked how Clove was with Neo. Hanging out with them made him feel complete. It was odd how good he felt just from being with a woman and her child. No way would he have ever thought being with a woman would fulfill him. And a woman with a child, what was he thinking? He was hooked, but it was so odd falling for someone, let alone someone with a kid.
21
Bud stayed over on Saturday night but installed an alarm at her place, so he stayed at his place on Sunday. Clove wished they had more reasons for him to stay, but he needed to get back to his life, and the more times he slept on her couch, the higher chance they had of him just ending up in her bed. She wanted to wake up with him but didn’t want Neo to think they were more involved with each other than they were.
Neo hadn’t picked up on the fact they were intimate, which she was thankful for. If Neo knew they were starting a relationship, she might decide they would get married, and there was so much that could happen between now and any possible marriage. She and Bud may never move past casual sex partners.
The sex was fantastic. Nothing casual about what Bud was capable of. The man was freaking hot stuff in bed, and they had to be quiet because Neo had been upstairs asleep. If they spent time really alone, she imagined it would be even hotter.
The school term ended, and she didn’t see Keith again. She hadn’t been followed home. She was sure of that. Bud had taught her how to make random turns and throw anyone following off.
With her school out, she pulled Neo out of the daycare, and they started going to the library every morning so Neo couldfind new stuff to study. Knowing Bud meant Neo had new things to obsess over. She wanted to learn about ships. Neo had just learned about shipwrecks and was deep in the middle of a book about shipwrecks in the Great Lakes.
Clove decided to learn more about child custody in California. She never wanted Keith to get any rights to Neo. He’d proven he wasn’t trustworthy, and Neo was too important to play games with.
On Friday, Bud came over after Neo went to bed, and they teased each other for almost thirty minutes before going to her room and locking the door. Bud had just finished giving her the most delicious orgasm when a notification ran on her phone that someone was in her backyard, setting off the camera.
Bud was up and had on his underwear in seconds. “Don’t follow. Check the cameras, and if you see something that bothers you, call the police.”
Her hands shook as she grabbed her phone and pulled up the application that would show her the camera feed. It took her a few tries to get the application up and the video running. Fear held her, and worry for Bud made it difficult to breathe.
She didn’t even hear Bud moving through the house, but the alarm turned off, and the back door opened. The video played back, revealing a kid retrieving a ball that had been tossed in the backyard.
She pulled on her underwear and a shirt before she stepped out into the main room and spied Bud coming back in. He had on his shoes with his underwear and she wanted to laugh, but the stress of knowing her alarm had gone off made her want to cry.
“It was a kid getting a ball that was tossed in the yard.”
“Shit.” Bud shook his head. “We need to figure out whose kid it was and make sure they understand they shouldn’t be going into people’s backyards.”
She blew out a breath. “It really freaked me out.”
“I’m sorry. If you didn’t have the alarm, you wouldn’t have gotten a notification.”
