Page 4 of SEAL'S Baby Surprise
“I’m Austin,” I say. I point to my dog, who is happily marching alongside us, giving him the hand signal to sit as we pause. “And that’s Ark-Ark. What should we call you?”
“Lee,” she introduces herself. She looks over at Ark. “Ark-Ark suits him. It’s just how he sounds.”
Ark, responding to his name, wags his tail. Since he has obediently sat as I’d commanded, he now raises a cloud of sand. He’s a long-haired German shepherd, so he has a lot of tail.
Standing up, Lee is scarcely as tall as my armpit. She is lushly rounded at her breasts and hips, with a bit of plumpness around her well-shaped waist. It makes her hourglass shape even more prominent, and since she’s a little wet too...
I stop myself.
I can’t look at her like this. She’s literally a damsel in distress.
But, I can’t help myself. The pattern of hummingbirds and flowers begins to make some sense. It was curved just right to make her look as if she has an hour-glass figure without corseting.
“Are you sure you don’t mind taking me back to your place?” Lee asks, turning those fathomless blue eyes on me. Fathomless…yeah, that’s a good word for her eyes. They are an amazing blue, as wide and guileless as can be, yet with depths that could not be plumbed by any mariner’s measure.
“It’s fine. You definitely look like you need a shower, and a shower I have. Come on,” I say. “My van is up this direction. No matter what kind of trouble you are in, everything looks better after a shower, clean clothes, and food.”
“I guess,” Lee says, in a doubtful sort of voice.
Well, not everyone is a believer. My experience is that low blood sugar, empty belly, and general physical discomfort takes away from focus and concentration. I’ve had the kind of training where I can push my way through this stuff.
Unless I’m sorely mistaken, I doubt she’s been through boot camp, let alone the rigorous special forces training that would allow her to zone out her physical needs.
Still, I have to give her some credit. She seems to be used to walking barefoot because she doesn’t wince at the hot sand and makes her way nimbly past pebbles on the sidewalk. She positions her feet duck-footed, like a dancer.
I wonder if she is.
“Where’d you learn to walk barefoot?” I ask, curious despite myself.
She makes a scrunchy kind of face. “Mom used to drag all of us to this weekend nudist camp. It was supposed to be super healthy. Mostly, it was full of gropey old men. There were regulations about girls and guys, so that helped. But I joinedtheir gymnastics class for girls. The instructor was about a hundred years old and looked like she was made out of bone and gristle with a little skin stretched over, but the old men and a lot of the young ones steered clear of her. She had black belts in about three different kinds of martial arts.”
“Your mother was okay with that?” The whole story fascinates me. I’m known for going down rabbit holes and getting caught up in tangents, and every element of her tale appeals to me.
This time she grins. It’s an adorable grin that makes me want to smile in return. t. “Mom thought it would make me skinny like Griselda. But all it did was make me solid. And I can do a triple back roundoff. Wanna see?”
I do. That would be cool as hell. However, I glance down at the concrete sidewalk we are now on and frown. “Maybe later. I don’t want you to crack your noggin or sprain an ankle if you land wrong.”
She shrugs. “All right, your loss.”
I do actually feel like it’s a loss.
Back at the van, I dig out a pair of clean sweat-pant cut-offs and a shirt that is too tight across my shoulders, along with a towel and washcloth. I’m not sure what exactly Lee will want to wear after she showers, but I hope she appreciates the hot water.
It’s something that Julia and I have in common... we both love showers. The extra-large water tank and gas water heater I’d invested in were worth every penny I’d spent on them.
While Lee goes inside and takes a shower, I fire up the grill again. I haven’t asked her what she likes to eat, so I make bacon and eggs again, toast, and set out jelly and jam. After a moment’sthought, I make fresh coffee and a pot of hot water. I have some tea on hand; I like a cup now and then. But I love my coffee in the morning.
I wonder if she does too.
Lee cuts a comical figure when she comes out. She’sunwound most of the fancy stuff, as well as the seaweed out of her hair. The pink mass flows over the shoulders of my old t-shirt. It might have been a little small on me, but that’s not how it fits her.
On her, it fits like a tent. The sleeves hang off her shoulders, and the hem comes to her knees. She is holding the sweatpant shorts up with one hand. “Do you have a belt?” she asks.
I don’t have anything that will fit. After a moment’s thought, I dig through the medical supplies and sacrifice a length of gauze. I wrap it around her waist and tie it in a bow over one hip.
She laughs and strikes a pose. “Very chic,” she comments. “Instant sash with puffy bow. Were you a tailor in another life?”
“No,” I say, smiling at her joy. “I had two older sisters who thought I was a dress-up doll until I got old enough to object. After that, I had to help them with their frills when they went somewhere. Older sisters can be real demanding.”
