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“Only about fifteen feet,” I told her, making a rash decision. “You can stay with me.”
She opened her mouth to argue, but I shut her up with a quick kiss to the lips.
“No arguments,” I ordered.
She narrowed her eyes.
“But, Lock…”
“No buts,” I said. “I don’t want you to go.”
“But we’ve literally known each other for like two days.”
“A week,” I said. “Officially, anyway. And I know what I want.”
Her eyes narrowed. “And what’s that?”
“I want you to stay,” I said. “I want you to give us a try…and you can’t do that by leaving.”
“I can find a place to stay in town,” she said. “Somewhere.”
“But can you afford it?” I pushed.
The quickness in which she shut her mouth was amusing, to say the least.
“I’m paying you rent,” she countered.
My eyebrows lifted. “How about you buy the groceries?”
She frowned. “That’s not enough…”
“You have no clue how much I spend on groceries a week,” I challenged. “I’m a growing boy.”
She poked me in the chest. “There’s zero fat on you.”
“That’s my Kevlar vest,” I countered.
She poked me on the underside of the chin.
“You’re not wearing a Kevlar vest there,” she countered.
That was true.
“Do this.” She dropped her chin to her chest and then grabbed the fat that resulted in the maneuver.
When she looked back up at me expectantly, I did as she asked, laughing when she scoffed.
“See, zero fat.” She grabbed the muscles of my neck. “You have zero fat.”
“How did we digress to this conversation?” I asked. “I eat.”
“You eat,” she agreed. “What?”
“Well, tonight I’m eating poorly,” I amended. “But yes, I usually try to eat healthily. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“In my freezer, I have chocolate ice cream,” she said. “In my fridge, I have cookie dough that I eat by the hunks every time I pass the fridge.” She paused. “And in my cabinets, I have peanut butter that I eat like it’s going out of style.”
“I eat peanut butter, too,” I countered.
“What do you eat with your peanut butter?” she asked.
I frowned. “Apples?”
She started to laugh. “I eat marshmallows with mine.”
I just shook my head, unable to come up with a comment that wouldn’t offend her in some way.
Instead, I changed the subject.
“Do you want to go out with a few of the guys and their women?” I asked. “We’re supposed to have a team meeting today, and I want you to come.”
Her head tilted. “Royal will be there?”
I nodded. “Royal will be there.”
“Then I’ll come.” She smiled.
Relief coursed through me at her agreement.
“Good,” I said. “Let’s get these boxes into my house.”
***
Saylor
The men of the KPD Motorcycle Patrol were all hot.
Extremely hot.
Even Jonah, Lock’s uncle, was hot.
Though, saying that, he wasn’t like any uncle I’d ever seen before.
I held out my hand to him and smiled.
“Saylor,” I said.
He took it with a grin. “Jonah.”
“Can I call you Uncle Jonah?” I batted my eyelashes at him.
The woman at his side started to snicker.
My eyes flicked to hers just as Jonah said, “Sure.”
“You’re not calling him Uncle Jonah.” Lock hooked his arm around my neck and pulled me into his side. “I don’t even call him that.”
I grinned at the familiar-looking woman standing next to Jonah.
“Why do I know you?” I asked, frowning hard.
Then it hit me.
“Piper!” I said, clapping my hands. “When did you get back? And Jesus, you’re beautiful. When did you get so beautiful?”
Piper started to laugh.
“I lost some weight when I started bootcamp.” She grinned. “It’s nice to see you again, Saylor. And as for when I got back, not too long ago, actually. I’ve been out of the Army officially for a couple of months now.”
I grinned. “It’s like one massive family reunion,” I said as I watched Justice and Royal walk up hand in hand. “Aren’t y’all supposed to be on a honeymoon?”
Justice made a face. “Somebody forgot her passport. We missed our first flight because we had to drive back home. Then the resort canceled our reservations since we didn’t arrive on time…so it just seemed like the best idea to stay at home until we can plan another one.”
I winced, looking at Royal who was looking quite guilty.
“I’m counting it as a win,” she said, waving her hand through the air as if to clear it. “I heard that there were fifteen people murdered in Mexico over the weekend. I’m choosing to think we would’ve been two of them had we gone and fate not intervened.”
My lips twitched.
“Those people were fishing off-shore and their boat capsized,” another newcomer added.
I looked over to see a tall, and extremely hot man in boots, jeans, and a t-shirt walk up with his arm around a brown-headed woman who looked just as beautiful as the man, come to a stop next to Jonah and Piper.
I knew the woman, too, but couldn’t place her like I’d placed Piper.
