Page 100 of Her Defiant Warrior

So, he’d told his friends he’d meet them at Gideon’s house and help the moms run roughshod over the herd.

Jogging over to the garage door, he flipped up the panel and keyed in the nine-digit code and grinned. Only Gideon would have a nine-digit security code. The garage door started to rise and Mateo shook his head like a dog to get the water out of his curly hair.

“Jase!”

He looked up to see who had called his name, but it was anyone’s guess. There were four little kids huddled around the door leading from the kitchen to the garage.

“It’s Mr. Mateo. Can’t you see?”

Now that was Amber, Bonnie’s daughter, and she was definitely chastising her twin brother.

“Who’s Mr. Mateo?”

Mateo squinted and saw a dark-haired boy asking the question.

“He’s on Jase’s SEAL team. Jase is our new dad,” Amber’s twin brother, Lachlan, said proudly.

Mateo winced. He didn’t recognize the little boy that Lachlan Drakos was telling about the SEAL team. Mateo needed to let Jase know he needed to have another talk with his adopted son about discretion.

Lach jumped off the top step from the kitchen, straight onto the garage floor, bypassing four steps, and launched toward him. Mateo braced when the boy tried to take him out at his knees.

“I thought we agreed to call Jase, Dad. And Mom says you need to stop doing that and use the stairs,” Amber Drakos said. The seven-year-old sounded thirty as she admonished her twin again.

“So, don’t tell her,” Lachlan called over his shoulder as he clung to Mateo, then he started talking at a rapid-fire pace.

“We can’t play in the yard, cause of the rain. That’s a bummer. His yard is humongous, and it has a pool! But Gideon has cool video games, even ones mom won’t let us play. But we can play them with you, right?” Lachlan peered around Mateo’s leg to see outside. “Do you think the lightning will knock down a tree or hit the house? I heard about that happening to Tina’s best friend’s older brother’s girlfriend’s dad. That’d be cool, wouldn’t it? Lightning hitting a tree, I mean.”

Bright blue eyes, partnered with a gap-toothed grin, stared up at him. Mateo shook his head as he looked down at the kid. “What have you been eating?”

“There’s cake,” Amber said.

“And because the putt-putt park closed down on account of rain, they gave us each a candy bar.” The dark-haired boy scrounged an empty wrapper that was smeared with chocolate out of the front pocket of his jeans.

Well, that explained all the hyperactivity.

The boom of thunder was so close it reminded Mateo of a howitzer.

“Cool!” Lachlan yelled out.

“Who all is here?” Mateo asked Lachlan.

“Everybody.”

“Not everybody,” Amber answered as she sidled closer to Mateo and shook her head at her brother. “Some girls from my softball team are here, and a bunch of Lachlan’s friends from his Tae Kwon Do class. So are Mom and Mrs. O’Rourke with her baby Iris, an’ Mrs. Ericson, she’s Sasha’s mom. Oh yeah, and Miss Amy is teaching us kitchen stuff. I heard Mr. Ryker tell my mom that Miss Amy was his woman. My mom and Miss Amy growled at him.” Amber took a deep breath, then continued. “This house is so cool, Mr. Mateo!” Amber was practically jumping up and down. “The backyard is bigger than our school’s playground. Do you think Mr. Gideon would let us practice softball here?”

Mateo held back a laugh. The idea of little girls throwing balls through Gideon’s windows wouldn’t go over well.

“Let’s get inside. I’m all wet. Maybe one of the five ladies can get me a towel.”

Amber held out her hand. “Come with me, I know where the towels are.”

He looked down at Amber and noted her attire. “Why are you wearing your bathing suit? You’re not going to go swim in the pool, are you?” None of the women could have thought that was a good idea.

“Nope,” she said as she popped the ‘P.’ Then she giggled. “We had to change into our swimsuits so Mom could put our wet clothes in the dryer. She can do the same thing for you.” She paused and tilted her head. “Mom says it’s going to be a madhouse once the game’s over and everyone leaves the pub and comes back with the pizza.”

It seems like a madhouse right now, and I haven’t even made it into the house!

“Hey kids, I thought you wanted to learn how to make guacamole. If you do, you better come inside.”