Page 78 of Her Sensual Protector

“Cancel it.”

Daisy felt herself go all gooey inside.

She asked “What?” just so he could do the commanding voice again.

“I said cancel it, Daisy, you’re staying with me.”

“Okay. So what kind of home do you live in? Typical bachelor pad?”

“Mirrors on the ceiling and a waterbed. You’re going to love it.”

She crinkled her nose. He motioned for her to pick up her menu.

* * *

It still blew him away that Daisy was here, in his house. It had taken a little persuading for her to leave the rental car at the restaurant and transfer the luggage to his truck so he could drive her to his townhome. He’d finally gotten her to admit that it kind of hurt to drive with both hands on the steering wheel because her shoulder still wasn’t healed.

“You sure do travel light. When I tell my sisters’ husbands that it’s one suitcase and a laptop bag, they’re going to want to marry you.”

“How many of your sisters are married?” Daisy asked as she preceded him up the steps to the front door.

“All three of them. So are my three brothers. I’m the only unmarried one left.”

Daisy stopped on the top stair. “How many nieces and nephews do you have?”

“Fourteen and two more on the way.”

“Holy smokes! No wonder you did so well with the kids in Aden.”

“Come on, move your tush, we can talk inside.”

Daisy stepped up onto the porch. Leo punched in the security code and unlocked the door and had her go in first. He closed the door, then reset the alarm. He saw Daisy peer curiously at his alarm system. He gave an inward sigh. He’d bet his bottom dollar that she didn’t have an alarm system. Another thing he needed to put on his to-do list.

“So why was the big-bad SEAL doing paperwork?” Daisy asked.

“Come in and get settled on the couch and I’ll bring you something to drink. What would you like?”

“Just water. But tell me why you’re doing paperwork,” she called after him as he walked over to the refrigerator in the kitchen.

Leo pulled two bottles of water out of the fridge and gave one to Daisy. “This week, no training for me until the leg heals up a little more, so in the meantime, I’m going to be handling a lot of my lieutenant’s paperwork. He might have been mad to begin with, but after this, I’ll have totally scored points with the man.”

“He’s mad about how you spent your vacation?” She opened up the bottle and took a sip, then looked up at him. “But why would he be angry? You were helping at the camp, how could he object to that?”

“It wasn’t the camp, it was more about you,” Leo explained as he sat down next to her on the couch.

“Why me?”

“He realizes just how special you had become to me in Afghanistan and he wasn’t really happy about it. Max isn’t thrilled with us getting involved with civilians during missions. As a matter of fact, it’s been pissing him off.”

“Wait a moment. That means that this has happened before, maybe more than once.”

Leo grinned. “Yep. This would be the fourth time. Well, fifth time if we count Zed, and he might be Night Storm, but he was working for another lieutenant when he found Marcia, so that doesn’t count.”

“Huh?”

“Long story. Suffice it to say that yeah, we go on missions but there are some lucky times where we find special women and work damn hard at making sure they stay with us.”

“You’re losing me, Handsome. But right now I could use a welcome to Virginia Beach kiss.”