Protected by You

by Nikki Mays

Becca gives me a smarmy smile. “Sure thing mommy dearest.” She hops off the bed and follows her father down the hall.

  “Mommy dearest my ass.” I mumble.

  Missy clucks her tongue. “Go with the grey sweater, tight dark blue jeans and those cute black booties with the buckles. Ya know, the ones that you hid in the back of your closet like we wouldn’t be able to find them? I’m going to go out there and make sure that JJ doesn’t go running for the hills because of Dad and Becs.”

  I give her a grateful look. “You’ve always been my favorite.” I deadpan.

  She nods her head seriously. “I know. Becs is way too much like Dad. Those two really should be the twins. Hell, she’ll probably scare off her and my first dates. Dad probably won’t even have to do a thing.”

  I snigger because in all honestly that’s probably exactly how it will go down.

  Missy starts walking towards the door but pauses at the entrance. “And seriously Mom, no sex yet. Dad’s right. We don’t want JJ thinking that you’re easy. There will be no hitting and quitting. Think long term goals Mom.”

  With that wonderful remark she leaves for the living room. I can already hear voices but can’t make out exactly what they’re saying. Such a bad idea to have the three of them here tonight. I knew that I should’ve lied to them about when our date was.

  Okay, deep breath. I can totally do this. It’s not like I haven’t actually been out with this gorgeous man before. Granted I know way more about him now and like him even more but that’s beside the point.

  I have totally got this. I’m just going to put on the outfit that I was told to wear. Which I’ll admit is probably the best idea. I will go out there looking sexy and classy. We will go out and I will totally wow him with my amazing personality.

  I will try not to stare at his ink covered hands and arms and drool. I will not think about licking abs that I have no doubt are like a wash board. I will not think about licking whipped cream out of his dimples. I will totally get my hormones in check before I go out there and get a whiff of that damn drugging cologne he always seems to wear.

  I will behave like the respectable woman that my parents absolutely never taught me to be.

  Let’s be real, my parents named me Sage and my sister Lavender. Upstanding citizens they are not. You’re more likely to see them at a protest than you are a town council meeting. I love them to death but functioning, well -adjusted adults, they are not.

  Danny’s parents aren’t any better, which is why the four of them are the best of friends. Hippies attract hippies.

  Instead of freaking out like most parents would do, our parents asked us what grade the moon was in when we conceived the girls.

  They offered us amazing support through the years and if not for them our lives would be completely different. Even so we still limited the time we let the girls spend with them. Naked weekends with old wrinkled balls everywhere wasn’t something we wanted to expose the girls to.

  The one and only time I stopped by for the weekend gave me nightmares for a lifetime. Just thinking about it puts me out of focus. Grabbing a glass of wine, that Danny thoughtfully placed on my nightstand, I try to get the image of old saggy balls out of my thoughts.

  With very that unpleasant thought, my hormones are firmly in check and I am able to finish getting ready.

  This is just fucking weird. Not the finally getting to take Sage out part. No, that’s awesome, I’m ecstatic about that. What’s weird is having three people stare at you all while throwing out random ass advice. I’m sure some of it’s decent but they all seem hell bent on talking over each other. I’ve really only picked up a few words here and there.

  The cow and milk thing that Danny is talking about is making me wonder how many times he’s truly gotten hit in the head. The smartass one who I’ve learned is Becca is making weird comments about not wanting a geeky ass nerd for a new dad. And Missy is telling me that there will be no sex with her mother, even with a condom because those can break.

  I snicker to myself. Don’t I know it. I love Paige but one fucking bad condom got me stuck with Jackie’s ass. Thank God that paperwork finally went through.

  “Are you even listening to us?” Becca snarks with a hand on her hip. I feel bad for her future husband. That poor fool is going to have no idea what he’s instore for.

  I give her a blank stare. “Well I would, if two of you would shut up and only have one of you talk. But since you all can’t seem to do that...no, I tuned you all out a while ago.”

  Danny just nods his head like it was a smart decision. The girls just give me nasty teenage glares. Too bad for them that I have one of my own, so those stares don’t do shit to me.

  Missy shrugs when she realizing that I’m not going to cower. “At least he cleans up nicely. Mom won’t have to be seen with a guy who can’t even match himself.”

  I look down at my outfit and decide that I’ll just take the half assed compliment that she threw my way. I’m wearing a black button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up towards my elbows. I have on dark blue jeans and my all black vans.

  Since the girls were nice enough to give Paige a heads up and tell me that Season’s 22 is one of Sage’s favorite restaurants, I was able to look up the dress code. It’s classy but not over the top. Kind of exactly how Sage herself is.

  Speaking of the woman that I can’t stop thinking about. I hear a sound to my left and look towards the hallway and almost drop the flowers that I bought for her. I actually think that I just swallowed part of my tongue.

  She looks fucking incredible and I really wish that we didn’t have an audience.

  I look into her mesmerizing eyes. “You look amazing...I mean beautiful, I mean wow.” I stutter along. Fuck, I haven’t had a stuttering problem since middle school. This woman brings out emotions in me that I don’t think anyone else ever has.

  She smiles shyly at me. Most likely just as uncomfortable with our nosey ass audience who aren’t even trying to hide the fact that they’re watching everything with rapture. “Thanks.” She seems to unconsciously lick her lips. “You don’t look so bad yourself.”

  My hand shakes as I reach out to hand her the bouquet of calla lilies that the girls informed Paige were her favorite. I screwed up the first time around and didn’t even think about getting her anything.

  I know damn well this is my last shot with this woman. I will do everything in my power to make sure that this night is perfect for her.

  She reaches out and our fingers brush as she grabs the bouquet from me. Even that small innocent touch makes it feel like my body has been hit with a thousand bolts of electricity.

  She brings them to her nose and inhales with a sigh. She looks up at me with dreamy eyes. “Thank you, they’re absolutely gorgeous. These are my favorite flowers, but how did you know that?”

  I give her a smile full of dimples. What? Can’t blame a guy for using everything in his arsenal. “Let’s just say that some people are very chatty.”

  She looks over at the three who are still staring at us like we’re some weird science experiment that they can’t get enough of. “Will one of you chatty Cathy’s put these in some water please?” She holds out the flowers to the girls.

  The girls give her an odd look. “I know that you’re kind of old Mom and that you can start forgetting things at your age, but neither of us is named Cathy.” Becca states while frowning at her mother.

  Sage pinches the bridge of her nose, I hear her mutter “can’t kill kids in front of a cop” but I’m not one hundred percent about that.

  “Chatty Cathy was a doll that talked a lot. It was actually really popular when your grandparents were young. But an expression got coined from that doll. That when someone talks a lot, they’re considered to be a Chatty Cathy, just like the doll.” She explains with patience I don’t think she’s really feeling right now.

  Becca hops off the arm of the couch where she’s been perched this whole time. “Good to know that we won’t have to sta
rt asking you your name and age every morning.”

  “Hey sweetheart?” Danny asks.

  Becca turns to look at him. “Yeah Dad?”

  “I’m not the only one with a high life insurance policy. I got one for all of us years ago.”

  Becca frowns at him obviously not grasping what he’s hinting at. “Yeah, so?”

  “So, you might want to stop insulting the beneficiary that you spend a large amount of time with.” He drawls. “Like you all so loving told me before, “accidents happen”. Just throwing that out there for you baby girl. What you choose to do with that information is up to you.”

  Becca looks around the room and scratches the side of her neck. “Ah, I’m just gonna go put these in some water.” She grabs the bouquet and practically makes a run for the kitchen.

  “Smart choice.” I hear Sage mumble and I chuckle.

  She looks up at the sound of my laugh and instantly turns bright red. I give her a smirk. “Forgot I was standing here, didn’t you?”

  “Of course not!” She lies horribly.

  “Right.” I let it go. “Ready to get going?”

  The smile that she gives me could light the darkest of my dreams. “Absolutely!” She grabs my forearm and practically drags me to the door. “Bye crazies! I love you all but you better not be sitting right here when I get home!” She shouts as she shuts the door behind us.

  We can hear muffled shouts back to her obvious orders that we both ignore as we walk towards my truck.

  I walk her to the passenger side and open the door for her. I hold out a hand to help her up, because I don’t have the self-control to lift her up myself.

  Once she gets in and buckles her seat belt I give her a small peck on the lips. “You really do look beautiful tonight.” I say before quickly closing the door, but not quickly enough that I didn’t catch her blush. I smile to myself as I walk towards the driver’s side. Hopefully, the rest of the night goes this smoothly.

  Several hours later:

  If he looks down Sage’s shirt one more fucking time I’m going to snap his fucking neck. Cop or no cop, I’m going to kill him and not feel bad at all. How the hell did we end up with this pretty boy waiter who looks like he’s barely gone through puberty? How many times does he need to know if she wants another refill? The last time he asked was two minutes after bringing her that glass of wine!

  “We’re good. We’ll let you know if we need anything. But I’m sure we won’t.” I say through gritted teeth. Unconsciously, I flex my hands around the steak knife that I’m holding.

  Sage places her hand over mine that’s clutching the knife that I’m contemplating using on this fool. She pats my hand reassuringly. “We’re just great, thanks. We’ll call you over when we’re ready for the check.” She says firmly but kindly.

  The annoying jackass seems to finally get the clue that he isn’t wanted. Or judging by his sudden alarmed look, how close he’s coming to being severely maimed.

  Once he walks – quickly -away, much to my amusement, I turn and look at Sage. She raises one of her perfectly manicured eyebrows at me. “Really? Was gripping the knife like that totally necessary?” Her voice is stern but her eyes are filled with mirth.

  “He’s just lucky that I didn’t decide to use it.” I mutter. “Can you blame me? He’s been checking you out ever since we walked in. I’m not even going to go into how many times he looked down your shirt.” I grumble.

  She puts her face in her hand. “Do you have any idea how many women, young and old have been checking you out since we’ve arrived? You don’t see me going all Michael Myers on all those thirsty bitches...do you?”

  I snort and unfortunately choke on the sip of beer that I was taking. “Thirsty bitches?” I chuckle. “I haven’t seen anyone but you since you walked into the living room tonight.”

  “And it’s been the same for me with you. And trust me, those bitches are majorly thirsty. I wouldn’t put it past a few of them to slip you their number if I even so much as go to the bathroom.”

  “So, I guess we both have gotten a bit jealous tonight...huh?” I ask with a self-deprecating laugh.

  With a laugh she tosses her hair back. “I guess so. But let’s face it. I handled it a hell of a lot better than you have. Don’t they teach you how to be more patient or have better control over your emotions in the Army? Weren't you a Ranger or something?” She asks while twirling her fork around her shrimp scampi.

  “I got my Ranger tab, yes.” I answer a little sheepishly. I don’t usually talk much about that part of my life.

  Sage is giving me a strange look. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to pry. You don’t have to tell me anything if you don’t want to.” She rushes out.

  Because I want to make her feel comfortable I refute her statement. “It’s nothing like that. I was married to Jackie during that time period. I don’t have overly fond memories of anytime that she was in my life, except for her giving birth to Paige. But I have no problem telling you anything that you want to know.”

  She leans over and looks like she’s settling in and about to give me her undivided attention, “Okay, so you like went into weird places and rescued people?”

  I give her a small smile. “I was with the 82nd Airborne...I was actually with the scouts/recon unit. When being a scout you get sent to Ranger school and if you graduate/pass, then you earn your tab. Scouts can also get sent to other high-speed schools such as sniper. Hence a title called scout sniper. Other schools that we sometimes attend would be air assault, pathfinder, halo and combat driver school.”

  She’s sitting there blinking rapidly at me. “So, what did you do?”

  “I went to Airborne school and Ranger school, where I earned my tab.”

  “Umm, okay?” she says with a look of confusion.

  “Okay, let me try to explain it a little better for you.”

  She smiles and nods her head. “Yeah, that would be helpful actually.”

  “Alright, basically my unit would go out before the rest of the units and go out to find the enemy. We’re not supposed to be seen or engage our enemy in any way.”

  “So, you went to look for bad guys?”

  I nod my head. “In a manner of speaking yes. We would find our enemy and report back to the unit. As scouts we use a technique that we have memorized called SALUTE.”

  “What does that stand for?” She asks right before taking a bite of her meal.

  “Size, or the number and approximate size that they have. Activity, we observe what our enemy had been doing. Location, we would report the location of our enemy using a map grid. Unit, would be the identity of the enemy unity or description, such as markings, uniforms and equipment. Time, we would report the date, time and group that we spotted. And lastly equipment, we would count and describe all of their weapons and/or equipment.”

  “Wow, that sounds kind of crazy. But at least you weren’t in like major danger...right?”

  I give her a small grimace and rub my stubble. “When my team would go out, that was it, just us. Sure we had the same type of equipment that other soldiers would carry. But we wouldn’t have any contact with headquarters except by radio. We really were pretty much all on our own out there. It also didn’t matter what type of weather conditions we were having. We had to do our part, so that everyone else could do theirs.”

  “You realize that sounds completely insane right?”

  I chuckle a little. “And to think, I had to volunteer for the scouts.”

  She narrows her eyes at me a bit. “Are you sure that you’re totally sane? Because normal people just don’t do that.”

  “Yes, I swear I am more than sane. I just really liked my job. I loved the camaraderie that you build with the rest of your team. You basically spend a huge amount of time with the same people. You have to get to really know someone, to be able to trust them to have your back and save your ass if need be.”

  “Is that why you joined the police force and SWAT?” I love that she gets that
.

  I nod my head while smiling at her. “Yeah, actually it was. I knew that I would miss being able to help people when I got out. And I knew that I wouldn’t be able to just sit at desk, day in and day out. Hell, that’s the least favorite part of my job, all the bullshit paperwork that we have to deal with. But I love being a part of SWAT, even if the guys act like a bunch of fools most days.”

  “Yeah, Declan and Marc seem like they can be pretty bad, especially together.”

  “They definitely give me the most headaches...that’s for damn sure.” I grumble thinking about those two idiots. I swear it’s like they’re four-years-old and have absolutely no self-control some days.

  Sage sniggers. “I really don’t know how Kay deals with them so often. I swear, Declan has taken up almost permanent residency over there. He needs to find a woman before Kay poisons both of them one night.”

  “I’m sure that they’re helpful when It comes to dealing with all the kids.” I lie through my teeth.

  Sage gives me a look that says that she knows that I’m full of shit. She rolls her beautiful eyes. “Please, you know damn well that those two are more of a hinderance than a help. Not only are they teaching Max how to “protect himself”, which of course they got Danny involved in. They are teaching Abby that’s it’s totally okay to be mean to any boys that she encounters and where to kick them if they come too close to her.”

  “Well, I’m sure that it’s a good idea to have them all teach Max how to defend himself. Face it, kids today are assholes. Mainly because their parents are shitheads who have gotten so used to being able to insult people over the internet and not get punched in the face for it in real life. The lessons that they’re teaching him will probably come in handy one day.”

  A strange look passes across her face.

  “Don’t even act like they’re doing it for his own protection!” She huffs. “You know that all those fools are teaching him and probably someday, sweet little Logan, how to beat up any boys who come near their little sisters.”

  I agree but don’t say it. If I could wrap Paige in a bubble and send her to a convent, I would. An idea pops into my head. Maybe I can get Danny to help me scare the little fuckers away.