by Susan Stoker
She closed her eyes when Ace chuckled next to her.
“I’m going to shut up now. There’s a reason I stay at home a lot.”
“I totally understand,” Sidney said, letting her off the hook. “I mean, they’re all hot and everything in their uniforms, but they look completely different wearing their everyday clothes. And let’s face it…wearing shorts and T-shirts gives us a chance to really see their muscles.” She gestured toward the rest of the guys, jumping around and basically playing keep away with a football out on the beach.
“Hey,” Gumby mock-protested. “Eyes off my friends, woman.”
Sidney laughed again and hugged him. “You know I’ve only got eyes for you.”
Ace loved seeing Gumby relaxed and happy. After all the shit they’d been through, it felt good knowing that he’d found the person he could let down his guard with and simply enjoy life.
“But seriously, it’s good to see you looking so relaxed too, Piper. Things got kind of intense there for a while, and I’m happier than I can say that we got you and the girls out of Timor-Leste when we did,” Gumby said.
Ace agreed. The news reports coming out of the small country weren’t good. The rebels seemed to be stronger than anyone thought they might be. They’d wreaked havoc on the capital, conscripting as many men and boys as they could. They stormed into homes and either outright killed the women and girls and forced the men to take up arms on behalf of the rebels, or threatened to kill the women until the men had no choice but to do as ordered.
Some bands of rebels were forcing women to take up arms as well, raping and demoralizing them until they’d agree to just about anything to get the abuse to stop. It was horrifying, and Ace knew they’d been very lucky to get Piper and the girls out of the country.
“It’s awful,” Piper said with a shudder. “I’ll never understand war and politics.”
Hating that their happy day was taking a turn in a direction that would make Piper think about all she’d been through, Ace did his best to change the subject. “After we eat, I could use some assistance teaching the girls how to swim. Think the others will help too?”
“Of course. We’d love to. Rocco taught Caite, so I have no doubt he’ll be able to teach your girls as well.”
Your girls. Ace would never get tired of hearing that. He’d only been a father for a week or so, when he hadn’t expected it would happen for at least another couple years, but he couldn’t deny that he’d fallen head over heels in love with Rani, Sinta, and Kemala.
“Thanks. You want to help?” he asked Piper.
She immediately shook her head. “No. They trust you, and I’d probably get too nervous about it all and they’d pick up on that. I’ll just watch.”
“Caite and I will sit up here with you. We can chat and get to know each other better,” Sidney said immediately.
Ace could tell Piper was nervous about that too, but she simply nodded and said, “Sounds good.”
“Great. The burgers and hotdogs are almost done. Which do you think your crew’ll eat?” Gumby asked.
As Piper discussed the likelihood of the girls eating either one, Ace looked his fill while she wasn’t paying attention. She was wearing a pair of shorts that showed off her curvy legs. He knew she wasn’t thrilled with her shape, but he could find nothing wrong with her. No, she wasn’t stick thin, but he loved the feel of her on his chest at night…and just thinking about settling between those thighs, feeling them close around his hips tightly, made his dick twitch in his shorts.
She had on an oversized T-shirt, which hid most of her upper body, but when he put his hand on her waist or the small of her back, he could feel how soft and womanly she was. In short, she was everything he’d ever wanted in a woman. And she was his.
The ring he’d purchased earlier in the week was burning a hole in his pocket. He wanted to replace the cheap thing he’d bought in Timor-Leste, but still hadn’t found a good time to do it. It was important to him, and he didn’t want to just shove it at her in the middle of whatever chaos was going on at the house.
“…do you think?”
Ace blinked. He’d only caught the tail end of Piper’s question because he’d been too busy staring at her ass and thinking about getting her home, their kids settled in bed, and making out with her on their couch. Last night, before she’d passed out from exhaustion, they’d acted like teenagers trying to sneak in a heavy make-out session before either of their parents came down the stairs.
They’d had their hands all over each other, and with every kiss and caress, Ace had wanted her more. Wanted to show her exactly how much he liked and respected her, as well as how much he desired her.
He was falling hard for Piper. A week or so ago, she was just another mission. Now she was his wife, the mother of his children, and fast becoming the most important person in his life. It was insane. Complete madness. But it felt oh so right.
“Ace?” she asked with a tilt of her head.
“Sorry, I missed that,” he said a little sheepishly. Ace saw Gumby’s smile before he turned and faced the grill to hide it. The other man obviously knew exactly what he was thinking and feeling.
“I asked if you thought the girls would be more willing to try a hotdog if I cut it up.”
“Yes,” Ace told her. “And smother Rani’s with ketchup. You know she loves that stuff.”
“But it’s so gross! And all sugar,” Piper protested.
Ace walked toward her and did what he’d wanted to do for the last five minutes…namely, put his hands on her. He wrapped his hand around the back of her neck and held her close as she stared back at him. Her hands landed on his chest, and he could feel her fingers flexing.
For a brief second, a thought of them standing just as they were, but naked as the day they were born, flashed through his brain. Feeling her fingers flex against his bare flesh as he buried himself deep inside her. She’d be looking at him just like she was now…
Shaking his head and forcing himself to get his mind out of the gutter, he said, “But if it gets them to eat, that’s what’s important. Their taste buds will eventually acclimate and broaden. We just need to give them time. And you know if Rani eats it, the others will at least try. She’s like that old Life cereal commercial from the seventies. ‘Mikey likes it!’”
Piper sighed but nodded. “Okay.”
“Okay,” Ace agreed. Then with one last caress of his thumb on the sensitive skin of her neck, he let her go and stepped back.
“We’re about ready,” Gumby said. “Sid, you and Piper want to go get the others? Tell them to come and get it?”
“Of course,” she told him, and stood on her tiptoes to kiss Gumby. Since he was so much taller than her, he obliged by leaning over. They shared a short but intense kiss before she turned to Piper. “Come on. I’m starving. The sooner we can get those yahoos to stop torturing each other by playing keep away, the sooner we can eat.”
The second the women had left the deck, Gumby said, “You’ve got it bad, brother.”
Ace smiled and kept his eyes on Piper’s ass as she walked through the sand. “Yup.”
“Happy for you,” Gumby told him.
Ace finally turned to look at his friend and teammate. “No lecture about marrying her too fast or making a mistake?”
“Fuck no,” Gumby said immediately. “Look. We all know how short life can be. I was there with you in that fucking hole in Bahrain. I remember what you said you regretted most in your life. And it seems to me that you hit the jackpot. Not only did you get the kids you’ve always wanted, you found a wonderful, caring woman to go with them. And I see how you look at Piper. This marriage isn’t exactly a hardship. In fact, I’d go so far as to say if you don’t claim her properly, and soon, you’re an idiot.”
Ace couldn’t help it. He laughed. Leave it to his friend to lay it all out. “I like her,” he admitted. “A hell of a lot. She’s funny and so selfless, I have to force her to take a breath and do something for herself
. She works herself to the bone and worries about those girls every hour of the day. She’s an amazing mother, and she makes me want to be a better father. But more than that, every day that goes by, I realize that I really like her. I think I’ve laughed more in the last week than I have in my whole life. I’m dreading going back to work full-time, and it’s because I won’t get to spend all day with her.”
“Sounds like you more than like her,” Gumby observed.
“Yeah,” Ace said simply.
Their talk was interrupted by the group returning for food.
“My advice is to stop fighting it,” Gumby said quickly before they arrived. “You want her, she obviously wants you back, if the looks she’s been giving you are any indication. You’re married. It’s time to officially make her yours. Life is short, and you never know if she might be here one day and gone the next.”
As the rest of their teammates, along with the women and children, clambered back up the stairs to the deck, Ace thought about what Gumby said. His friend had almost lost Sidney. Just as he’d said, she was there one day, safe and happy, and the next she was in a life-or-death struggle.
Thoughts of Paul Solberg flashed through Ace’s mind. They hadn’t seen him since they’d gotten off the plane, but Commander North had been keeping his eye on the man—and what he’d had to say wasn’t good.
He’d stopped showing up at work. The police had done a welfare check on him, and he’d been in his house and alive, but they’d reported that he’d looked like he hadn’t showered for days. The house smelled funky and, from the little they could see from the doorway, was a mess. With trash scattered around and his belongings in disarray.
An eye for an eye.
Ace couldn’t get the man’s words out of his head.
The last thing he wanted was for Paul to go over the edge and come after Piper. The thought was repugnant and horrifying.
Yeah, he more than liked Piper Morgan. His wife. And he’d protect her with everything he had. Her and his children.
It was time to step things up. He and Piper may have gotten married out of necessity, but he wanted her to know how he really felt. He wanted them to have a real marriage in every sense of the word.
Piper sat on the deck and watched as Ace and the other men instructed and played with her girls. They were determined to at least show them the fundamentals to swimming.
She couldn’t deny that her heart rate had sped up when Ace had changed into his swim trunks. All six of the men were wearing what essentially looked like boxer briefs. Tight black suits that clung to their upper thighs.
From next to her, Caite sighed heavily.
Sidney chuckled. “They’re so damn hot,” she observed.
“I swear it’s like they’re one of those ‘gorgeous bearded military calendars’ come to life,” Piper agreed.
Both Caite and Sidney bent double, laughing.
“Oh my God, you’re so right!” Caite said.
“And watching them with the girls…jeez, I think my ovaries are exploding,” Sidney said, still giggling.
Piper had to admit that was hot as hell too. But she only had eyes for Ace. He stood out head and shoulders for her above the rest of the guys, despite being a few inches shorter, physically.
Maybe it was the way he kept looking over at the deck, as if to check to make sure she was all right. But every time they made eye contact, she felt their connection all the more strongly.
She’d been fighting her attraction to him for a week, but with every day that passed, and with every tender gesture toward her and the girls, she wanted him more.
She’d loved before, but nothing compared to the deep feelings she was already developing for Ace. Maybe their time in Timor-Leste had somehow fast-forwarded those feelings, making them more intense and urgent than with anyone in her past. But whatever it was, she knew she felt more for Ace than she had any other man she’d been with.
He’d gone out of his way to make her comfortable in his home. He hadn’t complained about the change to his routine—and adding four females to his house was certainly a huge change. But it was the time they got to spend in the evenings, when it was just the two of them, that really helped cement her feelings. They talked about anything and everything, and it never seemed as if he was holding back.
Last night, when they’d made out, she’d been so tempted to tell him she was more than ready for him to make love with her. But he seemed to know her body better than she did, because not five minutes after he’d gently pulled away and told her to close her eyes and rest, she’d fallen asleep.
She loved sleeping on top of him. It was almost embarrassing how comfortable she felt on his body. Sleeping that way reminded her of how he’d cared for her when they’d fled the mountains of Timor-Leste. How he’d literally put himself between her and the bugs she’d imagined would be crawling all over her if she slept in the dirt.
And for the first few nights, when they were surrounded by Rani, Sinta, and Kemala, she’d woken up thinking they were actually back in the hostel in Dili. But tonight it would be just the two of them. And Piper couldn’t stop thinking about what might happen in his bed. Would he be the gentleman she knew him to be and urge her to sleep, or would another make-out session lead to more? She knew which she wanted to happen.
“So…Rocco tells me you’re an artist,” Caite said.
Doing her best to turn off her crazy-out-of-control hormones to have a normal conversation with these women she wanted to be friends with, Piper nodded. “Yeah, I have a business degree, but the thought of sitting in a cubicle for the rest of my life, looking at numbers or putting together business plans, didn’t appeal. I have a quirky way of looking at things, and I’ve always loved to draw. I started a blog to share my cartoons just to keep myself from being bored to death in my day job. I always had lots of positive comments, but one day I posted a particular cartoon that went viral on social media. It’s crazy how fast my life changed after that. My blog had so many hits, it totally crashed. I had people messaging and emailing me, asking if they could get my cartoons on T-shirts. Others wanted mugs to give as gifts. Some wanted to buy my art to put on their wall. It was wild, but I was much happier spending my time drawing than I was working my day job.”
“Wait a second! You’re Piper J?” Sidney asked in surprise, sitting up in her chair.
Piper nodded. “Yeah.”
“Holy shit. I love your stuff!” she exclaimed. “You take everyday, normal situations that no one ever thinks about and spin it in a way that’s hilarious!”
“I do,” Piper agreed. She knew she was blushing, but it never got old when people told her they enjoyed her cartoons. What had started out as a way to save her sanity had turned into a career, and the fact that she could make people smile at the same time was a huge bonus. “Thanks.”
“And I loved the cartoon you posted this week. Now that I know you a little, I have a feeling your comics are going to start being geared more toward children, aren’t they?”
Piper shrugged. “Probably. I mean, having the girls has opened up so many more possibilities in my mind.”
“Not to mention, being married now,” Caite said with a smile.
“That too. I drew one last night of a guy asking a woman what’s for dinner, and after a long, drawn-out explanation of this huge gourmet meal, the guy says, ‘Maybe I’ll order a pizza.’”
The other two women laughed.
“Of course, that really goes more for the girls than anything Ace has done. The other night, he worked really hard making this amazingly delicious homemade mac and cheese, and all three girls totally stuck their noses up at it. I ended up nuking them the same old rice and chicken they’ve been eating most of the week.”
“They seemed to like the hotdogs today,” Caite reminded her.
“Yeah, which is a relief, honestly,” Piper said. “I want them to eat healthy, get a good mix of veggies and protein in their diet, but so far I’m failing. I don’t like that Rani wa
nts ketchup on everything, but if it’ll get her to eat, I’ll take it.”
“I don’t have kids, but I’m guessing it’ll just take a while for them to get used to the food here. And kids are notoriously picky,” Sidney said.
“I know. I joined a social media group this week where parents talk about tips and tricks for getting their kids to eat new foods, and realized I’m far from alone,” Piper said with a small smile. “And now I’ve thought of a new cartoon.”
“I definitely need to look you up,” Caite said. “But…can I ask you something?”
Piper nodded immediately. She felt comfortable with the other two women. They weren’t judgmental in the least, and it made her feel better knowing they weren’t runway-model beautiful. She knew that was totally wrong and awful of her to even think, but she also knew she’d be completely intimidated and self-conscious if they were out-of-this-world gorgeous.
Honestly, they both looked like the girl next door. Comfortable in their own skins. Caite was currently sporting a huge ketchup stain on the front of her T-shirt, where Rani had touched her with fingers covered in the stuff, and Sidney had mud stains on her shorts from where her dog, Hannah, had jumped on her earlier. In short, they were very real. Just like her.
Yeah, it was safe to say she would try to answer anything either of them asked.
“Rocco told me a little bit about your story, about how you went over to Timor-Leste to visit your friend Kalee and found yourself in the middle of a shitstorm. I’m really sorry to hear about what happened to Kalee,” Caite said.
“Thanks,” Piper said softly. “I miss her every damn day. She was hilarious and the life of every gathering she ever attended. People were drawn to her. I’d usually stand back and watch her win friends, and then once everyone was under her spell, I’d step in and have a good time.”
“She sounds like she was amazing. I’m sorry I never met her,” Sidney said quietly.
