Page 2 of Quarantined With the Soldier

“Something I should have done an hour ago,” he muttered.

He slung her over his shoulder and headed to the back of the shop.

“Hey! Put me down!”

She hit his back, but he seemed completely unaffected by him.

Strange.

She could have sworn her hitting would make a difference.

It didn’t seem to, though.

“I’m not putting you down, darlin’,” he said. His thick southern drawl was coming out. He kept it so well hidden that sometimes, it was easy to forget he was from around here. He’d been gone a long time and he’d seen a lot of places, but the truth was that Dylan was a southern boy through-and-through. She needed to remember that.

“Put me down,” she demanded, and then she squeaked out when he popped her on the ass. What the hell? “You spanked me!”

“And for good reason. I’ve got plenty more where that came from, so you just calm your sweet ass down and get in my truck.”

He carried her out to his pickup and somehow managed to get the door open without jostling her or dropping her. Then he put her in the front seat. She looked up at him before he closed the door. He had to walk all the way around to the driver’s side. She could get away. She could take off running and escape from him, but then what?

Where was she going to go?

She could go home, but he’d find her without any sort of difficulty. Dylan had been her best friend for a million years. He seemed to know exactly what she was thinking because he shook his head.

“Ava Sue Porter, I will hog tie you and throw you in the back if you even think about running,” he said. Then he slammed the door shut and walked around the side of the truck.

Okay, so Dylan was a little different now, wasn’t he? He was a little more wild. Heat pooled in Ava’s belly as she thought about his words.

Hog tie her?

He wanted to tie her up?

That was something she’d only read about in books.

Then again, nothing about this situation made a lot of sense to her. She still couldn’t quite wrap her head around the fact that there was a virus or that Dylan had come back to town. She hadn’t been expecting him for more than a month, but he’d waltzed back into town just this morning and told her that he’d taken leave early. Terminal leave, he’d called it. That meant he was still officially in the military, but he was using the last of his vacation days until he got out next month.

He got in the driver’s side and closed his door. He started the truck and then he just looked at her.

“What?” She grunted out.

“Drop the attitude,” he said. “Nobody likes this, Ava. Nobody. It’s not fair, and it sucks for all of us, but the best thing to do now is to just go hole up and be safe. I ordered groceries and they’ll be delivered in the morning. It’s only two weeks. We can survive it.”

She knew he was right.

They’d been through worse together, but that had been different! They’d just been kids. Now they were adults. Not only were they adults, but Dylan had been in the military. He’d served their country. He’d gone to different places, lived at different bases, and now he was home.

She still couldn’t quite believe he’d chosen to come back to their hometown after he got out of the service. It kind of baffled her a little bit, but she wasn’t going to complain. She’d done a lot in the time he was gone, but damn, she’d missed her best friend.

A lot.

He was the best thing to ever happen to her, and she didn’t want to lose that. She knew he was right: she did have a sourpuss attitude, but it was mostly to hide the fact that Dylan was different now. He was more muscular and edgy and…

He seemed a little dangerous in all of the best ways.

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