Page 8 of Strike Fast

“Please? You told me you like Pixar movies.”

“And you told me it’s a special father-daughter date,” she pointed out.

Autumn waved the protest away with one hand. “That was before.” She turned those dark blue eyes on Tess, eyes exactly like her father’s. Oh yeah, this kid knew how to work it. “Puleeeze? It’ll be so much fun.”

Unsure what to say, Tess glanced at Prentiss for help. She expected him to maybe clear his throat awkwardly or look away, but instead he raised his eyebrows at her in question and waited.

Wait. Did hewanther to come? Or was he just being polite and hoping she’d say no? God knew she had no plans, other than a hot bath and curling up to watch a movie in her hotel room. “I…guess I could.”

“Yay!” Now that she’d gotten the answer she wanted, Autumn hopped down from her chair and began cramming all the crafting supplies back into the box. “Dad, can you find an open box for the puppies? I don’t wanna squish them.”

“I’ll take a look around.”

“I’ll help,” Tess said, and jumped up to follow him across the kitchen. His scent trailed back to her, citrus and spice. Damn delicious. Autumn hadn’t mentioned a girlfriend in the picture. Was he seeing anyone? It would be weird to go to the movie with them if he was, and a guy like him wouldn’t have a shortage of women to date.

He reached into a cupboard, found a cereal box and began tearing one side off to make a tray for the yarn puppies. He had such strong, capable hands. Hands that could render someone helpless or even kill them, but could also cradle a yarn puppy and touch his daughter with complete gentleness. He was part protector, part nurturer, and part warrior.

Put that together with that rugged face and powerful body, and he was enough to make her ovaries explode.

Yikes! Down, girl. You don’t even know him.

“Are you sure about this?” she asked him quietly. “I don’t want to crash your date.”Plus we don’t even know each other.It was kind of weird to just up and go to dinner and a movie with him and Autumn. Right?

“Nah, it’s fine. I appreciate you hanging with Autumn, and she obviously really likes you.” He paused to look at her, and her pulse increased at seeing that rugged face up close. “But don’t feel like you have to.”

The perfect amount of dark brown stubble covered his jaw and cheeks, giving him an ultra-masculine look. His eyes were a deep, dark blue toward the outside of the iris, then changed to an almost powder blue near the pupils, and surrounded by thick, dark lashes. Gorgeous, arresting eyes she could easily fall into.

Get hold of yourself. “Okay then,” she murmured. “I can have my ride drop me off on her way home. Where’s the theater?”

“Just come with us. I’ll drop you back at your hotel after dinner. Sound okay?”

Ah… “Sure.” Tiny butterfly wings began to flutter in her stomach, something she hadn’t felt in ages. It had been three years since she lost Brian, and she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t lonely. But she’d never reacted to a man quite this strongly before. This was visceral. Primal. She’d briefly dated a guy for a couple months up until her recent deployment to Afghanistan this past winter, but things had fizzled out pretty fast while they were apart, and within weeks of her being overseas he’d told her he wanted to start seeing someone else.

It had hurt at the time, but it wasn’t like she’d been in love with him, so she’d let him go and focused on work. Lately, though, work, travel, and time with her family back home weren’t enough to fill the void.

Her family worried about her being on her own all the time, so she lied to them and told them she wasn’t lonely. She wasn’t going to settle for just any man who came along just to have someone to hold her in the night. And she’d been alone long enough now that she’d gone through her grieving and was finally ready to find someone to share her life with.

Reid handed Autumn the modified cereal box. Once the yarn menagerie was safely stored in their new home, they all walked out to the parking lot together, Tess texting her friend to say she had a ride. “How long are you in town for?” he asked Tess. He was a full head taller than her, his size and muscular build making her feel small by comparison. As well as intensely, amazingly feminine in a way she hadn’t for so damn long.

“Just another few days, for some meetings prior to our upcoming training op.”

At that he shot her a surprised look. “You doing Emerald Warrior with us?”

“Yes. Well, a week of it, at least.” And she hoped that meant she would see more of him while they were down there. Based on what she’d seen so far, she’d love to get to know him better.

“You like convertibles, Tess?” Autumn asked, holding her dad’s hand. It was adorable, seeing such a big, muscular alpha male holding that little hand.

Tess swore her uterus cramped, but reprimanded herself. He was divorced. So clearly, he wasn’t perfect. She had to remember that and stop being so dazzled by him. “I love them.”

“Good. Wait ‘til you see my dad’s car.”

Tess glanced at him but he just smiled and kept walking. Then she spotted the shiny, vintage black Mustang convertible sitting next to a massive, lifted pickup, and grinned. “That yours?”

“Yup.” The hint of a smile played around the edges of his mouth.

The black paint gleamed under a fresh coat of wax, and because the top was down she could see it was a standard. It was clear he took good care of it. “Nice.” There was something so sexy about a man who could handle a stick shift.

He raised a dark eyebrow at her in surprise. “You like cars?”

---