Page 3 of Protecting Andie

Right then, the door to her room flew open, and Emily stepped in. She had a hat box in one hand and shopping bags in the other. When she spied Rider, her shriek filled the room. She dropped everything and launched herself at her brother.

Andie wanted to do the same, but she had no reason to get in on their hug. By the time Emily let go, she had tears streaming down her face.

“Michael, you’re here. I can’t believe you’re here. My brother is here. Babe!” Emily called out to her fiancé. “He’s here.”

Derik stepped into the room, his smile wide. “Rider. It’s so good to finally meet you.”

Rider held out his hand for a shake. They’d met on a video call, but they’d never actually met in person. When Derik wanted to propose to Emily, he’d called Rider, not to ask permission, but to talk about how he wanted to be with Emily forever. They discussed how Derik saw her as her own person and wanted to see her flourish. Rider had appreciated that call. A handshake wasn’t enough for his future brother, so he pulled him in for a hug.

Derik’s chuckle filled the room. “Wow, you’ve got some muscles.”

Rider smiled, not wanting to brag. Of course, he had muscles because he had to have them for work. “All part of the job.”

“You’re in the Navy, right?” Andie asked.

He turned and caught her gaze and noticed the way she was assessing him. If he weren’t at his sister’s wedding, and Andie wasn’t his sister’s best friend, he would flirt. But this woman wasn’t available. He’d seen her being abused by some jerk, which meant she was probably still involved in some way.

It was complicated at best and terrible at worst. Besides, he lived in San Diego, and Portland, Oregon was too far away for a long-distance relationship. If he got together with this woman, he couldn’t just step out of her life.

Andie needed to stop ogling Emily’s brother. He was off limits. She still had to deal with the aftereffects of Tony. It wouldn’t be fair to Rider, and Emily would be pissed. She guarded her brother like a lioness. He’d given her a chance to thrive. She’d heard the story many times. Their parents had left them nearly destitute, but her brother had sacrificed everything to make sure she had a college degree and every advantage to succeed.

“Do you think my sleeves are too short?” Rider asked Derik.

Derik walked around Rider and shook his head. “No, it works. And it’s only for one day. There’s no need for you to bother with getting it adjusted, not when we have fun activities. Your sister set us up to go fishing.”

Rider threw back his head, laughter spilling out. Andie had never seen such a beautiful sight. She wanted this loud, expressive man who seemed larger than life.

“Emily, fishing?”

“Yeah.”

“What’s wrong with fishing?” Derik asked.

Rider shook his head, mirth shining in his eyes. “Dad used to force me to fish. I hated it because I hated boats. I loathed being on the water, and then I joined the Navy. It’s a joke between us.”

“Damn, if I’d?—”

“No, no, it’s good. I want to spend the day on the water with you.”

“Good. We have a helicopter out to the coast that is leaving tomorrow morning at six.”

Andie wished she liked fishing. She would love to spend the day with Rider, but really, she was excited about the spa day she and Emily had planned. Tomorrow evening they would have dinner with the other bridesmaids and groomsmen. Emily hadn’t wanted to be too excessive and have a bunch of people involved. The actual wedding ceremony was only forty-six guests. It made sense. Emily wasn’t one to show off, never had been.

“I’m going to get out of this monkey suit and change.”

“You should rest some,” Emily said.

Rider flashed her a smile. “I need to work out. Thought I would go for a run and then see if they have any weights.”

Derik slapped Rider on the shoulder. “I don’t know that I could keep up, but why don’t I join you?”

“We could all join you,” Emily said.

Panic slid through Andie. She hadn’t run in ages, and she didn’t have her workout gear. Usually, if she did anything bouncy, like jogging, she wore two workout bras just to keep the girls in place.

Rider raised his hand. “I don’t mean to disparage any of you, but there is no way you all can keep up with me on a run.”

Emily laughed. “No, silly. We could walk the path, and you could run. Then, as you run by, you can holler, ‘on your left,’ like that movie you took me to see when I was a child. Remember, I started calling you Captain America after that because you said you wanted to enter the military.”

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