Page 30 of The Stone Family Warrior

Chapter 7

When the pizza arrived, Trent and Liberty took it back to the hot tub and ate while they soaked. He found himself really enjoying talking to Liberty.

After two slices of pizza on her part and five on his, he wiped his hands on a napkin and pushed the box away. “I’m full.”

She leaned into the bubbles, closing her eyes. “Me, too.”

“I really want to convince you to go to Lucy's Christmas Eve party with me."

She frowned. “No, I'm sorry … it just doesn’t feel right.”

He didn’t want to let her off the hook, but he also didn’t want to push. Her face was flushed, and a few stray pieces of hair escaped from her ponytail, curling around her cheeks. This woman was breathtaking. Not only was she smoking hot, but she was fun. A bit quirky too, since she’d just been telling him all about teaching art in the high school and some of the projects she had her students do, which included painting blindfolded. It was easy and casual conversation, and Trent liked it a lot. He thought of all she’d gone through with losing a husband and a child, and he knew that this woman wasn’t one he would treat lightly. No. He wasn’t even sure he wanted a relationship with her because, well, he wouldn’t want to hurt her.

“A penny for your thoughts, babe slayer?”

“Hey, I told you I don’t like that nickname.” He tried to act like it didn’t bother him. “‘Babe slayer’ is not a merited name.”

Her eyes twinkled. “Merited? Really, you’re going down that road?”

“No, I won’t.” He was walking into a sniper’s fire, and he knew it.

“Hey, you don’t have to be careful with me since this isn’t a date, remember?”

It took a lot of pressure off when he didn’t have to think of this as a date. “What do you want to know?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. I think Trent Stone is a babe slayer. Tell me about the women you’ve dated.”

Trent grimaced at that. It wouldn’t suit to talk about the details of his former life. “Ah, not much to say.”

She splashed him.

That was a shock. He laughed and splashed her in return. “You don’t want to take on a SEAL. I’m a gentleman, so don’t push me.”

She grinned. “You kind of have that look that you used to give to your brothers that says if I splash you, you’ll dunk my head underwater and hold it there or something.”

Trent tried to look fierce, but he cracked a smile. “Try me.”

She laughed and splashed him again.

He bolted from his spot and reached for her, taking her by the shoulders and halfway thinking about dunking her.

“No!” Her eyes were wide. “Don’t do it, I beg you.” She crumpled into a fake cry. “Please, captain, have mercy on me.” It was a stunt they used to do as kids. The whole beach crew would pretend they were pirates and boarding a common ship. It’d been so long since he’d remembered that detail.

He burst out laughing.

She giggled harder. It was insane to hear her actually giggle.

Their breaths mixed, and he looked at her lips. The woman was attractive.

“Trent,” she whispered. “Don’t kiss me, please.”

He looked at her eyes and saw the fear in them. Immediately, he let her go. He didn’t like how vulnerable she looked. He backed up and sat back in his corner. “I won’t kiss you,” he said, feeling like an imbecile.

Liberty took a deep breath and pulled herself out of the hot tub. Again, he couldn’t help but notice how amazing she looked in her swimsuit. But she was clearly not ready for any kind of relationship or dating.

She grabbed a towel and then returned to the hot tub, sitting on the edge and sticking her feet in. “Sorry, I am not great at socializing right now.” She didn’t look at him.

For a few moments, it got awkward. This was probably a bad idea. So what if the woman was attractive? So what if she’d had a huge crush on him years ago? So what if technically she was available now? None of that mattered. She was fragile and didn’t need Trent bugging her. He was done playing around. He wouldn’t hurt her. She’d been through enough. He stood and got out. “I shouldn’t be here.”

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