Page 66 of The Soldier's Homecoming

“Fancy enough for you?”

She tried not to laugh at him, “Seriously, Daniel, if that was your toughest look before, I’m glad you never tried to make it in the army.”

He spluttered, choking on his next mouthful.

“Are we seriously going to have this conversation?” he asked, one eyebrow raised.

Penny groaned. “Don’t even try to give me your navy versus army spiel, because everyone knows it’s not true.”

“Navy is tougher than army any day of the week,” he announced.

Penny leaned her back against the bar and enjoyed another sip of the bubble-infused drink.

She’d forgotten what good company Daniel was. It had been so long since they’d had time to be like this. The two of them, with no work commitments keeping them apart, without Gabby, just the two of them.

“Do you guys even go to the gym?”

“You’ve answered the question yourself,” he said with a smirk.

Penny had a feeling she was falling into a trap but she didn’t get it. Now it was her with her eyebrows raised in question.

“Guys,” he said, drawing the word out. “I hate to say it, Pen, but there were no girls on my team. I think we both know which sex is the stronger one.”

She set her glass down, arms folded over her chest. “Oh, no, you didn’t.”

He shrugged, but the grin on his face said it all. He knew he was in big trouble.

“Come on, Pen, admit it. You’ll never beat a boy in an arm wrestle.” He was smirking at her. She knew he was teasing but he had her riled.

“Well, aboywould never beatmewhen it came to strategy.”

Daniel threw his head back and laughed. “God, I’ve missed this,” he said when he came up for air.

Penny tried to stay fierce, to keep her game face on, but his smile cracked her frown.

She held out her hand. “Truce?”

He put down his glass and reached for her palm, tucking his against it, intertwining their fingers.

“You know I was only kidding, right?”

She narrowed her eyes. “No man will ever own up to the fact that a woman could be tougher than him.”

“Is it so wrong for me to want to protect you? To pretend that you need me in your corner to keep you safe?”

The softness of his tone made her sigh. “No, there’s nothing wrong with that, Daniel.”

Truth be told, she loved that he wanted to be her protector. When she was away, everything rode on her own shoulders. Every decision, every tactic, every operation she was involved in. She had to be as tough as the guys, as smart as anyone else out there, and when she was leading others, it wasn’t only herself she was trying to keep safe.

But at home, she’d always liked that Daniel was tough enough and strong enough to be a real man in a situation. When she came home for good, she wanted to leave her training at the front door and just be a woman in need of a man for once.

Penny gulped. Was she already presuming she’d be coming home to Daniel? That they could repair the cracks and makethemwork again?

“Do you remember what you were wearing that night we first came here?”

Penny gave in to Daniel’s touch and enjoyed the sensation of his skim on hers. The way his chocolate-brown eyes focused on her made her feel like the only woman in the room.

“No, but I remember why I came here with you,” she said, thinking back to that night. “Because you made me feel like there was no one else you’d rather be with, that I was the most important person in the world when you were talking to me.”

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