Page 65 of Saved By the Marines (Soldiers Of Misfortune)

My brows shot up. “You already baked and frosted a cake for her?”

“Like it was hard,” he said, a smug smile on his face.

“You’re an idiot,” I replied with a chuckle. “Choosing to bake the cake for a baker.”

“Better than making dinner. Wolfe got the short end of the stick. Though I don’t think it’s fair that all you had to do was hang up some decorations.”

I shrugged. “Should have been quicker when Wolfe offered up the duties.”

We both looked up when we heard a car door slam outside. Bailey had gotten a job at a bakery up the road. We’d had a serious talk about what she wanted to do with her life and she’d admitted to us that she didn’t want to finish out her degree. She wanted to use her time to gain as much experience as she could and one day open her own bakery.

We were fully on board with that. It was easier to keep an eye on her that way. Not that there’d been any trouble. We’d settled into a routine, but I was on edge, almost like I was waiting for the other shoe to drop. Wolfe had put us in for a mission that kept us stateside for up to six months, possibly longer. That meant we wouldn’t have to leave Bailey alone. At least not until we figured out if what had started in Colombia was the end of things. The closer the senator’s re-election came, the more trouble we expected. It was only a few months away now.

I hefted the huge box into my arms and followed Kip out of the room. Setting the box down in front of the couch, I went into the kitchen and pulled Bailey out of Wolfe’s arms, giving her a deep kiss. “Hey, Brat. Happy Birthday.” I grinned down at her.

Her beautiful green eyes sparkled up at me and my heart tried to punch its way out of my chest. “What’s all this?” she asked.

“Birthday celebration,” Wolfe said. “You get the rest of the family’s tomorrow.”

Her happy laugh echoed around the room. “You guys are spoiling me.”

“Probably,” I admitted.

We listened to her talk about her day while we ate the steaks that Wolfe had grilled. As soon as dinner was over Kip presented the cake he’d made.

He frowned down at the mess of frosting that had dripped off the cake and onto the platter. Bailey had her hand over her mouth as she smothered her laughter. I didn’t bother. It roared out of me as I saw the confused look on his face and the sad lump that was the cake.

“What the fuck did you do to it?” I wheezed out between laughs.

“It’s okay,” Bailey said, giving Kip a side hug and glaring at me. “You just tried to put the frosting on while the cake was still warm. Happens all the time.”

Kip gave her an apologetic smile. She patted his arm and blew out her candles, then forced us to eat a piece of Kip’s cake. It wasn’t one of Bailey’s that was for sure. I wondered if it was considered poor form to have the birthday girl make her own cake from now on? Probably. We’d just have to buy one. None of us were skilled enough for this shit.

My heart picked up speed as we sat her in the living room. It was time for gifts. I’d taken a risk, but I was betting on it paying off. If I knew my brat, she was going to love it.

Wolfe gave her his gift first. She gasped in delight at the airline tickets he had in a small box. It’d be our first trip together, all four of us, because no one was fucking counting Colombia.

Kip gave her a diamond necklace and she blushed as he put it on her. It suited her perfectly. We’d all chipped in on each of the gifts, pooled our money together, though we each chose our own. It was her first birthday with us so no expense was spared.

I shoved the heavy box over the wood floor until it sat in front of her. She studied it and then looked up at me with her brows pulled low. I motioned for her to open it.

She happily tore at the wrapping and as soon as the box underneath came into view she froze. Her eyes whipped up to mine. “You…” She trailed off and stared down at the box again. “This isn’t like something else in this box right?”

“Nope,” I told her, my grin growing huge.

“You’re serious? Like, this isn’t a joke?”

“Nope.”

She burst out crying. Like full on sobs and the smile died on my face.

Kip leaned over and muttered. “I told you not to get her anything with a cord. It’s like a rule, bro. It’stherule.”

I punched him in the arm, then got up and went to sit next to her. Before I could say anything she flung herself into my arms.

“Thank you!”

Relief about caused my lungs to collapse when I realized she wasn’t upset. “These are happy tears?” Tears coming from women were a pretty normal thing for me. Happy tears, that was new.

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