Page 62 of Her Captivated Hero

“She’s special,” Gray said.

“Griff filled me in. Asperger’s, right?”

What the fuck?

Gray stiffened, his focus went narrow. “That wasn’t what I meant at all. I meant she means a lot to me. When did Griff say that? Did he say it just to you?”

“Calm down, Gray. He wasn’t being unkind. As a matter of fact, he was highly complimentary about her. He just mentioned that she had Asperger’s as well.”

“What right does Griff have to lay some kind of label on Riya? Who the hell does he think he is? He’s only met her a handful of times.” But as soon as the words were out of his mouth, Gray knew the real culprit. It was Miranda, and he was furious. He saw Miranda talking to Piper Avery over near the dessert table.

“Gray, calm down.” Aiden grabbed his arm.

Gray shoved Aiden’s hand off. “Back off.”

“I’m sorry I said anything.” His second-in-command was seriously contrite.

Gray stalked across the yard. “Miranda, I need to talk to you for a minute.”

She and Piper looked up at him in surprise. Then Miranda’s eyes narrowed. “Piper, I’ll be back to help set up the table.”

“Let’s go over to the birdbath behind the scheffleras, shall we?” Gray asked tightly.

“Sure.” Miranda led the way, not saying a word. When she got there she crossed her arms and looked up at Gray expectantly.

“Riya’s supposed to be your friend. I can’t believe you’re talking behind her back.”

“I need a better explanation of what you’re talking about before I can respond.”

It was clear how she could be an effective project manager dealing with high level members of the Pentagon.

“You’re going around telling people Riya has Asperger’s.”

Miranda slowly nodded. “She does. A lot of the scientists I work with score somewhere on the autism spectrum, just like most SEALs score higher on the Extraversion and Conscientiousness scale than most people.”

“I don’t care about the Navy SEAL personality profile, I care about Riya.”

He saw Miranda wave her hand and shake her head. Gray looked over his shoulder. He saw Griff barreling down on them. He nodded for him to join them.

“What’s going on?” Griff demanded.

“You told Aiden that Riya had Asperger’s.”

“Fuck,” Griff grimaced. “I just wanted him to be aware that she needed to be eased into the group. I didn’t want her to be overwhelmed.”

“She doesn’t need some damn label hung around her neck,” Gray bit out.

“Do you have a problem with Riya’s diagnosis?” Miranda asked mildly. Her tone might be soft, but there was no mistaking the steel in her eyes.

“I have a problem with her being harmed by people thinking less of her.”

“And do you?” Miranda’s voice was even softer.

“Fuck no. She’s perfect.”

“Good answer, Big Man.” Miranda’s smile was bright.

“For the record, I don’t require your approval,” Gray said in his officer voice. Griff took a step in front of his wife, and Miranda pushed at her husband.