Page 53 of Her Tempting Protector

Cullen fished out a flashlight and the roll of TP, and took out some clothes. “I’ll walk with you.”

“You don’t have to.”

“It’s in the SEAL code book. I have to.”

“Oh yeah, I forgot.” She took the proffered toilet paper and walked beside him as he shined the light close to the ground. He found a large rock for her to do her business. When she was done, she found him back in his normal clothes.

She bit back a laugh. “What?” he demanded.

“I’d really hoped I was going to see Raiden’s expression when you showed up in the other pants. He’s kind of hard to read, so it would have been good to see his reaction.”

He gave her a considering look and laced their fingers together as he guided them back to the truck. “Raiden I could have handled. It would have been my friend Kane and my lieutenant that would have had lasting consequences. Kane would take a picture for his fiancée.”

“And that would have been bad how?”

“I don’t know. That’s the problem, she’s positively evil. She’s worse than Kane and that’s saying something. There would be a cake, a banner, a bronze statue. Something.”

Carys shook her head—she didn’t believe him. When they got to the truck, she peered in at Adam and Shada and they were both sleeping soundly. She indicated the news to Cullen, who smiled. She watched as he hopped—literally hopped—over the side of the truck just using one hand for balance, and he did it without making a sound.

“Hold on, I’ll give you a hand up when I get the bedding situated.

“What bedding? There’s no bedding.”

“I paid prime dollar to Mohammed. We are kitted out. Now, it’s not like we have anything so silly as a pillow.”

She watched as he pulled out a Dora the Explorer blanket. “How old did you say Mohammed was?”

“He couldn’t have been older than six years old. This blanket was the only thing that seemed kid-like about him. Well, I guess the Spiderman blanket was kind of kid-like, but when I asked for that instead, I couldn’t afford it.”

She snickered. “So, six? And he was that much of a wheeler-dealer?”

“Yep. He took me around to almost every store and stall in that little town, and every single shop keeper knew him. It was obvious he brought in a bunch of business. Not only was he skimming money from me, he was taking a cut from each of the vendors. That kid had it coming and going.”

“You’re kidding me.”

“Nope.”

“Was he being taken advantage of?” She’d seen it before. Kids being used as shills by adults. It was a form of exploitation.

Cullen laughed again. “I checked it out. I met the whole family. I mean the whole family. I swear, he’s related to half the town. Not a mark on him. He took me to his house and showed me his collection of comic books. They were his treasures. Nope, he’s fine. Part of the reason he targeted me was so he could practice what little English he had. He’s determined to be able to read some of those comics by the time he’s eight. The kid has goals.”

Carys grinned. She wished she could go to Wad Gala and meet the boy.

Cullen came to the tailgate and crooked his finger at her. She darn near tripped over her own feet to get there. He hoisted her up into the bed of the truck and she practically swooned at the sight of the blankets.

Heaven.

“Are you going to be okay sleeping next to me?” Cullen asked seriously.

Could the man be any nicer? If she wasn’t so tired, she knew she would be shy, embarrassed and more than a little turned on at the thought of lying next to this man.

She stopped short and looked at him in wonder. This would be the first time since the incident in Las Flores that she would be sleeping next to a man, and here she was looking forward to it. Who would have guessed?

“Carys, are you okay?” His voice was husky as he looked down at her. She couldn’t form any words. “Carys? Why don’t I grab the thobe, and just go sleep out on the ground? It’s not a problem.”

She clutched at his arm. “Absolutely not. That’s not it at all. I’m fine with us in the truck together. I’m more than fine, and it surprised the heck out of me.”

He reached up very slowly and cupped her cheek. “I hadn’t thought about what you went through in Los Flores. I just assumed it was so long ago…”