Kennedy's Redemption (The Protectors 3)

“Give a guy a warning before you mention stove and boner in the same sentence, will ya?” He gasped, still out of breath.

Blushing profusely, she turned back to what she was doing.

Falling in love with an appliance.

“Did you guys have someone stock up before we came?” she asked walking to the fridge. Pulling it open, her question was answered since they were too busy laughing at her still. “Never mind,” she mumbled, shooting them a glare.

Grabbing the ingredients to make a quick vegetable stir-fry, she continued to ignore them as they started talking sports.

Cooking had always been a way she relaxed when she was stressed, happily noting she fell back into it quickly. She had the food prepped and ready to cook in no time at all. By that time the guys had already left the room and sounds of a sports game came from somewhere; she presumed they were in a living room.

Humming silly tunes in her head she joyfully cooked them the savory meal, thinking over all she’d done and overcome in the past few months. A lot of it just in the time since the guys arrived. Granted, the fact that they didn’t know her earlier helped immensely, and she was able to relax around them without fear. Her trust for them had been embedded in her already from the rescue and the way they treated her. They fought hard to bring her back from the edge. While a lot of it might still be in fractured pieces, she remembered the important things.

Their soothing voices.

Creed singing to her.

Linc fighting for her sanity.

Every wonderful thing they’d done for her since their first meeting was ingrained in her heart. Something she’d never lose faith in. With them, she knew she was safe from anything.

·?•? ?•?·

After they’d eaten the delicious meal Kennedy cooked for them, she immediately started yawning. “Sunshine, Linc’ll clean up. I’ll show you the master bedroom and help you run a warm bath,” he told her, hoping she’d take the opportunity to relax.

“If you’re sure?” she asked sleepily.

Walking around the table Linc knelt down in front of her, picking up her hands he kissed the insides of her wrists gently, telling her, “Go, Sunshine, I got this. It’s been a long day.”

Nodding her head, she allowed them to pull her up to her feet before Creed led her from the room and up the stairs. Stopping every once in while so she could admire some new detail of the house she hadn’t seen yet.

When they got to the heavy oak doors of the master suite, he pushed them open with a flourish guiding her inside with a hand on her back. The look of wonder on her face was sweet. Her eyes lit with pleasure as she walked into the room.

When they had Dane and Coop oversee moving the furniture, they’d told them to have Emily decorate. Figuring they couldn’t go wrong with her opinion and they knew she’d make it as comfortable for Kennedy as possible. Turns out they were right.

“This is amazing! How? When? How?” she asked in amazement leaning against the footboard of the king- sized sleigh bed in the middle of the room.

“Emily,” was all he said.

Her eyes immediately watered.

“She did this for me?”

“We asked her to, yes.”

She was walking around the room now, admiring the watercolor paintings Emily had found at some flea market. As she approached the large vase of lilies between the doors of the walk-in closet and the master bath, she softly ran her fingers along the petals. Smiling as she did so.

“Check out the bath,” he suggested when she looked up at him.

Leaning against the door frame, he waited to hear what she thought of it. There was a huge Jacuzzi tub in there that was mounted into the wall, with two steps leading up to it. Bevelled glass surrounded it giving off a calming effect.

When she squealed he ran in to see what happened, fear making his heart beat faster. Stopping short as she stood inside the tub with a huge smile on her face, he calmed down.

“Woman, don’t do that,” he scolded with a laugh.

“Do what?”

“Scream like that. You’re gonna give a guy heart failure.” He tried to sound serious but the happiness radiating from her left him smiling.