Wanted by the Warrant Officer

While he kept her busy, I loaded the dishwasher and finished my glass of orange juice. Then I ate a banana—earning me a hot look from my sexy husband—and munched on a handful of almonds. As soon as I popped the last nut into my mouth, Prue came running over and threw her arms around my legs and echoed her earlier request, “Go horsey now.”

“Sure, sweetie.” My gaze slid over to Deacon. “Maybe Daddy wants to come, too.”

“Yes, Daddy horsey!” Prue agreed, running back over to fling herself at him.

“You bet.” He swung her up into his arms and grinned at me. “I wouldn’t want to miss out on spending time with my two favorite girls.”

She gripped his cheeks and tugged until they were eye to eye. “Me your favorite.”

“I’m your favorite,” I corrected out of habit, something I quickly regretted when my daughter twisted around to glare accusingly at me. She was definitely a daddy’s girl and got her territorial nature from him, too. “That’s what you should have said instead of ‘me your favorite.’”

“Oh.” She nodded and turned back to Deacon and repeated, “Me your favorite.”

Deacon’s chest shook with his laughter, making Prue bounce while she giggled along with him. “And the horses are your favorite, so we better get out to the barn so you can give them their morning treat.”

“Horsey time, yay,” she cheered.

I grabbed a handful of carrots from the fridge and followed them outside. As soon as Deacon set Prue on her feet, she ran over to me and grabbed the carrot I held out to her. Then she raced over to the closest stall and waited for Daisy to bend low enough that she could stroke the mare’s nose. After she went up on her toes to give her a kiss, she loosened her hold on the carrot so the horse could gently take it from her. She giggled softly before racing back over to me to get another carrot to do it all over again with Sierra. And Poppy. And Misty.

When she grabbed the last carrot and hurried across the barn to Midnight’s stall, Deacon wrapped his arm around my shoulders. Leaning against his side, I tilted my head back to look up at him. “I’ll never get over how gentle that stallion is with our baby girl.”

Prue paused to mutter, “I’m not a baby.”

“Oops, sorry,” I apologized as I smiled at her. “You’re right. You’re definitely not a baby anymore.”

She nodded and toddled the last few steps over to where Midnight was waiting for her. The black stallion was almost as tall as me and weighed more than a thousand pounds. But he was a gentle giant when it came to Prue.

Deacon squeezed me and brushed a kiss against my temple. “She gentled Midnight as easily as you did me.”

“I hope I didn’t break you in too much.” I winked at him and lowered my voice as I added, “I was looking forward to enjoying your wild side in bed tonight.”

He pulled me closer against his side and rasped, “Second-trimester hormones really are the fucking best.”

He wasn’t going to get an argument from me on that because he was so right. “Does that mean you’re going to give me what I want later?”

“Hooyah.” His one-word response held enough sensual promise to send a shiver down my spine...and to have me counting down the hours until he could make good on it.

Epilogue

Deacon

“Are you kidding me?” Prue shouted as she stomped into the living room and jammed her hands on her hips while glaring daggers at me.

“What did I do?” I asked, genuinely confused. I looked at Piper, who was snuggled up to my side on the couch, but she just gave me an “I told you so” look and went back to watching the movie. “What?” I asked again. I hated when my baby girl was upset with me.

“You didn’t even ask her any questions. You just said hi and waved them out the door. I bet you even gave him condoms!”

I shifted uncomfortably, beginning to guess where Prue was going with this.

“Told you this would happen,” Piper murmured as she patted my leg with mock sympathy. “I’ll miss you, babe.”

“I’m not sure what you’re talking about, baby girl,” I tried to bluff with an innocent expression.

“Don’t you baby girl me, Daddy! I brought home a perfectly nice, respectful boy to take me to prom, and you, Sage, and Jacob, and your SEAL buddies scared the ever-loving crap out of him. WITH A GUN! He wouldn’t even look at me by the end of the night, much less kiss me!”

Smug satisfaction shot through me, but I swallowed it down, not wanting to upset my daughter any more than she already was. “He wasn’t good enough—” I started to say, only to be railroaded by Prue.