Page 25 of Keeping Laryn
“Shit,” he mumbled.
Laryn giggled, and it was the most carefree sound he’d heard from her tonight. He reveled in it. He had no problem getting a horrible night’s sleep if it made this woman relax.
She walked out of the kitchen and Casper waited to see what she was doing. She returned in less than twenty seconds with a fluffy pillow in her hands. She put it on the couch and pointed down the hallway. “The bathroom’s in the hall. We’ll have to share, I only have one.”
“No problem. I’ll let you know when I’m leaving in the morning.”
“What time is PT?” she asked.
“Five-thirty.”
“I’ll be awake. I usually get up at four-thirty to work out myself.”
“You do?”
“Uh-huh.”
An idea struck Casper. “Want to come work out with me and the guys?”
Laryn frowned. “Uh…hell no.”
“Why not?”
“Because you guys probably run like forty miles, do a thousand burpees, and bench press those huge boulders lying around the base for security purposes.”
Casper burst out laughing. “Not even close. I think we’re gonna do a five-mile run tomorrow, then go to the park on base with the workout equipment—you know, the one with pull-up bars, bench jumps, triceps dips, monkey bars, and that small climbing wall. Come with us. It’ll be fun.”
“I don’t know.”
Casper couldn’t help himself. “Please?”
She frowned. “Shit. There you go, being all nice again.Fine.”
Satisfaction coursed through him. “Great. We’ll leave here around five-fifteen. Since you live so close to base, that’ll give us plenty of time to meet up with the guys.”
Laryn nodded and turned to head back down the hall toward her room. She turned at the last minute. “Tate?”
“Yeah?”
“The last person to do something so unselfish for me was my dad. I appreciate you being here.”
His heart fell at her admission. This woman should’ve had all sorts of people bending over backward to help her out. To be nice to her. Including him. He’d fucked up hard. But he was going to do what he could to make amends. To make sure she knew from here on out that he was her friend. As were his fellow pilots. Laryn was a vital part of their team. They hadn’t treated her as such, but that was going to change.
“Good night, Laryn.”
“Good night.”
He stood in the middle of the living room staring down the hallway for several minutes, listening to her puttering around in her bedroom. When he saw the light under her door go out, he finally moved, stretching out on the couch. She was right, it was lumpy as hell. But Casper didn’t care. He didn’t bother removing his boots. He wanted to be prepared for anything. Did he really think someone was going to smash through the door to get to Laryn? Not really. But until he spoke with Tex, the person he’d told Laryn about, he wasn’t going to take any chances.
Tex would be able to research this Altan Osman guy and determine the true threat level he posed. Until then, Laryn would have to deal with having someone nearby at all times. If it couldn’t be him, it would be Pyro. Or Edge. Or any of his fellow pilots. He was actually thankful they were going to be deployed soon. There was nowhere safer than on a naval ship in the middle of the ocean. While he and the other Night Stalkers did their thing, she’d be safely ensconced onboard. When they gotback to Norfolk, they’d figure out how to mitigate any possible threats.
Casper was looking forward to this deployment. To showing Laryn what it meant to be part of a team. She’d probably resist, but she’d learn that he and his friends were stubborn. And when they set their mind to something—namely, bringing Laryn into their inner circle—nothing and no one would keep them from meeting their objective.
CHAPTER SIX
Laryn thought she was going to die. She worked out three mornings a week, but trying to keep up with Tate and his friends was making her feel as if she was going to hurl. She’d also slept like crap last night—which wasn’t helping her performance this morning—because she couldn’t stop thinking about Tate being just on the other side of her door. Using her pillow. On her couch.
If he wasn’t staying there simply because he thought she was in danger, she might have gotten more enjoyment out of the situation. Though, she couldn’t deny feeling warm and gooey inside that he even wanted to protect her.
