Page 71 of Sentinel's Kiss

“When were you in Afghanistan?” Sentinel asked, unable to keep the incredulity out of his voice. She had never thought to mention that to him?

“I bounced around the Arabian Peninsula and Iran, Iraq, Pakistan for a couple of years. Wherever they would send me for a story. Afghanistan was just one of the places I reported on. It’s been almost four years and I still wake up sometimes thinking I’m there.”

Sentinel was blown away. He’d known she was badass and had traveled a bit, but to have been in a war zone the same time thereabouts that he had been there…Hell, he wished he’d met her back then. But he had her now. He slung an arm around her. “You keep surprising me, wild child.”

He wanted to smack the meaningful looks that Ryder and Evil were sharing off their smug faces. What the fuck was that all about?

The waitress came by to take their orders. As far as Sentinel was concerned, there was no need to look at the menu in the diner. You either got burgers or eggs. He wasn’t feeling breakfast right now so he ordered a cheeseburger and fries. Ashley ordered a turkey club with a side salad.

While they waited for their food, Warden and Evil were thinking so hard about what to throw at her, Sentinel could almost smell wood burning.

“So, Evil,” Ashley said. “Josh tells me you were a cop.”

Evil nodded.

“Why does a cop retire early and open a bar? You don’t strike me as the type who wants to get away from the challenges of the job.”

She was dangerous. Too damn smart for her own good. If the SOBs didn’t watch out, she’d know more than they wanted to let her know.

“I’m a pussycat.” Evil grinned at her.

“That’s half right,” Ryder said, and they all laughed.

“I bet you guys have a lot of great stories,” Ashley continued in that news reporter, girl-next-door tone. It was sexy as hell. “Warden, what was the weirdest contraband you ever found at Rikers?”

Ashley had done her homework. She also wasn’t beyond flipping her blond hair around and smiling big to disarm her subjects.

“Well,” Warden said, “there’s the usual shit—drugs, cell phones, weapons, and all that. But the strangest thing I ever saw was a man smuggling in a salami in his pants.”

“No way,” Ashley said.

“You’re making that up,” Lucy accused. “How was he expecting to make the handoff? Unzip his fly and whip it out on the table?”

“You get the right staff member involved and you can get anything you want to a prisoner.”

“Wow.” Lucy shook her head.

“Why a salami?” Ashley asked.

Warden shrugged. “It was a special kind that was only available around Easter. He had a hankering for it and the contacts to pull it off.”

“Pull it out, you mean?” Sentinel said.

“Exactly.”

“That’s crazy,” Ashley said.

The rest of the meal went by like that. His friends didn’t get in one jab against her. Sentinel had been prepared for them to tease her about her Barbie doll good looks, and he had planned on drawing a line in the sand. But in the end, she charmed his friends like she did everyone else.

Sentinel was sure, though, it hadn’t hurt that she and Ryder had a past together. More than once he had caught Ryder giving him that speculative look that chilled his bones. She was up to something. He just hoped it didn’t involve Ashley.

—

“You don’t have to do this,” Ashley said as they walked up to her parents’ house hand in hand. He was wearing a long-sleeved Henley with jeans and his motorcycle boots. They even took the Jeep.

Her father was still in the hospital and her mother and brother were with him. Layla had called her and begged for a few hours’ respite. Which meant she wanted Ashley to watch fifteen-month-old Logan and four-year-old Maya. Normally Ashley would have a million and one excuses why she couldn’t do it. But she wanted to test her new boundaries. Maybe she would be able to look at Logan and not picture Dawn. Maybe she could play with Maya and not feel empty inside.

She slipped her hand inside Josh’s. For all of her bravado, she had told Layla she was bringing her boyfriend and that if Layla didn’t like it, she could call Jeremy home to watch his kids. Layla pretty much said she could bring Attila the Hun over as long as he didn’t mind changing diapers.