Page 9 of Koa’s Little Girl (Soldier Daddies #8)

“You’ve already figured out I have a slight control problem, haven’t you?” she asked, staring at him as he put another taco together.

“Perhaps. It’s also human nature to resist new things, even if you know deep inside what you crave.”

Giana took a big drink of milk and pulled back the glass to consider the beverage. Koa took a bite of his taco. Would she refuse to drink it? To his delight, she set it down and picked up her other taco without a word.

“Was it scary on your mission?” she asked.

Even though her tone was light, he could tell she’d worried about him. “There were some challenging moments, but Caden works our butts off to make sure we were ready. Besides, I know my team has my back.”

“You like them a lot.”

“They’re my battle brothers. That’s a stronger bond than most siblings have,” he tried to explain.

“Aspen and Pippa love their daddies so much. I enjoyed getting to know Jerico and Zale through them. They had some good stories about the team.”

“Of course they did. What did they tell you about me?” Koa asked, preparing himself to hear the worst.

“They think you’ll be an amazing daddy.”

“And…” Koa waited for the bad stuff.

“That’s it. We talked about everyone’s tattoos. They think you have the most.”

“Probably. Tribal tattoos are very common in Hawaii.” Koa made a few more tacos as they talked. From the way she inhaled them, he suspected Giana hadn’t eaten well while he was gone.

“I’ve never been to Hawaii.”

“We’ll go sometime. Fair warning, I have an enormous family. We love to hang out together at someone’s house, the beach, anywhere.”

“That’s fun. I have a few relatives I’m close to. My grandfather, most of all. He’s the best,” Giana shared.

“I’d love to meet him. Does he live in town?”

“About an hour away.” She hesitated for a second before adding, “You’re planning on us meeting each other’s families?”

“Flame, I want it all—us living together, spending time with family, hanging with my team and the other Littles. Does that scare you?”

She shook her head. “It sounds incredible.” Giana drained the last of her milk and asked, “Can I have more?”

“You bet, baby girl.” Koa got up and grabbed the jug from the refrigerator and filled both their glasses without commenting on her change of attitude.

“Tell me something funny that happened to you all. I want to know it’s not all danger all the time.”

“Zale got bitten by a leech on his balls. He’s our medic. He usually deals with all that. We had to play rock, paper, scissors to choose who pulled it off for him.”

“Really?” Giana asked with a shudder. “I’d be out of there if something were sucking my blood.”

“No, it really didn’t happen like that. Hank was the closest. He took care of it with one eye closed.”

“Why did he close one eye?”

“He’s our sniper.” Koa pantomimed arming a sniper rifle and closed his left eye as he focused through the pretend scope. “He always does that when he concentrates. It’s ingrained in him. Watch the next time we’re all together. You’ll see it.”

“You’re very observant, aren’t you?”

“I try to be. Want another taco?” he asked, waving at almost empty containers.

“No way. I can’t believe I ate that many.”

“You were hungry. Want to choose a movie while I toss these dishes into the dishwasher? After our nap, we may not get sleepy for a while.”

“I can help.”

“Never going to happen. Daddy’s job. Take your giraffe cracker over to the couch and munch on it for dessert as you master the remote.”

“Um, I think I’ll run home and pick up a few things.”

“I’ll drive you. Can you wait for a few minutes?” Koa asked.

“Oh, I can be there and back before you finish.”

“Let’s take a few minutes at your place to grab some clothes for a few days. We’ll need your other stuffie, too.”

Her eyes widened as her jaw dropped. Pulling herself together, Giana asked, “How do you know I have another stuffie?”

“You talked in your sleep earlier. By the third time you whispered Tiger, I’d eliminated another boyfriend and figured he was your stuffie, too.”

“Oh!” she said and looked down at the table. “Do you think I’m silly?”

“Let’s see. We’ve already established that you’re a little girl, and that I want to be your daddy. Why would you think having two stuffies would make you silly? Unless that other stuffie is a giraffe named Tiger?” he guessed, teasing her.

Giana’s gaze flew up to meet his as her mouth rounded in an astonished O. “How did you know?”

“That one cracker is precious to you. Elephants, horses, lions met a munchy death at your hands—legs, heads, butts chewed off without a care. The giraffe you couldn’t eat. And a giraffe is the same colors as a tiger. It makes perfect sense.”

“Of course it does!” blasted from her lips as she raised her arms in a victory sign. “Why can no one else understand that?”

She lowered her hands to the table as she stared at him. “You do though, don’t you? You understand me.”

“I hope so, little girl. If I miss something, you’ll clue me in, won’t you? Even daddies need some help sometimes. Now, give me five minutes and we’ll go get Tiger.”

“And some underwear,” she quickly added.

“Whatever you want to bring,” he assured her and stood. Koa dropped a kiss on the top of her head. Thank goodness he’d ordered those animal crackers.