Page 101 of One Lucky Hero (Men in Uniform 1)

For the last four nights, Dean had stayed over, and although she knew that part of it was to make her feel more secure, she had been sure that after his sweet declarations, they were going to . . . well, for lack of a better term, do it.

Instead, he’d been the perfect gentlemen. They’d kissed, of course, but he’d actually taken the couch instead of sharing Daisy’s bed with Violet. At first, she’d thought it was adorable having him downstairs making sure Daisy was comfortable and that he didn’t step on Casey’s toes, but now she just wanted him to stop pussyfooting around and take her like a man.

“Hey, Dais, if your roommate doesn’t show up, can I stay here with you tonight?” Casey asked suddenly.

Violet’s eyes flew open, and she could have sworn she saw something pass between her brother and sister.

“Sure, we can have a movie marathon,” Daisy said.

“You guys don’t want to go exploring?” Violet asked.

The two of them looked at each other and shook their heads simultaneously. “Nah.”

“We’ll just walk to the store and grab some kettle corn, Oreos, Doritos . . . you know, binge on junk food,” Daisy said.

“Do you want us to go with you? We could grab dinner,” Violet said.

Casey shook his head at her. “Why don’t you guys go get some dinner and take in the sights? We can meet here in the morning and grab some Denny’s or something before we head back home.”

Violet wasn’t completely dense. They were setting her up to be alone with Dean, and while she appreciated the gesture, it felt a little skeevy.

Before she could open her mouth, though, Dean grabbed her hand and stood. “Then I guess we’ll leave you crazy kids to it.”

Violet glanced up at Dean, who had a definite devilish gleam in his eye.

But she was so torn. On one hand, she’d been desperate to get Dean alone all week, but this was the last night she’d get to spend with her sister for months. She was going to miss her.

As if reading her thoughts, Daisy climbed to her feet and hugged Violet hard. Putting her mouth against her ear, she whispered so softly that Violet strained to hear.

“I love you, but if you do not get out of here with Dean, I am going to do something embarrassing.”

Violet didn’t need to know what her sister had planned. If they wanted her to go, she’d go, but not before she did a little embarrassing of her own.

“I am so proud of you.” Violet released Dean’s hand to squeeze her little sister, kissing her cheek.

“Thank you. For everything,” Daisy said.

Violet blinked at the sting of tears in her eyes and pulled away. “I’ll have my cell on if you need anything.”

“We won’t. See you tomorrow,” Daisy said.

Violet shot her siblings a glare as she and Dean left the room.

“I can’t believe they chased us off like we were the lame old people no one wants around,” she groused.

Dean took her hand once more and brought it to his lips. “I think it was more their way of paying you back for making them so happy.”

“What do you mean?” she asked.

He stopped with her in the stairwell, pressing her against the wall with his body. “I mean, they love you and want you to come back tomorrow deliriously ecstatic.”

“And how are we going to manage that?” she asked.

“Well, I thought we could start by getting dinner,” he said.

“Like a . . . Like a date?”

“Yeah, that’s the idea.”