Page 5 of Protecting Clove (Loved by the SEAL #5)

C love would be lying to say she wasn’t being hyper-vigilant about sounds coming from Bud’s place.

It was Saturday, and she’d heard him leave around eight that morning.

She was in the back, playing ball with Neo, when someone stepped up to the gate and knocked.

She jumped and might have let out a little yelp.

“Hey, it’s Bud. Can I come in?”

“Oh, sure.” She moved to the gate and opened it, stepping back as Neo ran over to Bud and hugged him around the waist.

“I have something to show you. Come in.”

Bud glanced over, raising his eyebrows to check with her if it was okay before he followed Neo inside.

She gave a nod of approval and went with them.

She knew exactly what Neo wanted to talk about.

She’d found information about airplanes and was making paper airplanes.

She’d found a design that was complex and flew far.

“Wow, these are great.” Bud had one of the airplanes Neo had placed on top of the piano. “Who made these?”

“I did. Mom isn’t great at following directions which is weird because she cooks and that’s only directions.”

Clove huffed out a breath. “I just couldn’t get the paper to fold right.”

Neo stared up at Bud. “Do you fly airplanes? I read that some SEALs are pilots.”

Bud shook his head. “No, I don’t know how to fly. I can drive a boat, though. Have you ever been out on a boat in the ocean?”

Neo shook her head. “No, we lived in Colorado. There are lakes and rivers, but it’s landlocked, so no ocean.”

Clove wasn’t sure she really understood what landlocked meant before she was in high school, and Neo wasn’t even in grade school. She hoped she didn’t mess her daughter up too much. She didn’t know the first thing about raising a child, much less a child who knew way too much at such a young age.

“You’ve been to the beach, right?”

Neo nodded. “Yes. The Pacific is fifty-one percent of the world’s ocean waters. That’s too much, so I didn’t get in.”

“Oh. I could see that. It is large. I get in the ocean all the time, but I’m a good swimmer, so I don’t feel like it’s too much.”

“I’ve been in a pool before, but I don’t really swim well.”

Bud glanced up and caught Clove’s gaze. “Maybe I can give you a few swimming lessons. There’s a pool not that far from here.”

“Mommy, can we get swimming lessons?”

She smiled, unsure how that would go. “Um, I’m sure we can figure something out.”

“I’d be happy to help. Of course, the lessons would have to fit with my schedule.”

Clove nodded, feeling weird about the fact she was looking forward to spending time with Bud. He was just trying to be nice, and she was having selfish thoughts about seeing him in a swimsuit.

Bud wasn’t sure why he’d volunteered to teach Neo how to swim, but the thought of seeing Clove in a swimsuit made him tingle all over. He bet she would be pissed if she knew he was thinking sexy thoughts about her.

“I have a calendar. We could set up a time.”

He hadn’t spent much time around kids, but Neo was different. Even he could tell that. “How about this afternoon? Are you both free?”

Clove wasn’t prepared for this to happen so soon. She had made enough money doing shopping last weekend that she planned to shop on Sunday morning, and that was it.

“Um, I think we have time today.”

Bud pulled out his phone and opened something on it. “The pool opens at eleven. It’s best we get there before it gets crowded. You okay leaving in thirty minutes?”

That gave her no time to shave her legs, but she wasn’t going to the pool with Bud to be sexy and attract attention.

She was there so her daughter could learn to swim.

Going today wouldn’t give Neo time to investigate and come up with an excuse for why she couldn’t learn to swim.

Her daughter was smart, but that also meant she could understand that bad things could happen.

“Yes. We can be ready to leave in thirty minutes.”

“Good. I’ll see you out front in thirty.” He moved to the door, and she watched him leave, wondering what she was getting herself into.

She clapped her hands together and turned to face Neo. “Time to change.”

Neo nodded and turned slowly before glancing back. “Do you think Bud will put safety first?”

“Yes. I’m sure he will. I’ll be right there, too.”

Neo waited a second before giving a sharp nod, then raced to her room to change. Clove was relieved Neo wasn’t overthinking this. Her daughter liked Bud, so maybe that had something to do with her willingness to learn to swim.