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R ider knew he’d failed his sister. He’d been young when their mother died and not that much older when their father passed away. He was her only family, and instead of trying to stick around, he’d gone off and joined the Navy.

Sure, he’d sent her money, paid for her degree, and made sure she had food and a place to live for all those years until she could take care of herself, but he’d left. Now, he was about to see her for the first time in about six years, and his stomach felt tighter than it did before a dangerous mission.

The wedding wasn’t until Friday, so that gave him three days to hang out and get to know her again, but he wasn’t really looking forward to explaining why he’d abandoned her.

He stepped from the rental and grabbed his bag from the trunk, noticing he was the only one entering the hotel with a military bag instead of a traditional suitcase. None of these people were military. None of them would understand him. The next four days would be interesting.

It had been years since he’d spent any considerable time with civilians. Sure, the women he hooked up with weren’t military, but they didn’t talk much because that’s not why he got together with them. With this crowd, there wouldn’t be any hooking up. His sister wouldn’t be pleased if he fucked one of her friends, then walked away. He would be on better than his best behavior.

“Excuse me,” a soft voice said behind him.

He paused and glanced over his shoulder before turning to face the woman. She was short, plump, with green eyes, and brown hair. She was mostly plain looking, but then her lips spread into a wide smile and his heart hammered so hard he wondered if she could hear it.

“Yes?” he asked, trying to keep his voice even.

“You’re Emily’s sister.” Her hands flew to her face, which was turning redder by the second. “I meant brother. I didn’t mean to imply you looked like a woman. You don’t. You definitely look like a man. All man.” Her eyes went wide, and her mouth fell open. “Oh God, I’m so sorry. I’m fucking this up more. I need to go crawl under a rock.”

She was cute, maybe even cuter the more flustered she got. He tried not to laugh, but he knew a chuckle escaped his lips before he replied.

“Yes, I’m Michael, Emily’s sister.”

“I need you in my room.”

He cocked his head to the side, wondering what she meant when she said she needed him.

Her eyes went even wider as her face turned white. “Oh shit. Emily is going to kill me. You probably think I was propositioning you. I’m not. I just have the tuxedo your sister picked up for you. It’s in my room, and she wants to make sure it really fits. She took them the measurements you sent, but the guy said there’s no way your body is—” Her gaze dipped to his thighs, and he saw her take in a little gasp. “He said your thighs were too big and your waist too small.” She waved her hand at him and shook her head. “I mean, you are proportioned very well. Shit, that came out wrong, didn’t it?”

“What’s your name?”

“My name?”

“Yes. What’s your name?”

“Andie, but not with a y.”

“Okay, Andie, not with a y. Let me check-in, and I’ll?—”

“Oh, you’re already checked in. Here’s your key. The room has been paid for, and I made sure you had some snacks and drinks in the room.”

He wasn’t sure exactly who had paid for his room, but he hoped it wasn’t his sister. She had too much going on to pay for his stuff. He lived lean, very lean when Emily had been in college. That wasn’t an issue now.

“Okay. Take me to my room and let me put my bag down, then I can meet you in your room.”

“Thank you. And Michael, it’s nice to meet you.”

He nodded. “My friends call me Rider, not Michael. So maybe call me that because my real name doesn’t feel like me.”

“Sure, Rider. Let me write that down. My friends just call me Andie. When I say that out loud, I feel stupid. So never mind and just follow me.”

He couldn’t help but notice Annie’s butt as she scurried in front of him. For her short legs, she moved very fast. It was almost like she was jogging.

She showed him to his room, and he realized her room was just down the hall from his. He would be seeing more of her, which would be nice. Not that he would hit on her, but it would be nice to have her around since she was easy on the eyes and made him wonder if settling down could be a good thing.

He finished in his room quickly and headed out to check on his tux. Maybe he should have had Andie bring it down to his room, but he wanted to get an idea of what kind of person she was, and hotel rooms showed a lot about a person.

The door to her room ended up being around the corner. As he approached the corner, he heard something bang against the wall, and then there were words, but they were low and menacing.

He covered the distance in two long steps and was shocked to see some guy with one hand on Andie’s throat, the other tangled in her hair.

“Don’t forget it,” the jerk growled before he moved to shove her head into the wall.

Rider moved fast and had his hand on the jerk’s arm, preventing him from moving. The man gasped and loosened his hold on Andie, which Rider took advantage of and made him drop his hold on the woman. Rider moved to stand between them and pushed the jerk away.

“You dumb fuck. She’s trash, not even worth sticking your dick into.”

Rider wanted to let this guy have it, but he didn’t want to end up in jail for assault. If the guy threw a punch, Rider would return in kind and then some, but until then, he would behave.

“Leave.” Rider’s one word didn’t leave anything up for argument, and he noticed the man stepping back.

Andie moved behind Rider, and the guy yelled out, “Good luck with her. She’s a cheating whore.”

Rider didn’t move, didn’t say anything. He just stared the man down until he turned away and stalked down the hall to the elevator. Rider flexed his fists, but when Andie’s fingers slid over his arm, he released his fists and turned to face her.

He didn’t like the red lump developing on the side of her face, nor did he like the red marks on her neck. He wasn’t happy about any of it.

“Let’s get you into your room and get ice on this. You need a wet washcloth on your neck.”

She shook her head. “No, I’m fine. Don’t worry about that. I’m okay.”

He stopped her from opening the door and held her gaze. “No, you are not okay. That man assaulted you. Do you want to press charges?”

Andie shook her head. “No. It won’t do any good.”

“Hey, no one should ever treat you that way.”

Her gaze fell and not like when she’d been checking him out. She wanted to hide from him. He’d seen some crazy shit, but witnessing American men abuse their girlfriends or even friends was highly disturbing.

Her shoulders straightened, and she flashed him a smile. “Your tuxedo is right in here. Just need to try it on. If you need adjustments, we can have someone come by.”

He wanted to tell her to wait, to get more information, maybe go to the cops, but there was something about the look in her eyes that made him stop. She was on the edge, and he didn’t want her to fall. Later, he would figure out who the bastard was. No way would he let the guy get away with what he’d done without some repercussions.

Read Protecting Andie next

If you are interested in Thario and Frog, there is more to his story in the Safeguarded by the SEAL series by Julia Bright. If you are interested in Whisper, his story can be found in Saving Lorelei by Julia Bright.