Free Champagne and Bullets: Book 1 (Military Moguls) by Olivia Jaymes Page B

house and out of the front door.
    “You don’t need to go to any trouble. We can go out or order in.” His mind was already starting to go into attorney mode, thinking about the day ahead.
    “I’ll cook,” she said firmly. “Maybe even something healthy.”
    “Now that I want to see.”
    Seb’s car was parked behind Amanda’s in the driveway and he paused as they passed her sedan. Something didn’t look quite right. A closer inspection revealed that both of the tires on the driver’s side were flat. He dropped her arm and strode to the other side, kneeling down to run his hand over the expensive Pirelli.
    Slashed. All four of them.
    “What the hell?” Amanda was beside him, her fingers tracing the long cut in the rubber. “They were fine last night.”
    Seb stood and looked around in frustration. Amanda lived in an upper-middle class neighborhood, but of course that didn’t mean anything these days. Crime was everywhere. Here he was supposed to be protecting the woman he loved, but instead he’d been too busy fucking her brains out while some kids trashed her tires.
    Son of a bitch.
    “Seb?”
    Her tentative tone snagged his attention. She was frowning but not in an angry way, more questioning than anything. He took a deep breath and mustered all the control he had. Being pissed off wasn’t going to solve anything.
    “Sorry, I was just mad that someone did this right out here in front of your neighbors. Why don’t you use your garage?”
    Her nose wrinkled and she tugged nervously at her ear. “The opener is broken. I have a service coming out on Friday.”
    Seb pulled out his phone and dialed 911. “We’ll call the police and make a report so you can give that to your insurance company. Do you have their phone number? I’ll call them next.”
    He turned his attention to the operator as he recited the address and what had happened. When he hung up, Amanda was looking at him with a strange expression that made him pause.
    “What are you doing?” she asked.
    “I’m taking care of this.” What did it look like he was doing?
    “Seb,” she said softly. “You told me not five minutes ago you needed to go or you were going to be late. I can handle this. I’ll talk to the police when they get here and I’ll call my insurance company. Then I’ll have the car towed to the tire place up the street.” She placed her hand on his arm. “I can take care of this.”
    He wrestled with his conscience, wanting to do this but knowing she could handle it herself if she needed to. Once again this was about his ego, not reality. He exhaled slowly, knowing he was beat.
    “I know you can, Mandy. I guess I just wanted to sweep in and save the day.”
    That made her smile and she reached up to take his face in her hands and kiss him softly on the lips.
    “You are absolutely my knight in shining armor. But I know you have an appointment at nine-thirty and even knights can’t be late. How about I’ll call you when the police leave and after I talk to the insurance company, okay?”
    Seb nodded in agreement, hating to run out on her when he really felt she needed him. Relationships were about being there and supporting each other, not disappearing when things got tough.
    “You’re still not happy, are you?” Amanda tilted her head in question, her hands on her hips.
    “I want to take care of you,” he finally admitted. “I want to make everything better.”
    “You already have.” She pointed to his car. “Go to work. I’ll be fine. I’ll call you.”
    “Okay.” Seb pulled open the driver’s door and paused. “I know you’re all grown up, Mandy, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t want to chase the monsters away.”
    “I’ll make you a deal. If there’s a monster I’ll let you kill it.”
    She was teasing him now and he couldn’t help but smile. “Sounds like a deal to me. I’ll talk to you later. Have a good day, sweetheart. I love you.”
    “I love you too. Drive careful.”
    Seb backed