Free Shelter for Elizabeth (Badge of Honor: Texas Heroes Book 5) by Susan Stoker Page A

to stay because you want to get to know me better. Ask me to stay because you want me to, not because you think you should. Ask me to stay because you want to get a good-night kiss at the end of our date, not out of any obligation you think you have to me or my sister.”
    Beth bit her lip, but powered through her shyness. “Will you stay for dinner, Cade? I’d like to get to know you better.”
    “I’d love to. Thank you for asking.”

Chapter 6
    B eth clacked away on her keyboard, occasionally looking over at Cade, who was fast asleep on the couch next to her. They’d had a wonderful dinner. She’d made a bachelor casserole: pasta, cream of mushroom soup, ground buffalo, sour cream, and cheese. It was easy and relatively fast. And he’d been right; the buffalo tasted just like beef, but was healthier.
    They’d talked more about their likes and dislikes, and Beth couldn’t remember laughing more since she’d left California. After a while, Cade had asked if she’d show him some of what it was she did on the web.
    So she’d pulled out her laptop and proceeded to give him an introduction to the Dark Web, trying to explain a bit about how the good guys worked, and what made a bad guy a bad guy. To simplify things, she used the analogy of black-hat versus white-hat-wearing cowboys in old TV shows and movies. They both might be outlaws, but the white hat guys were actually trying to do good. Cade admitted that most of it went over his head, but he’d enjoyed watching her fingers fly over the keyboard as she worked the code scrolling down the screen.
    Eventually he’d asked if she minded if he read while she worked. At the shake of her head, he’d pulled out his cell and opened up his reading app. He’d fallen asleep thirty minutes ago, his phone almost falling on his face as he drifted off.
    Sitting next to each other, doing their own thing but enjoying spending time together, was new to Beth. She’d never had a boyfriend in high school or college who’d enjoyed hanging out and doing nothing with her. Hell, she’d never had a boyfriend content to lounge next to her and read while she worked. It was crazy, but the kind of crazy Beth could get used to.
    Cade had his head resting on the back of her couch and his shoeless feet stretched out in front of him. His jeans pulled taut against his legs and crotch, allowing Beth to see the outline of his equipment with no problem. He was a big man, but for once in her life that didn’t scare her. Oh, the act of actually having sex with him made her have second thoughts, but his size didn’t.
    Being six feet tall meant he was taller than her and could help protect her against someone who might want to hurt her, and Beth couldn’t help but admit that was a big part of the draw. She wasn’t so shallow before being kidnapped, but she figured that was now a part of her psyche and she wouldn’t feel bad about it.
    Cade’s arms were muscular; they’d have to be in order to haul around the fire hoses he’d talked about earlier. He’d explained some of the physical things they’d had to do to pass the fitness test and what they did in order to stay fit. Being a firefighter wasn’t just about breaking down doors and hauling a hose inside a burning building. They had to lift, stretch, climb, and sometimes even run, all while wearing their safety clothes and gear.
    Before she’d gotten distracted, Cade had told her about the annual charity stair climb they participated in at the beginning of September each year. To honor the firefighters and police personnel who had perished in the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City, firefighters around the country climbed a total of one hundred and ten flights of stairs, the exact number of flights in the World Trade Center buildings. They wore all their turnout gear, which weighed at least forty pounds, just as the firefighters on that fateful day had. Beth wanted to support the event, and if she couldn’t physically be