Free Soldier With Benefits (Military Men Book 2) by Shelley Munro

a laugh. Louie wasn’t a hundred percent sure on that.
    “We still training this morning?” Simon stripped and turned on another shower.
    Louie appreciated the change of subject. “Yeah. And a recon this afternoon. The news company wants to film out west of the city.”
    “Don’t tell me. They want to go to the latest bombing site.”
    “No, they want to interview some of the villagers out there. See how they’re getting on with their day-to-day lives.” Louie didn’t believe it for a moment. Carolina Eastern had an agenda and it involved Mac.
    “But it’s near the bombing site?”
    “Yeah.” Louie turned off the tap and grabbed his towel. After roughly drying himself, he wrapped the damp towel around his waist, scooped up his shower bag and headed back to his room.
    Mac was still asleep when he entered and he tiptoed around, trying not to wake her. He’d never met a soldier like her. Just about every soldier he met slept lightly. Not Mac. Despite being a heavy sleeper, the moment she opened her eyes she was alert and hit the ground running.
    Louie dressed and powered up his laptop before checking his watch. He crouched beside Mac and resisted the urge to kiss her awake. “Mac.” He shook her shoulder, and when she didn’t stir, he shook her a fraction harder and raised his voice. “Mac, wakey, wakey.” A third hard shake did the trick.
    “Is it time to get up?”
    “You have time for a shower before breakfast.” Louie stood and moved over to his laptop.
    With a groan, Mac rolled to her feet. She lifted her arms above her head in an unconscious stretch. Louie couldn’t help enjoying the show. He cocked a hip against the desk and unabashedly stared, a smile playing around his lips. He loved her hair loose and tumbling around her shoulders. Her breasts bore a couple of bruises, small suction marks he’d made. It gave him a sense of satisfaction, knowing they were there, hidden beneath her clothes while they went about their daily work.
    Her breasts pulled to tight nubs, affected by the cooler morning air. Sleek muscles rippled as she stretched, freezing when she noticed his attention.
    “Having fun?”
    Louie ignored the frigid tone. “Hell yeah.”
    “Bastard.” Mac pulled on a long T-shirt and a pair of baggy shorts. After grabbing a towel and a shower bag, she slammed from their room.
    Grinning, he signed into his email account. The first email was from Nikolai. He scanned it. Nothing new there. No one Nikolai had talked to knew much about Mac, although Nikolai hoped to catch up with some of the soldiers she served with at a reunion dinner coming up later in the month. He scanned the details again and stopped at one thing he’d missed. Mac’s father had been a soldier. He was still alive, but her mother had died twenty years ago. Interesting. He’d ask Nikolai to research that angle for him.
    Aware of the need to hurry, Louie fired off a return email, sending his special love to Nikolai’s wife, Summer, because he knew it would piss off his friend. He was very protective of his wife, but an adventurer at heart, Summer didn’t make it easy for him.
    Louie signed off just as Mac arrived back from her shower.
    “You put love bites all over my breasts,” she snarled at him. “You’re lucky no one noticed but me.”
    “I’m sorry.” Not true, but he wasn’t stupid enough to admit it. He’d never acted possessive about a woman before. Until Mac. He hated the other men seeing her naked in the shower. At least he could touch when they were in private. But if Mac re-upped for another six months…
    He had to change her mind. Somehow. Even though the woman handled herself better than most, he’d worry about her.
    “Hell,” she said in disgust. “You’re not sorry at all. What is wrong with you? Do you think the others will respect me if they think we’re fucking each other? They’ll start watching me like I’m a bug in a jar. I’ll have to prove myself all over again.”
    She was