Free Hard: A Military Stepbrother Romance by Lara Swann Page B

the boy attentively
watching over the barbecue at Dale’s side. I picked up the meaning and reversed
direction, stalking closer in an obvious fashion.
    “On
guard! Or those sausages will be mine!”
    The
battle-cry raised Tyler’s gaze, looking at me uncertainly - and with a small
frown that was such an indication of childish disapproval I almost laughed.
Instead, I grinned at him, my water gun raised threateningly.
    At
ten, Tyler was the eldest of Becky’s three children and in a way that would
make his father proud, he took that responsibility seriously. There’d been
plenty of fun and games throughout the day, amid the replacement of some of the
drains around the house and the whitewashing of the outside walls - but
throughout it all, he’d stuck almost doggedly to Dale’s heel, helping out and
refusing to get involved in any of the sillier activities of his brothers.
    I
fired a salvo dangerously close to the barbecue grill and jumped back, as if
expecting a return shot. Dale scowled and shook the tongs at me, then turned
and grabbed another gun from where it lay propped up against the large metal
frame. He tossed it to Tyler, who grabbed it automatically before looking up at
him in confusion.
    “Go
on, little man. If you want your mother to eat tonight, looks like you’re going
to have to fend them off.”
    He
hesitated one moment longer, before the temptation obviously got the better of
him and he ran towards me at a charge. I yelled and ran away, turning back to
fire off shots here and there - letting a few hit the mark as I turned us
towards the thicker part of the garden.
    That
was all it took for an all-out battle between two hardened SEALs and three
darting, laughing boys. By the end of it we were all streaked with mud, sweat
and water, the blasts from the guns increasingly welcome as the sun beat down
on us.
    The
appetizing scent of cooking meat had been pulling us back towards the house
when Dale finally called for plates and the boys took off in that direction,
grinning and laughing. Ace scooped Jamie up as he fell behind the others,
settling him on his shoulders and making him squeal again in excitement.
    Becky
had set out the tables with cutlery and plates, adding a couple of salads and
sauces before coming to stand at the top of the stairs to the deck, arms folded
as her sons approached, streaked with dirt and water on half-naked bodies and
grinning up at her.
    “Oh
no you don’t - no food until you clean up properly.”
    Seven-year-old
Sam protested, but he was already on his way with Tyler to the hose at the side
of the house. Her eyes raked Jamie, Ace and I, expression unyielding.
    “All
of you.”
    Ace
flicked a wry glance down at himself before grinning and snapping a sharp
salute, and I followed on his heels under Becky’s watchful eye. She moved back
to the table as we wrestled the hose from the two boys and avoided another
hard-won battle, settling into the chair next to Fiona and waiting for Dale to
bring the meat. As soon as we got them all cleaned up, they ran back.
    Sam
darted back and forth between the grill and the tables, too eager to sit and
wait, while his brother helped Dale start dishing out the food. Fiona’s
dark-eyed gaze lingered on the kids with a wistful expression, and her hand
rested on the bump that was clearly visible through the loose fitting clothes.
Her husband Ray had a hand casually stroking her shoulder and had barely left her
side all day. He wasn’t one of the guys I knew very well, but Ryan was a firm
friend of his, and it appeared Fiona was in Becky’s support group as well.
    Ace
shot him an amused grin as we approached and he handed Jamie back over to
Becky.
    “And
I thought you were on high alert when we were down range, bro.”
    The
big man’s easy smile couldn’t distract from the gleam of pride in his eyes when
he looked down at his wife and unborn child, or the protective stance that was
almost unconscious.
    “Priorities,
mate. Perhaps you’ll