Free McKenzie, Cooper - Her Knight in Dusty BDUs [Men Out of Uniform 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) by Cooper McKenzie

nightstand.”
    “Bob? Who’s Bob?”
    Eden’s smile grew as she indicated the vibrator. “Battery-operated boyfriend or Bob. I think everyone woman should have at least one. Especially in this town where their men are gone months at a time.”
    “Hmmm, I guess it’s okay to have a Bob, as long as there are no other men in your life who aren’t blood relations, except maybe Crow.”
    Eden blinked at that pronouncement. “I’m sorry, but did you just tell me I could not have any male friends?”
    Images of Wade flashed before her eyes as her ex-husband ordered her to stop seeing friends, controlled her actions, demanded to know every minute of any time they were apart. She had grown up with parents like that, and now that she was free of Wade, there was no way she would allow someone else to have that much control over her life. Especially since he was leaving town in a few days.
    Bailey blinked but looked confused and did not answer.
    Turning off the vibrator, Eden tossed it on the couch and stood up. After smoothing her T-shirt down to cover as much of her body as she could, she headed for the bedroom. “I think you should leave now.”

Chapter 10

    Eden was almost to the bedroom door when Bailey realized something had just gone very, very wrong. He was not sure where her head was, but something he had just said seemed to trigger pain from her past. Something they had to talk about and get her past before he could make any further headway in burrowing his way into her heart and soul.
    “Eden, stop,” he ordered in his powerful Dom voice.
    Instead of obeying, she threw him a dirty look over her shoulder and kept stalking to the bedroom. A moment later, the door slammed. In the silent vacuum following the loud noise, he heard a soft snick as she locked the door.
    “Oh, no, you don’t, little girl,” he murmured as he crossed to the bedroom.
    As he expected, the door was locked. “Eden, you have five seconds to open this door before I come through it. Either way you are in for a spanking that is going to leave you with a red-hot ass.”
    As he counted silently, he pulled out his knife with a thousand and one uses and flipped the awl out. At five, he pushed the pointed metal stick into the small, round lock and grinned to himself. As soon as the lock popped, he turned the knob and pushed on the door.
    The door did not budge.
    “Sunflower, step away from the door, or I’ll make it so you won’t be able to sit down for a week,” he promised, his voice just loud enough for her to hear through the panel separating them.
    A half second later Eden jerked the door open. He took a half step back at the intense pain he saw in her expression. She planted her hands on her hips as her feet spread. She was clearly taking a stand against something, but he wondered if it was memories of her ex-husband’s abuse or something he had done.
    “What makes you think I’m going to quietly let you take over my life without a fight? Spank me because I don’t do as you dictate? I don’t think so. You think you’re going to tell me who I can and cannot be friends with? No fucking way, mister. I fought long and hard to become more than a human doormat, and I refuse to go back there for anyone, no matter how good the sex is.”
    He took a deep breath to fight back the urge to find her ex and beat the shit out of him. If he walked out of the apartment before they settled this, Eden would never let him back in again. And that was the last thing he wanted.
    Something had happened in the last minute and a half that had caused her to have some sort of flashback to her ex-husband’s abuse. Had his appearance in the shop triggered this? Or was it his own fumbling demand of monogamy?
    “Eden, baby, you can have as many friends as you want, both men and women,” Bailey said, keeping his voice soft and calm. “I didn’t mean you couldn’t be friends with anyone, I just wanted Bob to be the only other cock sharing your bed, touching