Make Mine a Ranger (Special Ops: Homefront Book 4) Read Online Free PDF

kept
alongside the back porch.
    “I think I love you, Bess,” he said. It
was only a joke, and she laughed lightly in response, the tiniest hint of a
blush creeping up her cheeks.
    After this many years, he knew Bess well
enough to know she’d never take it the wrong way. It was like that with her. She
was one of those women who didn’t seem to have some kind of ulterior motives in
anything she did. There were no pretenses about her. She was just as
straightforward and reliable as a person could get.
    And natural, he couldn’t help thinking,
glancing at her. Not flashy at all, she could walk into a bar and never get
noticed.
    What a loss for the men who overlooked
her, he thought as he took another bite. He knew guys who would propose to a
woman after a meal like this. It was just that delicious.
    She waved her hands dismissively. “Oh,
it’s just lasagna. Anyone can make lasagna.”
    “No. It takes talent to make something
like this.” He found himself talking with his mouth full. It was hard not to. He
simply couldn’t stop putting more food in his mouth.
    “I’m done,” Abby exclaimed, immediately
crawling out of her booster seat.
    Amused, Tyler looked at her plate. She
had diligently removed every chuck of meat from her lasagna and formed it into
a pile at the side that looked a bit like a brown snowman.
    Bess frowned. “You barely ate anything.”
    “I ate noodles. Can I play with my Duplos
now?”
    Heaving a defeated breath, Bess gave in.
“Okay. Put your plate by the sink, please.”
    Carelessly leaving her silverware behind,
Abby toddled over to the sink with her plate and disappeared up the stairs.
    Bess looked at Tyler. “It’s nice to cook
for someone who actually appreciates my meals,” she confided. “I’ll cook for
you anytime.”
    “Abby has no clue what other kids have to
eat. The only Italian food I ate at her age came from a can.”
    Bess laughed.
    She had a nice laugh, Tyler decided. “I
don’t think I’ve ever had homemade pasta before.”
    “Really?” She sliced off another piece
for him as he finished his first.
    He really should stop. The last thing he
could do is gain weight in this job if he wanted to stay in the Rangers.
    But still, one more piece wouldn’t kill
him. He’d do extra PT tomorrow, he promised himself as she placed another chunk
of oven-baked decadence onto his plate.
    “Lacey and Maeve gave me the pasta maker
for Christmas last year,” she continued, completely unaware that her lasagna
was a shade away from giving him a hard-on. “I’m still trying to get the hang
of it.”
    “Believe me, you got the hang of it.” He
swallowed and looked at her. “Why aren’t you working as a chef somewhere or
something like that?”
    Bess shrugged. “I don’t have the training,
for one thing. And I also need a steady paycheck and good benefits for Abby. The
hours are good where I work. I can finish early and pick up Abby from day care
at a decent hour. You can’t get that if you’re working in a restaurant.”
    It made sense, he figured, but still…
    She had told him she worked as an office
manager for a dental practice. Not exactly the kind of place where she could
stretch the wings of her culinary talents. But he guessed that’s what happened
to single moms, thinking back to the financial struggles of his own mother when
he was younger.
    Bess gathered up Abby’s silverware and
added it to her own. “I work for a caterer sometimes on the weekends when they
get overbooked. I get some of my recipes from that. Edith babysits Abby on
those days.”
    “Edith?”
    “She’s sort of a family friend. She was
Mick’s sponsor when he went to the Academy years ago, and she’s kind of adopted
us, for some reason.”
    “You mean Mrs. B?”
    “Yeah. That’s right. Did you meet her at Maeve’s
party last year?”
    Tyler smiled. “Yeah, I saw her then, but I
met her a long time before that. She hosted a crab feast for the West Point
exchange cadets when I was here