Protecting Caroline (SEAL of Protection Book 1) Read online

  They’d spent some hilarious nights with the team. Caroline thought, as she had the first time she’d seen them, they were sex-on-a-stick, and apparently the ladies in California did too. They all rotated girlfriends as often as she changed her shoes, which was a lot. Even Sam’s scars didn’t seem to deter many women, much to her relief. Caroline tolerated the skanky women as best she could. Luckily Matthew knew how she felt and when they all met up on date night, he’d excuse them early.

  They’d go home and make love until the wee hours of the morning. That was one of the best things about being in the same town as Matthew. She could have him whenever she wanted. And she wanted him a lot. They were well matched as far as their libidos went. Matthew never seemed to get tired of her and always complimented her lavishly. In return she’d let Matthew get bossy in bed. But when he got bossy, she never went to sleep unsatisfied. It was a good tradeoff.

  Caroline’s life was wonderful and she couldn’t be happier. She found it extremely nerve-racking whenever Matthew and his team had to head out on a mission, but one night, seeing her stressing about it, Matthew had tried to reassure her.

  “Caroline, I know it’s not easy to be with me, but you have to know I’ll do whatever it takes to get back to you. How could I do anything less when you fought so hard to stay alive until I could find you and rescue you? Trust me. Trust in the team.”

  She’d understood. She had fought to live, for him. If she hadn’t loved him she would’ve given up long before she found herself in the middle of the ocean struggling to stay afloat.

  All was well in her life. She had almost everything she ever wanted. The only thing missing was girlfriends. She hadn’t had any close friends in her life, but she wanted that. All around her she saw moms shopping with their daughters, friends at the spa enjoying the day, or women sitting down for a quick lunch during the work week.

  She hoped Matthew’s team would find women to love, women she could be friends with, but she was losing hope. The bitches the men hung out with were definitely not the kind of people she wanted to associate with. She had no idea what they saw in them…okay, well she did, but she knew none of them were good enough for them outside the bedroom.

  Caroline thought about Christopher. He was dating one of the worst of the bunch, some chick named Adelaide. She acted like she was so much better than Caroline and it drove her crazy. She figured she must be really good in bed, because the Christopher she knew deserved so much better. She knew part of his past, and it was time he found a good woman. Someone who’d put him first. She sighed. She might as well wish for the moon. Adelaide knew she’d latched onto someone so much better than her. Who knew what she’d do to keep him?

  Caroline felt arms come around her and pull her backward. She leaned back into Matthew.

  “Happy?”

  “You have to ask?” Caroline scolded him. She laid her head on his shoulder and felt him turn his head to kiss her temple.

  “The house isn’t too small for you?”

  Caroline turned in Matthew’s arms. “I couldn’t care less where we live. I just want to fall asleep in your arms every night and wake up in them in the morning. I love you. I’d go thorough everything all over again as long as it meant I’d end up right here again.”

  Wolf didn’t say anything, just leaned down and kissed her. Hard.

  “Hey you two, quit it! Come help us carry more boxes in.”

  They laughed as Faulkner bitched at them. Caroline smiled up at Matthew. She had no idea how she’d been lucky enough to end up with this man, but she wasn’t giving him back. He was hers. Now and forever.

  About the Author

  Susan Stoker has a heart as big as the state of Texas where she lives but this all American girl has also spent the last fourteen years living in Missouri, California, Colorado, and Indiana. She is quite the romantic and even met the love of her life on "Hotmail classified" before online dating and sites like match.com even existed!

  Susan has been reading romance novels since middle school and once crossed out the names of the main characters in a book and changed them to her own and to the name of her crush. She's been writing scenes for years, developing her unique writing style.

  Susan loves writing but her true passion is adopting dogs from rescue groups and shelters. Susan and her husband have had a total of nine "rescued" dogs since 2000 including a variety of basset hounds and bloodhounds. She has recently branched out and adopted a basset/terrier mix who acts more like a terrier than a basset (i.e. digging, eating a couch and being hyper). If you love romance and want to help her support adopting great dogs, be sure to check out her work listed below.

  If you enjoyed this book, or any book, please consider leaving a review. It’s appreciated by authors more than you’ll know.

  Discover other titles by Susan Stoker

  SEAL of Protection Series:

  Protecting Caroline

  Beyond Reality Series:

  Outback Hearts

  Flaming Hearts

  Frozen Hearts

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  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Discover other titles