SNEAK PEEK OF ARCHER
Alpha Company Renegades #10
Chapter 1
LIBBY
“Colin, don’t you dare lick that box of Twinkies!”
My three-year-old son stops an inch from the box he’s holding, tongue fully extended. I don’t know what’s gotten into this kid lately. He tries to lick literally everything, like he’s claiming something he wants for himself.
“Put. It. Back.”
I never take my kids to the grocery store with me, and there’s a very good reason for that. But thanks to their dad and his new health-nut wife, I’ve no choice.
“Mom, can I get some fruit snacks?” Alison, my eight-year-old daughter whines. “Pleeease!”
I take a deep breath, trying to squeeze in an entire backwards countdown from ten before I leap for the Twinkie box that is seconds from costing me money.
“Mom?” Alison continues. “Please! Sherri never has anything good to eat.”
I swipe the snacks from my son with half a second to spare, shackling his wrist so he can’t run away in a tantrum. He’s been doing that a lot lately, too. I shove the box back on the shelf.
“Mom!”
“Yes, get the fruit snacks. But that’s your one snack.”
Colin starts to cry. Alison begins a self-debate monologue about her snack choice, and tries to bargain for two.
I’ve not been so fond of the kids’ father since the day I found out he was leaving me for a stripper. I loathed him a little more the day he married that stripper. But days like today, I plain hate him.
He’s taking my kids camping. He and his health-nut former stripper wife.
On the way to drop off my kids for the one weekend a month they spend with their less than stellar father, I got a text requesting I send them with ‘those junk food snacks they like’. And why am I so blessed with this last-minute shopping spree? Because they didn’t take the kids into consideration when they picked up their own food. Jackass.
“Enough!” I shout, no longer concerned with the side-glances and judgmental stares. “We have hot dogs. Go-gurt. And I’m sending you with stuff to make s’mores. Other than that, you each get one snack. It has to last you the whole weekend. Choose wisely.”
“Twinkies!” Colin says through his crocodile tears. “I want Twinkies!”
“Then you put these back.” I hold out the package of cookies to him, forcing him to make a choice. The kid has never had a Twinkie in his life, but suddenly he’s obsessed with them. I blame his sister for pointing them out five minutes ago.
He snatches the package of cookies out of my hand, hugs them close to his chest, then takes off in a dead sprint.
“Shoot me now,” I mutter as Colin zips around the corner into a sea of shoppers. What a fucking nightmare.
“What mommy?” Alison asks.
“Get the cart.” I’m drinking wine straight from the bottle tonight. I’m drinking the whole damn thing, too.
“Hey little man.” A tall, muscular man in an Army uniform stands in Colin’s way, blessedly blocking the kid’s escape. He glances my way and apparently sees the defeat in my eyes, because he scoops Colin into his arms. “Where you running off to?”
“Gotta put cookies back.”
I mouth a thank you to him.
My brother is Army, and I recognize the patch on his left shoulder. It’s an Alpha Company Renegades insignia. Because of it, I know I can trust this stranger. And frankly, I’m about to sell this kid to the highest bidder anyway—not really! I swear! I love my kiddos with all my heart and soul. But sometimes I fantasize…
“Probably shouldn’t run away from your mom. You might get lost. You wouldn’t want that to happen right?”
Colin seems to contemplate this for a minute, and I have to admit that expression is so damn cute. “Yeah.”
“Mom, I don’t want fruit snacks. Unless I can get two things.”
I whip around and narrow my eyes at Alison. “No.”
The incredibly sexy Army man approaches, carrying my son. Those eyes … wow, they’re dangerous. I feel a rare tingle between my legs. It’s been so long since I’ve been with a man … “Thank you for catching him. Ever since that kid learned to walk, he hasn’t stopped running.”
“Glad to help, ma’am.”
“Oh, please don’t call me that,” I say, my cheeks heating a little. “I’m not that old.” In fact, I’m pretty certain this solider has a good ten years on me. Maybe a couple more.
“Her name is Libby,” Alison volunteers.
“Libby is a beautiful name.” The soldier’s voice is deep. Sexy. Dangerous. He sets Colin back on his feet and leads him straight to me by the hand. The sight simultaneously melts my heart and sets my panties aflame.
“Thank you,” I say again.
“Don’t mention it.”
I have about two seconds to ogle the hot Army soldier’s ass as he walks away before Alison tugs on my sleeve. “Are you sure I can’t have two snacks? Sherri won’t have anything good for us to eat all weekend.”
“Fine,” I relent. It’s rare I give in. But honestly, the extra sugar will make my kids an extra handful. Maybe I should let them have three. “You have two minutes to decide.”
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