Page 2 of Her Sensual Protector

What in the hell was her oldest brother up to? He must have ruffled a whole hell of a lot of feathers stateside since she’d arrived in Kabul this morning, if the ambassador and five flunkies met with her. She’d tagged two as CIA, the rest as mid-level diplomatic aides, and one who gave her hope. They wouldn’t have had a casual military guy in there unless he was listening in for potential intelligence for some kind of op.

The sun blinded her when she strode out of the embassy. She stopped for just a moment to take off the linen jacket she’d been wearing and put on her Oakley sunglasses. One of the few things she splurged on, but oh so necessary when she was in countries like Afghanistan where the sun practically touched the ground.

Her driver was still waiting for her.

“Malek, take me to the hotel. There will be people following us, but don’t worry,” Daisy told her driver in perfectly enunciated Dari, the national language of Afghanistan.

“Should we be worried?” Her driver was nothing if not pragmatic.

“They will be members of the embassy. They are harmless.”

“Americans following Americans,” he coughed out a laugh. “This is something new.”

They were soon at the Kabul Serena Hotel, and Malek stopped and showed his ID. He was let through the gate, then security used a mirror on a stick to check the underside of their car for bombs before letting them drive to the front of the hotel.

Daisy knew not to even bother opening the door of the backseat because there would be somebody opening it for her. And there was. She shrugged on her jacket and took off her sunglasses as she walked into the air-conditioned hotel lobby. Her stride didn’t vary when she spotted the same soldier who had been loitering in the back of the conference room, seated in the lobby waiting for her.

How in the hell did he make it here so fast?

When he saw her coming his way, he stood up and smiled. It was a genuine smile, unlike all the others she’d been subjected to at the embassy.

“Who are you?” she asked as she took his outstretched hand and shook it.

“Chief Petty Officer, Leo Perez, at your service.”

“Navy, huh? You wouldn’t be a member of the acclaimed Navy SEALs would you?”

“Now ma’am, what could possibly make you ask such a question?” his smile was bright against his brown skin.

Daisy smiled back.

“Call it a lucky hunch.”

“Ms. Squires, based on everything I know about you, I don’t think much comes down to luck. I think that you get things done through determination, intelligence, and hard work.”

“Ah, someone smart enough to have looked me up. I’m impressed.”

“Why don’t we have a drink in the restaurant so we’re not quite so conspicuous?”

“That’s probably a good idea,” she admitted. Even though she didn’t want to be, she was flattered. There was something about having this man think highly of her that warmed her.

They walked across the lobby to the upscale restaurant and were quickly seated. Daisy noted that Leo’s Dari was almost as fluent as her own. She should have expected this. She had dealt with special forces in the past when she was in Nigeria. These men were extremely smart and capable; only a fool would underestimate them.

“You have a question?” Leo asked after they had both ordered some chai tea.

“Not a question, just an observation. You speak Dari extremely well. Very few Americans do.”

“The lady next door who babysat me while my mom worked was Persian. Farsi was easy enough to pick up. Then when I did some work over here in Afghanistan, I worked on the Dari dialect of Farsi.”

Their waiter tea set in front of them. Leo made small talk with him.

“Yep, you make it sound easy,” Daisy said in English.

Leo tilted his head and his eyes narrowed. “Yet you speak four different languages, don’t you?”

“Four fluently, a couple more where I can get by. It’s necessary when I travel so much for my job.” She smiled in response. Then she took a cup of the very sweet tea. She had missed this when she was in America. She watched as Leo winced.

“Not to your taste?” she grinned.