Protecting Fiona (SEAL of Protection Book 3) by Susan Stoker Read Free Book Online

the way. It was obvious in her “real” life, anytime something was “hard,” she was allowed to quit. Not able to keep the mean thought out of his head, Cookie wasn’t sure he’d make it another two days if he had to listen to Julie’s incessant complaints the entire time.
    He thought Fiona should be able to make it, but he wasn’t positive. If she’d been at one hundred percent, Cookie had no doubt she would’ve made the ten mile hike look easy. Hell, she probably could’ve done it in a day. But she wasn’t a hundred percent. Hell, she probably wasn’t even at fifty percent. She’d been captive a hell of a lot longer than Julie, and she didn’t look good. But she hadn’t given up. She’d soldiered on all day without one word of complaint. Cookie was fucking impressed.
    The flip flops Fiona was wearing worried him. Fuck, who was he kidding, everything about her worried Cookie. Her lack of long pants, the collar around her neck, her shaking hands, her dehydration, her obvious hunger…Cookie needed to find out what was going on with her tonight, so he could make better decisions for all of them.
    Once Julie was settled for the night, Cookie walked over to where Fiona was sitting. She was still resting against the tree silently. If Cookie didn’t see her back lightly moving up and down he would’ve been afraid she was dead. As he walked up to her she opened her eyes, but didn’t otherwise move. Cookie sat down beside her.
    “How are you holding up?” Cookie asked quietly.
    “I’m fine,” Fiona told him. “I won’t slow you down.”
    Cookie nodded and told her, “I know, you’ve done great so far.” He paused, then continued. “I don’t think I’ve introduced myself to you yet. I’m Cookie.” He didn’t bother reaching out his hand for her to shake. They’d gone beyond the social niceties.
    “Cookie?” Fiona stared at the handsome man sitting next to her trying to make small talk. She felt like crying. He was trying to make her feel normal, and she appreciated it more than she could say.
    “Yeah, everyone on my team has a nickname. There’s Dude, Mozart, Wolf, Abe, Benny, and me…Cookie.”
    “Are you going to tell me why you’re called Cookie?”
    “Are you gonna laugh if I do?”
    Fiona loved the easy-going banter. Hell, just hearing someone talk to her in English felt awesome. “Probably. Especially since you seem to be reluctant to tell me.”
    Cookie chuckled. He knew it was inappropriate, but he was enjoying the hell out of this conversation, especially after the tension and complaining from Julie all day. He’d obviously taken too long to respond because Fiona continued talking.
    “Are you going to make me guess?”
    “You’d never guess, Fee.”
    Fiona jerked her head off her knees to look at him. What had he called her?
    “What? You think you can guess?” Cookie had noticed her reaction, and correctly guessed it was in a result of him calling her “Fee.” He didn’t know where it came from, but it sounded right in his head. She looked like a “Fee.”
    “Uh, okay, your mom sent you cookies every week while you were in basic training?”
    “I went to boot camp, not basic. And good guess, but no. Strike one.” Cookie watched as Fiona’s eyes narrowed. She obviously had a competitive spirit. He’d have to remember that and use it to keep her going later if he had to.
    “When you were little, you ate too many cookies one Christmas and puked your guts out?”
    A low surprised laugh escaped from between Cookie’s lips before he could keep it back. “Wow, I think I’m hurt. Nope, that’s not it either. One more guess left.”
    Fiona’s whole body hurt, she was exhausted and thirstier than she could ever remember being, but for some reason she was having fun. This man had surprised her. She thought he’d be all business and gruff, but she liked this side of him. Let’s see…why would someone have the nickname Cookie? Fiona decided to really mess with him.