LITMIR.BIZ

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instincts. One dinner and already the kid had him in the palm of her hand.

      Ellie noted the strange expression on Ben’s face and wondered at the reason for it. She’d been impressed by his ability to recover from his embarrassment at being found playing with dolls by one of his fellow Marines. He’d been incredibly good with Amy all evening.

      That didn’t mean that Ellie should depend on him for anything other than his temporary company. If only she could get a little more on her feet financially, then they’d be out of the woods.

      On her way out, Ellie discreetly checked to see if the steak house was hiring any more servers, but they weren’t.

      The drive back home was uneventful. “Can Ben stay?” Amy asked as they neared their front door.

      “It’s already past your bedtime.”

      “I want Ben to tell me a bedtime story.” Amy tugged him into the apartment with her, taking him all the way down the hall to her bedroom.

      “Honey, Ben probably doesn’t know any bedtime stories. How about I read you Cinderella again?”

      “No. I want a new story.”

      “Let’s get you into your pj’s first and brush your teeth.” Ellie gently guided her into the bathroom.

      “Don’t go, Ben!” Amy ordered before closing the bathroom door.

      He waited in her girly bedroom, feeling like a bull in a china shop. The pink comforter had ruffles on the edges. A well-worn stuffed animal had a place of honor near the pillow while a small folded blanket rested at the foot of the bed. It had kittens on it. His gaze moved to the bedside table where a pile of picture books sat.

      “Why can’t Ben tell me a story?” Amy demanded as she walked into the room with her mother and hopped into bed.

      “Because he doesn’t have children, so he doesn’t know stories.”

      “I know stories,” Ben said. Granted, none came to mind that he could relate to a five-year-old kid. But he was a Marine, which meant he was resourceful. Ben stared at the cover of the storybook on top of the pile next to Amy’s bed. “I can do that. No problem. Once upon a time…” All fairy tales began that way, right? “Once upon a time, many years ago in the land of Wonder an evil lord ruled the kingdom. He’d been a good guy once, but then turned to the dark side. His name was…Sir Badlord. And he was feared by all the people in the land.”

      “Was he mean?” Amy asked.

      Ben nodded solemnly. “Very mean.”

      “Hold on a sec, honey,” Ellie said. “I need to speak to Ben.”

      “But he’s telling me a story now,” Amy protested.

      “Yeah, I know. This won’t take long.”

      Ellie tugged Ben off the bed to a corner of the room and leaned close to whisper, “The point of a bedtime story is not to give my daughter nightmares. Kids her age take things literally.”

      “Understood. It’s not my intention to scare her. Trust me, okay?”

      He returned to Amy’s bedside with Ellie close by his side.

      “So what about Sir Badlord?” Amy asked. “What did he do? Blow up the world? Joshua in the reading group at the library is always blowing up the world and making explosion noises. Does Sir Badlord do that?”

      “Sometimes. But tonight, he and his gang of dark knights rode out into the night and captured Lady Blush, the daughter of…Guy of Nice. Now, Sir Guy was a nice guy.”

      “Was he a good daddy?”

      “Yes.”

      “Did he love Lady Blush?”

      “Absolutely.”

      “Mommy says my daddy loves me, but I don’t think he’s a very good daddy.”

      Ben wasn’t sure how to respond to the little girl’s confession. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

      “Me, too.” She moved closer. “Tell me more.”

      “Well, like I said, Sir Guy was good and people liked him. He did good stuff.”

      “Like what?”

      “Uh…good deeds. He officiated at jousts, spoke at…baptisms and generally speaking, he ate more chicken than he probably should have, but people liked Sir Guy. A lot better than they liked Sir Badlord. Which made Sir Badlord mad. So he came to Nice castle and took Lady Blush.”

      “Was she a princess?”

      “Close enough. Anyway, this Sir Guy was beside himself. He knew he had to call on the only one who could get her back—one of the few, the proud. Sir Goodknight.” Ben was really getting into it now. “Goodknight led his squad of knights, squires and pages—known as the Knights of the Black Stone—on many quests in the past. Like the Marines, he valued honor, courage and commitment. So Goodknight agreed to help Sir Guy to rescue Lady Blush. He and the rest of his team gathered to plan the mission and do some recon.”

      Ben didn’t realize that he’d gone into a bit too much detail about reconnaissance and intelligence reports until he felt Ellie’s hand on his arm. “She’s fallen asleep.”

      “Some storyteller I am.” Ben’s voice was rueful. “It put the kid to sleep.”

      “It was quite creative for a Marine.”

      “Marines can be creative when the situation warrants.”

      “So Sir Guy ate more chicken than he should have, huh?”

      Ben shrugged and stood aside while Ellie clicked off the light and checked the night-light before exiting the room, leaving Amy’s door slightly ajar.

      “Where did you come up with names like that?” she asked him.

      He smiled ruefully. “My brothers accuse me of being too much of a punster.”

      “And do they accuse you of eating more chicken than you should?”

      “Not if they’re smart.”

      The transformation of his smile into a full-blown grin, complete with the hint of a dimple that would have done Dennis Quaid proud, drew her attention to his lips. She’d never momentarily lost her train of thought just by gazing at a guy’s mouth before. “I…uh…I wanted to thank you for this evening.” She had to look away to regain her equilibrium. “The dinner was delicious.”

      “I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

      “And thanks for making up the story for Amy tonight. That was nice of you.”

      “I like to think that I can be a nice guy when needed.”

      “A regular knight in shining armor, huh? Like Sir Goodknight?”

      One chestnut eyebrow lifted in a masculine challenge of her comment. “Anything wrong with that?”

      “Nothing. As long as you realize that I’m no Lady Blush. I’m not a damsel in distress.”

      “You’re saying you don’t need a knight in shining armor to rescue you?”

      “I could use the armor. Not the knight.”

      “You don’t see yourself remarrying?”

      “No.”

      “Why not? You’re young and beautiful. Why can’t you see a happy ending for yourself?”

      “Marriage isn’t a happy ending for me. Have you ever been married?”

      “No.”

      “Well, trust me, it’s not what it’s cracked up to be.”

      “Amy said that she didn’t think her dad was a good dad. Why is that?” Ben’s expression

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