Her Soldier Protector by Soraya Lane

you’re right,” she said. “What do you think I should do about it?”
    “Ask him outright. I bet you’ll figure it out the moment you catch him off guard and see the look on his face. Just trust your instincts, because they don’t often let you down when you listen to them.”
    It was a serious accusation to make, but she would do exactly what Logan had suggested. What did she have to lose if she was wrong?
    Logan flicked the lights on as he walked inside and she jumped back as his dog came bounding toward them.
    “Hey, boy, settle down,” he instructed, bending to give his dog some attention. “You remember Candace?”
    She stayed in place, back to the front door, not certain about the excited canine. He was sitting to attention, perfectly obedient, but she still wasn’t ready to trust him quite yet.
    “Look, I just know Billy’s type, and I’m a pretty good judge of people,” Logan said, which made her flip her attention back to him and away from the dog. “I’ve spent enough time with dogs to know that they sense things in people, and I’ve started to understand the signs.”
    “So you think I should get a dog and let him choose my crew?” she joked.
    Logan smiled, but his expression was still serious. “No, I think you need to listen to your gut and trust your own instincts. If it’s not him, you’ll know.”
    Well, that was exactly what she’d done by coming here, trusting her gut, and she was already doubting herself.
    “This is a nice place you’ve got,” she said, changing the subject.
    Tomorrow she’d figure out how to deal with her manager. Tonight, she just wanted to forget all the stuff that had been troubling her for so long. If she was going to start trusting her instincts, then she was going to start with how she felt about Logan.
    Candace looked around, liking the white hall and the open-plan living space she could see into. Logan motioned for his dog to move away, and they all walked through the house.
    “Have you lived here for long?” she asked.
    Logan crossed the room to the fridge and she sat at one of the high-backed chairs at the counter that split the living room from the kitchen.
    “I purchased this place soon after my parents died, but I’m not sure if I’ll keep it.”
    He held up a beer and a bottle of water, and she pointed to the water.
    “Are you planning on going back to your ranch?”
    Logan shrugged. “I want to spend a lot of time there, but I haven’t really decided what to do with myself. Once this job is finished, I should officially be discharged for retirement from the army, and so will Ranger.”
    She smiled when he passed her the water and she opened it, taking a sip. “I’m guessing you get to keep him?”
    “Yeah. That grey muzzle of his means he’s done his time. He’s worked as hard as any human soldier since he was a couple years old, but the stress and discipline eventually gets to them, just like it does us. I paid to get him home, and my parents actually started a foundation to make sure working military dogs receive the retirement they deserve.”
    “I love feel-good stories like that. Working for charity means a lot to me.”
    They were silent a while, Logan standing with his beer in hand, looking at his dog, and Candace looking around at his home. She knew that soldiers didn’t earn a heap of money, and his house was furnished beautifully in a masculine kind of way, which was making her realize that his family must have been relatively well off. It shouldn’t have mattered, but it made her curious about who he was and why he’d spent so many years in the army if he hadn’t had to, financially.
    “Logan, why did you take me out for dinner tonight?” she asked, unable to keep the question to herself.
    His dark eyes locked on hers, sending goose pimples across her skin, making every part of her body tense.
    “There was something about you that reminded me of myself,” he said, his voice an octave lower than it had been before.