“How did your meeting go?” I asked when we were in the car on the way back to Colin’s house.

“Fine. The normal upcoming scheduling and payroll shit. Nothing exciting.”

“I thought my—”

“How do you feel about grilling some steaks tonight?” He shook his head and put his finger to his lips.

All righty, it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out he didn’t want to talk about his meeting. He’d been so forthcoming lately, something new must’ve happened, and the swift change worried me.

“That sounds good.”

“How did it go with Olivia?”

“Good. I tried to talk to her about why I’d been so distant, but she dismissed me and said it wasn’t a big deal and she understood.”

“I told you she wasn’t mad.”

“Yeah, well, I was still nervous. Ivy and Violet are really great. It’s still so strange to see my cousin with kids. She’s changed a lot.”

“How so?”

I tried to think about how to explain the change in Jasmin. My cousin was hard as nails and just as tough as the men on her team. I suppose that came from her time in the Army. The only time I’d ever seen her break was when Linc had been presumed dead. She was at the White House monitoring a mission the guys were going on and she’d watched the house Linc was supposed to be in blow up. She’d lost it. My mom spent hours with her, trying to calm her down. Thankfully, Linc had escaped and he’d been rescued. But Jasmin had been a mess.

“I can’t say she’s gone soft, because that’s not exactly it, but she only said fuck about fifty-two times instead of her normal five hundred. And when she found out Ivy and Violet were both pregnant, she didn’t roll her eyes. She smiled and congratulated them.”

“Wait. What? Ivy’s pregnant, too?”

Shit. I hadn’t meant to tell him that.

“Um, forget I said that.”

“No shit. That’s great.”

“I’m already breaking the girl code and telling you secrets. Please don’t tell Zane I spilled. I don’t want Ivy mad at me. We had a really great time, and I want to be invited out with them again.”

“Sunshine, neither would be mad. You’re going to learn there are no such things as secrets in this group. But I wouldn’t say anything. I’ll wait for Zane to make the announcement.”

“Really? I know a secret, and it’s a really big one.”

“Zane and Ivy got married yesterday at the courthouse?” he asked.

“Dammit. How’d you know?”

Colin reached over and placed his hand on my thigh. It was amazing how comforting his touch was.

“I know all.” He chuckled.

“Come on. Really? How’d you know?”

“You know my job isn’t exactly safe.”

“I know.”

“So, we have contingency plans in the event we don’t come home from an op.” That was a nice way of saying in case they died. I wasn’t sure I liked where this conversation was headed or if I wanted to know the information he was about to tell me. “One is the company will financially take care of our spouse and children. Zane added Ivy to the policy yesterday and today the rest of us had to sign the paperwork. Each team has their own policy and Zane is covered by my teams’.”

“Is it like life insurance?”

“Kinda. But better. We all have death benefits. This fund is for the extras. A little peace of mind knowing our families won’t go without.”

“How many teams are there?”

“Three. Blue, Gold, and us.”

“Which one came to . . . get us?”

I couldn’t get myself to say rescue. Get us sounded like they’d leisurely stopped by someplace Colin and I were visiting and offered us a ride home. I liked that explanation much better than the real version.

“Gold. Brooks, Max, Thad, and Kyle. Declan is taking over as team leader. They are our ghost team. They’ve been mainly deployed to the middle east. They specialize in stopping piracy and smuggling, both on land and in the Arabian Gulf. The major trade routes there are inundated with stolen antiquities and human commerce. It requires constant monitoring, so they stay there most of the time.”

“What about Blue?”

“Blue comes and goes, but they’ve been gone more than they’ve been home the last few years. They specialize in maritime piracy. They mostly stay on big freight ships.”

“And your team? What do you specialize in?”

“Everything.”

“I knew you were gonna say that.”

We pulled into the driveway of Colin’s house, and for the first time I really looked at the surrounding area.

“You kinda live in the middle of nowhere.”

“How do you figure that, sunshine? Downtown Annapolis is fifteen minutes away and the mall is like twenty.”

“Okay, fine, but you have no neighbors out here.”

“You don’t like it?”

My heart constricted at the concern in his voice.

“No, I do, it’s peaceful out here. Just making an observation. I hadn’t paid that much attention when we first came here.”

“Because if you don’t—”

“Colin, I said I did. I agree it’s nice not living right next to someone. Remember when we were at Abe’s and I told you I’d be happy living out there. Your place is perfect.” He turned the car off but before he could open the door I added, “Besides, this way we can have private time in the hot tub on your deck and no one will see.”

I loved the hungry look he got whenever I mentioned us being intimate. Now, if I could just get him to act on the emotion, I’d be golden.

“Our deck.”

“What?”

“It’s our house, Erin. And if you’d prefer to live somewhere else, we can sell this place and move. If you want to stay in D.C. I’ll make the commute to Annapolis for work. Though I’d like for you to be close to Olivia and the other women. It’ll make things easier on you when I leave on a work trip. But I understand if you don’t want to give up your life in Washington.”

In all the craziness I hadn’t thought much about where we’d live or what would happen when he eventually had to go on a mission.

“There’s nothing for me in D.C. I mean my parents are there for the next year, but when my dad’s term is over they’ll go back to Texas. That was the deal my parents made. My mom wants to retire there.”

“We have the house in Killeen. Anytime you want to go there and visit them, we will.”

“I love you, Colin. Thank you.”

“You, too, sunshine. Let’s get in the house.”

Weirdly, he held his cell phone out and raised his eyebrows. I fished mine out of my bag and showed it to him. He nodded and opened the glove box, placing his in there and motioned for me to do the same. I had no idea what was going on, but I trusted Colin, and if he wanted my phone left in the car, I wasn’t going to question him.

When I opened my own door and stepped out of the car before Colin could come around, he lifted a brow in reprimand.

“Seriously? We’re in the garage, and the door is closed. Surely I can get out by myself.”

“Not the point, Erin. The gentlemanly thing to do is to open your door.”

“Are you telling me you’re a gentleman?”

He was a lot of things, rough and ready, badass, lethal, sexy, smart, and kind. But I wouldn’t classify Colin as a gentleman.

“With some things I am.” The side of his mouth pulled up into a suggestive grin.

“And what things might those be?”

He tugged my good hand and pulled me into him. I loved how much bigger he was than me. How, when he held me close, I was fully enveloped in his embrace. It was warm and safe, and I wanted to stay in his arms forever.

His head lowered, and he huskily whispered, “I’ll always open doors for you. I’ll always make sure you have the best seat when we’re out. If you’re chilly I’ll always offer you my coat. If there’s a puddle, I’ll carry you over it. And, sunshine, I promise, you’ll always take your pleasure before I do.”

The tingling I’d grown accustomed to started, and I wanted to yell at him for turning me on when I knew there was nothing he’d do to help with the ache.

“You play dirty.”

“I do. Dirty is fun.”

“Ugh. Colin. Stop.”

Standing in the garage he kissed me. Tongues tangled, and moans mingled. By the time he pulled back I was dazed.

“Come on, sunshine, let’s get you inside.”

I wordlessly followed, surprised when he passed the kitchen and led me to the master bedroom. He left me standing next to the unmade bed and went into the bathroom. I heard the water turn on and he reappeared shirtless. It took him no time to have me fully undressed. His pants and boxer briefs were the last to be tossed in the pile. This was not my first time seeing Colin nude, but it might as well have been the way my eyes roamed over his chiseled form. His chest was devoid of any hair, giving me an unobstructed view of his pecs. His well-defined six-pack was so damn hot I wanted to lick every individual valley. Below his bellybutton was a trail of light hair leading to a patch of trimmed pubic hair.

“Are you done?” Colin chuckled.

“Not yet. I haven’t gotten to the good part yet. My eyes got stuck on your six-pack.”

The laughter that filled the room was magical. I loved hearing him happy, liked it even more when I was the source. His muscles jumped and twitched, and I found it fascinating to watch.

He led me into the shower, testing the water before he had me step in before him.

Colin held me close as the warm water sluiced around us. “You’re so beautiful, Erin.”

“Thank you.”

We stood in companionable silence for a time, simply enjoying the feel of each other. When he stepped back to adjust the water, I picked up a bar of soap and lathered my hands before placing them on his chest.

“Do these still hurt?” I roamed over the bruises on his chest and lower to his stomach, avoiding his ribs.

“No. I’m sorry you have to see them. They’ll be gone soon.”

“I don’t like that you were hurt, but I know you received every one of these marks protecting me. I will forever be grateful.”

He lifted his hand and traced the tiny cut on my forehead. There was barely a bruise. Not like Colin, his face still looked like he’d gone twenty rounds in a boxing ring. It was a miracle he hadn’t been hurt worse.

“I should’ve—” he started.

“Done exactly what you did. It’s over. That’s what you said. We can’t go back and change anything. We’re both here and alive. At the end of the day, that’s all that matters, right?”

“Right.”

He was humoring me by agreeing, but I’d take it. I needed all the reassurances he’d offer. I knew there was something else going on, and it scared me, but if Colin said I was safe, I’d believe him. I had to, his protection was the only thing keeping me sane. I couldn’t fall apart, not when we weren’t out of the woods yet. And if I thought about everything that had happened or looked too long at the marks on his face, or allowed the what-ifs to creep in, I’d lose it.

“You’re thinking too hard.” He kissed my temple. “Stop that and wash me, woman.”

“Is this how our marriage is going to be? We shower, and you stand like a king while the lowly peasant girl bathes his royal highness?”

“Hmm, I like the way you think. Role play could be fun.”

“Then I want you to be a medieval warrior and I’ll be the fair maiden waiting for you to come home after a mighty battle. I can tend to your aching muscles before you ravish me.” I could feel his body shaking under my palms as he tried to hold in his amusement. “Oh, wait, I know. You’ll be the Spartan King Leonidas and I’ll be Queen Gorgo, waiting for you to return with your shield and sword . . .” Colin’s body stiffened, and he tilted his head. “What’s wrong?”

“Queen Gorgo?”

“Surely you know who that is. The wife of Leonidas, the fiercest woman in Sparta’s history.”

“Yes, sunshine, I am well aware of who she is. I’m just surprised you do.”

I loved history and once upon a time I wanted to be a history teacher, ancient Egypt and Greece were my favorites. My fondness of the subject fizzed once the 1800s came about.

“I studied ancient and medieval history in college.”

He turned around, showing me his back. He had several tattoos. One was his family name across his shoulder blades and another was a shield, above it was the word “IF.” I’d already seen them, so I wasn’t sure why he was showing me now.

“Do you know what that means?”

I could only assume he meant the word “IF,” his last name being obvious. “Of course. The word, “IF” is one of the single most important words in Spartan history. King Philip was invading Greece and he sent a letter to the Spartans saying ‘If I win this war, you’ll be slaves forever’ the Spartans sent back a single word, ‘IF.’”

He slowly turned back around and stared down at me. “You have no idea how much it turns me on that you know the meaning of my tattoo.”

“You’re weird.”

“And you, sunshine, are my Spartan Queen.”

“Does that mean I can only give you sons, since Spartan women are said to have been the only women of their time that produce real men?”

“Goddamn, it’s so sexy you know that. Boys, girls, I don’t care. As long as there are little ones running around our house the gender doesn’t matter to me.”

I locked eyes with my future husband and as crazy as it was he thought knowing random facts about history was sexy, I was happy he did. Though I was concentrating more on his statement about children. He wanted them, and I wanted to give them to him. Suddenly his mom’s request for a million grandchildren didn’t seem so silly.