“Who sent this to you?” Unable to remove my eyes from my brother’s cell screen, the events playing out take my breath away, leaving me with an unyielding intrigue to find out what the problem is.

“The guy who sleeps across the hall from me.” Ross had called me down from my apartment upstairs, teasing me for my inability to work a simple remote. He and I watched as the conversation I had with the naked girl transpired on the big screen again. Ross didn’t bother hiding his feelings about this girl, Goodman, from me.

“We’ve been waiting for something like this to go down. Hoping to catch her in the act so she can’t lie her way out of it.”

“Why was she in Logan’s room? I mean, perhaps he was taking advantage of having a girl with him.”

Ross drops the phone to his lap, wrapping his left hand around my neck, forcing my face to align with his.

“She was in his room because she is a sneaky bitch.” Dark eyes, bordered by serious features convey much more than any words, leaving not a sliver of space for any doubt in the truth.

“My buddy came back from chow and saw her sneak down the hall, from Oxford’s room to Logan’s. He managed to pull out his phone and catch her as she stripped naked before entering Logan’s room.” Softness filled the once angry eyes of my brother.

“Listen, Goodman is an opportunist, looking under every grain of sand for her next victim.” Squeezing my free hand tightly, an assuring smile growing from the corners of his lips.

“Believe me, Logan isn’t the kind of guy to get mixed up with a predator like Goodman.”

Something in me wanted to believe in what he said, trust he knew Logan well enough to make a judgment call and for it to ring true.

“Tell me, Harper, why were you calling Logan?”

Letting my body relax back into the cushions of the couch, I release a puff of air, which tosses a strand of my hair into the center of my face.

“Partly because I wanted to tell him about signing with his mother. And—” Feeling foolish for my skittishness in telling my brother the truth, not having any real basis for the butterflies bouncing around in my stomach.

“And?” He prodded me, playfully shoving his shoulder into mine. His warm smile, always something I found comforting and on occasion annoying, has taken over his face.

“And I decided to give this a try. To let my guard down and see what a real relationship feels like.”

His eyes search mine, blue orbs on a mission to peer into my soul, see for himself the truth that lies there. Ross has always looked out for me, taking his role as protector past the limits. In this moment, I’ve never been more grateful for his love.

“You know,” shifting his eyes to the entertainment center, and then back to me, picking up the remote from the coffee table.

“If I was Logan, and I had a day like he did, one where I had to go sit in my boss's office, sharing the bullshit story he has been handed. I would be sitting behind my computer, needing to hear from the girl who was hurt the most from all of this.”

Ross motions to the television, as he presses the power on and the screen changes from black to blue, pressing far fewer buttons than I did earlier. Although, my ignorance of how to properly use the program proved to be a blessing and not a curse.

“Are you sure it isn’t too late? I hate to wake him.” I’m too overwhelmed with everything I’ve learned in the past few hours to do the conversions of the time difference. Not to mention I am slightly intrigued with the way his body moved as he tore down the hall and verbally throttled the half naked woman. I knew his arms were covered in muscle from the brief time I spoke with him, but to see how he towered over the men around him, commanded attention and didn’t let anyone interrupt what he had to say did something to me. Men who carried themselves with authority have always been a turn on for me. Having not been close to one in a long time, seeing Logan has woken the need in me.

Ross chuckles to himself as we wait for the call to connect, “Guy rule number two, it’s never too late for a call from a beautiful girl.” Relaxing back into the couch beside me, taking my hands in his, squeezing gently several times, a warm smile across his lips.

“What’s guy rule number one?”

“If your girl is crying, no matter whose fault it is, you need to fix it.” The deep, husky voice stealing my attention back to the screen, too enamored with the handsome face to question why I didn’t hear the signature tones of the program.  

Two sets of eyes, thousands of miles apart, take advantage of technology, allowing the invisible cords of a blossoming relationship weave their way to one another, connecting in a silent but solid bond.

“Logan.”

“Harper.”

Words so soft they could have been carried on the backs of Angel wings, sighs of relief their traveling partner. Locked eyes never waver as twin smiles come to life.

“I’m sorry you were exposed to the lunacy of a deranged woman.”

Logan runs his hand against the back of his neck, the edges of a tattoo look out from his t-shirt, ribbons of dark ink, their pattern swirling so severe it's impossible to tell what it is.

“I swear you will never have to deal with her again.” His words are the truth, stamped and sealed by the code he lives by, the same set of rules I’ve known from my brother my whole life.

“I saw you in the hall.” I blurt out, needing him to know I never believed the lies of a desperate woman, a fantasy cast in deception, her goal to distance our affections lost to the truth.

“It scared me a little,” I admit, unable to forget the passion he displayed or how it started a fire in my core, one no amount of water would ever extinguish.

“Collins showed me the clip, told me he sent it to you, Kincaid.” My heart jumps a little, so lost in this bubble we have created I forgot my brother was sitting beside me. “Captain is including it in the charges he is bringing against Goodman and Oxford.”

“Charges?” I question, confused as to what illegal misdoing this couple stood accused of. “How can she be charged for telling a lie?”

Logan licked his lips, something everyone does subconsciously, yet when he did it, my breath hitched and my pulse reacted, my heart hammering against my chest. His mouth composed of two equally soft and supple pillows, separated by genetics and so unbelievably sexy.

“She broke into my room, touched my computer and stole an article of clothing from me. All fairly minor in the scope of things, a verbal reprimand at best.”

Leaning his upper body on his crossed forearms, the muscles in his arms expanding behind his already tight t-shirt. Ripples of testosterone causes a shaking of my core and my mouth to go dry, my eyes devour the cut of his chin, follow the sharp line so rigid he could cut glass.

“But she was sleeping with someone in her direct chain of command, a violation of the UCMJ, conduct unbecoming an officer. Her actions warrant immediate discharge from the military.”

Ross props his feet on the coffee table, placing one ankle over the other.

“Oxford is finally getting what’s coming to him. That cheese-dick motherfucker walks around like he is the poster child for the Naval Academy.” Tucking his hands behind his head, a new glint in his eye.

“The bastard had the nerve to come knocking on CO’s door while I was in there.”

“Seriously? What a pussy.”

“Yeah, he tried to pull some martyr bullshit.” Logan’s brow bent creating a deep crevice between his eyes, waving his hand around in a circle.

“But I don’t give a shit about Oxford and his lack of courage, I care about what you said earlier, how something you saw me do scared you, Harper.”

“Maybe scared isn’t the right word,” I confess hurriedly, not comfortable with how my earlier statement affects him. “More like—”

“Hold on, babe.” Logan interrupts, sending me a wink to make my heart race. “Ross, you and I can talk about all of this when you get back here. How about you give Harper and I some privacy?”

Ross extracts his feet from the table, smacking me upside the head as he brings his arms down.

“Oh sorry, Sis.” He laughs, rubbing the side of my head as he sends my hair flying.

“I know when I’m not wanted.” Grasping my head between his massive hands and placing a kiss to the middle of my forehead. “I’ll talk with you later, after the two of you iron out your wrinkles.”

I wait and watch as Ross leaves my shop, waving one last time as he goes out the side door to his wife’s store. Turning back to the handsome man on my screen, his focus seems to have never left my face. Grabbing one of the throw pillows, cradling it against my chest.

“I missed those beautiful eyes of yours. I had a few moments where I didn’t think I would see them again.”

“I wouldn’t have done that to you. I made you a promise and I would have kept sending you packages every month.”

Logan leans forward, tenting his hands together and tilting his head to the side, “I know you would have, but it wouldn’t have been the same. I don’t —” The dip between his brows is back, his face contorted in what I fear is anger.

“Logan, what is it? What’s wrong?’

He shakes his head several times, a war within himself evident in his actions. I wish I could reach out and touch him, erasing the tension pulsing in his twitching jaw. Finally, he raises his face, “I heard you tell Goodman I was a friend from back home.”

“Yeah,” I answered cautiously, not understanding why this was upsetting him. I’m trying to push down the anxiety I feel reaching through my chest and wrapping around my throat.

“I didn’t like it,” he snaps, not in a hateful or spiteful way, his eyes filling with sadness as he cringes from the sound of his own words.

“I’m scaring you again, and it's not my intention. Harper you have to understand when someone comes after the people I care about, I will do everything I have to in order to protect them. Goodman made the mistake of putting doubt in your mind, I saw it in your eyes when you ended the call. Oxford had every intention of trying to discredit you to my CO, and I couldn’t let that happen.”

Hugging the pillow closer to me, a warm feeling filling my body, chasing away the anxiety and returning the smile to my face.

“Thank you, Logan, for caring enough about me to defend me like you did. You should know, although I did assume you and Goodman had slept together, I didn’t believe you were in a relationship with her.”

“Harper, there was never anything between Goodman and I. Not a kind word or hello in the morning. I’ve avoided her since the first time I laid eyes on her. You, on the other hand, are all I think about. No matter what I’m doing, you’re in my mind, invading my every thought.”

Logan’s voice dips to this incredibly sexy, gruff tone, setting my soul on fire and my thoughts to mush.

“You do the same to me.”

“You're not wearing my bracelet.”

Looking down, my fingers automatically wrap around the naked flesh of my wrist. I hadn’t wanted to take it off but knew it needed to go back to him. With new light shed on the truth, I needed to correct the wrong and put a smile back on his face.

“I have it.”

Moving the pillow over and grabbing the box I tucked the bracelet into. “I took it off,” shrugging my shoulders.

“Well, you can imagine why I did.” Sliding the cold metal over my hand, resting in the center of my wrist, the tiny package sparkling from the light of the lamp.

“I can’t say as I blame you.”

His eyes are fixated on my wrist, a new smile spreading across his lips, the very set I want to touch and get lost in.

“Although, seeing you wear it now does some pretty powerful things deep inside.”

I can’t help the smile, which takes over my entire face, filling me with a level of happiness I haven’t experienced in a long time.

“What would you think about keeping it on? Letting the rest of the world know you belong to me.”

The way he says, belonging to him does something to me, his possessiveness is sexy, which surprises me and yet makes me feel incredible.

“I think, considering how much time you have left in the military and the miles which separate us, wearing this, and calling you mine, is one of the best decisions I’ve made in a long time.”

The beam of his smile matches mine, and I can't help but giggle like a schoolgirl, covering my mouth with my hands, pushing myself into the back of the couch.

“Harper, I know you’re no stranger to this life I live. The months we have before us, unable to be a normal couple, going out to dinner and movies. But I promise, if you can be patient, I’ll make up for every single mile that separates us.”

I'm mesmerized by the scruffy beard on his face, how it makes him look intimidating. For a brief second, I wonder what it will feel like against my thigh?

“I’m going to hold you to it.”

Squinting my eyes and pulling my knees to my chest, “As long as we’re discussing keeping things on.”

I pause to collect my hormones, the need to rub my thighs together to relieve the pressure building in my core.

“What’s the chance you can keep this ruggedly handsome thing you’ve got going on?” Tapping my finger against my chin.

Logan takes in a deep breath, moving his large fingers against the scruff of his face and my mind wanders to what those fingers could do if I allowed him to explore me.

“With my new orders, this is the last you’ll see the beard on me for a while, but I promise to grow it out for you the second my time with Uncle Sam is paid.”

“I can live with that, and who knows, by the time you're back in the States I might prefer you clean shaven.”

He has less than a year left on his contract, and until this moment I’ve never thought about where he will live. I assume since his family is from New York, it would make sense he would return there. I won't think about it now, I’m too happy to let the thought of this being a temporary thing ruin it.

“Whatever you decide will be fine with me, babe. I’ll follow your lead.”