When he woke up, light held at bay by her blinds and heavy curtains, he knew from his internal watch it was early morning. When he glanced at her bedside clock and saw the time, he realized that his military training had ingrained rising early into his very cells.

His eyes settled on the woman sleeping next to him. This was foreign to him, feeling like he wanted to do her again and never leave her side. In the past, he’d just gotten up, dressed and left. No ties, no binds, no attachments.

Then she exploded into his life in terry cloth and attitude. Now, he knew he didn’t want to leave here without some kind of a commitment. His heart sank when he realized that he couldn’t expect her to deal with his life as a SEAL. Mary Jo hadn’t, couldn’t. Of course, he hadn’t really helped there. He’d destroyed their marriage and thrown her love for him back in her face.

He took a breath, remembering his mom’s words. That was all in the past. All of it. He’d let it go. Dana, she was his future if she would have him. He trembled at the power she had over him, over the situation, but his alpha bullshit wasn’t going to help him here. With her. She’d walk all over his macho crap and then laugh in his face.

Damn but he loved that about her.

He reached out and pushed the covers off her, his breath caught at how beautiful she was. His heart ached, and his throat tightened. He would bawl like a baby if she was going to marry that guy who walked out of here last night.

She opened those honey brown eyes and they went over his face. She smiled softly. “Thank you for bringing back my memory cards. She shifted and wrapped her arms around his neck, an intimate warmth lighting up her eyes as her smile faded slightly. He kissed her, her mouth soft and warm.

She nuzzled his neck, sighing.

“You went through a lot for them. We had an opportunity to go back. I can’t go into the details, but I looked for them for you.” His voice gruff.

“You are so wonderful.” She moved deeper into his embrace, and he cradled her against his shoulder. Resting her head on his chest, she snuggled against him and he knew he’d never get tired of this.

“Are you going to marry that guy?”

She lifted her head and stared at him bemused and looking so sexy and mussed up. She frowned in an indulgent way. “What kind of person do you think I am? I wouldn’t have told him I’d marry him then be lying here on your gloriously naked, hard and gorgeous body if I had pledged to marry someone last night!”

He rubbed his temple, realizing that he was a complete idiot. Of course she wasn’t. It was just his own fears. He wanted her to say it out loud.

“Right. Look, I’m an idiot, and I just woke up.”

“Sure,” she said, brushing over his lips. “You can’t fool me with that. You wake up as intense and completely ready for action as you are when you’re awake.”

He buried his face in her neck and breathed out a heavy, ragged sigh. “I just wanted to hear you say it.”

She leaned back and cupped his face. “Oh, you did, did you?” She grinned at him, and his heart turned over. God, he wished she would just say it first.

“Did you just come back to return my memory cards?”

“No,” he said, his voice low and husky. He rubbed at his stubble, his gut clenching. “I owe you dinner.”

She huffed a breath and went to throw back the covers, but he grabbed her wrist and jerked her onto his chest. “Dammit! All right! I came back for you.”

She stared at him for a second, then asked in a husky voice, “What’s all the shouting about? You don’t need to hide it from me.” He took a breath, soothed by her answer. “For as long as you’re here. You’re staying with me. Where are your things?”

“You know I live in San Diego.”

“I know you do. Where are your things?”

“In the car.”

“Go get them. We’ve got a morning run, then we’ll figure out what we want to do after that.” Then she kissed him hard, slipped out of bed and into the bathroom. All he saw was the length of her dark hair swinging and that shapely backside.

He sighed, the moment gone. He’d wanted to tell her so badly, but he wanted to know at the same time. Since he didn’t, he did as she’d asked and went for his duffel.

Time passed over the course of the next week. She got her crew on board, getting prepared to edit her footage and put together her story. He hung out at her house, watching her work, enjoying her when she wasn’t.

He was sound asleep when a slap to his butt woke him up. “Get up. Let’s go!” she said, and before he knew what was happening, she was out of bed. Startled, he watched that ball of energy grab up clothes, some flying toward him, others covering those delectable curves.

“Hey, babe. I had other plans. I wanted to compound on those orgasms last night.”

She took a hard, quick breath. “I was faking.” She giggled at his expression, then was gone. He thrust back the covers and barely got his running clothes on and his shoes before she was going out the door.

She rushed ahead of him and he felt like he was laboring to catch his breath.

“Hold up, woman.”

“Come on, slowpoke,” she urged.

“Geez, what have you been doing since I’ve been gone? Running marathons?” he groused.

“Yes, I’ve got to keep up with you. I’ve been lifting weights, too. Wanna arm wrestle?”

He chuckled and stopped running, the sky was blue and his heart was so damn full. “Dana, wait. You’re tiring me out.”

That’s my plan, wear you out, wear you down. Like Chinese water torture.” She stopped and turned toward him, then came running back.

“Come on, Grandpa, you can do it without your walker.”

He grabbed her arm and drew her around, his face serious.

She sobered, the smile disappearing. Shit was about to get real.

“You’re going to make me say it first. Aren’t you?”

She closed her eyes briefly and then opened them, wetting her tantalizing lips. “Yes, I am.”

“Out here in the park, under the heavenly blue sky, me all sweaty, hanging by a thread, scared as hell.”

“Then you better say it before you waste away. I wouldn’t like that.”

He took a breath, his heart beating hard. He never said it first. It was one of the rules that he always played by, but Dana had discovered that if something wasn’t working, she must be playing by the rules. They were meant to be broken and he’d done his fair share of it to get the job done. She was definitely the woman for him. He stepped closer to her, framed her face in his hands staring deeply into her eyes.

“I love you,” he said, his tone low and rough. “I love the strong, independent woman you are,” he said, his voice getting rougher. “Arguing with you is the highlight of my day. I love the way you laugh, the way you make me laugh, your loopy sense of humor.” His voice went even more ragged and soft. “I love making love to you.”

She grasped his wrists, and her fingers tightened around them.

“But I especially love the way you make me feel, alive when I thought I was just this scarred, bitter warrior. I can’t live without that, Dana. I loved you every waking moment since I realized I loved you. So, there, I said it first. You made this alpha man heel.”

She just stood there looking up at him, and his heart squeezed really hard. His fear running like ice through him. What if she didn’t say it back?

“Goddamn, woman. Say something.”

“I’m pretty attached to you, too.”

For a minute he stood there, then she giggled. He growled and dragged her against him. “Dana, for the love of God and country.”

She threw herself at him, wrapped her arms around his neck and shouted, “I love you, Bowie Cooper. My Ruckus, the man who saved me, the man I want for the rest of my life. I really love the way you make me feel. You gave me closure when I was so lost. You helped me find my mom again, and for that I’ll be forever grateful to you.” She kissed him. “You’ll need all your SEAL skills to handle me.”

“Don’t I know it.” When she went to kiss him again, he pulled back. “Wait. I know that being with me is going to take a toll. Deployments are hard on family members. But the SEALs, Dana, they are my family. I don’t know—”

She covered his mouth and gazed up at him with so much love sparkling in her eyes, he’d been a fool to miss it. “I would never ask you to give up what you love. Will it be hard? Yes, it will, but I would rather be with you like this than live without you. I simply can’t do that.”

“I love you so much, Dana. I’ve been waiting my whole life for a woman like you.”

“Then why did it take you so long to come back to me?”

“I was scared I wouldn’t be the man you needed, wanted. I was afraid to hear you tell me those words.”

“You really are a such a macho idiot, but you made me see that I was taking my objectivity as a reporter a step further and numbing everything, not just my professional life, but my personal life, too.”

“I was an idiot until I went home, found my mom and she told me why she turned me out.” He explained everything to her and her eyes went all soft and tender as he opened up. He felt safe with her, even with the dark stuff that had been trapped inside. She would never betray him.

She gave him such a tender look. “You weren’t an idiot about that at all. Not at all.” She hugged him hard, then said, “Let’s run really fast back home so I can show you how much I love you.”

* * *

When they got there, Ruckus groaned long and loud when he saw the SUV and the 4x4 sitting outside Dana’s house. Dana was still basking in the glow of having this man show her his vulnerable side. She’d already seen the brave. Now she would cherish both so very much.

Seven very large figures were milling around. Cowboy in his distinctive black hat, Blue, aviator sunglasses glinting in the sun, Kid Chaos in a gray hoodie, looking tough and petulant, Tank, big, intimidating with the most devastating blue eyes, Wicked looking tall, dark and handsomely dangerous, Hollywood making her neighbors stop and stare and last, but not least, Scarecrow with his smooth Southern accent, and lean, mean body. “Looks like we’re outnumbered.”

“This is a major goat fuck if I ever saw one,” he said.

Dana laughed out loud when all those gorgeous, muscled hunks turned in their direction. “Love you, love your team?”

“Yeah, something like that. Although, I don’t love them so much right now.”

When she approached, she got high fives and devastating grins. She unlocked the door and all of them piled inside. She had a decent sized house, but these eight men filled it up to bursting as if there wasn’t enough oxygen or square footage in the room.

“Why are you guys here?” Bowie asked.

“Man,” Kid said. “You’ve been AWOL from the gym too long my friend, and the basketball court. We need you to even out the teams.”

“Yeah, we missed you barking orders at us, LT,” Blue said with a whine. “Kid cries himself to sleep every night. He misses your bedtime stories.”

Kid hit Blue in the arm. “Shut up,” he said, wiping away a mock tear. “Don’t play on a man’s pain.”

Bowie set his hands on his hips. “So what are you going to do? Kidnap me?”

Kid walked up and bent at the knees, and before Dana could take another breath, he lifted Bowie into a fireman’s carry. “See you in a bit, Dana. Breakfast would be nice.” Kid grinned. “We’ll be ravenous when we get back.”

“You plan on bringing him back, then?” Her eyes sparkling.

“Sure. You a good cook?”

“She is,” Bowie said wryly from behind Kid’s back.

Blue held the door, and Cowboy shook his head. “Sorry about this, ma’am, but it’s SEAL business.”

“I got your six. I’ll make steak and eggs.”

All of them cheered, many of them grinning and Dana smiled. She may have fallen in love with Lieutenant Bowie “Ruckus” Cooper, but he came with this package deal, seven gorgeous alpha males with enough testosterone to light up every woman in the city, long deployments and intense danger. She wasn’t new to that being a correspondent, but she and that big, wonderful man would make it work no matter what. And if it didn’t work, well, then, they’d break the rules and make new ones.