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“TELL ME YOU DIDN’T tag me in the video or those pictures.”

We’re in Kuwait, but we’ve been delayed.

Again.

Waiting in limbo at Camp Arif-jail is hell for me. I’ve been preparing for war and arid weather, not to wait in line at Chilis to get baby back ribs or take a dip in the swimming pool. The thing is, if we have to be deployed to Kuwait, AJ is the place to be. It almost fools soldiers into thinking that they’re back home.

Right now, I’m in the community center with Boston, Diego, and Swarkoff. Diego and Swarkoff are busy making use of said facilities, but that’s not Boston’s idea of a good time.

Oh no.

His idea is to bust my balls by publicly posting a video of Campbell, Hazel, and me at the airport on social media... and tagging me in it.

Boston shrugs, the stupid grin on his face irritating enough to make me want to punch him. “I would, but then I’d be lying.”

“You do realize that my family will watch it and assume the... they’ll assume that it’s true.”

Boston snorts. “It’s not that far off from the truth. You seem to be in the habit of attracting women like Campbell. Granted, the hotness level is so high I fully expect the corresponding level of crazy to be off the scale.”

“She’s not crazy.” Desperate and in need of help? Absolutely. 

But yeah, Campbell’s hot as fuck. 

“But you’re not denying you do attract those in need?” 

I know Boston is busting my balls like usual, but this time it irritates me because I don’t want Campbell to be placed in the same category as any woman I seriously dated before. 

Hell, Campbell and I aren’t even dating.

“That’s not the point. You shouldn’t have posted that shit to Facebook.”

“Whatever, dude.”

“Take it down.”

“As soon as I have access—”

I shove him into an empty chair in front of a desktop computer. “Hop on and make it disappear.”

He salutes me, and I march out of there before I take my computer from him and smack some sense into him with it.

I stride outside, into the arid heat of afternoon. There was a dust storm earlier, which covered everything—and I mean everything—in fine-grained sand. I’m pretty sure I’ll still be coughing the shit up when I’m eighty.

If I live that long.

Damn. If I didn’t watch it, I’d sink into that box and fold myself in. It’s dark and deep inside, and it’s how I get through each deployment. Only, it’s getting harder and harder to climb back out once I get home. The sides are growing taller, slicker, and a part of me doesn’t want to come out.

It wants to hide in there like Gollum at the base of Mordor.

My phone buzzes, taking me away from my dark box. As soon as we stepped off the plane, I got a SIM chip, which will enable me to take calls or texts from anywhere. Provided there’s service, that is.

To my surprise, it’s Campbell.

Campbell: Please tell me you’re around to talk.

Me: Give me two minutes and we can talk face to face. What’s your Skype name?

Campbell: I don’t have one.

Me: FaceTime?

Campbell: Yes!

I pick up the pace, jogging to the POD I’ve been assigned to stay in while we are here. Since I don’t know how long we’ll be here, I went ahead and bought a puck for my room. So I’ll be able to use that as a mobile hotspot and hopefully have a good signal to talk to Campbell.

A camel spider darts in front of me, over the paved road, and just misses being hit by a Humvee while I do a little backward dancing.

Man, I hate those things. They’re the size of Frisbees, and I’ve had nightmares about waking up with one stuck to my neck.

When I finally reach my POD, my phone is buzzing again. I glance down and see that Campbell is requesting to FaceTime with me.

A grin kicks up the corner of my mouth.

I press accept and unlock my door. “Hold on, sweetheart. I need to get out of this sun.”

“It’s daytime?” she asks as I step inside, shutting the door behind me.

“Yeah.”

I prop my phone against the screen of my desktop and sit. “If you weren’t so impatient, I would have called you first.”

She rolls her eyes. “I think we’re past that sort of thing.”

“Damn, it’s good to see you.” I let my gaze travel over the parts I’m allowed to see. Her gorgeous face with those sweet dimples, her slim neck and shoulders, and the top of her shirt. Castle Beach Football is printed across her chest.

“Are you wearing my old shirt?”

She blushes. “Your mom gave it to me. Sorry.”

“I’m not sorry. You look hot wearing it.” I grin, happy for the first time since we’ve arrived. “Everything’s good?”

“Kinda? No. I don’t know.”

My grin fades. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong and that’s the problem.” She tucks her hair behind her ears. “I got here late last night, and, uh your sister and mom were really happy to see me... us.”

“And that’s a problem?”

She bites on her bottom lip, an uneasy look forming on her face. “Remember how everyone thought we were married back at the airport?”

Oh, shit. “Yeah.”

“And how everyone thought Hazel was your daughter?”

Oh, fuck. “Yeah.”

“Well, that’s happened again. Only your entire family thinks I’m your wife and Hazel’s your daughter because someone tagged you in a video and some pictures on Facebook.”

“I am going to kill him,” I mutter.

“What?”

“Nothing. Just imagining hurting Boston for causing drama.”

“I don’t know what to do, Knight.” Tears pool in her eyes, and she glances away. “I guess I could have stopped it all right away, but your momma looked so sad and then happy, and she’s saying that everything Hazel does is just like you and...” She blows out a shuddering breath. “Help me do the right thing.”

My heart starts to gallop.

Campbell looks ready to bolt.

“My mom is happy?”

Campbell nods, tears sliding down her cheeks. “Very. She’s playing with Hazel right now so I could get more sleep.”

I lean back in my chair, letting my head fall into my hands. “Let me think about this.”

“She mentioned something about your brother Laird disappearing?” Campbell finally looks at me again. “I don’t want to pry, but I feel like that’s pretty important.”

“Yeah.” I scrub my face with my hand. “He went missing over a week ago. The coast guard downgraded the search, which means he’s dead. I found out the day we met.”

“Oh my gosh.” Her dark eyes search my face. “I don’t know what to say.”

“There’s nothing to say, sweetness.” I smile faintly. “In fact, the only thing you need to do is be yourself.”

“Myself is your wife. How am I supposed to pretend to be married to you?”

“We did a pretty good job fooling the guy at the USO Lounge.” Shit. I’m going to get in trouble for saying it. I know we’re being monitored, but I hope the powers that be have bigger fish to fry. “What do you want to do?”

“I don’t have any other options, unless you count moving in with my brother while he goes to Carolina.” She laughs a little. “Can you believe he had it all planned out? Hazel and I were going to live with him, and he was going to get a second job so I could afford daycare in order to get my life back together.”

Yeah, I can believe it. There’s something about Campbell that makes a guy want to protect her. I still don’t know how the men in her life fucked her over like they did. How they hurt her... Hell, I don’t understand how any man can do that to a woman.

“How about this... let them think what they want.”

“You want me to lie.”

“Not exactly. Consider it an omission.”

“Of the truth, which is a lie.”

“Remind me to never try to debate you.”

“I don’t want to take advantage of their kindness or emotional vulnerability. It’s bad enough I’m here in the first place because my own family doesn’t want me.”

If I ever get the chance to tell her parents off, I’ll take it. Who the hell throws their kid away, especially in their time of need?

Maybe the same kind as a brother who turns his back on his family.

That’s not the same. I didn’t turn my back. I simply had no alternative.

Really? And how close are you to Quinn right now...?

“How do you know you and Hazel aren’t exactly what they need, especially my momma?” If Campbell goes along with this lie, even for a little while, it could help ease the pain of losing Laird.

Campbell looks up at the ceiling and then back at me. “She practically said the same thing—that you sent us to her because you knew how much she needed us.”

“You want to pay me back?”

She nods. “Very much so.”

“Then lie, Campbell. Lie your tail off until my family can put Laird’s dea—disappearance behind them.”

“Then what?” She swallows. “What do I do when they’re happy again?”

“I’ll clear everything up—take full responsibility.” I lean forward, willing her to see the sense in my plan. “I swear to take care of you and Hazel. There’s nothing to fear from this, from me.”

She places her hand against her throat. “I don’t know...”

“Do you trust me?”

“Yes.”

She says the word with such conviction that I want to kiss her. “Trust me when I say that everything will be okay. Remember what I promised you and Hazel?”

“That as long as we were with you, you wouldn’t let anything bad happen to us.”

“I keep my promises, Campbell.”