“You’re thinking you want to kiss me, aren’t you?” Kyle certainly wanted to kiss this beautiful woman right now.

“I wasn’t thinking that,” Kennedy said, but her cheeks went red and she turned away from him.

He let out a breath. Man, she was hot and cold.

“You’re definitely not my type.” She glanced back at him, then back to the front.

Kyle chortled. “To think I could have gone on a trip with someone else who might have enjoyed my company. Possibly a woman who might have been my type.”

She shook her head at him. “You’re cocky.”

“So you’ve said. Man, I’m not used to a woman like you.”

She stiffened. “Right. You’re used to casting your spell and having all the princesses come at your beck and call.”

This woman would drive him crazy. He surrendered. “Back to this Prince Charming thing.”

“So I should be batting my eyes and feel graced to be in your presence?” She blew out a breath.

He scoffed. “Should I be looking for a slipper or something?”

“Am I Cinderella?”

“I have no idea. Should I be slaying dragons?”

For a moment, she cocked her head to the side, considering it.

He laughed. “What?”

“Nothing. Oh my gosh.” Her face reddened even more.

“What?” He knew she was feeling embarrassed about something, and he wanted to get it out of her.

“I just … my roommate has these romance books, and the covers …” She put her face in her hands. “I’ll shut up now.”

Kyle could sense she was on the verge of saying something good. He nudged her, but flinched back when he noticed he was nudging the stump of her missing hand. He knew that for a while it had hurt Russell to have anyone touch it. “What do you want to say?”

Luckily, his faux pas didn’t seem to bother her. She just kept her head down. “Nothing.”

He nudged her again, this time closer to the shoulder. “Spill it.”

“Ugh. I just thought you looked like you could be on the cover with your tattoo on your back and your muscles. Now, all I can see is you holding some sword and some dragon behind you.” She buried her head deeper into her hands. “I cannot believe I told you that.”

He, on the other hand, was thrilled she’d said that. He scoffed out a laugh.

Jerking her head up, she scowled at him, then pointed to her missing hand. “See? You are so cocky.”

Without thinking, he took her arm. “Don’t point in my face.”

She looked at his hand. He winced internally, unsure whether he’d overstepped the lines. “What are you doing?” she asked.

“I’m holding your arm.”

She blinked and swallowed. “Does it gross you out?”

“Why would it? It’s your body.” He gave her a soft smile and gently ran his hand up to her shoulder, then back down to her elbow, and then the flesh that was now smooth where her hand had been. “I happen to like your body.”

For another beat, she didn’t move. Then she yanked it free and turned away.

He winced. “That probably came out all wrong.”

“Don’t do that,” she said quietly.

“Why?”

“Because it’s weird.”

“Why?”

She turned back to him. “Because I’m different.”

“Listen,” he said, deciding to be honest with her. “The other day on the beach, when I saw you, I just saw a beautiful woman teaching a little boy to surf. You were so determined. Like—like you’d just been at war and were coming off the battlefield. I wanted to get to know you.”

“Because you felt sorry for me?”

“What?”

“Because of my situation.” She raised her missing limb.

“I told you I don’t care about that. I mean it. Look, I served three tours. I saw things I never want to talk about again. I’m haunted by things …” He felt his throat tighten, and he didn’t even want to think about some of the dreams that wouldn’t stop coming. “I don’t care that you only have one hand. Russell is my best friend, and I honestly don’t even notice it anymore. The thing I’ve learned from him is that you don’t get a pass either.”

Her brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”

Gently, he reached out and touched right above the smooth part. “You don’t get to be a hater because you have lived through something hard.”

She flinched, but held his eyes when they met hers. “Do not kiss me,” she said through gritted teeth.

This woman! Not only did he want to know why she didn’t want to be on this trip with him; he also wanted to know why she didn’t want to date him. Did that make him cocky?

They were both quiet for a few moments as the plane taxied down the runway and took off. Kyle heard a sharp of intake of breath next to him, and noticed her eyes were closed. “You don’t like flying?” he asked softly, resisting the desire to lean closer and smell that lemony scent even more.

Opening her eyes, Kennedy quirked her lips up. “Actually, I love flying. I just get a little nervous for the takeoff.”

Her cheeks were flushed, and he thought of how this woman, so vulnerable and fierce, was continually surprising him.

“Sorry about just a second ago,” she said quickly. “You probably didn’t even want to kiss me.” She rubbed a hand over her face. “I’m sorry. I just feel so out of sorts around you.” Then she squeezed her eyes shut. “And I shouldn’t have told you that other thing.”

Satisfaction surged through him, but he didn’t want to be too cocky. He liked this fresh kind of girl. The kind who wasn’t like the girls from the gym who hung out waiting for him constantly, only wanting one thing. That wasn’t his scene.

No, she was innocent. He liked it.

He narrowed his eyes. “Isn’t that part of the whole princess thing? This insta fall in love makes you feel out of sorts.”

“This is clearly not that.” She snorted. “Like I would ever fall in love with a guy like you.”

“Ouch.” He knew he was probably turning red now. “Brutal honesty.” Okay, she put him out of sorts, too.

She batted her eyes dramatically. “I say all the wrong things when I’m nervous.”

Kyle laughed, but it was a little forced. He loved teasing her, but he didn’t like hearing she wouldn’t consider falling in love with him. “If I am cocky, you are putting me in my place,” he said quietly, staring into her clear blue eyes. “The thing I don’t think you realize is I’m not just a run-of-the-mill Prince Charming, ya know.”

For a second, she was quiet. Then she grunted. “Hey, I admitted I thought you could be on a romance novel cover.”

Yes, he did like that, but he sensed that wasn’t the kind of guy that impressed her. “Hmm. If there was a Prince Charming, the non-Disney kind, what would be your type?”

“Ha.” She sputtered, her eyes widening. “Really, you want to know my type?”

“Yeah.” He acted nonchalant. “Why not? The not-romance-cover Prince Charming type.”

Kennedy scoffed, before hesitating. “Maybe I don’t entirely know.”

“Hey, I’ll admit I wanted to kiss you. I’ve wanted to kiss you since I met you.” His heart raced and he grinned. Why deny it? “But you have known I’m not you, so that makes us both a bit vulnerable here.”

She scowled at him. “You shouldn’t kiss someone just because you want to.”

That was even funnier. “Oh, I shouldn’t?”

“Kisses mean something.” She sighed. “My grandmother always told me you shouldn’t just give them away, because that would make them mean less.”

This woman was beautiful and good. Kyle had to squirm a little, thinking about all the kisses he’d given away to the point of becoming meaningless. “What if you just like kissing?” he countered.

Letting out another laugh, she rolled her eyes. “Hey, I like kissing. Don’t worry about that.”

He hadn’t been worried about it, and this made him want to kiss her more. “So what kind of prince do you kiss, then?”

“I haven’t always chosen well.” She let out a light sigh. “My last … I won’t even call him a prince. He was an idiot. I guess that makes me want to be even more careful about who I kiss.”

He wanted to ask more about said idiot, but sensed it wasn’t the right time.

For a few moments, they sat in comfortable silence. He got up and stretched, wanting it to not be awkward. “Want a water or something?”

“Oh.” She still looked a bit out of sorts. “Sure.”

Moving through the cab, he went to the fridge at the back and got two waters out. He opened the cockpit door and poked his head in. “How’s everything going in here, Griff?”

“Good.”

Kyle kind of wanted to stay up here and give the girl a breather, but he thought that might be rude, and truthfully, he wanted to talk to her still. Turning back, he went to her, carefully holding the water out.

Smiling up at him, she took the water and gripped it between her knees, easily twisting off the water top with her good hand.

He sat back down and wanted to ask so many things, but he didn’t know where to start. This woman was different, and she had to be handled differently. He wanted to handle her differently.

Turning to him, she said, “I have to ask. Was it hard coming back after being captured?”

Not expecting this turn of conversation, he said, “Just getting to it, I see.”

She cocked an eyebrow. “Hey, you’re the one that said you weren’t just a run-of-the-mill kind of Prince Charming.”

He cocked an eyebrow, seeing she was paying attention. “True. To answer your question, it was hard.” He stared into her eyes. “There were times I wondered if it was harder to be captured or to be home afterwards.”

She measured him for a minute, then turned away and let out a breath. “Survivor’s guilt.”

“I guess,” he said softly. “It’s more than that, though. It’s all those demons inside of you. It’s wondering if you can make it through the nightmares. Every vet goes through it.”

She looked down at her stump, then gently rubbed it with her other hand. “I’m sorry.” She sighed. “I do know about nightmares, though.”

He waited, wanting her to talk more about it, but not wanting to push. When she only blinked, though, he had to speak his mind. “What I really learned is you have to be okay with you. Right here—” He tapped the center of his chest, then tapped his head. “Right here. Then it doesn’t really matter what others think. From what you said earlier, you had a bad boyfriend.” Anger welled up inside of him. He wished he could beat the crap out of the guy who had said that to her. “But only you can decide if that defines you or not.”

Tears were in her eyes. “Please don’t talk about that.”

He felt her start to shake, so he waited patiently. It didn’t surprise him that she had a lot of pain inside of her. Shoot, didn’t everyone? War or not? What did surprise him was that she’d started to cry. Moments ago, she’d seemed tough as nails.

After a few beats, she sucked in a breath and pulled her hand back, staring up at him. Her eyes were sky blue and clear. She wasn’t the kind of woman who wore a lot of makeup. Her blonde hair looked bleached and perfect. Her skin was soft. She was young, and she had been through so much.

The center of his chest warmed, and he thought he had to be careful with this girl. She was tender, so he spoke with tenderness. “You just have to remember you are brave and there is so much good happening and …”

Kennedy did something that he never would have expected. She closed her eyes and said, “Oh, just shut up and kiss me.”