Summer was angry she’d put so much stock in the men of HERO Force, only to have them go off on an irrelevant tangent without listening to her. But more than anything it was Luke’s betrayal that hurt, siding with Trace and Mac without knowing the facts of the story.

She sat in the passenger seat of Luke's SUV and stared out the window as he drove. The wind was worse now than it had been, moving the car with every gust and blowing snow as it fell, reducing visibility. It was like they were in a snow globe with too much snow, obscuring the little village or landmark in the glass. After what she’d been through, that was the least of her problems. “It’s getting bad out here,” she said.

“I checked the weather before we left the hotel. Wind gusts up to fifty miles per hour, sustained winds of twenty-five. We might be looking at a blizzard before all this is through.”

Just listening to him talk made something go off-center inside her, a lingering lust she no longer wanted to feel. She was ninety-nine percent sure Mac and Razorback knew what she and Luke had been up to, but even if they didn't, she wouldn't soon be able to forget.

What a stupid mistake.

The way he’d condemned her father, acting as judge and jury without even knowing the man, spoke volumes about Luke’s character and highlighted how little she really knew him.

She sighed. The accusations against her father were her family’s Achilles’ heel. While she’d been too young at the time to know what was going on, she still remembered the stress in her house between her mother and father, the talk of lawyers and the hushed whispers of ruin.

The company had survived, but not unscathed. Even today they were haunted by the allegations. Some in the business refused to work with her father, though thankfully the US government, their largest client, wasn’t one of them.

Then just last year The New York Times had come knocking, asking the same old questions that had nearly destroyed them so long ago. Something had stirred that pot again, but this time it was Summer who’d stepped up and defended her father and his company in the press.

Now she knew it was Steven Walsh who was behind it, just as he’d been behind the explosion and Jacques’ death and the theft of the brancium. And if Luke Arroyo wanted to weigh in on the wrong side of that battle line, then it was just one more reason she should stay the hell away from him.

"Are you okay?” he asked.

“I’m fine.”

“Are you ever going to speak to me?”

“I said something about the snow a minute ago.”

“You know what I mean.”

"That depends. Are you going to bad-mouth my family?”

"I wasn't bad-mouthing your father. I was just saying we should consider all the possibilities."

"That is not a possibility. That's the problem. You are assuming he is a man who would do such a thing, and it’s clouding your vision about what’s really going on here.”

"No, it’s not.”

"Of course it is! Without that assumption, your whole argument falls flat."

"It wasn't my argument. If you remember, it was Mac and Razorback who suggested it."

"I don't care who suggested it. You agreed with it. And now you wonder why I’m angry?" She blew out air. "My father worked hard for his success. From day one, he's come up with the vast majority of our designs. He is Daniels Aerospace."

"Then, what are you?"

"Just an engineer who someday hopes to be half as good as he is.”

"Are you sure this doesn't have anything to do with us kissing?"

Fury burned in her chest. “You pompous ass. What, you think you touch my lips and I lose my mind? Sorry, but it wasn't that overwhelming. It was just a mistake, and a stupid one at that. It isn’t going to happen again."

“Now, hang on a minute. You can be sorry it happened and you can be angry with me, but don’t pretend it was bad just to save face.”

“I didn’t say it was bad, I said it was a mistake, just like you did before you even touched me. Does that bruise your enormous ego?”

“What is it with you? You think you’ve got me pegged as an egotist and an asshole. Why? Because I’m a SEAL?”

“That might have something to do with it, though the pompous part you earned all on your own.”

“Holy mackerel.” He held up his hands. “I agree. Kissing you was a terrible idea.”

“Exactly what I’m saying.”

“You know what? Fine. Let’s get it all out in the open. I knew I had no business kissing you. I'm just not smart enough to listen to reason, even when it's my own, apparently."

She shook her head, staring unseeing out her window. She didn't want to be here, didn’t want to have this conversation, and certainly didn’t want to need his protection. But what other options did she have? She was stuck with Luke Arroyo for the duration, unless she wanted to ask Mac for a changing of the guard.

Luke spoke as if reading her mind. “I don’t have to be the one to protect you, you know. If you’re so unhappy, Mac can assign someone else.”

Reluctance pulled at her. No matter how ticked off she was, she still didn’t want to swap him for a different SEAL.

Admit it. You like fighting with him almost as much as you like kissing him.

She was the damn basket case, not John Walsh. “No.” She resisted the urge to explain herself.

Luke’s phone rang and he put on an earpiece before answering it. He said very few words to the caller. Affirmative this, roger that, then hung up. "We’re only about twenty-five minutes out of Boston,” he said to her. “Let's go over exactly how we're going to get into AGL Aerospace.”

She sighed. “We went over this already.”

“So go over it again. Practice makes perfect.”

She rolled her eyes. “I’ll pretend to be a sales rep, and you guys will be my muscles, here to set up a booth for the engineers to get to know our new products. This is a small industry. I know who their vendors are. We all use the same suppliers.”

"But wouldn't the receptionist know who the sales reps are?"

"Not if someone was fired. There’s a lot of upheaval in sales. I just introduce myself as the new rep and convince her I am who I say I am."

“Assuming she believes you, what happens if Walsh or your old IT person or someone else recognizes you while we're here?"

"Can't you take care of that?"

"How? You want me to club them over the back of the head for saying, ‘Hey, isn’t that Summer Daniels?’”

She glared at him. He smiled, the cutest little dimple tucked into his stubble-covered cheek, and she cursed herself for noticing. If she was going to come out of this experience unscathed, she needed to keep her attention away from Luke’s little dimples and sexy stubble going forward. "You're very funny.”

“Thank you. I like to think so."

"You know what I like best about your sense of humor?"

"What?"

“Nothing.”

He chuckled as he took the next exit, slowly turning onto the ramp.

"Where are you going? AGL is two exits up from here."

“The other guys are worried about someone recognizing you, too. That’s why they called. Razorback says there's a costume shop up here. A wig and some glasses would go a long way. Something to throw them off the scent so you won't be recognized."

The other HERO Force vehicles exited the expressway as well, leading the way with Luke pulling up the rear. When they got to a small costume shop in a strip mall, he cut the engine, opened his wallet, and handed her a hundred-dollar bill. "I'm thinking blonde."

“Of course you are. Men like you always like blondes.”

He narrowed his eyes. “Men like me?”

“You know.” She pantomimed a bodybuilder. “Big muscular guys with pretty faces and stupid girls falling at your feet, so that you’re stepping over their dingbat bodies every time you walk to the mirror to watch yourself flex.”

He raised one eyebrow. “Wow.”

Mac walked toward them and Luke rolled down his window. “I texted you a link,” he said. “Moto created an app using the 3D rendering of the AGL Aerospace blueprints. It can tell where you are and show you where you’re going, like virtual reality.”

Luke’s eyes went wide. “He did this on the way here?”

Mac laughed. “Yeah. He wasn’t driving.”

“That guy freaks me out.”

They were all a little bit too much for Summer. In less than a day they’d accomplished more than she knew was possible. “I’ll be back.”

She pulled her coat tightly closed, squinting against the blowing snow and reminding herself she was lucky they were here to help her, but she didn’t feel so lucky. She felt sad and angry they were stirring up the past like a boat dredging a waterway.

Especially Luke.

Without them, you might be dead by now.

She thought of the car that had tried to run her down. She was definitely lucky to be alive, but her life had been twisted and folded on itself, so many aspects of it barely recognizable.

She tried on a blonde wig with short, trendy bangs and stared at her reflection. She looked wildly different, but it was her expression that really caught her attention. There was color in her cheeks and a determination in her eyes she hadn’t seen there in years. She looked fierce. Bold. Powerful.

It was Luke. Fighting with Luke. Kissing Luke.

He challenged her and excited her in ways no one had in ages. It wouldn’t be possible for her to keep that man in her life, no matter what happened in the next few days. But maybe it was time she moved out of her comfort zone and made room for love in her life.

Not with him, but with someone. Open herself up to change. She’d been stuck in the same place for far too long, but try as she might, she couldn’t conjure a picture of another man in her head besides that one.

He made her heart beat faster and some vital piece of herself come alive. She turned away from the mirror, selecting a red wig instead. There was no way in hell she was going back out there in the blonde one.