“Archer?” she managed at last.
“No, the mailman,” he deadpanned.
She felt her cheeks redden. “You’re serious.”
“I regretfully am.”
“And you’re trying to protect him from me.” She gulped a lump forming in her throat that was the only thing holding back a flood of emotions…of joy.
“Look, it’s nothing against you. You seem great. But he’s the new guy on the team.”
“You’re saying you’re just looking out for him?”
“Yeah, I am. I lost an FNG once—”
“FNG?”
“Fucking New Guy,” he informed her. “He got distracted on an op when a woman started flirting. It was a trap—and it got him killed.”
A shivery breath left her. “Was he from this team?”
“No. My last. But I won’t let that happen again.”
She gripped a shelf to keep from falling over. Her mind felt snarled with too many threads to follow, and there was only one straight line.
To Archer.
For her, there was no other path.
Rome watched her without speaking. She stared at his broad chest covered in a black T-shirt that seemed to be the team’s everyday uniform.
When she glanced up to meet his stare, words perched on her dry lips. “Does this happen often? A woman wanders in and…”
“The base is pretty quiet. There’s an occasional straggler. Ghost hunters. Extreme snowboarders. YouTubers who are filming sites that have fallen into ruin. And the periodic tourist rescue from a tower in a blizzard.”
She blinked. “I don’t understand most of that. All those people come here?”
From his expression she knew he wouldn’t tell her more. She slanted a look in the direction of the gym where Archer was meditating.
“And is it weird for SEALs to have feelings for these women rescued from towers in blizzards?”
He sobered. “It’s not the norm.”
A pulse of fierce tenderness moved through her so suddenly it hurt. “I wish you hadn’t told me this. I’mleaving.”
Suddenly a tear splashed onto her forearm banded tightly across her chest.
“I’m sorry, Jolie.” Rome’s voice dipped low with what sounded like genuine remorse. He took a step toward the hall.
“Thank you for telling me the truth.”
He glanced back. “Use it wisely.”
When he walked out, leaving her standing alone in a storage closet filled with tents and sleeping bags rated for extreme cold, a ball of ice formed in her stomach.
She was going home.
That was the goal from the moment she arrived. Her real life waited right where she’d left it.
