Page 66 of Missile Strike

What had she been thinking?

She hadn’t been—that much was obvious. She’d been too busy feeling instead of thinking.

Too busy wanting instead of controlling.

So much so that she’d almost had sex in her garage with the door open. If it wasn’t for their cars blocking the view, she and Danny would have put on an X-rated show for her neighbor’s children.

Foolish. Stupid.

She scrambled upright, wrapping her arms around her middle.

Danny was everything the part of her that craved adventure wanted—and everything the woman who needed control should avoid.

When his job protecting her was over, he’d walk away again. Just like last time.

She dared a look in his direction.

He glanced away.

Tears pricked behind her eyes.

“Thanks for the lesson.”

He’d given her more than one.

She’d loved the boy he’d been in high school—popular, athletic, kind.

Her protector.

And here he was again. A grown man—a dangerous one. Still handsome and athletic.

Still her protector.

But his heart was as out of reach as it had been thirteen years ago, while hers was once more in danger of wanting something she’d never have.

Well, he’d fucked that up.

Danny folded the mats and shoved them into a stack in the corner of Bella’s garage with more force than necessary.

What the hell was he thinking? Losing control on the job went against everything he’d trained for.

Dammit.

Keeping his hands off her was getting harder, because he wasn’t sure he wanted to anymore.

He eyed the door leading back into the house as if it were the open cargo bay of an MC-130 and he hadn’t gotten his parachute rigged up properly.

She named her dog after him.

You didn’t name a dog after someone you’d left firmly in the past.

If he took advantage of her obvious attraction to him, he wouldn’t just be a bastard. He’d be the man who broke her heart twice.

An all-too-familiar weight settled on his shoulders.

If Jaynie were alive, she’d kick his ass for messing with her best friend’s heart.

Oh, he’d deny it. But she’d always seen through his bullshit. Even when he’d smiled and joked, Jaynie had known he was restless. Suffocating under constraints dictated by her illness and their parents’ single-minded devotion to her survival.