I stepped away from Broadrick, even though it hurt a little. "You did not just say that."

He didn't? Did he?

He did.

NB came over for another treat and jumped on my legs. Someone had to teach him to stop jumping. But he was just so cute when he did it.

I was still shaking my head by the time he answered. "Antonio is simply going to look in on you occasionally. A pop-in."

My fingers ran over the smooth leather of the black jacket. A rough patch, probably from the brick wall, added to the patina of the leather, and I tried to smooth it out as we stood there. "A pop-in? I'm not some unruly teenager."

B should have seen me as a kick-ass woman, not someone he had to take care of when he left the house for a few days. I was a strong, independent female.

Broadrick pushed a piece of my blonde hair behind my ear and kissed my temple. "You're not an unruly teenager. You're worse. Teenagers don't give lock picks as Christmas gifts."

"Some of them do." Technically, I did.

We were inches apart but not touching, and I hated it.

Broadrick shook his head and wrapped his arms around me again, pressing me to him and eliminating the distance. "That's the thing I love about you, Von. I can never guess what's going to come out of your hot mouth."

I half laughed. "Stun guns are pretty splendid gifts too."

"Pink ones?" he asked, and I heard the smile in his words. Broadrick couldn't make fun of lock picks after he gifted me a pink stun gun.

I squeezed him, wanting to suck up every second he had left here. "Yeah."

"Having Antonio around if you need help would make me feel better while I'm gone. You need backup."

His heart beat against mine in perfect rhythm, and I closed my eyes, soaking it in. How did I tell him no when he said it all sweet and made my heart literally pitter-patter? NB jumped on my leg and stuck his nails in my jeans, ruining the moment.

"You want to take NB with you? He'd love a little military action," I said, trying to ignore the dog. "We can get him a camo vest to match."

Broadrick pushed him away with his foot. Or he tried to, but NB came right back for another leg scratch. "That dog would kill us all."

My heart skipped a beat. "Don't say kill."

"Sorry, Von. But have you seen him? Totally untrainable." Broadrick gave me another head kiss.

We'd been standing together in my living room, slightly swaying together, which made us look totally weird, but I didn't care. "But why Tony? He's practically an accomplice."

Plus, the big bounty hunter would use the opportunity to make fun of me about being my babysitter. We were colleagues. Equals. He couldn't be put in charge of me. It would ruin our dynamic.

Broadrick shrugged, taking my shoulders with him because we were so close together. "I thought you'd rather have him if you got to pick. If you'd prefer, I can ask Anderson or Ridge."

I cringed. My shoulders almost touched my ears with the unnatural reaction I had to the idea. No, thank you. "Tony will do."

If Tony laughed at me or made a joke, I'd hit him. Or stun gun him. Where did I leave the charger? I'd need a full battery. Tony was a big guy. It might take two zaps and I needed to be prepared.

"That's my girl," he said and reached down to grab NB and bring him between us.

I scratched the little dog's brown ears. "Aren't you scared we might work together and fall madly in love while you're gone?"

Broadrick laughed, bumping his chest against mine and ruffling NB, who squirmed, wanting down. He let him go and NB scampered to the kitchen, sniffing the floor for more turkey.

"Babe," Broadrick said and flexed his biceps, "you're not leaving this."

I hit him on the arm and pulled back my fist, shaking it to relieve the ache. Broadrick grabbed my hand and kissed my knuckles.

He tipped my chin up to meet my gaze. "Vonnie, I know you in here," he said and placed a kiss on my temple. "And here." His finger tapped the middle of my chest. "I know your soul. No one can break that."

I swooned. Literally swooned. It wasn't like me at all. I had a kick-ass persona to maintain, but my boyfriend was shipping out, and he said super outstanding amazing things to me. A girl could swoon during these times.

"Okay, fine. I won't fall for Tony while you're gone."

"Try to unpack some stuff while not falling for him," he said.

Happy feelings gone.

"Just shut up and kiss me," I said, tugging him closer. He wanted me to unpack?

Broadrick smiled against my lips. "Oh, I'll do more than that."

He leaned over and wrapped his arm behind my knees before swinging me around and lifting me into his arms. I laughed as he carried me toward the bedroom.

**

The next morning came too fast. Way too fast. It seemed like he'd barely gotten to Pelican Bay, and now he was on his way out again. I'd only just decided I wanted him to stay.

Broadrick tossed his second enormous army green bag on the front porch. He kept telling me he would not be gone long, but he had two overstuffed gigantic bags. What did he need all that stuff for if he planned to be gone for only a few days?

"Do you think you'll be back by next week?" I asked him as my front door closed behind me.

NB took off toward his favorite front yard bush and lifted his leg before he reached it. Broadrick flattened his lips and shook his head. "He really hates that bush."

"Or loves it." Who knew what went through the dog's head? "So next week?"

Broadrick pushed his bags to the side of the porch to make more room for when NB ran up to stand by us and waited to go inside. He had a grimace on his face as he answered my question. "I don't think so. I'm hoping we'll be home and debriefed by the end of the month."

The end of the month? That was half a month away. That didn't seem like a quick trip.

He held on to my upper arms. "I'm going to make it as quick as possible, but we never know how long these things will take until we get there and assess the situation."

"Right." I knew it. I just didn't enjoy hearing it.

"You have your truck key. Right?" he asked and jingled his own. "I want you to use it if you need it."

I tugged on his shirt to touch a little of him. "Yeah."

Although I had no expectations of using it. The truck was almost as conspicuous as my car. Almost, but not quite.

Broadrick swung me around and brought us together. "And call Sidney for NB."

"I remember," I said and rolled my eyes. We'd gone over this twice earlier that morning.

"And Tony for any other trouble."

I laid my head on his shoulder. "Don't worry, B. You won't be gone long enough for there to be any trouble."

Broadrick snorted. "In this town, there is always trouble."

I swayed my head back and forth. He had a point.

The sun was just peeking up over the horizon and hadn't had time to chase the fog from the street. The breeze brought on a cold gust of wind, and I moved closer to Broadrick, using him as a shield. He didn't seem to mind.

"You're the one going out and looking for trouble," I whispered into his chest, doing my best not to think of worst-case scenarios even though I had a million of them.

Thoughts of Broadrick running toward gun fire tightened my chest. Breathing grew difficult as it took more effort to bring air into my lungs. Without him, I couldn't breathe.

"I have a great crew. We'll be fine. I'm worried about you," he said.

"Well, I'm worried about you," I argued.

Broadrick kissed my forehead. "Let's not fight. I'm not sure when I'll get to talk to you again because once we leave the country, our team will go incognito."

"Like no talking? No texts?" How would I update him about my day? "I planned to send you up-to-the-minute messages."

Broadrick chuckled. "I know, but people can track phones once we're on the field. We'll lose signal, eventually."

I nodded. That made sense. "Will you let me know before you just stop replying?"

"I'll do my best." He rubbed my arm. "I promise."

That's all I asked for.

"Vonnie, are you really going to be okay while I'm gone?" He held me away from him an inch and stared at me. Intense worry clouded his expression. My chest clenched.

It only slightly annoyed me that time. Broadrick cared, and even though I'd been doing the whole living thing on my own for over twenty years, I had gotten used to having him around. I'd miss him.

But I'd live.

I also understood what he meant when he said it was easier to break up with me than to have to go through this. The longer we stood together on the porch being mopey about the situation, the worse we both felt about something we couldn't change.

I needed to be strong. For both of us.

With a grin, I forced an eye roll for his sake. "B, we are going to be fine."

Now wasn't the time to cry. I'd do that after he left and I had privacy. That's when I'd let loose.

"You said Ridge was picking you up?" I asked and jerked my head at the end of the road.

An obnoxiously large black truck turned onto our street and continued its death crawl toward my home.

"I thought it would be easier to say goodbye here. He's going to ride in with me and meet up with one of his old teammates," he said, watching Ridge approach.

He was probably right, but I didn't want to admit it.

Ridge turned into the driveway, and I gripped Broadrick's hand. He kissed me so hard the tingles hit my toes.

Don't cry.