“Yes.” He answered without hesitation. Standing a few feet away, Mike let out a curse. “But I’m not hiding it from you now. Not anymore. While you met with Connor and Jed, I made a call to Logan. It was his mistake and he’s willing to tell you everything. How he messed up because his head wasn’t in the game. Before we deployed, Logan buried his wife. He shouldn’t have been on the mission, but he was and he made a mistake. Logan will sit down with you and tell you everything.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Why?”
“Because I asked him to. He’s driving down to New York now. He’ll tell you what went wrong, and it’s your decision whether you print it or not. But Maggie? What happened over there doesn’t matter. One man made a mistake. It happens. What matters is that this thing between us, it’s real. The time we spent together had nothing to do with your book or my orders.”
“What were your orders, exactly?”
Hunter ran his hands through his hair. “To make sure your book made the Rangers look good and to steer you away from the sensitive information we’d rather not see in print.”
“How?” she demanded.
“I’m a Ranger. I do what I need to do to get the mission done.” On its own, set apart from all the reasons he had to do what his CO asked—Sierra, his promotion, his honor as a soldier—it sounded horrible. Maggie wasn’t a Tango he needed to eliminate. She was a writer. And the woman he loved.
“That’s why you kissed me that first night. On the patio. Why you let me believe you were drunk so I’d let you stay.”
“No. I drank so you’d let me crash on your couch. But I kissed you because I couldn’t resist you.”
Maggie made a sound of disbelief.
“It was your bra strap peeking out whenever your shirt slipped off your shoulder. I remember thinking about how I prefer you braless, and then I had to kiss you. Maggie, every kiss, every touch, it was real. I wanted you then and I want you now.” He stepped toward her, reaching out to touch her—her hand, her shoulder. He craved physical contact with this woman who was slipping through his fingers like desert sand. But she moved away, out of his grasp. She reached the door and turned the knob.
“Christ, Maggie,” he said, his hand falling helplessly by his side. “I love you.”
“Don’t you dare use those words,” she snapped, holding the door open. “If this is your idea of love, I don’t want it.”
* * *
SIX HOURS LATER, Maggie heard a telltale thump a second before her grandfather’s Mercedes lurched toward the right. Jolted out of self-pity, she steered the car off the road and turned the engine off. She got out to inspect the damage. Just as she’d suspected when she heard the familiar noise, the right rear tire was flat. And to make matters worse, the rim was bent. She must have hit something. Glancing behind her, she saw a big piece of wood that had probably blown into the street from the woods nearby. It had happened before, only today she’d been too distracted to swerve around the debris.
She turned her attention back to the car. Even if she knew how to change a tire, she had a hunch her poor old car needed more than the spare in her trunk. Maggie pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and dialed the one person she could count on to help her.
“You were right,” she said when Olivia answered. “I should have picked up a mechanic at the car show.”
“What happened?”
“I blew a tire and bent the rim. I need you to come get me. I’m on the road to my house, about four miles away from the bridge,” she said, fighting back tears. She’d made it to the airport, through the flight back and halfway home without crying. She refused to break down on the side of the road.
“What else?” Olivia said gently. “I know you’re crying, Maggie.”
“It wasn’t real, Liv,” she sobbed. So much for maintaining her composure.
“We’re talking about your Ranger now, not the car, right?”
“He was just following orders,” she said, struggling to steady her breathing. This wasn’t like her. She didn’t lose control of her emotions. She didn’t feel this deeply. Not for anyone. And it could only mean one thing.
“Oh, God,” she whispered into the phone. “I love him.”
“Stay in the car,” Olivia ordered. “Lock your door. And don’t do anything stupid. I’ll be there in five minutes.”
Eyes wide, her breath coming in sharp gasps, Maggie stumbled back to the car and sank into the driver’s seat.
Love.
She leaned her head against the steering wheel as hot tears ran down her cheeks and soaked her fingers.
Oh, God. Oh, hell.
That shattered feeling inside? It wasn’t just her trust. She’d gone and fallen in love with the man. Head over heels. And she hadn’t even realized it until now.