I’m falling for him.
The thought moved through her like a key turning in a lock she hadn’t known was there. Not a panicked thought, or an unwelcome one. Just the truth.
I’m falling in love with him.
He gave a final shudder against her and she held him through it. Then he dropped his weight lightly against her and let her feel his heartbeat slowing against her ribs.
Neither of them spoke.
She stared at the ceiling over his shoulder as her mind tried to work out the logistics of a relationship with him but couldn’t come up with any way to make this work, not the way Jolie and Archer did.
But the thought of leaving Rome sent a crack of pain to her chest.
If she wanted him in her life, she had to figure out how to survive. This time it wasn’t the streets of Chicago or hard times.
Because she’d already stopped being able to imagine her life without him.
SIXTEEN
The call came in at 0200.
His sixth sense had been kicking in all evening, and he expected it even as he dreaded leaving Stina in the middle of the night.
He slipped out of bed and started yanking on clothes, listening to the sound of the team rushing to the war room. He skidded into the room first with the rest of Sierra flooding in behind him in various states of dress.
Cannon faced them. “Search and rescue request came in. Seven hikers, Montclair range, north face. Got caught in the weather change, one of them managed to get a distress call out before they lost signal. They’re pinned down and the temps are dropping.”
Rome looked at the coordinates on the screen. “That’s not our job.”
“No, but we’ve got orders. We’re the closest asset by forty minutes. Seven people die if we don’t move.”
The room was silent for exactly one second.
“What’s the extraction plan?” Rome asked.
“We pull them off the mountain. There will be a team waiting at the foot of the mountain to transport to the hospital. Our job is to get them down.” Cannon swept his gaze over the team. “We provide basic first aid on site if necessary, move them to the handoff point, done.”
Rome was already calculating timeframes. “Snowmobiles.”
Cannon looked at Younger. “Prep them.”
“Copy, boss.” Younger strode out of the room.
Cannon’s gaze moved to Rome and Monk. “Rivers stays.”
Rome knew how Cannon’s mind worked. Rivers was staying because he was equipped to handle anything the base could throw at him—combat, medical, security.
The look Cannon sent his way said the rest.
The women are here. Rivers will protect them.
“Roll out in five.”
Rome hit the door running for his locker. As he threw on his body armor and cold weather gear, he calculated the number of seconds it would take to run to his room and kiss Stina.
He strapped on his sidearm, grabbed a rifle and laced his boots in seconds. He had just enough time to say goodbye to Stina.
When he rounded the corner, he saw the women standing in the hallway, holding on to each other.