Page 103 of Sergeant's Christmas Siege

Templeton’s grin was big and wide.

“You, Trooper. I get you.” When she scowled at him, she got his real laugh. And it was beautiful, just like him. “You might not need saving, baby, but I do. Pretty much all the time. You think you can handle that?”

And Kate had never been one for faith. But thedifference here was that it wasn’t blind. And better still, she was choosing it.

She had seen so many of his different facets already. She wasn’t afraid of what others she might discover. He was the most dangerous man she’d ever known, but unlike the other men in her experience, he had only ever used his power to protect her.

He hadn’t punished her for her own.

If anything, he seemed to like it.

He loved it. And her. And he made her feel... giddy.

Which, in turn, made her understand that however much her mind couldn’t grasp the things that Templeton had told her, her heart believed him completely.

Her heart had loved him from the start.

“You don’t have to think that hard,” Templeton said. He wrapped his arms around her, and they still fit the way she’d convinced herself she’d only imagined they did. Like they’d been made for this. For each other. “All you need to do—”

“Is love you,” she finished for him. “I have that part covered.” She gave into the giddiness, throwing herself straight off that cliff. Straight into his arms. Then she smiled up at him and felt a lot like sunshine herself. “Did anyone ever tell you that you talk too much?”

His laugh boomed between them, and it felt better than faith. It felt like a promise.

And when he kissed her, he tasted like forever.

So Kate held on tight, kissed him back, and set about loving the only man she’d ever known who made her feel safe.

And better yet, always would.

He’d promised.

And Templeton Cross kept his promises.

Twenty-five

Six months later, Templeton unfolded himself from yet another SUV he’d had waiting at the airport, stretched, and breathed in the wallop of the Mississippi heat.

“Are you nervous?” Kate asked, coming around from the passenger side to stand beside him.

“That’s not the word I’d use,” Templeton said. “It’s a little more layered than that.”

And she understood him, so all she did was slip her hand into his.

He’d had half a year with her, and it already felt like a lifetime. Two lifetimes. And not nearly enough.

They’d both agreed to start things slow. If that was what it could be called when they were both so thirsty for each other.

“You live almost a thousand miles away,” Kate said one afternoon while they were shopping for furniture. For the unfurnished apartment she’d reluctantly rented, because Templeton had convinced her it was time. “You’ll sit on whatever sofa I buy... maybe twice.”

“Trooper,” he replied, grinning. “Challenge accepted.”

And they figured it out. Mission by mission and caseby case. Kate flew to Fool’s Cove when she could. Templeton went to Anchorage.

“I don’t know how you do long distance,” Blue said one morning while they were suffering together through a heavy sandbag carry.

“Because it doesn’t feel like long distance,” Templeton replied without thinking.

But even when he thought about it, it felt true.

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