Page 57 of Delta Force Defender

Her clear implication was that he, a career marine officer, could not maintain a kitchen to her standards.

“You remind me of my drill sergeant,” he said. When her scowl deepened, he laughed. “That’s a compliment.”

She rolled her eyes as she stood, then swept up their plates. “Good-bye.”

Cranky. Grouchy. That scowl in place. Just the way he liked her.

“You know I don’t need you to cook and clean for me,” he said as he got to his feet, watching her move with that efficient grace that had been getting to him for far too long now. “That’s not a requirement.”

She snorted. “If you needed me to, I wouldn’t do it. And if it was arequirement, I’d burn your cabin down.”

“Still.”

Caradine dropped the plates and utensils with a great clatter into his sink. She did not turn to face him. “Isaac. If you say one word about mytrue heart, I will walk out of this cabin and drown myself in the cove.”

“I think that’s unlikely.”

“I will take that cast-iron skillet off your wall and relieve you of your kneecap.”

“You already tried to shoot me in the knee. You missed. I feel like the odds are in my favor.”

She turned then, her scowl much deeper and her blue eyes a dark warning that bounced around inside him and felt a whole lot like joy.

“Don’t you have work to do?” she demanded. “Wrongs to right and worlds to save?”

“Usually.”

Her brows rose. “And here I thought that was who you were. In charge of every last thing every second of the day and night, so there isn’t a single moment of downtime. Don’t let me interrupt your long career of overcompensation and workaholic anxiety.”

That punch landed, and he could tell she knew it, so he left her to her mutterings at his sink.

He went out to his study and checked in. And he didn’t forget that Caradine was in his cabin. He wasaware of her moving around in the kitchen, then stalking off to take a shower. He monitored what needed his attention, made sure no new information had come in while he was otherwise occupied, and sent out a raft of responses and new orders.

Normally he would keep that up for hours, but not tonight.

He took a minute, sitting there in his home office with Horatio at his side and Caradine in his shower, to consider the fact that everything was fine. Perfectly fine, as expected. No crises were unfolding. Nothingrequiredhis attention or interference at the moment.

That he’d set things up so that the whole operation could run while he was on an active mission himself always seemed to slip his mind when he was home—

But that wasn’t true. It didn’t slip his mind. He just... didn’t let go.

His strength and weakness right there.

Overcompensation, Caradine had said. Because of course she had.

Because the question he really didn’t want to ask himself was whether he was holding on because he thought Alaska Force and the whole freaking world would fall apart if he let go—or if he was worried he would.

Maybe,something deep inside him whispered, edgy like the woman who knew him too well and acted like that was an imposition,you’re afraid of what you might see if you stopped long enough to look.

“Screw this,” Isaac muttered.

He had no intention of wasting this night.

First he went and joined her in the shower, making sure to wipe that scowl off her face, just to prove he could. Then he set about enjoying her in every room of his cabin, because he knew her.

She had no intention of staying. He had no intention of letting her go.

But he preferred to state his case to the Caradine who sobbed in his arms. The one who moaned out his name. The one who fit so perfectly against his chest when she dropped her head there.

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