The next morning, I woke up to Adam’s fingers tracing the scars on my back. I was splayed over his chest, in the same position in which I’d fallen asleep.

“Hey.” He tugged on my hair.

Reluctantly, I lifted my head to smile at him.

He scowled and my smile evaporated. “What?”

He shook his head. “Nothing. Just wondering how the hell it’s possible for you to look this good first thing in the morning.”

“Superior breeding.”

Adam laughed. “Smart ass.” He swatted me. “Move. I need the bathroom.”

I rolled off, watched him sit up, ease his leg to the floor. He stood with a soft moan and stretched, the muscles in his back and thighs rolling in the most enticing way. There was a tattoo on his shoulder I hadn’t seen earlier -- a set of dog tags draped over an American flag. He walked to the bathroom, still limping, not the least bit embarrassed to be naked. In the mirror, his eyes met mine and his lips parted in a happy grin.

“Like what you see?”

I swallowed. “Yeah. I really do.”

“I know.” His grin widened.

“How? How do you know?”

Adam merely laughed and closed the bathroom door.

I hugged a pillow to my chest and sighed. What was I going to do? What the hell was I going to do? I was in love with a man who didn’t want to be loved, who had emotional scars that ran deeper than his physical ones, and maybe even a death wish.

I heard Belinda’s voice in my head. Drama, drama, drama.

“Regrets already?”

I turned, saw Adam leaning on the door frame.

“No, I was… thinking about Belinda.”

He sat down next to me, took my hand. “Princess, you need to put that behind you. Whatever went wrong with Belinda and you… you may never find out what it was.”

I shook my head. “No. I refuse to believe that. We’ve been friends since kindergarten, Adam.”

“Yeah, well my mother’s been my mother since I was born. And I still don’t know what went wrong there, either.”

I blinked. “Are you telling me you’re okay with that?”

His teeth clenched. “I have to be. If I let it, it tears my gut apart. So I push it away.”

I considered that for a moment. “I… don’t know if I’m that strong.”

Two fingers brushed my jaw, tilted my face up. “Of that, I have no doubts.” He kissed me, a slow sweet kiss to drown in. I pulled away and covered my mouth, horrified I hadn’t yet brushed my teeth. Adam laughed and took my hand. “I have a huge favor to ask you.” 

Adam’s brown eyes were earnest. I waited for him to ask.

“Tomorrow morning, I have an appointment. A military thing.”

Right. The summons yesterday from the Major.

“I know you’ve already missed a ton of school and I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important.”

My poor blinded-by-love heart thudded happily.

“I need to get my uniform from the cleaners. I need a haircut.” He tugged at the ends of his hair to illustrate. “Crap. I need a cane or something. The crutches are too bulky.”

“So you want me to cut class to take you shopping?”

Adam didn’t laugh or smirk or come back with a retort. Uncertainty filled his eyes. And then it was gone. His face hardened. “Forget it. I can manage.” He moved, but I held his hand, certain I knew what favor he couldn’t tell me he needed.

“Adam. Would it be okay if I came with you tomorrow? I’m… well, it’s dumb, but I feel safest when I’m with you.””

That was totally sneaky. I knew it. So did he, judging by the sharp look he shot me. But then he shrugged. “It’ll be pretty boring. You sure you want to tag along?”

When I nodded, he sighed. “I guess you can come.”

At seven-thirty Thursday morning, I pulled up to Amanda and Zach’s home. I’d stayed at the hotel alone the night before. Adam gave me some story about needing to be ready in time for the car to pick him up but judging by his temper – which grew more unpredictable as the day progressed –– and the loss of his sense of humor, I made no fuss over his decision to be alone. 

Honestly, I think I needed the break. Adam’s intensity was hard to manage and my nerves were unraveling faster than a designer knock-off sweater. My new cell phone number was – so far – safe. We’d stopped by my house Wednesday afternoon for a change of clothes and there had been no signs of “Ray.”

You’d think this would be good news. 

Instead, I spent more time looking over my shoulder than straight ahead. I jolted at every noise. I’d nibbled a finger nail down to the bed and when Maddie saw that, she was certain to launch into an even longer speech than the one she’d delivered about skipping school. 

School was the least of my problems. 

I got out of the car, headed up the walk and knocked softly. Zach opened the door and grinned. “Hi, Eden. It’s nice to see you but run. Save yourself.” He grinned and jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “Soldier Boy is in rare form today.” 

I frowned. “Wouldn’t you be?” 

Zach’s conspiratorial grin faded. “Yeah. Yeah, I guess I would be. Sorry. Come on in.” 

I followed Zach inside and found Amanda and her mother sitting in the large family room in wary silence, both staring toward Adam’s room. I followed their gaze, saw Adam standing in front of his mirror, buttoning his blue uniform coat. Class A’s, he’d called it. 

My mouth went dry. Oh, my God. Every corny thing you’ve ever heard about a man in uniform? Understatement. 

Adam stood taller than I’ve ever seen him. Amanda cut his hair yesterday and at the time, I wanted to cry. But now? My eyes roamed over the lines of his clean-shaven jaw, the curl of his ears, and the breath stuck in my lungs. The sun from his window caught the glint of brass buttons I knew he'd ruthlessly polished. Metals and various insignia decorated the coat. He’d explained them all to me yesterday but today, watching him straighten his tie, I could think only, wow. Just wow. He picked up the beret from his dresser, carefully positioned it over his new haircut and my knees buckled. 

A hand suddenly waved in my face, blocking my view. “Eden! I’ve been calling your name for like twenty seconds. You okay?” Amanda took my arm, led me to Adam. 

He caught my eye in the mirror. “Hey.” 

I still couldn’t form coherent words. 

“Ready?” Amanda asked him. 

“As I’ll ever be.” He picked up the cane we’d bought yesterday and hobbled toward me. “You sure you still want to do this?”” 

I managed a dumb nod. 

“You gonna say something?” 

I shook my head. Adam rolled his eyes. “It’s the uniform. It always has this effect on women.” 

I ran my tongue over my lips in a futile attempt to get them to work. I wanted to tell him he’s always had this effect on me, since that first day in Ranger’s burn center. The uniform merely concentrated -- increased -- his power. Suddenly, I had to kiss him, had to make sure he was still my Adam. 

So I did. In front of his mother, his sister, his brother-in-law. 

“Me next, me next!” A tiny voice sang. 

And, dear God, in front of his niece. I pried myself away and let Cassie wriggle between us. Amusement glittered in his dark eyes as he pressed loud, smacking kisses to the little girl’s cheek but beneath it, I detected his anxiety, sensed his fear. Oh, he was damned good at hiding it. But I’d learned to read him. 

“Ooo, Uncle Adam, you’re so pretty.” 

Adam scoffed. “Pretty? Eden’s pretty. I am drop dead gorgeous.”

“Adam!” Amanda swatted his arm. 

“Just stating the truth.” He smirked. 

“You got everything you need, pal?” Zach clapped him on the shoulder. 

Amanda took the opportunity to pull me aside. “Eden, I am so, so sorry.”

I nodded. “You said that yesterday. It’s okay. Really.” 

She regarded me for a long moment and finally nodded. “Okay. I hope you’ll come back. I could really use the help.” 

I winced. “My turn to apologize. I can’t. I got a job at the hospital.”

Her eyes widened and then crinkled at the corners. “That’s great!”

I smiled ear to ear. It was great. Or, it would be. I opened my mouth to tell her everything Ranger said and that’s when the door bell rang. The atmosphere in the room instantly downshifted and Adam stood up straighter. 

“I’ll get it,” Zach murmured while the rest of us stood frozen in position. 

Anne stood up and walked to Adam. I heard his teeth snap together. “Adam.” 

“Don’t.” He shoved the word out between tight lips. 

“Please. Please just let me say this.” She took another step forward, reached out a hand but let it drop when he took a firm step away. “I’m… I’m so proud of you.”

Adam’s face reddened and his dark eyes burned. “You have no right to take pride in anything I do. Everything I am, everything I will be – it’s all on Amanda and Zach for taking me in when you threw me out.”” 

“I never-“

“That’s right, you never!” He shouted. Amanda hustled Cassie out of the room. Zach hurried back in and stepped between them. 

“Adam! Enough. Your car is here.”

“Thank God.” 

He took his cane and limped out of the room, the cane clutched in his hand like a sword. 

I hurried after him.

The driver held the door open for us. Adam slid into the back seat after me, outrage rolling over him like thunder clouds. I took his hand but said nothing. I knew Adam by now. Talking things out? Ha. He’d rather suffer another burn.

We reached the Long Island Expressway, merged into the HOV lane. It was still several miles until he spoke.

“Were you okay last night?”

Of all things to talk about, he had to ask this? I melted inside. “Um. I was safe. But I couldn’t fall asleep for a while.”

He shifted, turned toward me. “Why not?”

I stared out the window. “I missed sleeping with you.” The driver’s eyes snapped to the rear view window and I lowered my voice. “Sorry.”

He laughed once. “That’s given him something to think about.” He leaned closer, whispered in my ear. “I missed you, too.”

My insides curled at the silky tone in his voice, the way his eyes hooded. I wished the car had a privacy screen I could raise, like a real limousine. With a sigh, I moved away. The driver exited the expressway and headed south. We said nothing for ten or fifteen more miles.

And then traffic on the Southern State Parkway slowed us to a crawl. Adam let out a slow deep sigh.

“You can’t forgive her?”

His head swiveled to me. “You’re kidding.”

“No,” I shook my head. “I think you want to.”

We crawled past the scene of a rear-end collision and then reached the speed limit again. “Leave it alone, Eden. I’m not…” Another frustrated sigh. “I’m not as forgiving as you are. You and Belinda? If she’d pulled that crap with me, I’d have said “Fuck you” and never given her another thought.”

Unwelcome guilt bubbled inside me. Whatever happened… went wrong… it was somehow my fault and I had to fix it. Adam… it was different for him. He knew – had always known – he wasn’t guilty of the things his step-father believed him to be. God, in that second, I envied him that certainty.

And then, something clicked. For Adam, the Army was home. Happiness. Security. And then it, too, accused him of something he did not do. Oh. Oh, no. I shifted my eyes to sneak a look at him. Yeah. It was there. Oh, no. It was there in the expression in his eyes. The twitch of that muscle in his cheek. The set of his mouth.

He believed they were going to kick him out, too

My heart cracked. Adam was a man twisting in pain. And there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it.

It felt like mere seconds elapsed and we were stopping at the Fort Hamilton main gate. They directed us to the legal offices, located in a pretty white house with a wide, wraparound porch. It was a hot day for May and I imagined sitting on the porch with lemonade. Maybe that was intentional. Maybe they hoped a pretty white house with a cool porch would fool soldiers into believing nothing bad would happen inside these offices.

The driver opened the door. Adam stepped out first, extended a hand for me. He leaned heavily on the cane, walking in a circle to stretch his leg, so I grabbed the folder of documents. The door opened and he not only turned toward the sound, he snapped to attention, the cane tucked against his body.

A tall man stepped off the porch, followed by a woman almost as tall. Both wore uniforms but theirs were not as fancy as Adam’s. I supposed this is what the Army’s work uniform looked like.

“Specialist Olinek.”

Adam saluted.

“At ease. This is Private Jensen. She’s assisting. Major Thomas is inside. ” Adam did not salute her, but did shake her hand.

The man’s bright eyes found me and he smiled. Adam put a hand on my back. “Captain Steven Sanders, this is my girlfriend, Eden Leighton. Eden, Captain Sanders is my military lawyer.”

What? Did he say girlfriend? I beamed and the Captain’s eyes widened. Adam’s fingers curled into me in warning. I toned it down a notch.

“Well, Specialist, I admire your taste.”

Eww. Creepy.

Corporal Jensen stepped forward, pointed to her watch. Captain Sanders shifted into professional mode. “Well, Specialist, this is the day we get your job back. You ready?”

Adam swallowed audibly. “Yes, sir.”

Captain Sanders led Adam up the porch steps, discussing strategy. Private Jensen turned to me.

“Miss Leighton, you won’t be allowed in the hearing. If you’ll come with me, I’ll show you a place where you can wait.”

What? Oh, no. I followed Private Jensen up the porch steps and into the house. The interior totally contradicted the exterior. Here, the filing cabinets and desks and computers clashed with the old-fashioned porch. She indicated a chair beside a table under a window where a soft breeze blew and walked over to a swivel chair behind one of the desks. The table held some magazines. I sat down, prepared to waste a lot of time.

When I looked back, Adam was already gone.

I put down the old Time Magazine and picked up a current issue of People, discovered filming had started on the movie version of my favorite book, Brad and Angie had not adopted another kid, and another celebrity couple was calling it quits. 

Duh.

Private Jensen stepped out of a room and closed the door behind her. I caught her eye, hoping for an update, but she quickly turned to a computer. Instead, I flipped magazine pages and abruptly stopped.

Staring up at me from the glossy pages of the magazine was my own face. A shot from the flipping calendar, of course. Damn Maddie for talking me into that job. The headline accompanying the photo read, “Tragedy for Young Model Whose Career Goes Up in Smoke.”

Clever. I rolled my eyes.

I read the lead paragraph.

Eden Leighton, eighteen, suffered burns over forty percent of her body sustained in a serious car crash following a night of underage partying.

The article went on to say that though my face had been spared permanent scarring, experts said I’d never work again. I didn’t know who these experts were, but they were right. I had no interest in that work. The article concluded with a comparison of me to a list of celebrities who'd endured rehab and wondered which center I'd check myself into. 

I rolled my eyes again and tossed the mag back to the table, noticed the picture of a band on the back. 

Nickelback.

My mouth fell open with a gasp and Private Jensen frowned at me from her desk.

That’s why the messages were so familiar. They were song lyrics. I retrieved my new phone from my purse and dialed the police precinct, then waited for Detective Nolan to pick up.

“Miss Leighton. Another incident?”

“No, but I did remember something. The emails, the text message to my former phone number? They were song lyrics.”

“Song lyrics? Real songs?”

“Yes. The emails were from a Nickelback song called Follow You Home.”

“And are you a fan?”

“Yeah. I’ve been to their show.”

“Who knows this about you?”

I considered that. “Maddie. And-“

“Maddie. That’s your mother?”

“Yes. Also, Belinda and Ashley.”

“Friends?”

“Um. Well. They used to be.”

“Define ‘used to be’.”

“Long story.”

I heard the detective sigh. “Miss Leighton. I can’t help you if you hold back.”

I sucked in a breath. “Okay. Belinda, Ashley, and I used to be best friends. On Valentine’s Day, at a party, something happened. I’m not sure what. All I know is Belinda is totally pissed at me and Ashley is taking her side. They’re not talking to me now.”

“Valentine’s Day. That’s the same night you had your accident?”

“Yes. Belinda told me off, got in her car. I followed her. Caught up just as her car caught fire.”

“And you pulled her out, got burned in the process. Not such a long story after all.”

Whatever.

“Has it occurred to you that Belinda and Ashley are behind your stalker?”

No! No, that couldn’t be true. “They wouldn’t do that!”

“Miss Leighton, I assure you, I’ve seen and heard much worse. It’s good that you told me this. It’s also bad.”

My mouth dried up. “Bad?”

“It means this guy is much closer than we thought. He knows you well. He’ll likely know your habits, your schedule, your other favorite past times. Now listen to me. It’s critical that you don’t do the same things you usually do.”

How could I not? I had school, therapy appointments, and now, work. As if he read my mind, Detective Nolan continued. “I know you have school. If you usually drive yourself, don’t. Take the bus. Ride with another friend. Don’t arrive home at the same time. Go to a library. Go to Starbuck’’s. Go to a friend’s house. Mix it up. Vary your routine. Can you do that?”

Did I have a choice?

“Yes.”

“I’ll be in touch.”

The line clicked in my ear and I winced. Could Belinda really have had something to do with this weirdo following me? Did she hate me that much? My stomach – already heavy with a greasy ball of nausea from worrying about Adam – twisted.

I glanced at my watch. Two hours already. What was taking them so long? I stood up, stretched my legs. “Excuse me, Private Jensen.”

Hostile brown eyes swung to me. “What is it now, Miss Leighton?”

“Can you tell me how much longer?”

“No. I’m sorry, I can’t.”

Temper surged. I was tolerant up to a point and I reached that point about a minute and a half ago. “Can’t or won’t?”

She swiveled back to face me. “I have work to do, Miss Leighton. The United States Army does not pay me to entertain you.”

I swallowed down furious indignation. “I have sat here quietly for over two hours without so much as a cough to disturb your work. I understand my presence is distracting and am as anxious to be away from here as you are to have me gone.”

The private’s face twisted into a sneer. “And the ten-minute drama-filled phone call you forced me to endure?”

I ground my teeth together. And then sighed. “You’re right. I should have stepped outside for that. I’m sorry.”

Her mouth opened. Closed. Opened again. “It sounded serious.”

“It is. Someone’s… been stalking me. Still, I should have excused myself. I’m sorry.”

She stared at me for a long moment and then offered a weak smile. “Um. That must be terrifying.”

“Totally.” I nodded and she had the grace to look ashamed. “I’m sorry to interrupt your work but I need a rest room.”

“Of course.” She stood, walked around the desk and led me to a small powder room down a short hall.

“Thank you.”

I closed the door with a sigh. Maybe I should have worn sweats instead of making an effort to look good today for Adam. I wore black slacks with a blue blouse nearly the same color as my eyes. Maddie trained me well. I heard voices outside and quickly finished my business.

I opened the door to find Private Jensen exchanging handshakes with officers I had not met earlier. I heard the word congratulations mentioned and anxiety burned. Congratulations for what? Where was Adam? Was it over?

I hurried back to my seat, about to ask Private Jensen but snapped my mouth shut before I could interrupt her again. She watched me until the officers left and then gave me a thumbs up.

Oh, my God. I pressed both hands to my mouth and sank wearily against the chair. Adam was innocent. He’d be able to stay in the Army and go back to his company. 

He’d leave.

Oh, no. The floor disappeared and I was falling. Tears prickled behind my eyes and I shook my head. I had no right to tears. Adam had been clear and honest with me from the beginning.

He’d go back.

I should be happy for him. When the door opened and the excited chatter of more voices filled the room, I swallowed back my own feelings and vowed to be happy for Adam. The voices approached and there he was.

Leaning on his cane, his face split in a glorious grin, Adam eyes met mine. He picked up the cane in one hand and lurched to me in two strides, lifted me up with his free arm and spun us both around.

“Eden! Cleared of all charges. Cleared!” He laughed.

Adam Olinek laughed.

It was such a triumphant, joyful, young sound, my heart went splat when it dropped to my feet. And then, I was laughing too.