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pursuit of her heart, either. He was there, waiting for the fullness
of her heart, the depth of her commitment. He waited confidently and quietly, never
pushing, always reassuring.
    Her breath caught, and she blinked as a tear rolled off her lashes. A dim light from
the building illuminated their parking spot, but Kaylan felt as if they were the
only two people in the world.
    His hands, calloused from hard work and countless drills with his team, cupped her
face, slowly raising her eyes to meet his. He stepped closer, his body a breath away,
but she could feel the pull, the chemistry of being near someone she loved. Loved?
Was it possible?
    Another tear tracked down her cheek, and she tried to pull away, desperate to hide
her weakness from him. But, as always, he wouldn’t let her run. His thumb wiped away
the tear, and his eyes held her captive.
    â€œDon’t hide from me, babe.” His husky voice betrayed his frazzled emotions, and
Kaylan realized he was fighting back tears as well.
    She wrapped her arms around his waist. “This is hard, Nick. I’ve never had to say
good-bye here, like this.”
    He ran his thumb over her bottom lip, his eyes traveling the course of her face.
“God willing, we’ll have many more times like this, but equally as many ‘hellos.’”
    Her heart galloped. Her mind flashed back to Rhonda’s broken house in Haiti and to
her last moments with Sarah Beth. It took sixty seconds to change the course of both
of their lives. Sixty seconds to write a death sentence, and sixty seconds to create
a lifetime of absence and agony. Would she never be free from the memories?
    Only minutes before the quake hit, they had laughed and talked. They had witnessed
the miracle of life in the slums. Even now Rhonda sent her pictures of that sweet
baby. He was pulling himself up and would be walking soon. But Sarah Beth would never
see.
    Kaylan’s breath came in shorter spurts. What if this was her last good-bye with Nick?
What if this mission took him from her? She couldn’t, wouldn’t be able to bear another
quake of that magnitude in her life.
    â€œNo. I can’t do this. I can’t do this. You can’t go!” She clenched his shirt in her
fists, her fingers aching from her tight grip.
    The pressure on her face intensified. “Kaylan, look at me.”
    She couldn’t. She remembered Sarah Beth’s blue eyes as they gazed into the distance
right before she breathed her last. This wouldn’t be the last time she held Nick’s
gaze. It wouldn’t.
    â€œKaylan Lee Richards.” He gripped her shoulders. “Look at me.” The intensity and
passion in his voice shook her mind from the rubble. Unchecked tears streamed down
her face.
    â€œOh, baby.” He wiped them away and pulled her close, his hold fierce.
    â€œI am not Sarah Beth,” he whispered in her ear. “We are not in Haiti. Let it go.”
    â€œBut what if . . . ”
    â€œNo ‘what-ifs.’ Do you hear me? None of that.” He pulled back to look in her eyes,
his arms around her still cocooning her in a temporary bubble of safety.
    â€œHey, Hawk.” Micah stuck his head out of the door. “We gotta go.” Nick’s gaze never
left her face. “Be right there.” His voice sliced through the darkness, rooting her
in the present. Time was running out.
    His voice lowered and intensified, his words spilling from his lips, matching his
urgency to make her understand before he boarded a plane to God knew where. “Listen
to me. I am highly trained. I have a team of men who are confident and more than
capable. We are ready. And we are SEALs, Kayles. We do our job because we love our
country. But I do my job for more than that now. I do it for you.” His fingers caressed
her lower back, paralyzing her in his arms. “You are my reason to come home, Kaylan.
The reason I fight for more than my country. I love you. I get that