Page 131 of Critical Alliance (Rocky Mountain Courage 3)

His sleeves were rolled up, and he looked like he had been battling things out for a day or two. “I get to keep my job. Or I would keep it if I were staying.”

“Wait ... Are you leaving again?” To the other side of the world? But that wouldn’t make sense either unless he was keeping his job.

Still, her heart sank, and she dropped to the bench. Alex sat next to her and draped his arm on the bench behind her.

He leaned closer. “I’m not staying here. I’m going back to Montana. I have a new sister who needs a brother. I’ll explain later. But it’s much more than that. I’m not letting anything, or anyone, come between us, Mackenzie. I want to get to know everything about you.”

He cupped her cheeks. “If you’re going back to Michigan, I’ll make it work. That is, if you feel the same.”

Mackenzie leaned forward and gave him a quick peck. “I’m staying in Montana to help Nora rebuild. And ... I had hoped we could find our way back to each other.”

He rewarded her with that dimpled, roguish grin, and her heart pounded with the promise of hope and a future devoid of past failures. “How about I give you another tour while we’re here, and then we’ll head back to Montana together?”

“Together sounds nice.”

Alex stood and offered her his hand. Mackenzie smiled as they held hands and re-created their first date, and she knew in her bones that this would be the best date of her life so far and the start of an amazing life with Alex Knight.