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Casper had a feeling she did care. “ I like you,” he blurted. “Buck, Obi-Wan, Pyro, Chaos, and Edge all like you. Chuck likes you. Hell, most of the mechanics you work with like you.”

She chuckled at that. It was a shaky sound, but it was definitely a laugh. “No, they don’t.”

It was Casper’s turn to laugh. “Right. Because they’re lazy assholes who don’t like working? ”

“Or taking orders from a woman. One who’s not in the Army, at that.”

“Tough shit for them,” Casper told her. “You’re the best at what you do, and they’re idiots if they don’t take the opportunity while working for you to soak up every ounce of knowledge you have. Now…what happened tonight to make you so upset?”

He heard her sigh, but she didn’t respond.

“I’m on my way to you,” he informed her. “I’ll be there in a few minutes. Is a guy there you can’t get to leave? If so, tell him to get the hell out or he’ll be dealing with me.”

Laryn snorted. “There’s no guy here.”

“Girl?”

“No girl either.”

“Good. So if it’s not someone physically there, what is it? Did you hear from the colonel? Is it the chopper or the trials?”

“No.”

“Talk to me, Laryn,” Casper pleaded. “I have to tell you, I’m low-key freaking out trying to figure out what happened that has you sounding as if you’re two seconds away from either bursting into tears or running from your apartment, screaming at the top of your lungs.”

“I’m not a crier,” she informed him.

“Doesn’t matter if you are or aren’t,” he said honestly.

As he turned on Little Creek Road, he heard Laryn let out another long sigh. “It was just a phone call.”

“It wasn’t ‘just’ anything if it rattled you this much,” Casper said. “Who called?”

“Fine. Altan Osman.”

“Who the hell is that?”

Another sigh, another pause. “You aren’t really coming over here, are you?”

Casper couldn’t tell if she was hoping he was or hoping he wasn’t. “I am. I’ll be at your door in about two minutes. Who is Altan Osman and what did he say to upset you? ”

“You’re kind of annoying, you know that?”

“Yes. Pyro tells me all the time. Who’s Altan Osman?” he repeated.

“He’s in charge of the MH-60 project in the Turkish Gendarmerie. They’ve recently acquired a couple, and he’s been in contact with me about coming to work for them and helping them get the choppers combat-ready.”

“Wait, Turkey uses the TAI T129 ATAK attack helicopter mostly, right?”

“Yes. Which is a very good choice. But they want to upgrade.”

“And this Osman character wants you to retrofit them for their military?”

“Yes.”

“How’d he get your name?”

“I don’t know.”

“How’d he get your number?”

“I don’t know .”

“And he called you tonight and freaked you out?”

A pause. Then Laryn said softly, “Yes.”

“I’m pulling into your parking lot now. Meet me at your door,” Casper ordered.

“Tate, I’m fine. There’s no need for?—”

“Thirty seconds, Laryn. Open the door for me when I get there.”

She huffed out a breath. “You are so annoying.”

“You already said that. I’m coming up.”

Casper took the stairs two at a time as he ran toward the second floor. He didn’t run down the hall toward her door, but he was definitely moving at a fast clip. He raised his hand to knock, but the door opened before his knuckles could make contact with the wood.

Laryn was wearing another pair of sweats, but tonight she had on a tank top, which made Casper’s mouth water immediately upon seeing her.

Her breasts…they were full and lush, and desire hit him so hard, thinking about what they’d feel like under his hands, in his mouth…

what they’d look like as she sat astride him and rode him.

The thought was inappropriate as hell, and he was ashamed at the lust that coursed through his body, but he couldn’t help it.

Laryn standing up to him, going toe-to-toe, talking about the mechanical aspects of the MH-60, rolling her eyes at him, not taking his shit…

all of that was hot. He’d recently come to his senses and realized he liked sparring with her.

Liked their banter. That she was a much more complicated woman than he’d ever realized.

But this Laryn? Out of her coveralls with her hair around her shoulders, fire shooting out of her eyes at the audacity of him showing up at her door unannounced, again , shoulders bare, hands on her hips, irritation—and a hint of relief—in her eyes at him being there?

He couldn’t resist her. Didn’t want to resist her.

He’d been an idiot for not seeing what was under his nose for so long. But now that he had, he was going to do everything in his power to convince this woman that he had her best interests at heart and she was safe with him. That she could trust him…with her thoughts, her fears, her body.

“I’m fine,” she told him firmly.

“I know,” Casper said, taking a chance and pushing past her into her small apartment. Seeing it reminded him yet again of his own…kind of bare bones. But for some reason, just being here made him feel a hundred percent as if he were coming home.

He heard her shut the door, and bolt it and slide the security chain on, before she followed him. Turning, he leaned against the bar-height counter that separated the galley kitchen from the living area. “Tell me what Osman said to freak you out.”

“I’m not freaked out,” she denied.

“You are. So whatever he said had to have been intense, because you aren’t the kind of woman, person, to be freaked out by much.

I’ve seen you barely blink when faced with a destroyed laser system on one of my choppers.

Wires sticking out in every direction, sparks flying, and you simply shrug and say to give you two hours and it’ll be as good as new.

” Casper gentled his voice. “Please, Laryn. What did he say?”

It seemed to be the “please” that finally got to her. She walked into the kitchen without a word and opened the fridge. She got out a gallon jug of sweetened iced tea and poured some into a large plastic cup sitting on the counter.

“That stuff’ll rot your teeth,” Casper teased gently, as he had many other times since learning she liked the sugary-sweet drink.

“Whatever,” she mumbled as she put the jug back into the fridge.

She hadn’t offered him anything to drink, but Casper wasn’t there for a social visit.

Giving her a moment to collect her thoughts, praying she’d finally tell him what had upset her so much it had her voice shaking and sounding so off when he’d called earlier, he waited patiently.

She sat on the edge of the cushion on one side of her couch and stared into space.

Gingerly, Casper lowered himself onto the sofa next to her. Not touching, but not on the other side either.

Laryn took a long drink of her tea, then held the cup with both hands as she spoke without making eye contact with him.

“I told you before that I was looking into other jobs. I knew a guy who’d worked in Bahrain, and I contacted him a while ago.

Told him I might be looking for a position somewhere outside the US. ”

“Why?”

She turned to look at him. “Why what?”

“Why do you want to leave here? ”

She shrugged. “Haven’t we already had this conversation? It doesn’t matter why. Anyway, I asked if he knew of any good contractor positions not just for mechanics, but for someone with my expertise.”

It did matter why she wanted to leave, and he wasn’t convinced what she’d told him yesterday was the real reason, but since she was talking, Casper didn’t interrupt.

“He said he’d see what he could find out.

Next thing I knew, I was fielding inquiries from all sorts of countries.

People who knew who I was, what I do, the machines I work on…

and it was overwhelming. Most understood when I politely turned them down.

There were a couple I seriously considered, but none could really make such a big move worth my while. ”

Casper understood that. It was a huge deal to move out of the US, the compensation and incentive package would have to be big to be able to lure her away. He was relieved that, while she might have put out some feelers, she didn’t seem all that eager to truly leave the country.

“Then Altan emailed me. We exchanged a few polite messages back and forth. He laid out what he was looking for, and explained how he’d recently acquired a couple MH-60 helicopters, but I guess they were only outfitted with very basic equipment.

I’m not sure what that means, as he didn’t go into detail, but he told me the Turkish government was looking to find an expert who could make the machines lethal fighting machines…

his words, not mine. He named a very fair compensation package, but I told him I’d since changed my mind and wasn’t interested in leaving my current position.

“He got persistent. Raised the salary he’d originally offered me by quite a bit. Threw in free housing, meals, and housekeeping. He even offered to find me a husband, which made me laugh.”

The more she talked, the more tense Casper got. He could sense what was coming .

“When I still turned him down, I could tell by the tone of his emails he was getting pissed. He clearly thought all it would take was throwing more money at me and I’d jump at the chance to move to Turkey to work for him and his government.

He started getting kind of belligerent in his messages.

Telling me I was an idiot for turning him down.

Saying that I could be married to one of their generals, that I’d have power and prestige. ”

“Power and prestige mean nothing to you,” Casper said.

Laryn turned to face him. “How do you know?”