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O ut of the corner of her eye, Sophia saw the big man tense up. A lot of people would have missed it, but she’d become a student of body language long before any child should. How else could she know if the doctors were telling her everything was all right when really everything was all wrong?

Sergeant Connor Button had already seen her in the most vulnerable moment conceivable, struggling to fight off that clumsy jerk. She didn’t want his pity or his protection. What she needed was a partner who looked past her youthful exterior and recognized her ability and determination to do the dangerous work she’d signed up for.

So far, none of the potential partners Max had brought her had bothered.

The sergeant shifted his weight and crossed his arms over his chest. “Guys with my skills don’t grow on trees, Doctor.”

Here it came, another rant from a muscled-up warrior who thought shooting a rifle made him qualified to tell her what to do. She rolled her eyes and continued studying the slide on her scope. “Uh-huh.”

He sighed like she was the dense one. “Look, my job isn’t to get in your way, it’s to make sure you have the freedom to do your job no matter where you end up.”

Freedom? She looked away from the microscope. An interesting choice of words for a man who worked for one of the most rigidly organized groups in the world. “Explain that to me.”

“You’re the expert,” he said. “So, if you’re deployed to an area where there’s a possible outbreak, my job is to make sure you’re free to concentrate on your work. My job is to worry about security and coordinate with any locals if you have protocols they need to follow.”

It all sounded rational, but his body language just moments ago told her there was an underlying desperation that shouldn’t have been there. None of the other Special Forces soldiers had seemed as determined to get this assignment. “Why are you so gung-ho about working with me?”

His lips tightened and she knew she’d hit a nerve. There was more to this than he was saying. If he didn’t come clean with her, he was out. Max would throw a fit if he had to find yet another partner for her, but she couldn’t work with someone who wouldn’t treat her like an equal.

“Look,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand. “I made it back to the active duty roster by the skin of my teeth. Most guys in my shoes would be transferred to a desk job or some other role not out there .” He used his chin to indicate outside. “I’ve got something to prove.”

“To who?”

“Myself.”

She studied him. That sounded like the truth.

All well and good, but that didn’t necessarily make him the right partner for her.

“Are you prepared to spend eighty percent of your time planning for possible missions that might never happen?” she asked him. “We might never get out there , but if we do, I need you focused on this job, not your old one.”

His jaw clenched. “When I take on a mission, a partner or a team, I give that mission and those people everything I’ve got.”

Sounded like macho bullshit to her, something she had no time for. She went back to her microscope, muttering, “You don’t even know what I do.”

“Give me a chance to find out.” He took a step toward her. “I have a buddy who works with one of the other doctors in your team. He says it’s the most challenging work he’s ever done. That’s what I want. I want to push myself and expand my skills.” He spread his hands out in supplication. “I want to make a fucking difference, even if only the two of us know it.”

Make a fucking difference .

The same goal she set for herself every morning when she woke up. She didn’t want to be impressed, but of all the things he could have said, that was the one sentiment she’d been hoping to hear.

Now that she had, she couldn’t quite believe it. Everything he’d said and done tumbled through her head.

“Fine,” she said. “I’ll give you twenty-four hours to prove to me you’re in this for the long run, you have something to contribute, and you really can work with me. If you don’t, you’re gone with no bitching to Max.”

He gave her a slow, calculated smile that shot Arctic air through the room. “Deal.”

***

C on left Sophia’s office with the adrenaline of an accepted mission speeding through his system. She’d thrown down a gauntlet, one he was happy to pick up.

Someone should have warned her not to goad a Special Forces soldier like that. He wouldn’t back down from a challenge. He couldn’t , not if he wanted to maintain his reputation as a man who got the job done. Period.

What he needed now was information. He headed for the young soldier who occupied the desk outside Max’s office.

“Walsh,” Con said to the private. “I need the names of the previous Special Forces soldiers Dr. Perry washed out.”

The kid didn’t have to think about his request at all. He immediately wrote down a list of four names and handed them to Con.

He knew two of the four. Both were good men who had plenty of experience in adapting to whatever mission they were assigned. The other two he didn’t know, but he could find out more without difficulty. What the fuck could they have done to get rejected and ejected?

Eugene was staring at him like he was one of those impossible-to-solve mind bender puzzles.

“What?”

“She didn’t fire you yet.” He sounded almost disappointed.

“This is the Army. We don’t fire people, we tell you exactly how you screwed up at a volume that makes it obvious to everyone within a mile.” He didn’t want her to scurry behind his back to get rid of him. He’d have to make sure she didn’t.

“She doesn’t do that.”

Con’s smile came back. This kid was sharp, and Con would bet his left nut the private knew all about Sophia, what she wanted and how she operated.

“So, what did the other guys do wrong?”

“Everything.”

“I’m gonna need more than that, kid.”

Con found himself on the wrong end of a measuring glance he himself used on newbies who thought they were king shit of Turd Island, but balked at doing the dirty work when shit hit the fan.

“They took one look around here and rated us way down on the priority list. Then they looked at Sophia and dismissed her because they decided she was too young to have any real responsibility or authority.”

“That was dumb.”

The kid shrugged and turned away to read a document on his computer.

Con studied him. His shoulders were so tense they were up around his ears.

Had he done the same as the other soldiers Max had auditioned? Had he made assumptions? Dismissed people who were important?

Con took a moment to look around, really look. This wasn’t a typical Army medical building. Along with the lab coats hanging on the wall outside of the colonel’s office door and the faint smell of bleach that lingered in the air, there was a stillness to the place that made him feel like he was twenty feet underground.

In a bunker.

Protected.

Who needed to be protected? The people inside the building, or the people outside the building?

The work being done here wasn’t way down on any priority list.

On the wall behind Eugene’s desk was a big map of the world with colored flag pins stuck in it.

Con walked over to give it a closer look.

There was a cluster of pins in West Africa, specifically Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea. Another cluster of pins decorated Northwestern Afghanistan, and still another in a couple of Middle Eastern countries. There were also a dozen or so solitary pins dotted across the map.

“Is this a disease hot-spot map?” he asked Eugene.

“Current outbreaks, yeah.”

“That’s a lot of pins.” Too many, and he didn’t know much about any of them. “Is there a summary of all this? One for regular Army idiots?”

“Right here,” Eugene said, holding out a file folder.

Con took it, still staring at the map. “How many of these is Dr. Perry working on?”

“All of them.”

All of them? “Shit, I have a lot of reading to do.” He knew the best place to do it too.

***

I t was an odd feeling to have such a large man sitting at the desk beside her. Usually she was alone, or Dr. Samuels occupied the other workspace. Not this behemoth in a uniform her peripheral vision couldn’t miss with blinders on.

At least he didn’t talk to himself or make much noise.

Though, that didn’t lessen the impact of him sitting barely five feet away. He was a distraction she didn’t need. She sighed and adjusted her position in her seat for the fiftieth time.

He frowned at her and asked, “Am I disturbing you?”

Funny you should bring that up. “Yes, you are. Could you read that somewhere else?”

He looked at her like she’d said something ridiculous. “I’m not doing or saying anything. How am I bothering you?”

By being an alpha male? She couldn’t say that. “I like working alone.”

“Is this an antisocial thing or is it a result of that jackass who manhandled you last night?”

“What?” Where had that come from? “No, I haven’t given that another thought.”

Now he looked at her like he’d caught her hand in the cookie jar. “Maybe not consciously, but shit like that doesn’t get written over in your short-term memory. It sticks with you and fucks with your reactions to all kinds of things.”

How would he know that? Was he emotionally compromised? “Does that explosion you lived through still affect you now?”

His expression turned glacial. “The murder of several of my best friends, my battle brothers , will always affect me.”

Way to stick your foot in your mouth. Stupid. She sucked in a breath with the intention to offer some kind of apology, but he spoke first.

“All I want is a real shot at this assignment. I didn’t come here to waste your time or mine, but you’ve got to meet me halfway.” He turned and leaned toward her. “How can I earn your trust if you’ve already decided this isn’t going to work?”

She raised her chin and met him stare for stare. “I just don’t know what you, or anyone else with your type of training, can do for us. The first couple of guys assigned to me got the benefit of the doubt, then got in the way. One of them treated me like a first-year med student and argued with me about everything.” That was being polite. He’d been a complete ass. “I just don’t know how this is going to work.”

“It works for Sharp and Dr. Samuels.”

“I’ve met him and their situation is different. They worked together and became friends over a period of months during a training mission. We don’t have that kind of time.”

“You’re going to have to give someone the time. The colonel sounded like he wasn’t going to back off on finding you a partner.”

She didn’t have an answer for that.

“Look.” He tapped the file of papers he was reading through. “I’ve been going through this summary of all the outbreaks your team is observing, and this shit is scary.”

“So, how do you think you can help?”

“By staying out of your way, and keeping everyone else out of your way too.” He lowered his voice. “There’s one other thing. I’d like to give you some remedial self-defense training, so you can kick ass the next time an asshole gets handsy.”

“Remedial? Try initial.”

“Huh?”

“I wasn’t given any self-defense training.”

He stared at her. “Nothing at all?”

“Nope.” She gave him a tight smile and stood. “I’m in the level four lab the rest of the day.” As soon as he found out why they hadn’t trained her, he’d turn into every other big brother who saw her as a little sister in need of protection.

No thanks.

***

C on stared at the door long after Sophia had walked out it.

What. The. Fuck.

How did a guy get a straight answer out of these people?

He left the file on the desk and went in search of Colonel Maximillian. The man’s office was empty.

“Where’s the colonel?” he asked Eugene.

“In the level four lab.”

“Fan-fucking-tastic.” Con fixed a laser-guided glare at the kid. “Is there a reason why Dr. Perry received no self-defense training during her intake?”

“Yeah. She has a blood disorder called ITP.” At Con’s questioning look, he added “It’s short for idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura.” He shrugged “She gets massive bruises sometimes.”

The one on her hand was pretty big. “Is this a life-threatening disorder?”

“It can be,” Eugene replied, “but she takes medication to keep it under control.”

What did under control mean?

The only person who could explain it to him was in an airtight outfit only slightly less complicated than a space suit, in an environment no more accessible to him than the moon.