_I don’t let anyone close. Not since I lost my wife and learned how fast everything can disappear._ Dr. Gwen Abernathy wasn’t supposed to matter. But when she uncovers a dangerous pattern of missing medical supplies at a military hospital, she becomes a target and I step in before she’s silenced. Now I’m her shadow. Watching her. Protecting her. Wanting her far more than I should. Gwen doesn’t need saving. She needs a partner willing to stand between her and an enemy testing how to cripple military medical response. Every moment together strips away my control and reminds me what it costs to care. I’m trained to walk into explosions. But risking my heart for her might be the deadliest mission of all.

_I disarm bombs for a living. Feelings are a different kind of explosive._ When Tidewater’s communication systems are hacked and classified training schedules leak, Lennox “Nox” Bradshaw is brought in to fix it. She’s brilliant, sharp-tongued, and allergic to authority. Then she uncovers something worse than a breach—malware designed to cripple the base during a live joint exercise. And when she gets too close to the truth, someone plants a bomb in her quarters. I’m the one who responds to the blast. I’m also the one who decides she’s moving into my beachside cottage until we stop whoever’s behind this. The threat isn’t just digital. It’s inside the perimeter. A former Navy cryptologic tech with a vendetta—and help from someone on base. If the malware triggers, comms fail. Security collapses. Operators die. Nox trusts her code. I trust my hands. But forced proximity has a way of burning through defenses. I’m not afraid of explosives. I’m afraid of wanting the one woman I might not be able to save.