He’d been so silent, so serious during the first part of their trip, but she’d felt his eyes on her. And she was more aware of him than she should have been. She’d noticed when he’d start to limp then fight to hide it. She’d noticed his eyes light up as Kiana would tear off in pursuit of something only she could hear.

The other men didn’t pull her attention like that.

And when he’d looked at her after they’d pulled him out of the snow…Brynn stopped and closed her eyes, breathing deep. She’d never felt better in her life than she had at that moment. It wasn’t just the adrenaline from the save. It was the person. If they’d never found him it would have been like part of her had lost something precious, but something unknown. Like losing the sparkling center diamond from a ring before she’d ever put it on her finger.

She shook herself and continued her steps.

Alex made her palms sweat when he turned that serious gray gaze on her. He made her wish she wasn’t in the forest with three other men around. That she could sit across from him at dinner and huddle together in front of the TV. Simply talk and…

Shit. She stopped her pattern and stared at nothing, blinking rapidly.

She and Liam had been together for years, but it hadn’t started with an instant rush of attraction and curiosity. They’d been together because they were so similar; they liked the same things. They were an outdoorsy couple with mountain bikes and a dog. But when was the last time they’d biked together? Liam had changed. Over the past year he’d grown increasingly paranoid and protective of her.

He made her feel like she couldn’t breathe.

They’d had the latest version of an old argument the night before this rescue. He’d wanted her home, not in the woods. Why didn’t she find a regular job in a hospital? Why did she work at a job that took her to bloody car accidents in the middle of the night? Why did she insist on doing search and rescue when she could get hurt?

These questions from the pilot who flew a helicopter for his country into unknown situations on a moment’s notice.

She kicked at another shadow in the snow. Another stick. She sighed and moved on. The snowfall was picking up again. The entire day had alternated between showers of heavy snow and light icy pellets.

Brynn frowned as she scanned the ground. Until that rockslide last year she’d never been injured while out on a SAR mission. She’d always felt in control when out in the wilderness, but that time she’d ended up with a broken collarbone and concussion. At the emergency room, Liam had been furious. He’d stated the first ultimatum then.

Give up search and rescue or give up him.

She didn’t care for ultimatums.

Their argument had echoed through the emergency room. A doctor had interrupted, glaring from Liam to Brynn, asking if she needed to call the police. Brynn had shaken her head, and Liam had stomped out of the hospital. Later the same doctor had a well-intentioned but misguided talk with Brynn about abusive men.

Liam would never lay a hand on her. If he did he’d be the one in the emergency room and he knew it.

She’d ignored his ultimatum and he’d kept his mouth shut for a while.

The next one had come a few months later. He wanted kids and he wanted marriage.

Brynn had wanted to panic.

Not learning his lesson from the first provocation, Liam had begged her to agree to an engagement or he’d move out.

He rescinded his words the next day.

But it was too late. Tension had ratcheted between them, and Liam started sleeping on the couch. Then she’d asked him to move out. He’d moved in with his brother and waited a week before speaking to her again. Over the last two months they’d slowly talked about what each of them wanted from the other.

Their needs didn’t match. They were both utterly stubborn. She wouldn’t change, and he wouldn’t listen to her refusals to change. They were so over. And now she was attracted to another man.

Where is the team?

Liam Gentry’s eyes burned from staring into the blinding white stuff for hours. And that was with his protective eyewear. His brother, Tyrone, hadn’t said a word in over thirty minutes. Liam knew Tyrone wanted to head back. The winds were rattling the copter like crazy, and visual range was incredibly short. He glanced at Tyrone, who bounced his gaze from the window to his controls every three seconds. The muscle twitching at his jaw told Liam he’d pushed his brother’s limits. They were both stupid.

Liam’s commander would ground him for six months if he knew he’d convinced his brother to take him out in such

high-risk weather. Liam wouldn’t survive the grounding; he had to fly.

He had the job of his dreams, flying million-dollar equipment bought on someone else’s dime, and he had the perfect woman.

Now he just had to convince Brynn to marry him and have some kids. He wanted the rest of his dream. The 2.3 kids, the picket fence, the smiling wife at the door as he came home from work. But Brynn didn’t see it that way.

Would being married to him be so awful? Liam grabbed at the handle above his door as the copter jumped in the wind.

When she’d been in that rockfall, he’d been certain she’d see the danger of her SAR missions and cut back. But it was like she flung herself at them with more enthusiasm, determined to prove him wrong. He was terrified of the day he got the phone call that she’d been killed in a stupid accident. Yesterday morning had been bad enough when he’d read her note. Her very brief note.

Plane down in the Cascades. Gonna be a long one.