“I don’t mind. I don’t have a family.”

“You have Chet, and it seems he’s a handful.”

Brody sighed. “Thank you for saving my ass tonight.”

She sure as hell wasn’t going to sit outside in the car while Brody faced three bikers alone.

The dog whined.

“Poor thing. I’m sure she’s hungry, and she needs to go out. We’ve been gone a long time.” Hannah started toward the back of the house.

Brody was right behind her. “After the porcupine incident last night, she probably slept all day.”

Halfway down the hallway, her foot went out from under her body. Brody grabbed her elbow.

“Guess she couldn’t hold it that long.” Hannah laughed. Stepping around the puddle, she took off her boots. “I’ll just go wipe these down and grab the floor cleaner.”

“Let me walk her before I go.” Brody went back to the kitchen and snapped AnnaBelle’s leash onto her collar. “I don’t like you wandering around the woods in the dark.”

Hannah paused in the laundry room doorway. “Thank you, but I can do it if you want to get back to Chet.”

“It’ll just take a minute.” Warmth lit his eyes. Something was different about his expression. “I’ll feel better if you’re all secure here before I leave.”

“I usually carry my gun if I’m outside alone at night,” she said.

While he took the dog into the yard, she cleaned her boots, wiped up the hall floor, and filled the dog’s dish. Hannah couldn’t shake the feeling that a key element had changed in her relationship with Brody. The connection between them buzzed stronger.

She’d been glad to have his support this afternoon, and she was even more glad she was there when that biker pulled a knife on him. Her bones chilled. What if he’d been alone? He’d put himself between those three bikers and Chet. He’d displayed a courage she understood too well. In her life, she’d said good-bye to dozens of soldiers, friends of her father, men who served with Grant. She’d known the risk her father and brother had taken on every deployment. Brody could just as easily die in the line of duty.

The door opened. Cold air blasted into the room as Brody and the dog entered the kitchen. He unsnapped the leash and hung it on its peg. Shivering, Hannah filled the teakettle and lit the burner.

Brody crossed the room. “I’d better get back to Chet.”

“Thanks for taking me today.” She rubbed her arms.

“What’s wrong?”

Needing contact with his warm, breathing body, she reached out and touched his face. “You could have been killed tonight.”

“Thanks to you, I wasn’t.” He smiled down at her, but his eyes were serious.