“Don’t move. I’ll be right back.” Hurrying to his desk, he opened a drawer and pulled out a handful of zip ties. In minutes, Klaus and Webb were cuffed, hand and foot, completely immobilized, and gagged with the same duct tape they had used to bind Skye. Edge called the police, told them the nature of their emergency, and gave them the names of the men who had broken into the office.

Edge returned to the sofa, sat down beside her, and eased her into his arms. “Looks like they roughed you up pretty good. We need to get you checked out.”

Skye shook her head. “I’ve got cuts and bruises, but my head’s okay, so no concussion. I’d rather just go home.”

He smoothed the back of his hand down her cheek. “Are you sure?”

“I’m all right.” She managed to smile. “I would have been in serious trouble if you hadn’t shown up when you did. How did you know I was here?”

“I didn’t. I looked for you at the party. When I saw you weren’t there and you didn’t answer your phone, I went to find you. You weren’t at your apartment, so I came here.”

He leaned down and pressed a very gentle kiss on her puffy lips, using extra care not to hurt her. “I’ve missed you.”

Blinking back tears, Skye glanced away. “Why didn’t you call?”

Edge caught her chin and gently turned her to face him. “I screwed up. I wanted to call. I wanted to see you more than anything in the world. But so much has happened since I left. I had so much to tell you, so much I wanted to say. But I . . .”

The tender look in his eyes sent hope into her heart. “But you . . . what . . . ?” Uncertainty rose. What was he going to say? What if he asked her to go back with him to Fort Campbell? She loved him so much she was afraid she would say yes.

“I wanted to get everything just right,” Edge said. “I was afraid I would only get one chance to convince you. I didn’t want anything to go wrong.” He took her hand, lifted it, and kissed her fingers. “But I waited too long and screwed everything up.”

There was something in his eyes she had never seen before. Something that made her heart squeeze painfully inside her. She thought that it might be fear, but there was nothing Edge Logan was afraid of.

She had to know—one way or another. “Maybe you didn’t screw anything up. Maybe you can say what you wanted to say, and everything will be all right.”

He tipped her chin up. “I want to kiss you so bad right now, but I don’t want to hurt you.”