He even smelled good, with a hint of flannel and pine.

But she wasn’t going to be stupid again, thank you. Sure, they might have had a few sparks over the past month as he recuperated from his injuries. He’d made her laugh. Called her Flo. And sometimes she let herself linger in the memory of being in his arms.

Or daydream about being back there again.

But up close, the real Colt Kingston was dangerous. And had no intention, clearly, of slowing down. He’d been the first to volunteer to breach the house, and she didn’t even want to think about the fiasco at the wrecked plane.

She couldn’t—wouldn’t—let herself fall for a man who thrived in war and danger. This was merely a time-out in his too-lethal life. And she wasn’t going to be a casualty. “I highly doubt you let yourself fall for a Russian spy.”

He huffed. “Not quite. But . . .” He stared out at the lake. “It’s nice here. I never thought I’d be back, really.”

“Why not?”

He lifted a shoulder. “Just . . . wasn’t on my radar.”

She frowned.

“Fine. Dodge and I had a wicked fight a few years ago, and it was bad enough that I thought I wasn’t welcome back.”

“What was it about?”

“Something stupid I did.”

She raised an eyebrow, remembering Echo’s words in the tent but not wanting to assume.

“I made a play for Echo.”

He— What?

“I know. In my defense, I thought she and Dodge were just friends. I didn’t realize he’d asked her to marry him. And I thought she was flirting with me, so . . .” He shook his head. “Doesn’t matter now, but for years after, I wondered if she used me to force his hand. Except it backfired because he took off and joined the Air Force while I was still in the hospital.”

“You ended up in the hospital?” Okay, when Echo said that Dodge had hurt him, she hadn’t realized physically.

“You’ve met my brother, right?”

“I’ve met you.”

He smiled at that and glanced at her, and it was like a flash of light, right down to her gray soul.

“Please,” she said, shaking it away. “I’m not saying that’s a compliment. But I’m just surprised—”

“I was drunk. And I might have deserved it a little.”

“So you let him beat you up.”

“No. I just . . . well, let’s just say I was glad when Ranger got between us. Could have been much worse.”

“You spent ten years estranged from your family. Not sure how that can get worse.”

“One of us could have died.”

Oh. Maybe.

“It just feels strange to be back.”

“Strange, good?”