Zoey sat on the bed, legs crossed, and grabbed another pillow. “Please. The man looks at you like you might be the answer to some forbidden question.”

She shook away the heat in her chest. “It’s just because I nursed him back to health after he was beaten.”

“He was beaten?” Zoey’s eyes widened.

“Yeah. He works security for a private contractor and was taken in Nigeria by the Boko Haram. They regularly beat him, played mind games with him, and threatened to execute him.” She still remembered the bruises, deep in his body, the wounds on his face. “He even goaded them into it, once, to try to help Noemi—one of his charges—to escape. He was in pretty bad shape when they finally rescued him.”

“That’s terrible.”

“Yeah. He had nightmares, and . . . for a while, we weren’t sure he was going to pull through. But he didn’t want to go to a hospital, so I sat with him.”

“Good thing you did that ER rotation.”

“Well, I mostly fed him and kept an eye on his healing. There’s a part of me that thinks he got on his feet too fast, but he’s—”

“A hero.”

She nodded. “And a friend. He makes me feel brave. And . . . he was the first to really believe me about the Russians wanting the vaccine.”

“You like him.”

“Sure. He’s a great guy. Has two brothers. They’re fraternal triplets, but he’s the charmer. He makes me laugh, is self-deprecating, and most of all—”

“Hot. With that long dark hair and brown eyes. Mm-hmm.”

Tae laughed. “Yes. Okay. But I was thinking, determined to protect me.”

“That’s hot too.”

Now the heat filled her, his voice again in her head. “Hold on to me and don’t let go.”

Wow, she didn’t want to let go. Ever.

She shook her head.

“What?” Zoey asked.

“We kissed.”

Zoey grinned. “Seriously?”

“Yeah, but . . . I was trying to get my neighbor not to think anything was weird about a strange man on my deck, so . . . yeah. At the time I just did it. I didn’t think—”

“You didn’t think you’d like it.”

Tae drew up her knees, wrapped her arms around them. Shrugged.

“But you did.”

She nodded. Made a face. “It went from this fast, sort of fake kiss to . . . yeah, I’ve never been kissed like that.”

“Like how?”

Like the world turned quiet, and the buzzing and fear in her head stood still, and she was anchored and safe and wanted. She looked at Zoey. “Like I was the only thing in the world that mattered.”

Silence. Zoey smiled. “What are you doing down here instead of outside, wrapped in a blanket with him, staring at the stars?”