But doing that, only to have him eventually leave… she just couldn’t.

Richard leaving had stung, had left a void in her life, and he’d never been sweet to her or made her belly feel like a shaken snow globe.

Bodie leaving was already going to hurt much worse than that sting.

If she were to let herself to fall for him, and then she lost him, she might never recover. Hadn’t her Aunt Jean only loved one man her whole life? Her father only one woman? She couldn’t allow her heart to belong to a man destined to leave.

Biting into her lower lip, she fortified her resolve that she and Bodie could only be friends. She’d known it from the beginning. The night before had messed with her head, but they could move past that. She’d chalk it up to a romantic sleigh ride and a magical mistletoe kiss on her part and misguided gratitude on his.

He’d leave and occasionally they’d think of each other with remembered fondness. Nothing more.

Harry jumped back into the truck cab and Sarah welcomed his wet kiss against her cheek, laughing as he continued to lick her, putting her hands up to protect her mouth from his affection.

“Settle down, Harry.”

“He’s fine,” she assured him, giving the dog a scratch as he settled onto the seat next to her. “I’m going to miss him after you leave.”

After he left. Sarah’s words rang through Bodie’s head. He was leaving, had never thought he wasn’t. Yet, hearing her say the words left him feeling heavy, as if gravity tugged hard on him, trapping him against the seat.

Sarah’s gaze met his. A mixture of resolve and perhaps a glimmer of something more shone there. “I’m going to miss you after you leave, too.”

He’d been happy in Pine Hill. But he’d been biding his time until he could get back to a life of high stakes and travel. He’d loved that life. Missed that life.

Working for iSecure wouldn’t be the same as his time in the Army. He didn’t fool himself that it would. But once he put his time in as a glorified babysitter to the rich and famous, Lukas would move him into more challenging jobs. Jobs Bodie welcomed and that his friend needed to avoid now that he was about to become a father.

“Is your new job dangerous work?”

Had she read his mind?

“People or places who aren’t at risk don’t need to hire a high-end security firm.”

“Which means I asked a silly question.” She gave him a smile that almost seemed to tremble as she said, “I’ll worry about you.”

Yet another reason why he shouldn’t have spent so much time with Sarah. She had such a big heart that he knew she really would worry.