She raised an eyebrow. "On?"
"Whether my answer is going to make me look cool or not." That earned him another smile.
"I'll take my chances."
He leaned against the porch railing. "Ask."
She hesitated. "Were you ever afraid?" He didn't answer immediately because she deserved honesty.
"Sure, during every mission,” he admitted.
She looked genuinely surprised. "But you're—” She gestured vaguely toward him. "Like this."
He wasn’t sure if he should be offended or not. “Like what?” he asked.
"Relaxed,” she said.
He laughed softly. "I'm terrified more often than people realize."
"You hide it well,” she assured.
"I practice."
She studied him. "Why?"
"Because if everyone around me thinks I'm calm, then sometimes, they become calm.” He looked out at the rain, and silence stretched between them.
"So the jokes?” she asked.
"Aren't really jokes,” he said. "They're medicine."
Sophia looked down at her hands. "My brother worries all the time."
"I know,” Ronan said.
"And Jasper never seems afraid,” she said.
Ronan smiled. "Oh, Jasper gets scared."
"He does?" she asked.
"The difference is he channels it into planning,” Ronan said.
"And you?"
"I make bad puns,” Ronan admitted.
She laughed. "I noticed." A sharp chime interrupted them. It was the security system sent him a perimeter alert on his cell phone.
Ronan's easy smile vanished, and professional instinct slammed into place. He touched the earpiece clipped beneath his collar. "Movement on the east fence."
Jasper's voice answered immediately. "I see it."
"Animal?" Ronan asked.
"Negative," Jasper said. Ronan quietly moved Sophia behind him.
"You don't have to?—"
