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“You can’t tell me what to do,” she fired back, then she slumped, exhaustion hitting her hard. “But no, I won’t be.”

There was no way that she was going to date again. She especially wasn’t going to date any of the guys that kept turning up on her doorstep.

She eyed him for a long moment, wondering what it would be like to be in a relationship with him.

No, no, she couldn’t think like that. Ammo might be sexy and protective, but he was also far too bossy and controlling for her.

She wasn’t going to jump from the frying pan into the fire.

“You need to give me a list of things that need fixing around here.”

“All right.” She gave in because there was stuff that needed to be done and he was here offering.

And she really couldn’t afford to turn him away now, could she?

“How long do you think you’ll stay?” she asked.

“Until I’m sure you don’t need me anymore.”

“Can you afford to do that? What about your job?” she asked.

He shrugged. “My boss is understanding. He’ll be here on Sunday for the funeral. He was in the same unit as Charlie too.”

“Oh, wow. And now you work for him?”

“He put together a small team, and we take on a number of jobs. We also kind of work for another security company owned by an ex-Navy guy too.”

“You guys stick together, huh? That’s kind of nice. It’s weird, though, because Charlie never really talked that much about his time in the Navy or the people he met.” She gathered up the dirty dishes and took them over to the sink, setting them down in it as she stared out the window.

How different things could have been if Charlie had gone to work with Ammo. Or even just kept in touch with his old unit.

Maybe then she’d still have the Charlie who’d made Ammo promise to take care of her if something ever happened to him.

“It’s hard to believe that Charlie extracted that promise from you,” she admitted. “I don’t remember him ever caring that much about my safety or wellbeing. Anyway, it doesn’t matter now, does it? Thanks so much for today, and I’m still really sorry about your truck. I would prefer that you let me pay to get it fixed.”

Maybe she could sell a kidney. That was a thing, right?

Perhaps she’d look it up tonight.

“No. Not happening. Now, you’re tired. Leave the dishes and go to bed.”

She nodded with a tired sigh. She’d do the dishes in the morning. Turning, she walked toward the hallway when a loud bang reverberated through the house, making her jump.

Then suddenly, she found herself flat on the floor with Ammo on top of her.

“Stay down!”

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What was happening? She didn’t understand how she’d come to be standing one moment and on the floor the next with him wrapped around her, as though he was protecting her from something.

And as much as she’d like to stay here with the feel of him against her, she was actually struggling to breathe.

“You might have to ease up a bit,” she said as she wriggled around underneath him. “Can’t really breathe.”

“Stay down. I need to go figure out who is firing shots.”

He eased up and she turned over, staring up into his face. She grabbed his shoulders as he went to move. “I know who it is.”