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“No.” He looked at her. “You woke it up. That’s different.”

Jodie nodded, but he could tell she wasn’t convinced.

“Being a Mountie proved I could do a job.” He turned his palm up, then let it fall. “Not the one I’d spent twelve years getting good at.” His chest eased anyway from saying it out loud and having her just nod. It felt like he’d set down something he’d been carrying for a long time.

“And then Watchdog,” she said.

He nodded. “Kyle contacted me to see if I was interested in doing some bodyguard work. Lachlan’s SEAL team had worked with mine on a mission years ago. I couldn’t believe he remembered me.” Mac let his head rest back against the tent wall, which gave slightly under the weight. “A few years of policing, then a guy reads my file and still wants to interview and hire me. Good outfit, good people.” He couldn’t help his grin. “Attractive receptionist.”

Jodie rolled her eyes but her blush was unmistakable.

“When I came here, it felt settled. Kyle knew everything. Military. RCMP. Heat limitation. The whole ugly file. He hired me anyway.”

Fine by me. Kyle had said it almost exactly like that. No pause. No careful expression. No questions about whether Mac could still do the work. Just fine by me, and on to the next page.

“So, I figured the question was settled.”

“What question?” Jodie asked.

“Whether people thought I was weak.” He huffed. “I know how that sounds.”

Jodie’s eyebrows rose. “I didn’t say anything.”

“You’ve got a whole expression, Ranch Girl.”

He surprised a laugh out of her. Then her expression darkened.

“And then you found the schedules,” she said.

Mac didn’t answer.

Don’t do this part. You already won this part.

Except he hadn’t won anything. There was nothing to ‘win’ when you fought with the woman you loved, except a way back to her.

But sometimes that way was rocky and hard going.

Mac nodded. “Suddenly I’m wondering if Kyle only gave me certain assignments because you told him to. If I got left behind in Lyons because he thought I couldn’t hack it.” He exhaled. “Things I knew weren’t true yesterday. Or at least I thought I did.”

Jodie’s hand slid from his ankle to his knee. “I really am sorry.”

“I know.”

They sat quietly for a few seconds. Then a thought he didn’t particularly want arrived. He’d spent the entire night furious because Jodie had never asked him what he could handle.

But…when exactly had he told her what he needed?

Never. Not once.

Mac closed his eyes briefly.

“Well, heck.”

“What?”

He opened his eyes. “I’m a hypocrite.”

Jodie’s eyebrows rose.