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been.
    “Sure.” She nodded manically, trying to blink the image of Charlie out of her mind. Guilt swirled in her stomach, stomping out that happy glow like a campfire. How could she say to herself that she was interested in Charlie and then fondle another soldier’s hand?
    “So, child psychology,” Hunter said, going back to work at reshelving. “Now that’s where the real danger is.”
    “I take it you’re not dying to be a daddy.”
    “Hardly,” he answered. “Not that I’m anti-kid,” he amended quickly. “I’m just not all that”—he paused to shrug—“comfortable around them. They smell fear. Like dogs and sharks.”
    Dang. He’s funny, too. No wonder he can have any woman he wants.
    Luckily, that little reminder rang some pretty loud warning bells in her head. “No nieces or nephews, I take it?” she asked.
    “My sister’s married.” When Ellie looked at him, Hunter was smiling and staring to the side. “She’s due in a month.”
    “That’s exciting.”
    “I don’t know what kind of uncle I’ll make,” he said, a wistful smile still tugging at the corners of his mouth.
    Ellie could picture it: Hunter tossing a squealing boy up in the air, those powerful arms catching him easily. Or Hunter down on the floor playing airplane with a curly-haired little girl.
    She snapped herself out of it. Imagining Hunter as a human being and not as a predator was no good for her state of mind. He was afraid of children yet he enlisted in the Army? The guy was complicated, that’s for sure. He would probably freak out when he discovered what she did for a living…that she spent hours at a time surrounded by tiny humans.
    What would a tough soldier like Hunter do in a setting like that? The thought was kind of hilarious. Yep, he would definitely freak. Ellie would love to see that.
    “I’m sure you’ll catch on,” she said, straightening a stack of books on the table.
    “Let’s hope so.” Hunter was peering down at the spine of a book. “And except for your mother’s sister’s family in California, the one you spent that summer with, no young cousins for you, right? And no nieces or nephews till Sammy gets busy.”
    Ellie lowered the book she was holding. “How do you know I lived with my aunt in California?”
    Hunter met her gaze, but didn’t answer.
    …
    It had been in an e-mail, the whole story about how she’d been obsessed with learning to surf after watching some movie, so much that her mother shipped her out to Santa Cruz to live with her aunt the summer between freshman and sophomore years of high school.
    My five cousins were all pros at it , she’d written. Even the ones who could barely lift a longboard. Hard as I tried, I truly, truly sucked. I spent the first two months of the summer getting very proficient at paddling back after wiping out. Then, halfway through August, it clicked. I remember catching a wave everyone else let pass. It was like my feet were glued to the board and I finally understood how to balance and shift. I can’t explain…it felt like flying.
    That first wave, I only made it halfway to shore because I was laughing so hard I started crying. I wanted to stay in California forever, but I’d put some pretty major things on hold that summer, so I had to go home. But to this day, it was the most carefree and magical time of my life. I haven’t been surfing again, but since then, I’ve had a secret dream of living somewhere tropical and picking it up. It would certainly beat the Indiana winters. Maybe someday that dream will come true.
    Charlie could see it perfectly: the grown-up Ellie splashing in the surf. She wasn’t just some fantasy woman with sunny smiles and a surfboard. Not anymore.
    “Hunter?” Her voice cut into his daydream. “How do you know?”
    “Oh, I… Sam,” he said, looking down, concentrating on the stack of books before him. “Sammy told me about your family once. We were on this all-night watch detail. No big deal.” He kept