Page 39 of Her Remarkable Protector

“You did all that?” I rub the back of my neck. The thought of my house—my house—ready for a mom and her baby makes my throat tighten.

Hux picks up on it immediately, because of course he does. “Aw, don’t go getting all misty-eyed on me. You’ll ruin your tough-guy rep.”

“Shut up, Comet.”

“I mean it, though,” he presses. “I’ve got you, partner. Always have, always will.”

I don’t have a response to that. Not one I can say out loud, anyway. So I just mutter, “Thanks,” and end the call.

As soon as I tuck my phone back into my pocket, Honor’s door opens. A nurse steps out.

“She’s just getting ready,” she says, closing the door behind her. “Give her ten, and then you can knock.”

“Thanks, nurse,” I reply, offering a nod of appreciation.

I glance at the door, resisting the urge to hover like an overzealous bodyguard—which, let’s be honest, I’ve been these past few days. Ten minutes. I can manage giving her ten minutes of space.

Before I can overthink it, my phone buzzes again in my pocket. It’s an unknown number, but I answer anyway—Ethan’s been forwarding applicants my way for the Red Mark command center, and I’ve got a hunch this could be one of them.

“Chase speaking,” I say.

“Mr. Samson, this is Rhea Sable. I’m calling regarding the open position for the head of your command center at Red Mark.”

Straight to business. I appreciate that. “Right. Thanks for reaching out, Ms. Sable. We’ve been working on staffing the operator-level positions, but the head of the command center is a critical hire. Let’s hear what you’ve got.”

And she’s off like a rocket. Words like “latency management” and “network redundancy” start flying at me. Somewhere around “pattern histogram,” I feel my brain reaching for an off switch.

“Okay,” I cut in when she pauses for a breath. “Sounds like you’ve got the tech chops we’re looking for, but I’m going to be honest—I’m not the guy to grill you on the finer points of…whatever all that was.”

“Ah,” she says, the faintest hint of nerves creeping into her otherwise confident tone.

“Tell you what,” I say. “We’ve got a woman running the command center in Helena—Cora-Lee Rancic. She’s a tech genius and one of the smartest people I’ve ever met. She’s also got this uncanny ability to take all that complicated stuff and make it, you know, human. I’d like to set up a remote interview with her so she can ask you the right questions.”

“Oh! That would be wonderful,” Rhea says. “I’ve heard of Cora-Lee. She’s a legend in tech circles.”

“She’s a legend, all right,” I mutter, smirking to myself as I dial Cora-Lee’s number on the other line.

The phone rings twice before her bright voice bursts through the line. “Chase Samson! To what do I owe the pleasure? Please tell me you’re finally fixing that embarrassing excuse for a firewall at your HQ.”

“Good to hear from you too, Cora-Lee,” I reply. “No, this isn’t about the firewall. I’ve got a candidate for the command center head position. Her name’s Rhea Sable, and she’s about to talk my ear off about ‘pattern histogram.’”

Cora-Lee laughs, a sound like pure sunshine. “Bless your heart. You sounded bored just saying it.”

“That’s my ‘I’m drowning in tech talk’ mode,” I admit. “But she seems sharp, and I figured you’d be the better person to handle this.”

“Flatterer,” she teases. “All right, fine, put me on with her. But only because you owe me. And when I say owe me, I mean chocolate. The fancy kind.”

“You know I don’t?—”

“Don’t you dare say you don’t like chocolate!” she cuts me off, mock-offended. “I’ve got a reputation to uphold, Samson.”

I snort. “You’ve got a reputation, all right. Okay, I’ll send her your way. And thanks, Cora-Lee. Really.”

“Don’t worry, Chase Bear. I’ve got this. You go do your brooding, Double-O-Seven thing. Leave the tech to me.”

The call with Cora-Lee ends, leaving me with a faint grin and the feeling that she could sell a digital cloud to a rainstorm. For now, I’m back to waiting.

It’s been more than ten minutes. I knock on the door lightly. No answer. I wait, knock again, louder this time. Still nothing. Concern shoots through me, and I push the door open quietly.

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