When they had finished for the day Eli was excited about the shots he had achieved, and he sent a few of the raw images off to Michael and his team. The feedback he had almost straight away was positive with some suggestions. Nothing that meant re-shooting the men, only improvements that could be made for color in the editing stage.

Finally only Lauren remained and she was loading the van up with the equipment that needed storing.

"So, he's the one then? The guy, Robbie, who was hanging around."

"He's the one," Eli said.

"He's hot." She smirked.

Eli laughed. Yes he was hot in his low-slung jeans with the sweat of work sheening his body and his muscles bunching and relaxing as he worked. But there was more to Robbie than that.

"Yeah. He's my forever man. The one I can see waking up next to until the day I die." He hesitated for a moment, "Whenever that is."

"You love him?"

"Yeah." His voice softened. "His heart is so big and I know if I could show him how good we can be that he'd see he was able to love me too."

"What if I do already?"

Eli spun on his feet. Robbie was maybe a foot or so behind him and Lauren was smirking.

"I'm gone," she said. With an air kiss she was away from the ranch in a cloud of dust.

Finally Eli and Robbie were alone standing in the yard in front of the ranch.

"What do you mean?"

"What if, and God knows how you did this, what if you already made me think I should be staying here past the year and giving us the chance to see where this goes?"

"You just said…" Eli couldn't form the words. He had heard right, hadn't he?

"I said what if I already did love you?"

"You did," Eli confirmed. Hope bloomed inside him.

"I was watching you when you were working with the guys today. They respected you. Couple of them called you hot and wondered if you were gay. I didn't like it."

Disappointment chased away the hope.

"So," Eli said. "Just jealousy then? You want something they wanted."

Robbie chuckled and took a step forward. "You look like a kid that was promised a pony and was given a wooden horse." He cupped Eli's face and pressed a gentle kiss to Eli's forehead.

Robbie continued. "It sure as hell opened my eyes. So I spent the day watching you. The way you smile and laugh, the way you encouraged Hayley, the jokes you shared with Lauren, and I saw underneath all the cocky confidence."

"Shit. You did?"

"You're my kind of guy, Elijah Martin."

Eli wrapped his hands around the back of Robbie's neck and pulled him in for a kiss.

"So is this saying that you are staying now? Or am I following you around the country?"

"I'm thinking I might. Wanna move into a one-room apartment over a barn?"

"And give up my expensive sterile loft with its hot and cold running maid service? Hell yes."

They kissed deeply and the emotion that had been building inside of Eli burst out in a slash of passion and want.

"Eli! Robbie! I got cola out for us!"

Hayley's not so little voice echoed over the yard and the two men reluctantly pulled apart. Hand in hand they walked to the ranch house and a smiling Hayley.

"I'm falling in love with you, Eli," Robbie whispered.

Eli squeezed his hand.

He was already there.

* * * *

Riley stood at the end of Sean's bed. At least the cuffs had been removed and he was lying peacefully, oblivious to the shit storm that he had incited.

"Why didn't he just take you somewhere else?

When he knew that they were following you?"

"They weren't. Following me, that is." Eden crossed

to sit in the chair next to Sean's bed and folded one of his

hands in hers. "I was just an added bonus, but they took

their photos and then went to the bar. When Sean went to

the restroom… Look, I don't know what happened, but one

of them must have said or done something, because when I watched him walk back I saw him stop and turn to one of them. They could have said something about me, I don't know, but Sean was shouting and it was more about

soldiers and dying. I told all this to the police."

"Go on." Riley wanted to hear it all and this was as

good a time to hear it.

"He hasn't been the same since he came back from

his last research trip to Afghanistan. He's due to fly out the

day after tomorrow for his final visit, but the closer it came

the tenser he was getting. His eyes…" She stopped and

bowed her head.

Riley could hear tears in her voice and it broke his

heart.

"What about his eyes, Eden?" he asked gently. "They were sometimes so haunted. He wouldn't talk

about what he had seen, just spoke of the friends he had

made and the things that he thought would make me smile.

I know he didn't tell me everything but I didn't push. Some

nights he would not be able to sleep and I would wake at

three and he would be sitting with his laptop, getting his

words on paper. Not the fluid tap of keys but an almost

aggressive writing—I can't explain. He would shut the

laptop and smile at me. But his eyes never smiled." "I'm sorry, Eden."

Eden shuffled the chair a little closer and rested her

face against Sean's chest, being careful to avoid the cannula

and tube that was connected to a drip. The entire left side of