He survived the mission. He isn't sure he wants to survive the aftermath.
She's the clinician sent to keep him breathing?until the rules become the first casualty.

Former Navy SEAL Asher Cross retreats to a remote lake cabin with scars he can't outrun and nightmares that don't wait for sleep. Refusing treatment means losing what little freedom he has left?so when the VA assigns Dr. Laurel Hayes to evaluate him, he opens the door out of defiance, not trust. Laurel is relentless, unflinching, and immune to his intimidation. The more she refuses to look away, the more Asher's armor fractures... and the line between observation and obsession blurs.

Storms, flashbacks, and a fire that nearly takes the cabin force them into raw proximity, where touch is both trigger and lifeline. Asher's survivor's guilt and a buried mission detail threaten to end her career?and his chance at a future?while an inquiry and unwelcome faces from the past close in. To claim a life beyond the battlefield, they'll have to face the truth neither could say out loud: healing isn't gentle, and love isn't safe?but together, it's the one mission worth risking everything for.