Two weeks before the most dangerous mission of my life I met the woman of my dreams. Then my life—and the Humvee I was in—got blown to hell.

Up until then, I'd been married to the Marines with no regrets. Being unattached meant I could do my job without distractions. I didn't have to worry if a girl was stepping out when I was on a year-long tour overseas, nor consider making a wife a widow every time I went on a dangerous mission.

What a cruel twist of fate that the moment I no longer wanted to be single, I found myself disfigured and missing a limb.

Yeah, Ashley and I had professed our feelings for each other before I got on that plane, but she fell in love with a man who was whole. That man's gone.

I ended things so she didn't have to. So when I'm finally cleared to return to San Diego to start therapy, she's the last person I wanted to see.

But there she was, looking more beautiful than ever, holding a baby girl with blue eyes. Blue eyes that looked an awful lot like mine.

Contains mature themes.