I don’t come undone.
I manage. I plan. I keep moving.
I’m a Black woman. That’s what we do.

But when my car dies on a Canadian roadside on the way to a romance conference, panic hits before logic can catch up. I’m the one people call when things fall apart. I don’t know what to do when there’s no one to hand the problem to.

Then Eli shows up.
Too good to be true.
Book-boyfriend good.

Quiet. Observant. Built like he fixes problems with his hands instead of words. Skin so rich and carefully tended it makes a woman wonder what else he takes his time with.

So when he offers me a deal I can’t refuse—one week with no armor, in exchange for my tech brain solving a problem he can’t muscle through—I do something I’ve spent years avoiding.

I give in.
I let go.

But since Eli is the kind of man who doesn’t push. Doesn’t rush. He simply makes space and allows the quiet to invite you in. In that space, I remember what it feels like to stop bracing for impact.

I agreed to release my cape for one week.
I calculated the risk of staying.
What I didn’t calculate or account for was the cost of leaving.

From T.L. Martin, the author of The Black Wife Effect, comes a new story featuring the latest member of the Cockpit Chix. Maxine Palmer is about to watch her wildest dreams step off the page when a real-life hero rushes to her rescue. Experience the story beyond the book at tlmartinworld.com for an exclusive virtual tour.