Skin Deep

Skin Deep is a novella in Pamela Clare's I-Team series. Megan Hunter, younger sister of the hero of an earlier I-Team book, has spent years rebuilding her life after surviving abuse and addiction in her teens. She now has a steady job, a home, and a young daughter, Emily, whom she is raising on her own.

When a man from her past attacks her, she's saved by Nate, a former Marine and Colorado rancher carrying his own physical and emotional scars from his time in Afghanistan. Nate's rough exterior doesn't unsettle Megan the way it might; instead she feels safe with him. As danger from her past resurfaces and threatens her again, Nate commits to protecting her while the two work through the wreckage both are carrying.

The novella centers on two survivors — one of interpersonal violence, one of combat — finding their way toward trust and each other.