Page 249 of Mountain Men Heroes
She beamed at me, and I smiled. Hard not to in the face of her pleasure at my words.
I’d always liked her, though our interactions growing up were few and far between. But seeing her transform under Sawyer’s devotion the last few months was something else.
A sharp pain stung me in the middle of my chest. I put my hand there, as if that would alleviate the ache.
But I knew it wasn’t an ache that would go away. It hit me at odd moments lately. Like something was out of place and I knew what it was. More who it was.
Gabriella.
I couldn’t seem to get her out of my head.
One of the reasons I’d been so easily convinced to leave the military, aside from being sick and tired of some of the shit we’d seen and done, was this restlessness inside me. Only Gabriella calmed that burning feeling.
Standing in the reception area watching Sawyer prowl toward his woman, seeing her stepping forward like some force I couldn’t see was driving them together, a wave of jealousy hit me so hard I’m surprised I stayed on my feet.
At the same moment, a vision assaulted me—a curvy girl with wild blonde curls sitting astride me, both of us naked in a bed with rumpled sheets. Her husky voice had called out my name in her light southern accent as her body bowed with her pleasure.
Gabriella.
Her image had come to me more and more the last few months. And each time it came, my restlessness grew. The idea I’d ever find the woman meant for me kept teasing the back of my mind. I wanted what Sawyer had. What my other buddies Dyson and Eeli had with Clara.
The more I craved that kind of connection the more my mind wandered back to Gabriella.
“Yo, Mac!”
Sawyer’s voice pulled me from my thoughts. I tried to shake off the image of Gabriella that seemed to be haunting me, but that was easier said than done.
“What’s wrong with you?” Sawyer asked, and for the first time, I realized he’d moved back to his office door. He stood there now holding his phone.
Way to be aware of your surroundings, soldier.
I ran a hand over my hair. “Nothing, man. Why?”
Sawyer gave me a long hard stare, but I gave him nothing. As much shit as I’ve given him about Trinity, no way would I share that a woman I’d spent one night with months ago had literally driven me to distraction.
Sawyer stared at me a few long beats before he responded to my question. “Call from PD. Chief from Hardwood said she has an interesting situation she could use some help with. She asked for you specifically.”
I drew my brows together. Most of the time the Hardwood’s police department kept busy with tourist shit. Here in Wild Ridge, too. Both mountainside towns asked us for help from time to time, but not sure why the Chief would ask for me by name.
“She give you any clues as to what’s up?” I asked.
Sawyer shrugged. “Just that the sooner you could stop by, the better.”
“Our meeting isn’t for a few more hours, right?” I’d stopped in early to work on the pile of papers sitting on the edge of my desk, but I should have some time before Sawyer, Dyson, Eeli and I sat down to talk shop.
Sawyer checked his watch. “Two hours.”
I nodded in return and headed toward the door. I could get to the other side of the mountain and back before then. “I’ll be back.”
As soon as I stepped into the drizzly, overcast day, I inhaled deeply. The scent of the pine hit my nostrils and I couldn’t help but miss the scent of Lover’s Cove, the small beach town where I met Gabriella. The sea air there had a different kind of tang to it. One I could get used to.
My mind drifted back to Gabriella’s scent which came to me as clearly as the fresh mountain air surrounding me—caramel and powdered sugar and coffee mixed with a fragrance that was all her. The combination of strong and sweet burst into my memory and left me with a craving so powerful, it forced a decision from me before I even knew there was a question.
As soon as I could manage it, I was going to find Gabriella Cole. Something told me I’d made a mistake in leaving her after our night of passion.
Gabriella
Isat in the chair next to a cluttered desk and fought the urge to toss out the empty coffee cup and straighten the files piled over the top of it. The only way I managed to control the compulsion was to clasp my hands together in my lap.