Page 11 of Rescued

She nods and brushes her long hair back behind her ears. “Yes. I’m totally good. Who called you?”

“That’s confidential, ma’am. Do you know this man?” He nods toward me and then at Kelly.

“We go back ten—”

“Not from you, Gentry. I need to hear it from the lady.”

Kelly laughs under her breath and links into my arm, snuggling against me as though she belongs to me.

I like this.

“Yeah, Gentry and I go way back. If a guy named John made the call, he’s the one who broke into my house. He’s my ex-husband and he won’t leave me alone. I was seeing him everywhere out in California, and I had a feeling he’d follow me out here. Gentry came in to help me.”

Officer Daniels tips back his head then makes a note in his pad. “Got it. Well, I’ll let the guys at the station know you’re okay. I’d recommend a restraining order against your ex.”

“Yeah, it’s next on my list.” Her tone is depleted, anxiety ridden, and fatigued. It’s now that the reality of why she’s here comes back to the front of my mind.

Her mother just passed away. I’m sure she’s got so much going through her head between cleaning out the house, managing arrangements,and that asshole.

What am I doing? I don’t want to be the mistake she makes while she’s messed up in the head. I want her for good.

In the time that I’ve been contemplating all of life’s possibilities, the officer has made his way down the steps and toward the truck. I’m sure he’s said his goodbyes and probably thinks I’m rude for not responding, but my brain is stuck. I’ve waited a decade to hold this woman in my arms again.

Am I setting myself up for failure? Am I headed for another ten years of feeling like I’ve lost the one thing that made sense?

I glance toward Kelly and lean against the porch post with my arms crossed over my chest. She’s gorgeous out here under the moonlight. Too gorgeous.She’s always been too damn gorgeous. It’s why I am where I am. Well, that and apparently, I have the emotional capabilities of an android.

“You okay?” She narrows her brows and steps toward me, leaning against my chest with a soft smile.

My cock stiffens and I reciprocate her touch, holding her firm against my chest as though I’m never letting go.

“Do you think we’re moving too fast?” I need her to confirm we’re not.

Her brows narrow and she leans up from my chest, looking up at me with what I guess is confusion. “Maybe. I don’t know anything about you anymore. I mean… what have you been doing since the military?”

That isn’t what I was hoping to hear. I guess I was hoping for a blind‘move faster.’

“I work a security firm with my brothers in town. We just started it this year. Spent a lot of time traveling after the military, but glad to be here now. I love the mountains. What about you?”

“I’m an auditor in San Diego.”

I nod, a little shocked to hear her trajectory. “Really? Wouldn’t have seen you working with numbers. I thought I remember you talking about wanting to start some bed-and-breakfast place.”

She scoffs. “Oh, yeah right. That’s not practical. I have bills and they don’t stop while you try and live your dreams.”

“Yeah, but you also have to live your life. You can’t be so practical that you forget to do what you love. The way you talked about that B&B, it sounded like you had put a lot of thought into it. Do you not want that anymore?”

“It’s been ten years, Gentry.” She crosses her arms in front of her chest and stares toward me as though I’ve lost my mind. Maybe I have. It has been ten years. She could be happy auditing. She could love it in San Diego… which is why this is going to hurt.

I step back, guarding my heart from more damage. “Yeah, of course. A decade. You’re a different person now. I know that.”

She swallows hard and twists her hair to the side of her shoulder. “I do still want the B&B.” She pulls her phone from her back pocket and scrolls before facing the screen toward me. “I have all these decorating ideas.”

A bubble of heat and warmth swells its way up my throat. I’m not sure why it makes me so unbelievably happy that she has the same dreams she did ten years ago, but it does. Maybe it’s the confirmation I needed that I still know pieces of her.

She looks away. “Anyway, I can barely afford my one bedroom in California. I could never make it work.”

“So come back here. We’ll figure it out together.” The words slip from my lips before I think through the repercussions or how insane I sound saying them.

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