Page 6 of Found By Him

“Gisella? Who the hell is Gisella?” Ian looks between Nate and me with a confused pinch to his brow.

Tyler enters the conversation and explains, “She’s the lady I rear-ended yesterday. But I think she likes to be called Ella.” Adding thoughtfully, “I thought something seemed off with you when you met her, so that makes sense.”

“Nothing was off, and I don’t want to do anything with her except get her car fixed,” I say with clenched teeth as I stomp to my office. I don’t have time for this shit.

Plus, the longer I stay, the more obvious it’ll be that I’m lying.

A few comments like “Yeah, right,”“I don’t believe you,”and“You’re full of shit”follow me into my office as I settle behind my desk, straightening the stack of papers Alice haphazardly left on the corner.

Usually, there aren’t this many people in the office on a Saturday, but we have an important client meeting today, and I wanted to have some of the guys and Alice here to meet them. Even though this business is 24/7, I try to ensure the guys get their weekends off unless they’re on a job requiring them to work. Nate and I are the exceptions since we own the company. It seems like we’re at the office almost every day. Ian is here with us most days as well.

When I got out of the military, I spent a few years doing mercenary work. But soon, I grew tired of never being in one place for long with the constant travel. Once I finally quit, I moved to Nashville to be closer to my cousin Becky, who’s Tyler’s mom, and Tyler.

Nate and I have been friends for years. I met him a few years after I enlisted, and even when we were stationed in different places, we kept in touch and saw each other when we could. When I found out he was discharged, I convinced him to follow me here, and we started Nash Security. We’vespent the last six years launching and growing our company.

It wasn’t long after we started Nash Security that Ian contacted me when he was discharged, and I convinced him to work for me. I’ve known him almost as long as Nate, despite the two never meeting while we were all enlisted. It didn’t take long for the three of us to become inseparable.

I’ve only read through a handful of emails when someone enters my office. I don’t need to look up to know that it’s my meddling business partner and best friend.

“So…” Nate drawls as he drops into one of the chairs facing the front of my desk. He’s keenly staring at me, his elbows on the armrests and his fingers steepled in front of his mouth. After a few moments, he drops his hands to his lap. “You want to tell me about the girl?”

I lean back in my chair, mimicking his stance. “She’s thirty-five, so not exactly a girl.” With a shrug, I continue. “I find her very attractive, and that is about the end of the story.”

Nate snorts his disbelief. “You were practically eye-fucking her on the sidewalk.” He lifts his eyebrow. I’m not going to deny it because I know I was. “And from what I saw, she was doing it right back at you.”

That makes me take notice. I can’t stop myself from asking, “You think so?”

A huge grin spreads across his face. “Yeah, man. I think so. I also think that you should ask her out.”

Even as much as I like the answer that she appears to be into me, too, I’m already shaking my head before he finishes his sentence. “I don’t have time for that shit. Gisella seems like the type of woman who wants a relationship, which is the last thing I need.”

Nate sighs. “Jack, you’re forty-one. You’re not getting anyyounger. You have busted your ass for years. You deserve to find someone to make you happy and spend your life with. You should give her a chance.”

I level him with a hard stare. “Speak for yourself. I don’t see you settling down.”

He gives me a pitying look. “One day, I will. When I meet my person.”

Nate has always been the romantic out of the three of us. Ian and I usually give him shit about it, but there have been times that I’ve wondered if he was onto something. There’s something comforting about thinking that everything I’ve done in the past wasn’t for nothing. That I somehow earned happiness and I don’t have to be alone anymore.

After years of being in the military, I’ve built a small, tight-knit group of people around me. Mostly friends, since the only family I have is my cousin, Becky, her husband, and Tyler. But when I leave them and go home alone, I can’t deny there’s an aching loneliness in that solitude that I’ve begun to resent.

Since moving to Nashville, I’ve only had one semi-serious relationship. I pretty much knew my ex was not someone I could be with long-term, but she happened to meet me at a particularly weak moment, and before I could know what hit me, we were in a relationship.

Despite having reservations, I stayed with her for longer than I should have. I finally broke things off when Nate told me she had treated Alice horribly when she stopped by the office to see me. There’s no way I could be with someone who treated anyone, let alone someone I care about, like that.

When I don’t reply, Nate continues. “All I’m saying is that I think you should consider it.”

5

Ella

Ispent the rest of my weekend hanging out in my condo, thinking about the expensive car in my possession. I was scared to drive it, but I also very much wanted to. I hoped I would hear from Jack, but besides a text asking me how my back was feeling and a response to my question about whether the G-Wagon needed particular gas, we didn’t exchange any more words.

I could have researched on my own about the gas, but I wanted to talk to him. He didn’t answer that question exactly. He told me to text him if I needed gas, and that either he or one of his guys would come and fill it up for me. Which was the dumbest thing I ever heard. It also warmed me all over. My ex couldn’t even fill up my car when he was the one driving it all over town. Let alone go out of his way, like Jack’s offering.

After informing Jack that I wouldn’t be doing what he told me to, he answered,Text me when you need gas, Gisella.

Not Ella, even though I’ve corrected him multiple times. I doubt I will see him after I get my car fixed, but I don’t know what it’ll take to get that man to call me Ella. It isn’t that I mind my full name. I like that it’s original. But as a kid who grew up in the foster care system, it sounds too fancy. Like someone who has a perfect life would be named Gisella, not someone who had to struggle and fight to get where she is today.

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