Page 185 of California Wild

I love you,” he whispered, voice raw against her lips.

She clutched him tighter, her body trembling, her breath catching.

Jesse was too far gone to care about the vibrating phone.

Or the ringing.

Or anything that wasn’t the woman beneath him, her body arching into his, her hands gripping his back, nails biting into his skin like she never wanted to let go.

And fuck, he never wanted her to.

Hayley’s eyes fluttered open, her breath still shaky, her fingers slipping into his hair.

He could drown in her, in this moment.

And then again—

Vibrating.

Buzzing.

The insistent, pulsing demand of his phone somewhere nearby.

Jesse groaned, dropping his head against her shoulder. “Fucking hell.”

Hayley sighed, her fingers brushing down his back, but then—her own phone lit up on the nightstand, ringing loudly in the quiet of the room.

Jesse pulled away reluctantly, reaching blindly for the phone near his jeans on the floor. His fingers curled around the device, but the second he flipped it over, his stomach turned to stone.

Not his personal phone.

His work phone.

Jesse sat up fast, running a hand through his hair, still catching his breath as he hit the call back button.

Colson answered on the first ring.

“Navarro, you need to get to base,” Colson said, his voice clipped, serious. “Something’s happened. We’re deploying.”

Jesse’s stomach dropped.

Jesse exhaled sharply, shaking his head. “Goddamn it, I can’t win,” he muttered, voice hoarse.

Because this—her—was the only thing he’d ever wanted.

And he was leaving her again.

He glanced over at Hayley just as she sat up, her own phone in her hands, her brows furrowing as she scrolled through missed messages.

Something was wrong.

“Everything okay?” he asked, his voice still hoarse.

Before she could answer—

A sharp, firm knock at the apartment door.

Jesse’s body tensed.

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