Page 205 of California Wild

And something inside her had snapped.

So she told them all to go to hell.

Now, here she was.

Her fingers curled around the edge of the plastic chair as she sat in the waiting room, breathing through the tightness in her chest. Somewhere, halfway across the world, Jesse was in another time zone, gearing up for another mission. The last time she’d heard his voice was in the middle of the night, raw and desperate, telling her to wait for him.

“When I come home, I’m coming home for good.”

She had played those words over and over in her head until they were worn and threadbare.

But waiting was hard.

Waiting was lonely.

The fluorescent lights overhead buzzed faintly, the scent of antiseptic thick in the air. Her heart was racing for reasons she couldn’t name—nerves, maybe. Or the fact that this was it. This was the moment she would see the baby for the first time.

Alone.

And now, as the receptionist called her name, her stomach twisted.

She stood, pressing a hand over the barely-there swell beneath her hoodie, and started following the nurse toward the back, her pulse pounding in her ears.

Then—

“Wait.”

The word cut through the quiet waiting room, sharp, breathless.

Hayley froze.

Turned.

And there, standing in the hallway near the entrance, chest rising and falling like he’d just sprinted off a plane—

Jesse.

Still in uniform. Boots scuffed, desert camo still clinging to his body, a bag slung over his shoulder like he hadn’t even stopped before driving here.

Like he had landed and come straight to her.

Her breath caught.

He was here.

* * * * *

Jesse barely registered the weight of his bag slipping from his shoulder, hitting the waiting room floor with a dull thud.

Because Hayley was already moving—running toward him, her auburn waves flying behind her, her eyes wide, shining, disbelieving—and then she was in his arms, legs wrapped around his waist, her hands fisting into his uniform, kissing him like she didn’t give a single fuck that they were standing in the middle of a medical clinic.

He caught her effortlessly, like she belonged there, his hands gripping her thighs, holding her against him as her mouth crashed into his.

Desperation. Relief. Weeks of missing her. Wanting her.

She tasted like something he had been starving for.

Jesse kissed her like he was trying to breathe her in, his heart hammering against his ribs, his fingers digging into the soft curve of her waist.

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