One Night with her Bachelor (21 page)

Only problem was, her heartstrings had gotten attached, and going two weeks without a note or gesture from him felt like being cut off from one of the most vital parts of her life.

She took her art supplies back to her classroom and set them up, but she struggled to pull her mind away from that lonely cabin in the mountains and the man who refused to let her in.

Take time to do things for yourself.

Dang it. Why couldn’t that be easy?

With about thirty seconds left before recess ended, she rushed down the hall and poked her head into Claudine’s classroom. A student teacher was leading a math lesson while Claudine unloaded the paints. Molly waved and got Claudine’s attention. When Claudine stepped into the hall, Molly asked, “Are you free tomorrow after school?”

“Yeah. Wanna do something?”

“Yeah, but it might sound kind of strange. I need your help with something. Oh, and do you have a ski suit in my size?”

‡

G
abriel sat in
the chair at his kitchen table and stared at the brochures and printed web pages spread out before him. He’d read half of them to see what grabbed him, and curious feelings simmered under his skin.

Excitement. Possibility. Anticipation.

Molly had given him the kick in the ass he’d desperately needed. That wasn’t to say the decisions facing him would be easy. None of this was. But he’d conquered the first hurdle by driving into town last week and borrowing his mom’s computer to do a little research.

His kettle screeched as it boiled. He dropped the brochure he was reading and refilled his coffee press, standing next to the window while the coffee brewed. Snow fell softly outside, and the benign conversations of the forest rangers over the radio kept him company. He’d heard his half brother Austin’s voice a few times. He’d been listening to the rangers more and more lately, trying to figure out whether the forestry service might be where his future lay. But he’d also picked up brochures about retraining to become a paramedic, an ER nurse or a flight nurse. He already had a lot of trauma training, but most of his experience was with military personnel—not the elderly or kids. He craved an exciting job that would let him use his skills and challenge his body. He didn’t know whether his body could hold up to the rigor of those jobs, but he was going to stop assuming it couldn’t. He’d trained his ass off at Lackland. He would do it again so nothing held him back.

“Gabriel? You there?”

His head shot up, and he spun so quickly hot coffee sloshed out of the press and burned his hand. Sucking in a breath, he let the press clatter to the countertop. His radio squawked, and he realized Austin’s voice had come from the speakers.

“Gabriel, if you’re there, we need your help, buddy. Molly Dekker’s snow-hiking from the Copper Mountain parking lot to your place, but she just let out a distress signal on her beacon. We’ve sent a team, but it’ll take us twenty minutes to get there.”

Gabriel grabbed the radio and shot out of the room. His snow pants and jacket hung next to his front door, but the fastest way to get them on was to remove his shoes. And the fastest way to remove his left shoe was to remove his prosthesis. He yanked his snow clothes off the hook, ran back to his living room, threw himself into the arm chair and got to work. Less than a minute later, he’d leaped from the chair, grabbed his emergency backpack and ran out the door.

Piles of fresh snow blanketed the forest around his cabin, and he fought to keep his panic at bay as he trudged through it. He had no way to contact her, no way to contact the rangers. He couldn’t tell them he was on his way or even ask where the signal had come from. Since there wasn’t a path straight from the parking lot to his door, there were endless possible routes she could’ve taken. All he could do was pray she’d taken the most direct route, the one he usually took.

But maybe she didn’t know that one. Or maybe she’d been disoriented by the snow and gotten lost once she left the main path. His cabin was two miles off that path, then another mile to the parking lot. She could’ve left the path at a dozen different places. She could be almost anywhere.

Jesus. Please let her be okay. I’ll do anything, anything…

His eyes scanned left to right, right to left as he crunched through the snow. “Molly! Molly, can you hear me?”

His prosthesis rubbed against his knee, never very comfortable walking through snow. But he ignored the irritation and tried to listen for any unusual sound.

All he heard was the thudding of his heart.

“Molly!”

A flash of red off to his right caught his eye. A movement. A hand lifting over a snowdrift.

He sprinted, jumping over a fallen log and landing on his knees a foot away from where Molly lay in the snow. She jerked, her eyes widening in shock. “Gabriel!”

“Where are you hurt?” He slid his backpack off and tugged it open, ready to yank out any instruments he needed.

“My foot got caught on something under the snow, and I twisted my ankle.”

He took a pair of scissors from his bag, but she threw her hands up to stop him. “No way! I borrowed these ski pants from my friend. You can’t cut them.”

“I have to look at your ankle.”

“No you don’t because I can tell you what’s wrong with it. I’ve sprained it before, and that’s what this feels like.”

“Even if it’s just a sprain, it could be swollen with blood. I need—”

“You need to
listen
to me.” Her voice vibrated with strength. He shut his mouth and lowered the scissors. “This is not a medical emergency. I set off my alarm because I’m not an idiot—there are bears and wolves around here, and I don’t want to become dinner. But I’m not gravely injured. I twisted my ankle, and when I tried to stand up I fell again. I was just crawling toward that log over there because one of the branches looks perfect for a crutch.”

Dumbfounded, he glanced between her and the log. She was right. “It’s a big branch. How were you going to get it off the log?”

She picked something up from the snow next to her hip. A big, serrated hunting knife. “Would’ve taken me some time, and I probably would’ve gotten blisters, so I’m glad to see you.”

The surge of adrenaline seeped out of him. She hadn’t needed him.

But he sure as hell needed her. He wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in the crook of her neck. His body shook as the terror and adrenaline left. “You scared the shit out of me.”

“And you angered the crap out of me. How dare you just dump me the way you did? I kept thinking you might come to me. I looked for a letter every morning, but you never came and there’s no way I’m giving you up without a fight. So sit back, be quiet, and listen up, pal.” She dropped the knife, pushed him back and knelt in the snow before him. He sucked in a breath at the erotic sight of her. Wild hair, out-of-control emotions and ferocious determination—she was his hottest fantasies come to life.

Tapping her finger against his prosthetic leg, she said, “You insult me if you think I can’t handle this. You insult yourself if you act like your life is over because of it.”

“I know my life isn’t over. But my career is, and that’s what I’ve always lived for.” He hadn’t said the words out loud before. They came more easily now that he’d started contemplating careers outside the Air Force.

“You can do other things.”

“What would you think about me becoming a flight nurse?”

She opened her mouth and promptly closed it. When she opened it again, all that came out was a confused noise. “Huh?”

“I spent the past few days researching different careers. That one sounds the most like what I used to do, flying around to help trauma patients.”

She shook her head as if she needed to clear it. “I—what?”

Taking her hands in his, he pressed a kiss against her knuckles. “I want to be part of your life so bad, sweetheart. I know you have a lot of shit going on, and I can’t stand the thought of being an extra burden. I’m working on becoming the kind of man you deserve.”

Her eyes shimmered. “You still don’t get it, do you?”

His hope stuttered. “Get what?”

She let out a sound of exasperation. “It’s wonderful you want to be my port in a storm, but you have to let me be yours, too. That’s how relationships work, and I’d really like to have a relationship with you. Tell me now if you don’t want that, and I’ll try my best not to think about all the good things we could be together.”

“I want that.” He sucked in a deep breath. “All of that.”

“Good. Sometimes I need to feel needed too, you know.”

“Jesus, never worry about that. I need you so bad it terrifies me.”

She grinned, and he couldn’t hold back. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her to show just how badly he needed her. Pulling back and laying his forehead against hers, he asked, “Why did you come up here?”

“I missed you,” she whispered.

Such a simple answer, yet it pulled together the broken pieces that he hadn’t been able to heal on his own. “I missed you, too.”

Her eyes closed, and her shoulders relaxed as if the words had eased something painful inside her, too. “Gabriel, I understand you’ve needed time to heal and adjust mentally as much as physically, and I’m so happy you’re looking into other careers. I don’t expect any of this to be easy for us, but it’ll be a million times harder if we can’t talk to each other.”

“I know, sweetheart. Talking’s not easy for me, but I’m trying to get better at it.” He shored up his courage and poured his heart out. “The first time you came up here, you said people thought you were too nice to have any fun. Those people are idiots. You’re sexy, strong, sweet, and sassy, and I want to have a hell of a lot of fun with you—and other things starting with F.”

A huge smile stretched across her face, and she looped her arms around his neck. “Actually, when I said it would be harder if we can’t talk to each other, I meant because you live somewhere with no cell coverage.”

His mouth fell open. “Oh shit. You better forget all that lovey stuff I just said. And the F-word.”

She laughed. “Never. Never ever, ever. In fact, I’m going to have it tattooed on my right wrist.”

His brows drew together. “Why your right wrist?”

“Because my left one is reserved.”

His brows shot up. “You… you got a tattoo?”

“Not yet. I asked my friend Claudine to take me, but the tattoo artist just drew the design in temporary ink on my skin so I can get used to it before having it done for real. I’ve always wanted one but never had the guts to go through with it. I thought people might judge me for it, but I realized how stupid that is—though I might have to wear wristbands at work.” She held her hand up and slid her jacket down to her elbow.

He held her hand and laughed when he saw the words inked into her skin. “Never quit.”

“Sometimes I need a reminder.” She gave him an irresistible lopsided grin. “I thought maybe you could come with me and hold my other hand while I have it done.”

“I’ll hold your hand through anything.” He eased her onto her back in the snow. “You know, the rangers probably won’t get here for another ten minutes, at least.”

“Actually, they’re not coming. When you were rooting through your backpack, I pressed the cancel button. They know I’m safe.” She ran her finger down the zipper of his jacket. “I still haven’t seen you completely naked.”

“That’s strange. I feel like I’ve been more naked with you than anyone ever before.” He kissed her long and slow, then nuzzled her cheek. “How about we hobble back to my place and I’ll show you a little project I’ve been working on?”

“Is that a euphemism?”

“Nope. It’s an actual project. I made a second chair for the kitchen table.” It wasn’t his only project, but he would save the pendant for another special occasion. He had a feeling there would be plenty to choose from.

Her eyes welled up as she figured out what he was trying to tell her. “You want to have company over.”

“Mostly I want to have
you
over. I didn’t think you’d come, though, since you’d be out of reach for Josh.”

“He’s staying at Jake’s tonight, and I gave Jake’s parents the forestry service’s phone number in case of emergencies. Then I told Austin I was going to your place. He insisted I take this little beacon with me and told me not to hesitate to use it. I hope you don’t mind, but I told him you can hear him and the other rangers over the radio. I said I’d turn your radio on when I got to your cabin, and he could let me know if Jake’s parents contact him.”

“So that’s how he knew to talk into the radio when you set your beacon off.”

“Sounds like all my contingency planning worked. Thank God for that. Now let’s get to your cabin so I’m not out of contact too long.”

He laughed. “You’re a wild woman, Molly Dekker. There’s a real danger of me falling crazy in love with you.”

She grinned. “Say it again.”

“I’m falling in love with you.”

“No, the part about me being wild,” she teased.

He leaned down and kissed her. “How about I let you show me how wild you are instead?”