But he pushed through it. In a rough, gravelly voice he told me, “I got kicked out of the Army Rangers.”
“What? How didthathappen?”
“It’s not like that. I wasn’t in trouble. I got an honorable discharge. It’s just the way the fucking system works. The seventy-fifth regiment isn’t designed to let everyone move up. There are short contracts, usually only two years. As you move up in the ranks, the number of slots shrinks. So, not everyone gets to stay. It’s designed that way. They want to spread the rangers into the normal army ranks. But I’d spent eight years in the ranger program, and I didn’t want to go backwards. It felt like a demotion. So I quit. And I’ve been wondering if I made a mistake ever since. I’ve even thought about signing back up again, mainly because it’s the only thing I know.”
The pain was evident in his voice. This had been eating at him.
“Are you really thinking about reenlisting?” Selfishly, Ihatedthe idea. I’d known the man for less than two weeks, but I felt like it would shatter me if he left the mountain. I might never have him, but I could at least be in his orbit.
He ran a hand across his chin. “I was. But now the decision’s harder.”
“They won’t let you have a beard in the army,” I joked. He’d been growing his in, and what had started as a seriously sexy five-o’clock shadow was now starting to develop into the first stage of a mountain man beard.
He inched his hand over to my leg. “I find that maybe Ilikecivilian life, Gwen. I’ve enjoyed working at the sawmill so far. It’s a good group of guys, and… I feel like I’m starting to settle in here.”
I glanced at him, words frozen in my throat. I wanted to ask if there was any other reason he liked being on Red Oak Mountain. If maybe he liked me, too.
But I couldn’t get the words out. Not while his hand was resting on my thigh like itbelongedthere.
On top of that, his eyes were holding me hostage while I was supposed to be concentrating on the road.
“You’re going to cause an accident,” I finally managed to stammer out.
His lips curved up, and he pulled his hand away. “Sorry about that. Didn’t mean to get you all worked up, Gwen.”
“W-we’re here,” I said, changing the subject as we pulled in to Rusty’s auto shop. “And there’s your new truck.”
Knox looked like he had alotmore he wanted to say.
But Rusty and the seller were already walking over to us.
I got out of the car, my thigh warm where he’d touched it, as though it had been seared by fire. I longed for this man, almost desperate for another taste of him.
If he invited me to sleep with him again, would I? I already knew the answer of whether Ishould. That answer was a no. ButwouldI? That was an entirely different question.
I stood back and tried to calm my nerves while he negotiated with the men. Rusty’s wife Jolene came out to chat with me, and we watched while they haggled on the price.
It looked like Knox wasn’t even going to test-drive it first. He was going straight into the sale.
But I knew that was okay, because it was Max Hill selling the truck, the owner of the Bear Den. And he was solid as they come.
Jolene leaned over as Knox lifted the hood of the truck. He took off his coat before inspecting the engine. That left him in a short-sleeve t-shirt, all his glorious muscles on display.
“He’s really cute, isn’t he?” Jolene asked.
Grinning, I joked, “You’re a married woman. You’re not supposed to look.”
She giggled and grabbed my arm. “Yeah, I’m very happily married, butyou’renot. So the real question is, haveyoubeen looking at that chunk of manliness? You’re sharing a house with him, right?”
I swallowed hard and didn’t respond. I currently couldn’t take my eyes off Knox, so it was pretty dang obvious to her that I was slightly enamored with the man.
She gave me some sage advice. “All you need to do is get trapped in the hot cocoa hut with him. A guaranteed happily ever after. Works every time.”
I glanced at her. “Is that how you and Rusty met?”
Jolene’s smile relaxed into something easy and natural as she sought her man out. “You could say so.”
The men shook hands, and Knox sauntered back over. “You want to christen this truck with me, Gwen?”
