He was always there. Whether I pictured his face, or thought of his name, or wondered more about him, my thoughts always turned back to him.
It was hopeless. Utterly and desperately hopeless.
On my first day back at work, I noticed the sign out front was fixed, the B in Broken finally lighting up after months of being out. The front door no longer creaked when I opened it, and the broken latch on the cooler clicked in correctly, no longer needing a fix.
New lightbulbs installed, wonky shelves fixed, and no more sputtering in the ice maker. It was like being in a twilight zone. Grizz never bothered much with repairs, saying it gave the place character. He probably didn’t want to budget in the costs, but with Gunner around, it all got done. Impressive.
When I stepped into the office to punch in, running fifteen minutes late as usual, I thought I’d walked into the wrong room. Grizz sat behind a neat desk, no more piles of papers scattered around, some littered on the floor. No more stuffed filing cabinets or wading through shit to get to the time clock.
“What the hell happened in here?” I said, coming to a complete stop and laughing as I looked around. “This can’t be your office.”
“Watch it there, young lady.” Grizz teased. In the few years I’ve worked here, he was like a surrogate father to me, being miles away from my own family, and we easily joked with each other.
“I mean it. Where’s all your shit?”
Grizz scratched his beard and laughed wholeheartedly. “My son came through. Apparently, the boy doesn’t like a mess.”
“Wow, I guess not. This place is changing by the day.”
“He’s not touching the decor. I already told him the trophies are staying.”
“Good call,” I said as I punched in.
“How was your long weekend?”
“It was good. I got a lot of studying done.”
“Glad to hear it, but more than glad to have you back.”
“Thanks, Grizz.” I offered him a smile before leaving. I headed for the lockers in the back hallway and as I rounded the corner, I slammed into something hard. Something veryhard.“Shit! Ouch! What the hell?” I yelped as I rubbed my arm.
His scent hit me first. The woodsy, piney smell with a touch of mint tickled my nose and instantly, I knew I didn’t walk into something but someone.
Gunner.
Shit.
“We need to stop meeting like this.” His low growly voice washed over me and my body hummed to life.
I chuckled nervously. My stupid traitorous body betrayed me, my nipples hardening under the soft fabric of my bra, the heat between my legs turning scorching hot and aching with need. My breath caught in my throat, and I squeezed my legs together.
Nothing helped.
I met his gaze and almost melted into a puddle of goo. “Sorry. I just need…”
Gunner’s brown eyes darkened to almost black as they moved up and down my face, to my lips and back up. He dipped his head lower, closing the miniscule of space between us.
Alert! Alert!
Alarm bells rang in my head, but I didn’t move. Couldn’t move.
Closer…closer…
I was no longer breathing.
It was only him and me, in this moment, away from everyone else…no one would have to know.
Closer.
