Chapter Two

Callan

I’m scaring her.

I can tell from the way she backs away from me. Goddamn it, I’m scaring her which is the last thing I ever wanted to do. The truth is, I hate it when my connection to this town is brought up. I loathe being associated with this place in any way.

It’s a stupid thing to have such a huge reaction to an innocent question from the girl whose ground I worship and I’m trying to control my feelings. I hold a lot of anger against Sweetheart Falls and most of its people. This is the same town that turned their backs on my brother and me when we lost everything.

My parents were locals who donated generously to several charities, they fed, clothed, and housed anyone who showed up at their doors with need. We were raised to be kind and generous and yet, after the accident, they all turned their back on us. Expressed disgust at our scars and even tried to steal assets left to us. I had to fight off the people who tried to rob us of our inheritance at our lowest point, fight people who seemed to think my brother was an easy target for their amusement.

I don’t just hate the town. Every moment spent here chips away at my sanity.

This is me controlling my feelings, but it seems I am not doing a great job of it as Emily backs away another step and I can read it in her eyes. A fear that was not present before. If I let her run now, she’ll never let me anywhere near her ever again.

“Wait!” I call out, the sound carrying out through the diner, louder than I had intended. Everything stills and I feel all eyes turn to stare at me, but I don’t take my gaze off the beautiful angel standing only a few feet away from me. Too far away from me . “Wait, please .” My voice is softer now, coaxing -- practically begging her to stay. The sound is unfamiliar even to my ears. I’ve never used such a tone on anyone before and I can tell it takes her by surprise.

Emily watches me for a moment before approaching my table once more and this time, she slowly slides into the empty seat across from mine. I shift my gaze from hers and glare at the people watching us which snaps their attention away from us. I take a slow look around the room before turning back to Emily, satisfied that everyone was back to minding their own.

I can’t afford to scare this girl away if I want her to be mine. She’s the only thing keeping me here. In all of my thirty-five years, I have never experienced anything remotely close to how I feel for this girl. Not even when I joined the Marines did I carry half the passion I’ve put into pursuing her.

She’s everything.

Emily doesn’t know it yet, but she’s my entire world. Before I met her, I was a shell of a man moving through motions, too broken even for the military. She’s the closest thing to living I have felt in ages.

“The mountains,” I start, clearing my throat. “Most of the activities happen in the mountains. Hiking, ziplining, you name it.”

“I said fun activities,” she mutters, her eyes lifting to mine, and I notice a dimple appear at the edge of her lips when she smiles. “I wouldn’t consider hiking a fun activity and I am deadly afraid of heights. I would probably pass out while ziplining down the mountain.”

“There is a lake if you like swimming.”

“Never learned how to.”

It’s at the tip of my mouth to say that I’ll teach her but really, that would be a lie. Anywhere close to her half-naked body and the last thing on my mind will be teaching her anything but all the ways my tongue can ride her pussy.

Fuck, even the thought of it sends my hard cock throbbing in my jeans. I’ve been hard from the moment she approached me and having her this close to me isn’t exactly doing any favors to my burning desire.

“Fishing,” I blurt out in an attempt to distract myself from my erection.

She chuckles, the sound light and airy. “Now you’re teasing me.” I wasn’t but I drink up her expression. It’s bright and innocent, slowly chipping at whatever control I had left. “It doesn’t seem like there are many activities for me to do, Callan. Maybe I’m just being close-minded. I’ll give hiking a try.”

“Take a guide with you,” I say, swallowing back the need to offer my services for free. I know these mountains like the back of my hand and would probably do a better job protecting her than any guide, but I don’t want to come off too strongly and scare her away. “You’ll need someone familiar with the mountain, there are bears and wolves in the forest.”

“Really?” She props her elbows on the table and leans in, her eyes gleaming with excitement. “Have you run into one? A bear? Did you fight it? What was it like?”

“I have run into a number of them,” I say, watching as her pretty eyes widen in surprise and I almost want to lie to her, so the light doesn’t fade but I don’t. “I have never fought one, I doubt I would win.”

“You’re just being humble. I bet you would win against a bear by a mile–”

Her words trail off when a customer walks into the diner and heads for an empty table. He looks around to draw the attention of a waitress and when his eyes settle on my girl, I glower at him, causing him to cower in his seat but it’s too late. He’s already caught Emily’s attention.

She flashes me an apologetic smile before leaving me to attend to the customer and I clench my fist as I stare at him. However mundane our conversation was, it was precious, and he took it from me!

I watch him fidget the entire time she’s there and once Emily is done taking his order, more people file in, one after the other. Soon, the place is packed with loud patrons which proves to be an overload on my senses. There is a reason why I bought a home in the mountains, it’s a place so secluded and silent that I wouldn’t have to deal with people.

I need to make Emily mine, so I don’t have to deal with this anymore.

I watch as she rushes between customers, taking orders and delivering others. Everything in me wants to grab the girl and carry her out of this place caveman style, but I am helpless to do anything now. I can’t act like a barbarian without scaring her.

Never her.

With an annoyed grunt, I grab my wallet, and dig out cash to cover the bill and leave a generous tip before dropping it next to my half-eaten burger. I get up, my heavy boots scraping hard against the floor, the act causes everyone to quiet down as they watch me leave, and I am grateful for the silence. The voices break out back into a loud chatter when I close the door behind me and start for my truck. I grab the car door and tug hard, ready to climb in when I feel a slight pat on my back. I turn around to be met by a set of familiar emerald greens.

“You left before I could give you your change,” she says, holding out her hand for me to take the money and yet, all I can think about is how close my angel is. Fuck, she’s so fucking close, and without a table separating us, I am tempted to close the distance between us. Desperate to wrap my arm around her waist and drop my mouth down to hers. I bet those lips taste like honey. “Callan?”

I take a step forward and she sucks in a sharp breath but doesn’t make a move to step back. I take another step closer, and another, until there’s only a hair’s breadth between us. “The money is your tip, for your exemptional services.”

She lets out a shaky breath, “I don’t deserve a tip. You hardly touched your food.”

I reach out and brush a stray hair from her temple, but I don’t pull my hand back. This is the first time I’ve been this close to the object of my fantasies, and I want to savor the moment. Christ, I want to do so much more than that.

Everything in me begs for me to spin her around so she’s facing my truck, tear off her tiny little waitressing dress, and ram my cock into her with everyone watching as I claim what is mine. My cock is as hard as nails, begging for release, and I have to clench my fist to stop myself from giving in to my desires. Jesus, she’s so close…

So, freaking close that I could easily lean down and take her mouth with mine just to taste her. I just need to learn the texture of her lips, swallow her sighs, and taste her tongue on mine…

“I didn’t come for the food,” I say hoarsely, forcing my mind to stay on track with our conversation. “I never do.”

She sucks in a sharp breath, her beautiful eyes blinking innocently at me. “Then why do you come?”

“For you,” I say, dropping my hand from my face before I do something that scares her off. I would never forgive myself if that happened, so I clench my fists to my side before I can reach out to her again.

I need to leave.

Fuck, my cock is throbbing hard behind my fly, beating hard in tune with my hammering heart. Every second I spend around my angel chips at my control, which at this point is in tatters.

Without uttering another word, I turn around to leave, but she grabs my arm to stop me. I turn around to face her, but before I can react, she shoves a white box to my chest.

“I… I came out here to give you your change, but I had a feeling you wouldn’t take it, so I brought you this,” she says hurriedly, nudging me to take it. “It’s apple pie and I promise it’s way better than the burgers, but don’t tell the chef I said that.” She drops her hand from my arm, and I immediately miss the heat of her touch. “Uhm, so, I’ll head back inside now.”

I don’t get a chance to respond before my dark-haired angel spins around, hurrying away, and I am left watching her hips swing as she walks back into the diner.

Wanting her…

Craving her like I never have anything else in my life.

Soon, I promise myself. It won’t be long now before I make Emily mine forever. Soon !