Chapter 2
RYAN
C ommon name, unusual spelling. That was the first thing I noticed on Gennie’s driver’s license—along with the fact that her picture didn’t do her justice.
She was, without a doubt, the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. She was all curves, including an eye-popping chest that pressed against the fabric of her pink T-shirt.
Her hair was in a ponytail, and she wore very little makeup, but she didn’t need to. Big, brown eyes with long eyelashes that were straight out of my fantasies. Hell, I couldn’t have even fantasized anything like that, but now I had her in the passenger seat of my truck.
“I’m buddies with some guys on this crew,” I said as we headed down a narrow two-lane road umbrellaed by trees. “We served together, and when I decided to move here to start a business, they helped me find my way around.”
“This guy’s a lumberjack,” I said.
He laughed. “Aren’t we all?”
She wouldn’t know what that meant. And I really wasn’t in the mood to explain.
I might not be actively working on a logging crew right now, but I was definitely a lumberjack.
I’d helped out my logging buddies more times than I could count.
It was a great way to blow off some steam.
Plus, it got me outside of the four walls of my shop and let me work with my hands.
“So, one of those guys might be Vanessa’s new boyfriend?” Gennie asked.
I assumed Vanessa was the friend she’d come here to rescue from a kidnapper. That thought tripped me up a little.
“Wait—is he her boyfriend or someone you think is going to harm her?”
“Both.”
Now I was really confused. She’d come all the way here to rescue her best friend from a guy she was dating? Would that qualify as a rescue? My guess was her friend didn’t want to be rescued.
“I’m trying to think which of the guys on the crew are still single,” I said, glancing at the group as I pulled in next to Enzo’s truck.
Enzo was my closest friend in this town. I probably could have texted him and asked if he knew who might be dating this woman’s friend. But he wouldn’t check his phone until the end of the day, and besides, doing that wouldn’t give me a reason to drive around with Gennie in my car.
“I’ll go talk to the guys,” I said, reaching for my door handle. “Do you want me to take your phone with the picture?”
She reached for her seatbelt. As she unfastened it, she said, “I’ll go talk to them.”
I opened my mouth to protest, but she climbed out. She was already halfway across the parking area before I’d fully processed what had happened.
Oh, shit. Most of the guys I knew on this crew were gentlemen, but there were some I didn’t know all that well. The last thing I wanted was for Gennie to have to deal with harassment for approaching a group of men.
My protective instincts were in full force as I hopped from the truck and boldly strode toward the crew. I had no idea how this was going to go.
A couple of the guys had stopped working to watch Gennie approach. I immediately scanned the group behind them and spotted the guys I knew, but they didn’t seem to realize someone had joined them. I shifted my attention to Gennie and didn’t take my eyes off her as I neared.
She didn’t seem worried about walking up to a group of guys she didn’t know. Was that because she knew I was with her? Or maybe it was just blind determination. Either way, I didn’t like it. I wanted her to be more careful.
I had no right to feel that way. I’d just met her.
This was the very thing that had kept me running from relationships for so long.
I learned in my time overseas that there was this side of myself I didn’t like, and when I returned, I couldn’t seem to turn that side off.
It was a constant feeling that I was in combat, and I needed to kick the ass of anyone who threatened me—or people I cared about.
That was unacceptable behavior in the real world, so I just needed to stay away from caring about people. Problem solved.
“O’Connell, you got a new chick?” one of the guys called out.
My buddy Enzo turned at the sound of his name and began walking toward us. I had reached Gennie by then and was standing just behind her. I wanted to be nearby in case shit went down.
But now I knew that wasn’t really necessary. These guys weren’t ogling her or making inappropriate comments. They were probably among the many loggers around here who’d found girlfriends and were now off the market. It would take a lot to turn their heads.
“Not me,” Enzo said, stopping everything to straighten and turn to face us.
He wasn’t the only one. The entire team was looking this way now. That was when I stepped up to stand next to Gennie, making it clear I was her protector. Or maybe I was claiming ownership of her in a way that was typical me.
Yeah, this was exactly why I had to stay single for the rest of my life.
“Dayton has a new chick,” a guy I didn’t recognize said. “He joined us over on the dark side.”
Next to me, Gennie scanned the group behind them, but I knew that was a waste of time. Dayton and I had served alongside each other on tours. I would have spotted him immediately in any crowd, we’d spent so much time together.
“He ain’t here today,” someone else called out. “He’s playing hooky, if you know what I mean.”
How did that work? A guy got laid, then called in sick from work and everybody was cool with it? These guys might be a little too flexible. Or maybe they were all pussy-whipped.
Hell if I knew. It was none of my business, anyway.
“I think that’s the man I’m looking for,” Gennie said. “Where does he live?”
Silence. Nobody said a word. They looked at each other, then immediately jumped back into their work. We were being totally and completely blown off.
I got it. I fully understood nobody wanted to give away the private residence of a friend to some woman who just randomly showed up at their work site. I would have been annoyed if they’d just blurted it out.
“I got you,” I said, reaching over and putting my hand on Gennie’s arm.
It was an innocent move, but it didn’t seem at all innocent when I felt her body heat through the thin T-shirt. Or maybe that was my imagination. All I knew was warmth seemed to spread from my fingertips all the way through my body, going straight to my dick.
Damn, had it been that long since I’d touched a beautiful woman? Yes. But that wasn’t what was going on here. No, this was something I’d never experienced before.
But if Gennie felt it, she didn’t show it. All I saw was gratitude when she turned her eyes toward me. Gratitude wasn’t bad, but I couldn’t help but wish for something closer to pure lust. That was what putting my hand on her had brought out in me.
That thought had me realizing that my hand was still on her, and I definitely didn’t have permission, grateful expression or not. I’d crossed the line.
I quickly removed my hand and took a couple of steps back. “See you guys tomorrow night,” I called out, adding a wave before flipping around and starting toward my truck.
Gennie would follow—at least, I hoped she would. Because the last thing I wanted to do was double back and lead her away from the group of guys.
No, I wanted Gennie all to myself. And that scared the hell out of me.