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“You’re welcome any time.”
“I appreciate that.” She then looked at Grady. “I’ll be out of your hair on Sunday.”
“So, you’re sticking around for the fun tomorrow?”
“Oh, I wouldn’t miss it. Charli and I will kick all your fine asses.”
“Amen, sistah,” Charli grinned.
“I’ll look forward to it.” Grady grinned. “See you later. Oh, you want to do dinner tonight?”
“Doing it with Gunner.”
“Then it’s just the two of us tonight, hot stuff,” he said, and wrapped an arm around Charli’s waist. “Have any preferences?”
“Oh, I always have preferences, baby.”
He grinned, and Oakley shook her head with a smile. “Ok, I’m outta here. See ya.”
“Later.” Charli gave her a smile, and Oakley ran down the steps and to the waiting helicopter.
Oakley wasn’t prone to fantasy, but she was a woman with a healthy libido. When the helicopter door opened to reveal Gunner Hale standing there, she welcomed the rush of lust the sight provided.
Gunner wasn’t a man you’d describe as cute, attractive, or handsome. Every one of those adjectives contained within its code, a measure, however small, of softness. The handsomest men in the world were men with a flush of softness, be it in expression, suppleness of skin or tenderness of heart.
There was no softness in Gunner. He was a mythic giant of old, at six inches over six feet and two hundred and eighty pounds of muscle. The man was rock hard. Even his face was all hard angles, sharp eyes, tight jaw, and thick neck. Hard.
Gunner was always the first one through the door, and the last one out. He was a warrior, the barbarian at the gate who hacked or kicked it down. It showed in his gaze, the way his eyes constantly surveilled the landscape. He’d spot the danger, if danger existed, and then God help the soul of who he found, because they weren’t long for this world. His duty to protect and defend was so ingrained, it was as if it were part of his genetic code. It hadn’t taken her long to figure that out.
But therewasa softness he revealed during one or two of their times together. His softness wasn’t really soft at all, not if strength is measured in such terms. He’d probably see it as a weakness, and perhaps it wasin battle, if survival was your goal. But off the battlefield and on, Gunner was loyal, and when he gave his word, there was no changing it. He would fulfill his promise, no matter the cost to himself.
Now, as she thought about the man, she ran to the hatch, and he offered her a hand. She accepted, and when she took it, he pulled her inside. Oakley purely loved the surge of hunger she felt. There weren’t many men who could hoist a one-hundred-seventy-five-pound-woman around. Gunner handled it like she was a lightweight.
Since the day she met the man, she’d wondered what else he could handle, and she fully intended to find out before her leave was over. She wasn’t looking for Mr. Forever-After, just Mr. Right Now, and Gunner was the first one of those she’d encountered in a long time.
She’d battled her natural inclination to leap before looking, and hadn’t invited him to her bed. Yet. To her surprise, she’d been rewarded for that decision, and discovered that not only did she have a case of the hots for the man, but she also liked him.
Gunner, like his friend Riggs, was the real deal, a genuine American hero, and a true man of honor. You don’t meet people like him often, and she felt lucky to get to know him. Already, it seemed like they were friends, at ease with one another. That was definitely rare, except between people who lived in their world.
Civilians were different. They saw things through which she thought of as a lens of innocence. If you stuck with your own kind, just like in a pack, it made life easier because you both spoke the same language.
“Hey, Shorty,” he grinned down at her as he held her with one arm. “Thanks for the help.”
She smiled at theshortyappellation. There weren’t many guys who could get away with calling her that. Gunner could. She actually felt short standing face to face with him. Well, face to neck, in this instance.
That was kind of a turn-on, too. Damn, she really had a case of it for him. “No problem, big guy.” She smiled and pressed against him, forcing him to step back. Oakley gave him credit when he managed to maneuver them into a position that placed his right leg between hers.
Ah ha, there you are.She’d seen glimpses of this part of Gunner, but this was maybe the fourth time. He kept himself locked down. Or was that locked up? One or the other. She understood that, so when an unplanned, instinctive, and playful moment appeared, she took full advantage.
His eyes widened fractionally when she rode his leg twice, then placed both hands on his chest and pressed. “You make a better door than you do a window, hoss.” Before she finished her sentence, he was grinning.
“So, tell me about these pups.” She turned to the reason she was there as he backed out of her way.
“Ask him,” Gunner handed her a headset and gestured toward Riggs, who sat in the co-pilot’s seat.
“Any info, boss?” she asked as soon as she had the headset in place.
“Nope. Just a rancher who found two pups and thinks they’re wolf hybrids.”
