“Special Forces?” Damon had been in the Army? Well … that did make sense, with the way he was so organized and didn’t waste time with pleasantries.
“Yeah.” J.D. sat back down in front of her. “It was … it’s not my story to tell, but let’s just say, when he came back from deployment… it was like he was a new person. Stuff happens over there, you know, things that we could only imagine. And since then … it’s like nothing makes him happy. Or sad. Or even excited. It’s like he’s come back as a shell of himself. Gabriel and I tried everything, but nothing worked. He’s better now, at least, we can drag him out once in a while, but for the most part, he prefers to be alone.”
Her chest tightened at the thought of Damon being lonely, as well as what could have happened to him while he was deployed. While she knew nothing about the military, if he had to leave, it was probably serious. “I didn’t realize.”
“He’d never show it or say anything. That’s just the way he is. But … you … it’s the first time he’s shown any emotion toward anyone or anything.”
She frowned. “Yeah, well, I wish he would show his hate toward someone else.” Her shoulders slumped.
“Hate? What makes you say he hates you?”
“I …” His words came back to her mind, but she couldn’t say it out loud without her throat closing up. “Just … trust me, he’s not interested in me.”
“But he kissed you!”
“Please don’t tell anyone.” She buried her face in her hands. “Maybe … maybe I should quit now. I’m sorry, J.D. I can leave by Monday. I’ll find a way to pay you back—”
“No way. Look at me, Anna Victoria.” There was a fierce determination in her amber eyes. “You’re not going to quit. You are not leaving Blackstone.”
“But—”
“At first, I kind of thought you were one of those snotty girls who would laugh at me because I was such a tomboy, that I was nothing but a grease monkey’s daughter. But no, you showed me how genuinely nice you were. And I know you love Blackstone already, and you want to live here.”
J.D. was right of course; the more time she spent here, the more she wanted to stay.
“So, why don’t you finish your two weeks? You just have five days to go right? Hmm …” She scratched at her chin. “I have an idea.”
“Idea? What?”
“I’m not one hundred percent sure yet, so you’ll have to give me time. Give me until the end of the week. I might be able to line up another opportunity for you, but I have to check on a couple of things. Then you can tell me if you still want to stay here, okay?”
“I … why would you do this for me, J.D.? I’m no one to you.”
“I don’t know, girl, but … let’s just say I have a feeling about you.”
She stared back at J.D., flabbergasted. Gabriel had said the same words to her when they met. “I … suppose I could wait another week.” Going back to the station would be torture, but she would do her best to get through it.
“Great!” J.D. hopped to her feet and helped her up. “Now, I think we deserve a couple of slices of pie after this workout, what do you think?”
Anna Victoria laughed. “I think so too.”
Chapter Seven
Since that disastrous night, Damon did all he could to avoid seeing Anna Victoria. Taking Matthew Lennox’s advice, he put himself on the schedule for patrols. He also arrived at the station early in the morning before anyone else on the day shift did and left late in the evening to finish off his paperwork and other administrative work.
One good thing about this was being outside did him and his bear good. After last week’s disaster, he realized that maybe he was also being too hard on his animal. It needed to get out too, and keeping it cooped up for too long would lead to more uncontrollable shifts, like what happened last week at The Den. He couldn’t believe how he nearly … almost … shifted in front of her. Not again. What happened that night was evidence enough he should stay away and forget about her.
However, despite all his efforts, he couldn’t completely eradicate Anna Victoria from his thoughts. It was like she lingered everywhere, especially around the office. He could smell traces of her sweet scent when he passed by her empty desk after she left for the day. The paperwork she left on his desk had handwritten sticky notes telling him what needed to be signed, but all he could do was stare at her loopy, feminine handwriting.
And of course, the memory of her taste was burned into his brain. Every spare thought he had was of her. And he was getting damned tired of it, so he did everything he could to distract himself, working himself till he was so exhausted, he couldn’t think straight.
Even now, it was Saturday and his day off, he was still working. Though this particular task wasn’t strictly on the schedule, it still had to be done, and it was a good excuse to get deeper into the mountains and away from anything and everything that reminded him of her.
The cabin in the distance came into view as Damon trudged through the snow. It had been an old, abandoned ranger station that had been retrofitted to become livable again. Currently, it only had one occupant, who was sitting on the porch steps. Of course, said occupant already knew someone was approaching.
“Hello, Damon,” Milos Vasilakis greeted, his voice low and deeply accented.
“Hello, Milos.”
“Long time no
