Come To Me

2. Diego

Chapter Two

Diego

Gemma Marlon stood in front of me, her fingers rubbing the hem of her T-shirt with one hand while she held the strap of her riding helmet in the other, swinging it lightly. She seemed a little nervous. Considering how she set my nerves alight and the sizzle of chemistry between us, I wondered if that had her unsettled.

That chemistry created a fizzy sensation inside with raw desire sizzling through my body. I’d met her when Flynn had dragged a few of us with him to yoga class when Daphne wanted him to go.

Considering my friends here were like family, I gamely went along with him. I thought I’d have to suffer through it, but there was no suffering involved. The second I clapped eyes on Gemma, I didn’t want to leave. She was a quirky kind of beautiful with a sensual, throaty voice that nearly undid me. I didn’t think she meant for me to be so turned on in every class that it was an act of will to keep my body in check.

She let go of the hem of her T-shirt and lifted her hand to sift her fingers through her ruffled curls. She had rumpled honey-gold curls. They fell to her shoulders, making me want to brush them away and dust kisses on her neck.

I paused, taking the moment to absorb her. She had big brown eyes paired with her curls. Despite the cool Alaskan summer, her skin was sun-kissed, like honey. She was on the short side with a toned body that was somehow inviting and curvy at the same time. She’d fit nicely behind me on my motorcycle, her thighs curving around mine. I’d wanted to spin around and kiss her senseless.

We stared at each other for several long seconds, and I marveled that she was comfortable with the quiet.

After a moment, she added, “I bet you get to see the best of Alaska.”

I’d actually lost the thread of our conversation. “What do you mean?”

“Because you fly, so you get to see everything from above,” she explained, gesturing to the sky, which was blue today with fluffy clouds scudding across its surface as the wind had started to pick up.

“Have you flown since you’ve been here?”

She shook her head quickly, her curls bouncing. “I took a plane to get here, but that’s it.”

“Well, then, I’ll take you. Coming in on a commercial flight doesn’t give you the kind of view you can get in the smaller planes.”

“You will?” she squeaked.

“Of course.” I felt my phone vibrate in my chest pocket over my heart. “I actually need to go.” That vibration was the alarm I’d set to let me know when it was time to head out to the plane hangar for a scheduled flight. “Not today, but give me your number,” I said, sliding my phone out. “I’ll text you when I’ve got a free day to take you.”

“Isn’t that kind of expensive?”

“You’re not paying.”

Gemma started to shake her head, and I shook mine harder in return. “Seriously. Give me your number,” I repeated.

After she recited it, I punched it in and sent her a quick text. “Just so you have mine. Now, I gotta roll.” I slipped on my helmet.

“Thank you again!” she called as I started my motorcycle.

With a wave, I drove off. The distance from her place out to the small airport in Diamond Creek was short. There was a commercial airport here, but I was aiming for the one where small planes, which were serious business in Alaska, were housed in a collection of hangars lining the runway. I flew planes for one of my best friends. Flynn Walker owned and ran an outdoor resort in the wilderness, twenty miles, give or take, from Diamond Creek proper. They served guests for a variety of outdoor activities, along with guided plane trips.

I’d met Flynn when we were in the Air Force together and would lay my life on the line for the man. So far, there were four of us who’d moved here after he let us know we could make good money. It was a dream job. I loved to fly planes, and Alaska was flat out beautiful, the kind of beauty that elicited a sense of awe.

After my time in the Air Force, I’d needed a place where I could land and do what I did best, and Alaska turned out to be exactly what I needed. Some of my best friends in life, close enough to call family in my heart, were here, and I got to live and work with them. Diamond Creek was a small town, but it catered to tourists, so there was good food and decent shopping, if that was your thing. I didn’t care so much for the shopping, but I sure as hell cared for the food and the people.

I made it to the hangar just in time. While I rounded up the family I was taking for a scenic jaunt, I made a mental note to check the schedule and text Gemma when I had a free day. I wouldn’t mind more than a free day with Gemma.

* * *

Grant tossed a five-dollar bill toward his older brother, Flynn, and rolled his eyes. “There you go. You win.”

Flynn swiped the money from the table with a chuckle. “Don’t worry, you know you’ll win it back.”

I grinned at Grant. “You absolutely will. Flynn’s lost his touch at cards ever since he and Daphne got together.”

Flynn cuffed me lightly on the shoulder where he sat beside me on the couch. “I’m not that bad.”

Tucker, who sat across from me on the other side of the sectional, cast Flynn a knowing look. “Hell, yeah, you are. It’s all right. We’re all happy for you. Plus, I’ve been winning more lately.”

“It’s not like we play for much money, guys,” I offered as Flynn gathered the cards and began to shuffle them.

I’d been working here going on four years now. Flynn owned Walker Adventures with his younger brother, Grant, the very one who was giving him a little hell, and his younger sister Nora. I supposed Cat counted too, but she was only seventeen. Their mother had started the resort with Flynn’s stepfather, although it had never really gotten off the ground. After they’d both passed away within a few years of each other, Flynn had left the Air Force to come home and take care of his siblings. Flynn was the oldest of the four, the only one who didn’t share the same father. He’d been in the Air Force with me, Tucker, and Elias, who didn’t happen to be here with us tonight. He was all but officially shacked up with his girlfriend, Cammi.

“I think I’m past the honeymoon stage with Daphne,” Flynn commented as he began to deal out the cards. “I’m not nearly as bad as Elias.”

“True,” Grant said with a solemn nod. “Both of you are definitely more cheerful.”

“Speaking of cheerful, where the hell is Gabriel?” I asked.

“Since when was Gabriel cheerful?” Tucker chimed in with a slow grin.

“He had the last flight on the schedule today and said he was going to do some quick repairs on that plane that’s been acting up,” Flynn replied.

Tucker caught my eyes, but I held my silence. I didn’t doubt Gabriel was actually doing those repairs. Like all of us, during our time in the military as pilots we’d also been trained as plane mechanics. But I suspected he was doing more than repairs. Considering that Nora hadn’t been at dinner at the resort tonight either, my suspicion was she was helping Gabriel. Those two were either at each other’s throats… Or, trying to hide the fact that they were tangled up in the sheets on occasion. Whatever their arrangement was, it ran in fits and starts. Flynn had to suspect, but then maybe he had a blind spot because he was so focused on Daphne lately.

Our game carried on. We’d picked up the habit of doing this at least once a week. It was something we’d done when we were in the military together. Although Elias was mostly staying with Cammi these days, even he made a point to come out every other week or so.

After one more round, Flynn was getting up to leave when he glanced around. “Who’s coming to yoga tomorrow?”

Flynn stayed in a private area at the main resort with Daphne and his sister, Cat. Grant, Tucker, Gabriel, and I shared this house that we’d built together only two summers ago. Elias still officially had a bedroom, but he didn’t use it anymore.

Tucker snorted a laugh. “Dude, not me.”

Grant let out a sigh. “I’ll go. Last time I didn’t go, Daphne asked me about it.”

All of us had a hard time telling Daphne “no” to anything she asked. She fed us so well ever since she’d become the chef at the resort that we all kind of felt like we had to do something for her.

“I’ll be there,” I offered. I wanted to see Gemma again. Although, yoga did actually feel good.

Tucker chuckled. “I guess I’m not as susceptible to guilt. I love Daphne’s food, and I thank her effusively every meal. Plus, you pay her, right?” Tucker asked, looking genuinely horrified at the prospect that Flynn might not be paying her to do her job.

“Of course, I pay her.” Flynn looked affronted at the mere implication he might not be.

“Dude, you have one job. Keep Daphne happy, all right?” Tucker teased. “Now that you two are in love, we have to worry about drama shit.”

“No need to worry about that,” Flynn said firmly. “Now, I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”

“When’s Aubrey moving up here?” I asked Tucker after the door closed behind Flynn.

“She says sometime next year. She’s got her pilot’s license and everything. Not sure how I feel about having my sister here, but Flynn says we can always use another pilot.”

“Dude, I have to deal with two sisters and my older brother as a boss,” Grant said. “You can deal with one sister.”

Tucker chuckled. “Fair enough.”

His eyes caught mine. “How are your sisters?”

I was the oldest of five with four younger sisters. I was up to my eyeballs in dealing with women. My family was tight, real tight. It’s just none of us were in the same place. My dad had been in the Air Force, and we were all military kids, used to bouncing all over the place. My dad had since passed on, and so had my mom. We missed them both like crazy, and I talked to my sisters without fail several times a week.

“They’re all good. Every week, there’s something to deal with. None of them are pilots, so I don’t need to worry about them coming up here to work with us. You know everybody will be up for a visit at some point, maybe not all at the same time though.”

“It’s a good thing you all get along,” Grant offered.

“Define ‘get along,’” I said dryly.

We loved each other, but we were known to argue. To a fault, no one in our family held back when it came to expressing feelings.

“Remind me where you’re from?” Grant prompted.

While Grant was a pilot, he hadn’t been in the Air Force with us. He was seven years younger than Flynn.

“All over the place. I was born in Texas, but my dad signed up for the military and we bounced around. We made it back to Texas later when my dad was stationed there. That’s where I finished high school. Because both my parents were fluent in Spanish, along with the rest of us, he got a good job as a translator after he retired from the military. After that, he started his own construction business. It worked out really well for him.”

“How do you like Alaska then? It’s a far cry from Texas.”

I shrugged. “It is, but when you’re a military brat, you get used to being in different places. I might’ve been born in Texas, but we left by the time I hit first grade. I suppose I know the state well because we made it back there later on, but home is more of a feeling than a place for me. I love Alaska. It’s beautiful, and I’ve got you guys. Y’all are family just as much as my sisters are.”

Speaking of sisters, my phone rang then. I glanced at the screen. “It’s Harley. I better take this, or she’ll give me hell,” I commented.

The guys chuckled as I stood and walked into the kitchen to take the call. “Hey, sis.”

“Hey, can I come visit?” my sister asked, getting right to the point, as she was wont to do.

“You know you’re always welcome. What’s going on?”

“I just dumped Joey, and I need a place to stay. There’s no f*****g way I’m going back to that job to stare at his face anymore. So, I quit my job too. I thought maybe I could crash up there for a while and figure out what I want to do next,” Harley explained.

Harley had a touch of a temper, not the bad kind, but the quick kind. She never pitched a fit. She made fast decisions and acted on them immediately when she was upset.

I thought about Elias’s empty bedroom upstairs. “You’re welcome to stay. Give me a heads up on when you’ll be here.”

“It’ll be in a few weeks. I’m gonna go stay with Terese for two weeks,” she explained, referring to another one of our sisters. “I haven’t seen her in a bit and then I’ll come up there.”

“That’ll work.”

“Perfect. Love you.”

The line clicked in my ear the second I said, “Love you too.”

Shaking my head with a laugh, I stared at the phone in my hand and took a breath. I loved my youngest sister, but sometimes she stirred things up. She also always had an opinion on my life. It would be interesting to have her here.