Unbearable: Russet Falls Series (9 page)

What the hell was she doing?

Here she was, at her
job
, making out with Zane, who
she barely knew!

And she was enjoying it.

She felt Zane harden against her thigh and she was somewhat
horrified and turned on at the same time. She pressed herself closer to him,
pushing her chest against him as she kissed him back, and he moaned softly when
she pushed her chest into him harder.

And then she came to her senses.

“What the hell? I’m at work!” she gasped, pulling back, and
stumbling a good ten feet from him.

He moved towards her again, his eyes filled with lust, but
she held her hand up. “No! Seriously, I must be out of my freaking mind,” she
gasped, fixing her shirt and wiping at her burning lips.

Burning in a good way.

“I need to get back to work! And you need to go!” she exclaimed,
raking her hands through her hair nervously.

“Come on,” he said in a husky voice, holding his arms out to
her.

“No! I must be a damn lunatic!” With that, she turned on her
heel and hurried out of the garden. She passed Paul in the lobby, who luckily seemed
none the wiser of her hot and heavy garden make out session.

“I’m back!” she announced as she passed him, and she slipped
behind the desk, feeling entirely out of sorts. It was perfect timing as a
woman approached her for check in and she focused on nothing else but helping
the woman with her room. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Zane slip
back into the hotel lobby, where he paced in the shadows.

What the hell? Didn’t he need to be at work? Why couldn’t he
just take his hot body and great kissing skills and get the hell out of her
hotel? How was she supposed to concentrate at work?

After she handed the customer her room key and wished her a
nice stay, she made a beeline for Zane.

“You need to leave,” she hissed.

“I wanted to talk to you again.”

“Why? I’m working.” She gave him a onceover, checking out
his park ranger uniform, “And it looks like you should be at work too.”

“Why are you so damn hot and cold?” he griped.

“Why do you keep trying to make out with me without even
asking? Are you that egotistical?”

“You certainly weren’t complaining,” he scoffed.

“You are such an ass!” she gasped. “I don’t know what I was
thinking! Thank you for my hat!” She spun around and began to cross the room
and then thought better of it, doubling back to him. “And just for the record,
most normal men ask women if they can kiss them before they just grab them like
a piece of meat and start making out with them.”

Of course, she would be lying to herself if she pretended
like she didn’t enjoy Zane’s take-no-prisoners, dominant approach to kissing
her.

“Whatever. I need to get back to work.”

“Good!” she snipped. “And leave me the hell alone!”

“Not a problem.” And without a second glance, he strode
across the room and left.

She took her time heading back to the desk, her heart
pounding as adrenaline coursed through her veins. Of course, Paul made his way
over to her, and she inwardly rolled her eyes.

“What was that all about?” he asked, a little too
possessively.

“Nothing. Just a misunderstanding.”

Misunderstanding my ass.

“It didn’t look like a misunderstanding to me.”

“Well, it was. A complicated one.”

Paul continued to stare at her, but when she didn’t offer
any more information, he gave up and went back to his office. Luckily, the
lobby wasn’t busy at all, and Gabby moved over to the continental coffee and
juice bar and began tidying up the area.

She had just finished up the beverage area when she saw a
tall, bulky man walk into the lobby. She smiled at him, though he barely looked
at her, and she hurried off to go behind the desk, waiting for the new guest to
approach. The man did not approach, but instead circled around the lobby,
checking things out. Gabby thought it was strange, and she watched him for a
minute, but then shrugged before taking out a stack of receipts to file.
Perhaps the man was meeting some guests here, or he maybe he was waiting for
someone. Sometimes, people even conducted small business meetings in the lobby,
though she knew Paul didn’t like that.

She slipped the receipts into the correct folders and then
decided she would make a few calls that Paul had asked her to make. She reached
for the phone and noticed that the man who had entered the lobby was watching
her closely.

It made her uncomfortable.

She took a deep breath and stared at the man head-on. “Can I
help you, sir?” she asked loudly. The man looked down and shook his head.

What the hell? Why was he staring at her one minute and then
practically ignoring her when she spoke to him?

She decided not to worry about him, and instead she began
organizing a bookcase filled with used books for the hotel guests. Paul was
working in his office, and the lobby was now deserted except for the strange
man who was still lurking by the back wall. Gabby focused on organizing the
books, and she became so engrossed that she did not even hear the man approach.

“You,” he growled and Gabby jumped, scrambling to her feet.
The man was less than two feet away, and he was much larger than she had
imagined. He had to be over six feet tall, and his shoulders were broad and
hulking. His eyes were a dark, dark brown, nearly black, and his mouth was
twisted in an ugly grimace. He was looking at Gabby with so much hatred that
she thought he must be delusional.

He advanced towards her and she took a step back, glancing
wildly for Paul. With a deep feeling of dread, she realized that there was no
one else in the lobby besides her and the man. As if reading her thoughts, the
man smiled a sick smile and stuck his hand into his pocket, drawing out a
knife.

Gabby gasped and she wanted to scream for help but was
paralyzed. The man laughed softly. “No one protecting you now.”

Gabby had no idea what he meant, but she realized that her
only option was to try to dodge the man and run towards Paul’s office. Terror
gripped her and her heart beat frantically against her rib cage.

She did not want to die.

She had no idea what the man was capable of, and fearing the
worst, she quickly dodged him, but he was too fast, and he yelled, grabbing her
by the foot and pulling her to the ground.

Gabby screamed as she hit the ground, and she tried to free
her foot as she clambered along the floor.

“Leave her alone!” A powerful voice roared, and Gabby
watched in amazement as another man came barreling towards her and the
stranger. He moved so swiftly that it wasn’t until Gabby had been pushed aside
that she realized her savior was Zane.

Tears of relief filled her eyes and she hurried away from
Zane and her attacker. She watched with horror as Zane punched the man in the
jaw, then kicked him hard in the stomach when he fell to the ground.

“What the hell?” Paul came skidding out of his office and
stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the brawl. He then noticed Gabby shaking
and crying on the sidelines and hurried over.

Zane had knelt down and grabbed the man by his hair, slamming
his head down on the cool marble of the floor. Gabby looked away just as Paul
pulled her to him.

“Gabby! Are you okay? What the hell happened?”

“That—that man!” she stuttered. “He attacked me! He had a
knife!” she sobbed as her emotions overcame her.

“What?” Paul asked, looking again from Zane to the other
man.

The attacker now seemed to be unconscious, and Zane dragged
him across the hotel floor.

Gabby gasped again.

“I’ll be right back,” he said, turning to face Gabby. His
eyes pierced through her and she felt something strange.

A connection?

A type of protection?

Or maybe she was just so freaked out that she didn’t know
what the hell was happening.

She watched in shock as Zane dragged the man out of the
hotel lobby, his rubber boots squeaking along the floor as he went.

“My god,” Paul said, taking Gabby’s hands and leading her to
the couch. “Tell me again what happened. Are you sure you’re okay? You’re
shaking!’’

Trembling, Gabby sat down, but she kept glancing towards the
hotel entrance. She desperately wanted Zane to come back. Paul was being kind,
but strangely, she only wanted Zane.

“Gabby, please! Say something!” Paul urged.

At that moment, Zane came walking back into the hotel, and
Gabby jumped up and rushed across the room to him.

He pulled her into his arms and then held her back to
examine her.

“Are you okay?” he practically growled. He was nearly
shaking, but Gabby could tell it was from anger.

“I’m—I’m fine,” she explained, “just scared.”

Before she could say any more, Paul was beside her. She knew
he was only being nice, but she wanted to tell him to stay the hell away.

“I’m Paul. The manager,” he explained. “What happened?”

“I’ve been wondering the same thing,” Zane said darkly. Both
men turned towards Gabby for an explanation.

“I don’t know! I noticed that he came in and kind of stuck
to himself towards the back of the lobby.” She pointed to where the man had
been lurking. “I asked if he needed help and he said no, so I started to
organize the juice bar and the bookshelf.” She trailed off as she remembered
what happened. “And then—and then,” she faltered and Zane took her hand. “Then
he was right behind me and I jumped up and he had a knife!” Her voice quavered,
but she held it together. How many times was she going to cry in front of Zane?
She was beginning to feel like a total baby.

“Did he say anything?” Zane asked, his voice hard.

“Umm,” Gabby tried to think. “I think he said ‘you’ as if, I
don’t know, he was mad at me or something.” She shook her head. “I just thought
he was crazy. And then he said something about me not being protected.” She
looked helplessly at both men. Paul seemed just as clueless, but Zane was
fuming.

“Does that mean anything to you?” she asked Zane.

He shook his head a little too quickly. “I need to look into
it more.”

“Listen, take the rest of the day off,” Paul said, patting
Gabby’s free hand. She had the feeling that Paul wanted to hold her hand too.

“Are you sure?” she asked in a small voice. She didn’t want
to be a wimp, but she couldn’t imagine going back to work.

“Absolutely. But I think we should file a police report
first.”

“I’ll take her to do that,” Zane spoke up quickly, and Gabby
looked at him with confusion.

“Shouldn’t we have the police come here?” Paul asked, but Zane
shook his head.

“You don’t want to scare your hotel guests. I’ll take Gabby
down to the station now. In fact, we’ll leave your car here and then I’ll bring
you back.”

“I’m sorry,” Paul jumped in, clearly confused. “How do you
two know each other?”

Gabby rolled her eyes. She knew Paul was looking out for
her, but she also knew he was jealous.

“I met Zane at Santiam state park. He helped me.”

Paul raised his eyebrows. Gabby didn’t want to rehash how a
bear had chased her.

First a bear, and now a lunatic. What the hell was going on
with her?

“She’ll be in good hands,” Zane said, his voice full of
authority. Gabby felt herself move to his side. She had a million questions for
him and she hoped that she could ask them on the drive to the police station.

“Okay,” Paul said, somewhat grudgingly. Zane started to move
towards the door but Paul pulled Gabby to the side. “Hey,” he said softly. “Can
you just give me a call later? Please. Let me know that you’re okay?”

Gabby felt bad for him. He was a nice guy and an even better
boss. “Of course, Paul,” she said, patting his hand. “I’ll call you later.
Thanks for being so understanding.”

She gave Paul a weak smile, grabbed her purse and followed
Zane outside. As soon as she got outside she froze and looked around quickly.

“He’s gone,” Zane said flatly, knowing exactly who Gabby was
looking for.

“Did you know him? What the hell is going on?”

“No, I didn’t know him.” He yanked open the door to the
state park car.

“How did you even know to come back? You had left. And then you
were back again.” Gabby knew how stupid she sounded, but it was so strange.
Zane remained tight lipped, but Gabby didn’t question it as she climbed into
the car. She buckled herself in and looked over at Zane.

His eyes were focused straight ahead, and he seemed to be
concentrating especially hard on something. She couldn’t quite put her finger
on it, but something seemed
off
about him.

Zane pulled out into traffic, and Gabby quickly spoke up.

“The police station is in the opposite direction.”

“I know.”

Gabby paused. “So, are you going to turn around?”