His By Sunrise: A Military Erotic Romance (Sexy Siesta Series Book 1) by Talina Perkins

BLAKE MITCHELL stood with his arms crossed, propped up against the wall for support while his blood pressure thundered through his veins, intent on taking him out for good this time.
    He glanced over at the mahogany desk that took up much of the portable office’s front room, his vision zeroed in on the letter perched on the corner.
    Any chance he’d read wrong? He pinched the bridge of his nose to fight back the red cloud threatening his vision. Going thirty-six hours without sleep played with the mind. Maybe he was seeing things.
    Negative on all accounts.
    Bold font stared up at him, and a sense of betrayal slapped him in the face. The letter spelled it out for him in about three hundred words—give or take a few.
    The black ink got under his skin, but it was the slash of blue ink at the bottom that drove a double-edged knife hilt deep into his chest.
    Blazed across the bottom of the resignation letter in perfect script—on his family’s fucking letterhead no less—was a blue signature that pulled at everything he had inside: Isabella Marie .
    The woman was etched so deeply in his mind his, thoughts were never really his own. He could be halfway across the world and still recall the way her eyes lit up when he came home on leave.
    He froze in place, paralyzed by the realization. No one had ever dug under his skin like she had.
    He rubbed at his chest to ease the stab of pain. Knots burrowed under his ribcage and gave him a nasty case of dread. What a fucking way to make a bad night worse. Didn’t think it could happen.
    He took a deep breath. Warm air laced with a lingering scent of perfume flooded his lungs, light with a scent of jasmine. Soft and strong all in one, just like the woman who wore it.
    Isabella was beyond his reach because of a promise he made to her dead brother, Adrian. An iron fist tightened deep in Blake’s chest. Best friend or not, he was still pissed about the whole load of crap. The man had no right to lock him in on a promise that would slowly drive him fucking mad. And then Adrian had gotten himself killed during a takedown on a known terrorist cell their unit had been assigned to eliminate. Everything about the fucking mission had gone sideways the minute the chopper touched down.
    Blake raked both hands through his hair. He needed air.
    He threw open the front door of the office where Isabella had worked with his family for the past year. He sucked in the cold winter air, hoping it would help ease the ache. As Texas winters went, this one had a bit more bite to it than usual, even for the city. He didn’t mind. It was a nice change compared to what he was use to.
    Sirens off in the distance caught his attention followed by a blast of horns. He couldn’t wait to leave the chaos of the city in his rearview and seek out the solitude of his home in the country.
    He took in the familiar lay of the worksite. Early evening fast approached, her eerie shadows easing across the empty lot. As a kid he spent every summer here with his dad, learning the ropes and working machinery before he could even drive a car. Nothing had changed in the year since he’d been home. He could walk the place blindfolded with how methodical his dad kept everything. Seemed as though lately the only time he did come home was to bury a loved one. His best friend, and now his father.
    He scrubbed a hand down his face. Tired from the trip then dealing with the funeral, his mind filled with what he’d do now. He was already considering retirement. Looked as if the decision was taken out of his hands.
    And now with Isabella leaving…
    He turned on his heel and headed back inside, taking in the last light of the day through the front window.
    He walked over to her desk and reached for the letter again. Before he closed the step-and-a-half distance, a stiff blast of heat from the overhead vent caught the corner of the heavy-weight, official paper—woman never did anything half-assed—and sent the sheet tumbling to the