Lost in Her by Sandra Owens

curled itself around her head, and yes, he loved those opal-colored eyes of hers. None of those things were why, though.
    As hard as he tried to identify what it was about her that had kept her in his mind since the night they’d met, he just couldn’t put his finger on it. Whatever it was that attracted him to her was elusive, but it was there. That much he did know.
    Ryan pulled into his parking space, parked his car, then jogged up the sidewalk. Entering his apartment, Mr. Bunny hopped up to him as if happy he was home. He leaned down and scratched the fuzzball under his chin. What did it say about him that he was beginning to like having a silly rabbit for company?

    Two days had passed with no word from his favorite pilot. Ryan hung up the phone after talking to his contact in Helsinki and jotted down some notes from the conversation. After getting the important points on paper, his mind veered right back to Charlie. He didn’t like that a tiny cherub who obviously never intended to call kept invading his thoughts. Other than her name, two kisses that had rocked his world, and that she was a pilot, he knew nothing about her.
    Actually, he did know one other thing. She was as different from Kathleen as night was from day. Where his wife had been tall, Charlie was a tiny thing. Their hair was different; one had long auburn hair, the other a blonde cap of curls. Kathleen had been sweet and soft. He wasn’t exactly sure what he meant by soft, but he did know whatever it was, Charlie wasn’t it. Strangely, that turned him on.
    Comparing the two was a ridiculous exercise, though, and he gave a grunt of annoyance. Thinking of his wife only caused pain, and thinking of Charlie only served to irritate him since she had obviously dismissed him from her life.
    When Jake Buchanan and Jamie Turner appeared at his door, each attempting to enter first, playing a game of who could push the other out of the way, Ryan welcomed the intrusion. He sat back and watched them, trying not to laugh.
    “Dumb shits,” he said. It wasn’t lost on him that his friends were intentionally acting like buffoons in an attempt to amuse him. He knew they were worried about him, and knew he wasn’t the happy Doc they remembered.
    Both thought it was the death of Kathleen that had changed him, and of course it had been. How could it not, when one lost the love of his life? The part that he didn’t seem to be able to get over, though, he would never tell them. But he did his best to act like the man he used to be, or as much as he could remember of that man anyway.
    “You two should take your act on the road,” he said, giving a real laugh when Jamie did that special little trick of his and wrapped a leg around Jake’s, putting him stomach down on the floor.
    “Son of a bitch,” Jake grumbled. “You’ll pay for that.” Seconds later, the two were wrestling on the floor of Ryan’s office. When the boss appeared and leaned against the doorframe, Ryan wondered how he would react to the ruckus. He only knew Kincaid as a SEAL commander; he hadn’t worked at K2 long enough to know what the man was like away from the rules and regulations of the military.
    Kincaid looked at Ryan and rolled his eyes. “Fucking kindergarteners. When those two clowns finish their playtime, drag their asses to the war room. We just got some new intel.”
    Interesting, Ryan thought. Unless he missed his guess, Kincaid would have liked nothing more than to join in the fun. Maybe working at K2 might end up being like old times. One of the team’s favorite pastimes to burn off tension had been to beat the shit out of each other. They had set up a ring with mats, and whenever they were at their base camp, they would have matches. Their commander had always pretended not to notice, and once, after a particularly frustrating op, Kincaid had even stepped into the ring and taken on two of them at once, coming out on top.
    “Children, you heard the boss—time to go to