Page 4 of Thrilling the Mountain Man

NOAH

I’d stood on this porch countless times over the past few years. Grayson and I were constantly going back and forth to each other’s houses, borrowing tools or just having a beer and chatting about the long week at work.

But tonight, I was downright awkward. I felt shifty, nervous, and out of place.

I finally let out the breath I’d been holding when the door opened and I saw Layna on the other side. She wore an oversized sweatshirt and faded jeans, and her feet were bare, showing off painted toenails. Somehow, she made casual look sexy.

“I brought this,” I said.

I thrust out an uncorked bottle of wine my ex-girlfriend had left in my cabin two years ago. She’d also left a toothbrush, a tube of chapstick, lip balm, and a pair of shorts. I mailed all the other stuff to her after she dumped me, but I’d kept the bottle of wine as payback for all the fancy dinners she’d insisted on while we were dating.

“Nice.” She took the bottle. “Come on in. I saw some wineglasses above the fridge. I wouldn’t think Grayson would be the type to have those.”

“Maybe they’re Piper’s,” I said.

“Piper doesn’t drink wine.”

“Oh, that’s right. You’re good friends with her.”

I had to pretend I didn’t know everything about her, including that she’d graduated from high school in Columbia, South Carolina, before relocating to North Carolina for college. I’d gathered most of that information from her own social media posts, but she’d likely see my cyberstalking as creepy behavior.

I stepped awkwardly into the cabin. I should feel at home here. Normally, I would, but the dynamic of this whole place was different with this beautiful woman here.

“Yes, Tinley, Piper, and I lived in the same dorm freshman year. We all became good friends. We moved into apartments next to each other, and that’s where we still live. Well, my roommate and I still live there. Looks like Piper and Tinley relocated.”

“Yep,” I said.

I stepped farther into the room. There was a table over to the left with two plates, folded napkins, forks, and knives. We were eating pizza, from what I remembered. Did she use silverware with pizza?

“I could use your help,” she said.

She’d entered the kitchen and was staring down at something. As I drew closer, I saw the pizza was on the counter in front of her.

“I have a bunch of toppings,” she said. “I figured we could each top our own half, but you might eat more than half.”

She was right about that. I could demolish an extra-large pizza by myself. This one would only qualify as large.

“I’m flexible on toppings,” I said. “Lots of meat and some onions. That’s how I like it.”

Her eyes were on me, making it tough to focus on the conversation. She smelled nice too. Fresh, like a mountain morning.

“How about this?” Layna reached for the bowl of pepperoni and handed it to me. Then, she grabbed a bowl of what looked like sausage—or maybe it was ground beef? “We can do it together.”

Without waiting for me, she got to work, scattering meat over the cheese. I grabbed a clump of pepperoni and started spreading it.

“So you’re house sitting?” I asked as we worked.

She nodded. “While they’re on their honeymoon. Mostly, I needed to get away. I’ve been looking for a job for so long, I’m just... worn out.”

“What kind of job?” I asked.

“Human resources.” She sighed. “I have a degree but no experience. It’s hard to get experience when nobody will hire you until you have it.”

I nodded. “Sounds unfair.”

It was getting tougher to focus on the conversation. She was close. So close it was doing things to me.

She let out another sigh. “Yeah. It’s rough out there. Tinley joined her sister here, and Piper wants to run a bakery. We were all going to get an apartment in Raleigh once we found jobs, but now it’s just me and my roommate.”

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