Page 8 of Loyal to the Mountain Man

I grabbed up Zachary’s clothes and held them in front of me like a protective barrier as he returned. I wasn’t protecting my nudity from his eyes. I was shielding my heart from whatever was about to happen.

I’d never slept with a man before, but I suddenly understood how it upped the stakes so much more. Being dumped by a guy you just kissed was no big deal. Being dumped by a guy who’d had part of his body inside yours was a different story.

But it wasn’t about that. This was much deeper. This was about feelings I’d had even before I got naked. Yes, if he’d walked out of that bar after lunch and never spoken to me again, I still would have been heartbroken. I might not have known as much about what I was missing out on, but he worked his way into my heart not long after we met.

“I’d better head out and take care of this,” he said, reaching out.

For a heart-stopping second, I thought he was reaching for my hand or maybe inviting me to come closer. But no, he wanted his clothes. The look on his face was all business.

I handed them over with a weak smile. I didn’t want him to know just how much my heart was breaking right now.

“I’ll track you down later,” he said, glancing toward the door. “I think I have a mess on my hands.”

He looked back at me. In that second, something shifted. I knew I was being overly sensitive now. The warmth in his eyes said he’d definitely track me down later.

Everything was fine between us. It was whatever was going on with his job that he had to straighten out.

4

ZACHARY

Colton was the best friend a guy could have. We’d been buddies a while, going all the way back to when I moved here five years ago, and we always had each other’s back.

“Go get your girl,” Colton had said at the end of the workday.

The funny thing was, neither of us had discussed what he’d apparently overheard outside the facilities. He’d covered for me, telling our boss the dog urinated all over me and I needed to stop by my house to change before going home. It, of course, wasn’t true, but it was a great story.

Not that my boss cared all that much. Owen was too occupied with work stuff. The city council was in talks to run an interstate right through part of our development, possibly derailing our project before it really started.

By the time I pulled into the retreat center parking lot, my mind was far from any of that. I’d help the boss deal with it tomorrow. Right now, I planned to do what Colton said and go get my girl.

Two women were standing on the sidewalk talking. I saw them as I parked. Perfect. I’d ask them if they knew where I could find Kelsey. I assumed she was pretty well known since the woman coming out of the pool had identified her immediately. In fact, the brunette on the sidewalk might even be the same woman I’d seen coming out of the pool. Her hair had been wet, so I couldn’t tell.

The smile I had pasted on my face faded a little when I realized the two women were in some sort of heated discussion, maybe even an argument. As I drew even closer, I heard them talking about spreadsheets. It sounded boring, but whatever it was, I didn’t want to get involved.

I breezed through the automatic doors and headed straight for the reception desk. “I’m looking for someone who’s here with the conference,” I said to the youngish blonde receptionist with a friendly face.

She pointed to the right, in the direction of all the conference rooms. I should have just headed that way. I took off, getting only a few steps in that direction before the employee called out to me.

“You won’t be able to go in there, though. Not without a ticket.”

I froze and turned. “Ticket?”

“It’s a cocktail reception,” she said. “I’m pretty sure you’ll stand out, even if you could sneak in.”

I turned back to face her and couldn’t miss the smile that spread over her face. I had a feeling I knew what she meant. It was a makeup convention, so it was no doubt full of women and not much else. Some burly mountain man walking in would definitely get attention.

“I could send someone in for you if you want,” she said.

The front desk worker was being overly nice to me. I’d credit good old-fashioned customer service, but I was all too familiar with the way she was eyeing me.

It was flattering, but it was wasted on me. There was only one woman on my mind, and she was the woman I’d spend the rest of my life with.

“I may take you up on that,” I said. “I’ll go check it out and let you know.”

A couple of minutes later, as I stood outside the meeting room, I regretted not taking the desk clerk up on her offer. The room was beyond packed with women standing in clusters. I didn’t know how I could start to find Kelsey without entering.

“You lost?”

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