Page 11 of Her Bossy Lumberjack

It’s a big question, even if he doesn’t know it. In the space of a heartbeat, my parents’ faces flash through my mind. I can still see the resignation in their eyes when they were arrested outside our mansion, the way they didn’t even look at me. I swallow hard, forcing aside the memories until I’m back in the present, surrounded by leaves and cherries and the distant sound of the festival.

I don’t want to lie to Kane, but I can’t tell him the truth either. So I settle for something in between.

“I wanted to find somewhere I could belong,” I say tentatively. “Somewhere with an actual community.”

“You didn’t have that back in Winterdale? I always thought it was a pretty friendly small town.”

I frown, squeezing my eyes shut. Thankfully, he can’t see my face. I always thought of myself as an honest person, but since I left Silvercrest, it feels like I’ve done nothing but lie. The guilt is overwhelming.

“I guess I just wanted a change,” I say, swallowing down my emotion. “A new start.” I force myself to face him. “What about you? Guess you’ve lived here a long time?”

“All my life.” Kane reaches for a branch and pulls it down so I can reach the juicy fruit. “Left for a while when I joined the military. My Grandma raised me in a cabin in the forest, and I still live there now.”

I’m hooked on every word. There’s so much I don’t know about this sexy lumberjack—so many things I haven’t figured out how to ask.

“Your Grandma raised you?” I ask, unable to mask my curiosity.

“Yeah. My mom died when I was still in diapers. Never knew my dad.”

My heart pangs as I look at Kane. “I’m so sorry.”

He shrugs, dropping another handful of cherries into his basket and adding some to mine. “My grandma was great. Gave me an awesome childhood and taught me how to bake.” He smiles a little wistfully, his eyes meeting mine. “Where are your parents at, Ginger Snap? Back in Winterdale?”

Nope. In jail.

“Yeah,” I lie. “Honestly, we’re not that close.”

That part is definitely true. My parents were always too busy trying to elevate their status in Silvercrest to pay much attention to me. I spent most of my life being left with nannies and babysitters. Being the mayor’s daughter meant I got the best of everything. Everything except the one thing I wanted: parents who gave a crap about me.

“That’s why you came here?” Kane asks, abandoning cherry-picking to stare at me. “You wanted to get away from them?”

“Something like that.”

He grunts. “Do you like it here?”

“Yes.” Another truth. “I love this town. It’s everything a small town should be.”

Kane nods. “You’re not wrong there. I love this place too.”

“You don’t get lonely?” I ask tentatively. “Living out in the woods away from everybody?”

“I guess I’m just used to it.” He shrugs. “It’s where I grew up. But sure, sometimes it can be lonely.” He frowns slightly. “I never really thought about it much until…”

His voice falters, his frown deepening like he’s said too much.

“Until what?”

We’ve been moving gradually closer while we’ve been talking, a step here and there. Now we’re barely a foot apart, and my skin is tingling at the closeness. I have to tilt my head back to look up at Kane’s face, and my heart thuds as I take in his warm brown eyes, his dark beard, the way his lips are slightly parted as he stares at me.

“Until…” he says, swallowing hard. “Until someone walked into my woods and started yelling about signs and bears…”

I’m breathing fast, struggling to get enough air as Kane inches toward me.

“Someone?” I ask, my voice barely a whisper.

“You know it’s you, Ginger Snap.”

His eyes turn molten as he closes the space between us, and my heart explodes. I feel his beard first, rough against my chin before his soft lips press against mine. His hand reaches for the back of my neck, and he holds me still as he kisses me hard. All the pent-up frustration seems to spill out of us both as we clutch at each other, finally giving in to the desire that has been bubbling between us since that day in the forest. I reach up, wrapping my arms around Kane’s neck as his tongue slips between my waiting lips, setting off fireworks in my belly.

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