Page 40 of Rescued By the Mountain Man

I reached over the armrest between us and cupped her face in both hands. This time, my touch was soft as I claimed her mouth in a tender kiss. “We’ll continue this at the cabin. Now, come on, let’s get the stuff we need for a few days.”

Dropping the duffel on a kitchen bar stool, I rooted through the fridge for one of my chilled water bottles. Frankie, Isaac, and Santos walked into the room, chatting and jesting, with Frankie holding Isaac in a headlock and giving him a noogie.

“…take it from a man who knows his way or two around women,” Frankie said. “After you set the bait, let her come to you.”

“With a fist to your face,” I said, grabbing the bottle. “You’re a player, Frankie.”

“I think variety is the spice of life,” Frankie grinned, unrepentant. His gaze dropped to the bag. “Going up to the cabin, eh? Aren’t the goldeneye not biting this time of year?”

“No, but the paddlefish are, and I want a good fight,” I replied.

“Also meaning you want a dislocated shoulder and a trip to the ER,” Santos clapped me on the back. “Gotcha. Just so you know, I won’t be?—”

“Warrick, do I need a second—” Zara stumbled into the room, her bag slung over her shoulder and every eye snapped towards her. She eyed us all while slowly adding, “—pair of boots.”

It didn’t take a degree in rocket science to know what was going on here, and the guys, like the goddamned bloodhounds they were—well, minus Isaac—caught on in seconds. They turned to me with smirks that I brushed off, and I set the bottle down with a warning clank.

“Don’t start.”

Santos snickered. “You’re making it hard for us, man.”

“Calm your premature jets,” Zara said easily as she tugged a bag of chips from a cupboard. “I am just going up there to take a look around.”

“And a flat tire or a sudden storm or a lightning bolt is gonna split a tree and fall it over the road—” Frankie smirked.

Santos chipped in, “Or Goose runs off somewhere and you can’t find him?—”

“Or little missy twists her ankle, and she can’t walk, so bossman has to take care of her—" Lucas laughed.

“So we won’t see them until two days’ time.” Frankie ended with a bellowing laugh.

Poor Isaac’s head was snapping between the three. “W-what—what sort of movies are you three watching?”

“Piss-poor ones, that’s for sure,” Zara laughed.

“We need to go,” I said to Zara. “Ortiz, don’t burn my bunkhouse down when you party tonight.”

She grabbed her bag, and I hefted mine before we headed out to the truck. Dropping my bags inside the bed, I grimaced, “I wish I hadn’t endured that.”

“If we had disappeared, it would have been worse,” she said while hopping into the cabin. “I mean, is it really that bad for them to know something is happening between us? It's not like you’re the President, and I’m your aide.”

Chuckling, I headed up the incline. “Hold onto that in case we end up in the shithole.”

Chapter Fourteen

Zoe

Warrick was grinning, and small lines crinkled near his eyes.

I liked seeing him smile.

Hell, I think I’ve eked out more smiles and chuckles from him in the short time I’d been there than I believe he’d ever had before I’d gotten there. This was a slippery slope, because if we did cross the line—no, not if, when we did cross that line, there would be no going back.

At one point, we turned onto a dirt road that took us higher into the mountains. Warrick seemed to instinctively know his way, turning at places that had no signs or trees or rocks to mark the intersection.

“You know this route well, huh?”

“Like the back of my hand,” he replied.

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