Page 31 of Mountain Men Heroes

“First, if you’re talking about my smile and smashing good looks, then you might be right. Between you and me, I’ve been known to flash Mrs. Marty down at the donut shop a few smiles for one of her heart-stopping, double-dipped chocolate fudge brownies.” He licked his lips and raised his face up to the sun as if praying for one to fall into his hands right that minute. A small laugh slipped and she bit at her lips to hide the smile. Damn him. He always knew how to make her laugh, especially when she desperately tried not to.

Before arriving in Savage Ridge two months earlier, she had no idea such a sinful brownie existed. As a Los Angeles native, she was no newbie to the delicacies a coffee shop offered. After her stay here, she’d have a hard time breaking her own addiction, in more ways than one.

“Oh really. So if I learn how to make those, what would you flash me?”

The tips of his mouth curved up into a purely evil grin and he raised his sunglasses to wink at her as if daring her. It reached into the amber depths of his eyes until they brimmed with mesmerizing mischief.

She crossed her hands over her breasts and the motion pulled the T-shirt beneath the dangling ends of her scarf tight across her chest, earning her a hot look. With one army-green wader on and the other momentarily forgotten to the side, she squinted her eyes and shot him a quizzical glare. “Ethan Savage, what are you thinking?”

“How good you would taste as a chocolate caramel, double-dipped dessert.” Emphasis on the caramel. The man’s sweet tooth would be her downfall.

Remy bit back a gasp that threatened to be a deep groan as she imagined the sensation his fantasy whipped up. “Don’t let anyone ever accuse you of holding back.” She tsked and returned to her task. “Be good and let me get my work done and you might find out what chocolate tastes like on this caramel dessert.” She stroked her hands down either side of her body and winked.

He was dangerously too easy on the eyes. If she wasn’t careful, it wouldn’t only be the brownies she missed when the summer fun ended and she returned to her life back in California. A shudder crossed the back of his shoulders before he slipped his gaze back behind a pair of aviator glasses. What a shame.

“So what’s the second thing?” She bit at the inside of her lower lip to rein in the grin wanting to spread across her face from the obvious way she affected him. He could try to hide it all he wanted.

He offered her a hand and hauled her up. A deep crease formed between his brows in a way that almost had her convinced of something serious to come.

“Second,” he leaned until their noses almost touched and slid those damn sexy glasses down a fraction to peg her with a look that said he was being one hundred percent honest, “Wanna accuse me of whisking you off to the middle of nowhere so no one can hear your screams? Fair enough, but I’m not the one that packed enough scarves to rescue Rapunzel from her tower or, as I fear, tie up a helpless mountain man.” He rose to his full height, pushing his glasses back in place. “Wait.” He clasped both hands over his mouth. “I fell into your wicked trap, didn’t I? Admit it, woman. You’ve lured me here to where no one can hear my screams!”

Ethan barely got his last words out before Remy gave him a stiff jab to the ribs. “Oh shut up, you big silly man. Helpless is not a word I would use to describe you.” More like a fucking bear of a man. Ripped and toned.

“Oomph.” Rubbing at his side, he backed up with the biggest grin on his face. “Really, how would you describe me?”

She gathered several vials from her kit, avoiding making any eye contact.

It took everything she had not to tackle him to the ground and show him how damn irresistible she found him. Make him really scared of her and what she could do with the piece of rope she had in her satchel and her imagination. This deep in the woods, no one would hear either of their screams.

Ethan doubled over, his hands braced on his knees laughing.

“You’re insufferable, that’s what I think. How do any of your family put up with you?” Remy giggled, sidestepping his question for the most part.

Waves of cool air swept up from the lake to ruffle the loose strands of hair by her face. Ethan reached between them and caught a long piece teasing the corner of her lip.

He drank in the sight of her from rubber boots to her sloppy ponytail and crop top. “And you are beautiful in full doctor mode.”

He stood close now, so close the smell of Mother Nature mixed with everything that made Ethan so damn tempting. Auburn glints of light caught in his dark hair and made him appear as if he belonged right where they were at, in the deep woods and far from where the touch of humans had yet to tarnish. Hopefully.

So far so good, anyway. That thought brought her back around to her purpose here. They’d tested three smaller natural ponds in the area late last evening and now she needed samples from this lake. In the last two months, she’d taken several samples of the water from various sources in the surrounding areas of Savage Ridge as well with no luck in finding what was making the local wildlife ill.

He raised his sunglasses to rest on the top of his head. “You keep looking at me like that and no amount of begging and finger-wagging will stop me. Those sad eyes kill my resolve.”

“It’s just that we should have an answer by now, you know?”

A sudden seriousness came over him. “I do and you will. We’ll figure it out and then we can get back to the fun times, Remy.” He tilted her chin up to meet her gaze. “Woman, you make me want to do things that I’ve never done before.”

Unease tightened the muscles of his shoulders beneath her touch. His gaze swam with something close to what looked as though he had a lot more to say on the matter, but instead he sealed his lips in a fine line.

Men. Savage men to be exact. She’d witnessed that same pursed lips look on all four brothers and she knew for a fact it originated with the elder of the crew. A man as burly and unruly as his offspring.

It took all she had not to push Ethan to say what she saw written clear as the Alaskan sky on his face. But if she did that she would scare him off and could kiss her last remaining days here with him goodbye.

The way his eyes swirled between a deep gold and liquid amber seemed to read like he wanted to say their time together meant more to him than a quickie weekend. Then again, maybe she only wanted to hear the words, true or not.

She opened her to mouth to ask but sucked in a brutal gasp instead.

A single crack carried across the expanse of the lake, and Remy hit the ground before Ethan had even ducked.

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