Page 4 of Wishing for the Mountain Man

She started toward my fishing pole. As I watched her backside, I cursed quietly to myself. I was already getting in way deeper than I should with this woman—a woman who was no doubt leaving town in a matter of days. I’d have to be extra careful not to get attached.

It might already be too late.

3

TESS

Jax no doubt thought I was an idiot.

Maybe that could work in my favor, though. If I was going to talk him into taking my virginity by the end of the night, it might be good that he thought I was a ditz.

But no, that wouldn’t work. I already cared what he thought.

“Ready to learn to cast?” Jax asked.

He’d been sitting on the ground next to the cooler he’d brought to capture any fish he caught. I didn’t even want to know what was in there. Next to the cooler was a bucket of worms.

“I’m not touching those worms,” I said.

That was where a normal guy would laugh. Jax didn’t laugh. I wondered what it would take to get him to crack a smile. It was my new mission to figure it out.

“I’ll handle that.” He started toward me. “Hand it over.”

I pulled back on the fishing rod until the hook was out of the water. Luckily, I’d been completely unable to catch anything since he got it all set up for me. I didn’t know what I would’ve done if a fish ended up on the end of the line.

I tried not to watch as he put the worm on the hook. It skeeved me out, but I didn’t want him to think I was a wimp. Or a girly-girl who couldn’t hack it in the mountains.

Even if I technicallywasa girly-girl who couldn’t hack it in the mountains.

“Here, I’ll show you,” Jax said once the rod was ready.

Before I knew it, he’d stepped over to stand next to me on the bank. He was too far away. I felt like an invisible force was drawing me toward him. Didn’t he feel that attraction too?

But then he tossed the line toward the water, and I realized it was a safety thing. He didn’t want the hook—or the worm on it—to hit me. That was what I told myself, anyway.

“Ready to try?” Jax asked.

Oh. Right. I was supposed to be watching him and copying his form. Instead, I was over here imagining what it would be like to have those arms around me, pulling me toward him…

“Sure,” I blurted after delaying just long enough that he looked over at me.

Jax made it look so easy. I was way too confident as I attempted to get the line into the water. It landed, but it barely cleared the bank, and I was lucky I didn’t take out one of his eyes in the process. And that was with him standing on the opposite side of me a good ten feet away.

He turned toward me. “Here, I’ll show you.”

He’d said that before. But this time, he moved to stand just behind me. He paused before he made any physical contact.

“Is it okay if I put my hand here?” he asked.

“You can put your hand anywhere you want.”

Those words slipped out like the word “hot” had. I’d had one glass of wine at the bar earlier, so I’d blame it on that, but any effect that had on me would be long gone.

No, it was this guy. He was bringing out a side of me I’d never seen before. A side of me I hadn’t even known existed until now.

He didn’t comment. Maybe he hadn’t heard what I’d said. His silence shouldn’t surprise me, though. If I could look back at him, I would probably see the same neutral expression he’d worn from the second I met him.

My universal consent was a good idea, though, because not only did he put his hand on my arm to guide me, but he stepped even closer. As his chest pressed gently against my back, I closed my eyes and allowed myself to savor the feel of his hard body against mine and the security of his embrace.

---