Page 22 of Claimed By 3 Mountain Men

“Yeah, right. Don’t remind me.”

I lean forward slightly, gesturing the trail.

“Lead the way, girl scout.”

Mac rolls her eyes, but she can’t hide her smile as she starts down the winding trail.

The sound of our footsteps and the forest around us swallow up the silence between us as we make our way through the foliage.

I usually don’t feel so stupid around women. Though JT is the smooth talker and Hank’s the charmer. I’m about to ask her about her family, when she looks over at me.

“You know, logging here has completely ruined the balance of the food chain. The health of these plants is directly linked to the health of the lynx’s prey,” she explains, stopping to examine a cluster of ferns. “If plant life suffers, the entire food chain is affected.”

“We’re just doing our part to maintain the forest. And provide for our town, and there is—” Her laugh stops me. She laughs right at me like I’ve told her the funniest joke she’s ever heard.

“And that’s admirable. But at what cost?”

“We’ve been selective about which trees we cut down?—”

“Selective? The clear-cutting I saw on my way in here says otherwise.”

“If you would just let me get a word in!”

“You’d what? Change my mind?” She raises a brow, taking a step closer to me.

“Maybe I would if you’d just listen for once!”

“Well, maybe I could if you weren’t so stubborn!” Mac glares at me, her chest heaving with each angry breath she takes.

I grind my teeth together watching her closely.

Beads of sweat roll down the side of her cheek to her chin, where strands of black hair are stuck to her face.

God. It’s hot.

“So, tell me, Ben. What do you think you have to offer me in terms of help?”

“More than you know,” I say, my voice low and husky. “And I’m sure you’d be surprised.”

Her face flushes but she doesn’t back down.

“Are all of you this arrogant?”

“There’s only one way to find out, isn’t there?” I step closer, my body mere inches away from hers.

Her breath hitches, and she bites her lower lip.

I see the desire in her eyes, the same way I feel it coursing through my veins.

Christ, this heat is unbearable. Between her and the blazing heat of the sun, I want to jump out of my skin. I need to cool off. I step backward, tugging at my sweat covered t-shirt and lifting it upward.

Her eyes widen in horror.

“What are you doing?” she asks, breathless.

“I’m hot. There’s a lake nearby and I want to cool off before I melt into a complete puddle of sweat.”

“You can’t just..” her voice trails off, her eyes locked on my abs.

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