Page 3 of Stranded with the Mountain Man

I couldn’t blame him. He was clearly in his mid-thirties. To him, I was just some recent college graduate with a bad-paying job. By the time I was somebody he might want to talk to, he’d probably be married with three kids. If he wasn’t already. He didn’t wear a ring. I checked the first time I saw him.

“I’ll see you around,” I said.

He tossed a look over his shoulder at me and gave me a slight smile just before slipping through the front door. Yeah, maybe Icould pitch a story that would give me a reason to be around this hunky guy.

I was a creative. I was used to coming up with pitches. I’d been doing it since I started working at the college newspaper my freshman year. The wheels were turning. Yes, I definitely could make this work.

2

ZANE

I’d spent the better part of a week trying to track down the curvy blonde reporter I’d met twice already. I knew where she lived. I just couldn’t think of a reason to go knock on her door, so I was counting on running into her in public.

My wish came true sooner than I could’ve imagined. I was working the fire drill at the town’s only elementary school when I spotted her standing near the kids.

I jumped off the fire truck and headed straight toward her. It didn’t matter that my fellow firefighter was probably watching and I’d catch hell for it later. This was my chance.

“Hey, there,” I said as I approached.

She looked up from her screen as if she hadn’t even noticed the gigantic red fire truck that was clearly in her line of sight. “Hello.” She lifted the phone closer to her chest. “My boss sent me here to cover this.”

I assumed by the way she rolled her eyes that she wasn’t a fan of the assignment. School fire drills weren’t exactly front-page news, so I got it.

“Hey, you never know when a story could break out at an elementary school fire drill,” I joked. “My name’s Zane, by the way.”

I thrust out my hand for a handshake. She shifted the phone to her left hand and slid her right hand into mine.

“Ella,” she said.

Ella. Beautiful name. I’d spent the past week wondering what her name could be. Even before that, actually. I’d first met her at the town Mexican restaurant when my buddy Clay sent me in to get his now-girlfriend. Even though I’d only seen her for a few minutes, she’d stayed on my mind until I happened upon her again last week.

As we released the handshake, I was alarmed to find I missed her touch. I wanted to do more than shake hands. I wanted to hold her hand. It just felt…right in mine.

“How’s your friend?” I asked.

“Mrs. Bracegirdle?” She rolled her eyes again. “She’s diabetic. Apparently, her morning doughnut habit finally caught up with her.”

I smiled. That woman had called us to her house multiple times. We all had figured out she enjoyed having firefighters in her house. But there was something charming about her, and I was actually growing to care about her.

“Would your boss have a problem with you doing a ride-along?” I asked.

Ella’s eyes widened, and suddenly she was looking at me in an all-new light. She was looking at me like I could be the answer to all her problems. I didn’t know what those problems were, but I’d be happy to give it a try.

“How long will it take?” she asked. “You know what? Never mind. I’m in.”

Those words brought a smile to my face. But then I remembered I wasn’t the only one on the truck. Today, I hadFrank with me. And while we worked well together, he was a long-timer, both in this town and on the volunteer fire crew. He could very well tell me “no ride-alongs allowed” and I couldn’t do a thing about it.

It’s better to ask for forgiveness than beg for permission.That quote popped into my head. It was something my mom had said often. She’d raised me to go after what I wanted in life and not let fear hold me back.

And what I wanted right now was this beautiful woman who was standing in front of me. In fact, I’d never wanted anything more.

“Follow me,” I said, turning on one foot.

My gaze scanned past the lines of kids now streaming back into the school. The fire drill was over. Our assignment to show up and do a quick run-through of the school was complete.

Frank was already in the driver’s seat. As I climbed up, I paused to ask him a question.

“Mind if we bring company back to the station?”

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