Page 103 of Ten Mountain Men

I blink, realizing I’ve been staring at her too long, barely hearing as she contemplates out loud what to do with all our books.

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m good.” I flash him a grin, but even I can feel it’s half-hearted.

“You sure?” Buck gives me that knowing look again. Damn it, he sees right through me. I’ve never been good at hiding shit from him. “You don’t look good. You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“I said I’m good.” My voice comes out more clipped than I mean for it to, so I quickly add, “We just better get back to work, is all.”

But inside, I’m screaming. How the hell am I supposed to navigate this without falling even harder? How is it not going to be unbearable when she leaves?

I think of this morning, when she ran out, and how it awful it felt. How much worse is it gonna be in two weeks?

Should we have just let her go?

“I’m ready to help,” I say, turning to Goldie and giving her a smile that I hope hides the chaos in my head. “Just tell me where you need me, darlin’.”

She looks up at me with those big blue eyes and says, sassy as all hell, “Well, if you want to know the truth, I want you between my thighs with your cock buried to the hilt inside me. But—” She sighs. “Work now, play later.”

Dead. I’m dead. Dead, dead, dead. My heart is mush, my cock is a rock, and I am dead.

After glancing around, she wiggles her brows and says, “I think I may have an idea. Let’s go, boys.”

Then she strides through to the second bedroom.

“Yes, ma’am,” I say and she levels me with a backward glance, one brow cocked as if to sayExcuse me? I force a grin. “Sorry. Yes, Goldie.”

When Buck and I trail in behind her, she’s already inspecting the room.

“Yes, yes, yes. This is going to work. I don’t know how long it’ll take and I don’t know if it’s even within your skill set or if you have the supplies or the tools, but I have an idea for what to do with a lot of the books.”

“Yeah? Let’s hear it, darlin’,” I say, trying to sound cool and laid-back, even though I’m anything but. My gut’s still twisted, my heart racing like a runaway train, but I’ve got to keep it together.

What the actual fuck is wrong with me?

Goldie turns to us with flames of delighted fire dancing in her eyes. She claps her hands together excitedly. “Custom-made drawers. Under all the beds. You guys can build stuff, right? The beds are so big, we could put three drawers on each side and probably a couple on the ends, on the singles, and at least three or four under each set of bunks. I have no idea about the logistics of putting the framework together so they’ll slide in and out for easy access, but maybe one of you, or one of the others—”

Buck interrupts her, his face as lit up as hers. “Hell yeah, we can do that! Ain’t nothin’ to it. We’ve got plenty of wood in the shed and we should have the hardware too, but anything we don’t have, we can get next time we go into town. What do you think, Nash?”

I nod, leaning against the doorframe and crossing my arms. “Sounds like a solid plan.”

I’m actually thinking it’s one of the most brilliant, innovative things I’ve ever heard, but to be honest, she could say the sky is blue and I’d also think that’s one of the most brilliant, innovative things I’ve ever heard.

Goldie tilts her head, her eyes narrowing just a bit. “You sure? You sound…weird.”

“Well, flattery will get you everywhere, ma’am. Shit dammit. I meant Goldie. Not ma’am. Slip of the tongue.”

She beams at me. “Don’t sweat it, big guy. I happen to like your slips of the tongue.”

As she walks past me, she rubs my belly like it’s a lamp with a genie inside.

Dead, dead, dead.

She points at the two stacks of boxes against the far wall. “What’s in those?”

I freeze for a second. My gaze flicks to the boxes, to Buck, who has gone stock-still too, then back to Goldie.

“More books, mostly,” I say, my voice sounding tight even to my own ears. I shift on my feet, rubbing the back of my neck. “Nothing too exciting.”

She narrows her eyes again, like she’s sensing something’s off. “Let’s move those to the living room and sort them with the others, then.”

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