Page 43 of Mountain Protector

“Have you imagined kissing me a lot?”

He brushes his finger across my kiss-swollen lips. “Every day.”

Joy fizzes up inside me. “Then I guess we should make up for lost time, shouldn’t we?”

“Songbird.” His gaze burns into mine. “We absolutely should.”

CHAPTER 10

KNOX

I’ve never had trouble focusing on my job before.

Never in the Army, when a lapse in attention can be the difference between life and death.

On the job site, I’ve always prided myself on my attention to detail, double and triple checking each project before completion to make sure it’s absolutely perfect.

And as a member of Green Mountain Guardians, my concentration has never wavered. I’ve always taken our cases as seriously as I would any of my missions.

I always found it easy to shut everything else out.

But now I’m realizing it was because I didn’t have something even more important to think about.

Or rather,someone.

Since the day I met her, Lark’s had my attention. And the longer I’ve known her, the more she’s occupied my thoughts.

I’d walk past a store and something in the windowwould remind me of her—books by her favorite author, the dark chocolate truffles she mentioned craving a few days prior, or even a new shovel to replace her cracked and battered one.

But since that kiss?

We’ve shared dozens more in the three days since then, but I think I’ll always remember our first above all the rest.

That kiss.

After months of denying what my heart wanted, of playing it safe, of letting my insecurities control me, the first time I kissed Lark…

It waseverything.

It was difficult to compartmentalize before. And now? I can’t stop thinking about her.

Which is probably why I’ve been staring at the weekly schedule for the last however-many minutes without actually registering anything.

But considering Lark would probably prefer that her—boyfriend? Is it too soon for that?—be gainfully employed instead of letting his business fall to ruin because he can’t stop thinking about how soft her lips are, I really need to get my head back in the game.

“Hey, Knox. Mrs. Adamson has another request.”

Looking up from my clipboard, I see Pete loping toward me, an amused expression on his face.

Bracing myself for what I’m guessing is a request Mrs. Adamson’s neighbors won’t be thrilled about, I say, “Sure. What is it?”

“Well.” His lips twitch. “She just asked if we’d be able to enclose the lookout deck and add heat to it. Because she doesn’t want to be cold while she’s looking at the”—he makes quotes with his fingers—“starsduring the fall and winter.”

I barely stifle a laugh as I look up to the second story, where two of my guys are putting the finishing touches on the platform for the deck. We don’t usually do roof work during the winter, but Mrs. Adamson offered to pay extra and said she didn’t mind the job taking longer than normal, so I agreed. “It’ll cost her at least twice what she’s already paying.”

“I know. ButIwasn’t going to tell her that.” Pete grins. “That’s your job.”

“I’ll talk to her. And let her know if we go forward with the enclosure, it’ll add at least a month to the job. We’re due to start the kitchen renovations at Breakfast Bliss next week.”

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