Page 5 of Savage Mountain Man

God, he was so freaking hot. I had to force myself to stop staring at him. He’d lost the jacket and now wore a Seduction Summit Lodge sweatshirt and jeans. I’d noticed they’d started selling those in the lodge gift shop this year. Until now, the town had been completely devoid of any branded souvenirs.Just wooden, bear-themed household items and assorted bear carvings at the one gift shop in town.

“I thought about it,” I said. “But I decided to chill in front of the fire until the restaurant starts serving lunch.”

It was a good excuse. Really, I would’ve been fine with a bowl of oatmeal from the breakfast bar before hopping in the car. But I’d been hanging out, hoping he’d show up here.

“You haven’t eaten?” he asked. “I was just thinking about grabbing a sandwich. I’ll buy you lunch.”

He didn’t wait for a response—just jumped up and gestured for me to stand. I glanced at my fitness watch and confirmed it was still a good twenty minutes before the restaurant would shift to lunch service.

“I have connections,” he said. “We can at least get seated and put our order in. I have a feeling they’ll make an exception, though.”

Now I was the one whose eyebrows shot up. He had connections. He’d mentioned helping with the construction here in town, but he wore a lodge sweatshirt similar to the ones I’d seen employees wear. Did he work here? Maybe he ran the place. No, I’d seen the owner, and this definitely wasn’t him…unless things had changed since last year.

Curious how this would go, I pushed myself to my feet and started toward the door, which meant breezing past him. The restaurant was far from empty, even though an employee was removing trays of food from the breakfast bar.

I glanced at my fitness watch again. Yeah, it might not even take Brandon’s connections to get lunch if they were already shutting down breakfast. I was a little disappointed. I wanted to see exactly how he’d line this up.

“Welcome to the Glacier Bar and Grill,” the hostess, whose name tag read Darby, said. “Two for lunch?”

I looked over at Brandon. He’d stepped up to stand next to me. He was hardly working his charm on the woman behind the podium, though. In fact, he had a bit of a grumpy look on his face.

This was the demeanor I’d expected of a mountain man. Kind of rough, definitely standoffish. What did it mean that he hadn’t shown that side of himself to me? Maybe he liked me. Maybe he was trying to win me over. Maybe this hostess hadn’t undressed in front of him before he even knew her name.

“Yep,” Brandon said. “Could we get a seat by the window? And is Mike back there?”

The hostess’s smile faltered a little, and she looked around, as if this Mike person could be standing nearby and she hadn’t noticed. “I think so. Is he the cook? It’s my first day.”

“Your first day is New Year’s Eve?” I asked. “Sorry about that.”

Darby shrugged. “I’ll be off in plenty of time to head to Adairsville to meet up with my friends.”

I was all too familiar with Adairsville. My friends had dragged me there every winter break going back to junior year. While it wasn’t exactly brimming with nightlife, there were a few bars and honky-tonks that served alcohol, and if you worked it right, you could get a guy to buy you a drink even if you were under the drinking age, as we’d been.

On New Year’s Eve, it was the only place to go to drink and celebrate unless you wanted to hang out in this very restaurant. I never enjoyed going out to bars, but it wasn’t like I had a choice. If I was here on vacation with people who wanted to party, I had to go with them to avoid fitting the labels they’d put on me.

Darby took us all the way to a corner booth—the one area of the restaurant that wasn’t overpopulated. They probably seated most people near the breakfast bar.

My heart sped up a little at the thought of having this guy to myself, but when I faced him, the view of the snow-covered green run behind him, I remembered our encounter just a few hours ago.

He’d seen me naked. Oh, God. This guy had seen me naked.

“Is everything okay?” Brandon asked.

I squeezed my eyes closed and took a deep breath. The last thing I wanted to do was bring it up again. I was hoping maybe he’d forgotten.

“It’s about this morning, isn’t it?” he asked. “You feel vulnerable. I could take off all my clothes and run through the snow out there if it would make you feel better.”

My eyes popped open. I felt warm in ways that had only a little to do with the image of him standing in the snow, wearing absolutely nothing. He’d be gorgeous. All hard muscle and sexiness.

But no, his comment had gone straight to my heart. He probably knew I wouldn’t make him do that, but the offer made me feel like someone cared about me.

When was the last time that had happened? My parents had been great at providing the material stuff. They’d sent me to one of the best schools in the region and now paid for my apartment while I tried to find a job. I had no right to complain.

But my reaction to this Brandon guy’s statement reminded me what was missing in my life. That cozy, comfy feeling that came from parents who truly nurtured their only child. I’d trade all our money just to have a Christmas where my parents were excited to see me home, not annoyed by my presence.

“Penny for your thoughts,” Brandon said.

His words snapped me out of my trance, making me realize I’d zoned out. Worse, I’d zoned out just after he offered to run naked through the snow. Did he think I was picturing him naked?

---