Page 6 of Protective Mountain Man

I didn’t know what my plan was, but I couldn’t give up. Not if it meant spending more time with her.

“At midnight,” she said. “That’s my lunch break. But there’s no one to relieve me, so the front desk would be?—”

“You have to eat,” I interrupted. “Your boss would understand…if he even found out you took a half hour or so off to eat a sandwich.”

“But if he found out that I…” Her voice drifted off as she seemed to try to find the right words. Finally, she said, “If he found out I did something on the property, that would be bad, right?”

She was asking me? Hell if I knew. The last time I’d worked for someone else was in high school when I took a job at a repair shop in Adairsville, the neighboring town. If I wanted to take an hour off to do something in my own repair shop, no one was going to say a word. Not unless a customer caught me. That was the benefit of working for yourself.

In fact, maybe once this was over, I could talk her into visiting me at my shop. We’d lock all the doors and I’d get her naked and set her on the trunk of one of the cars. I pictured myself pounding into her, both of us naked and panting…

“So forget the pool area,” I said, forcing my mind back out of the gutter. “Meet me at my truck at midnight. I’ll grab some food from the bar and grill.”

A long silence followed where she seemed to think through her next words. I told myself she was just trying to decide whether it was too much of a risk. But finally, that smile appeared on her face again, like the sun finally coming out after days of clouds and rain.

“It’s a date,” she said just before she walked around me and out the door. “Meanwhile, get some rest. You’re going to need it.”

5

PORSHA

This was adulting. That’s what I told myself as I watched the minutes tick by, waiting for midnight. I was about to spend some alone time with a real man…and I was a nervous wreck.

Okay, so I’d oversold my abilities when I told him to rest up. I had zero experience with men, so it wasn’t like I could do anything that would wear him out. I didn’t even know what “rest up” meant.

But when it reached 11:58 and I still saw no sign of Brock, I wondered if he’d changed his mind about the whole thing. It could very easily be that he’d fallen asleep on one of the lounge chairs by the pool. If so, should I wake him up or just let him sleep?

I could always delay my lunch break a couple of hours, although my stomach was getting a little growly. I could eat the lunch I’d packed, knowing I probably wouldn’t be able to leave my post to go eat in the restaurant.

As the time on my fitness watch ticked over to 11:59, another possibility hit me. This front door wasn’t the only way in and out of the building. Even I had looked at the map and made plansto go out one of the side doors at the end of each hallway of rooms. That way if any of the sleeping guests over on the couch happened to wake up, they wouldn’t see me exiting out the now-locked front door.

Brock could be sitting in his truck in that parking lot right now, waiting for me. I stared out the front window, but all I could see was a sea of vehicles covered in fluffy white powder.

Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore. I had to go see. I locked my computer and headed in the direction of the hallway to the right of the desk. It would be cold as heck outside, but I couldn’t risk wearing my coat. If anyone saw me, they’d have questions.

I didn’t look around to see if anybody was watching, instead choosing to walk with deliberate, purposeful steps so that I’d look like I knew exactly what I was doing. By the time I reached the door, my heart felt like it might pound right out of my chest.

It was crazy, considering I didn’t even know if he’d be out there. But I took a deep breath as I pushed my way through the door.

The parking lot was packed. I hadn’t counted on that. SUVs and trucks were the majority, but Brock said he drove a tow truck. That should be pretty easy to find.

Sure enough, at the very edge of the lot was a white pickup with a trailer behind it. The wordsSeduction Summit Towingwere printed on the passenger door. I began walking in that direction, telling myself I’d look foolish if the truck was empty. But as I drew closer, I definitely saw the outline of a person in the driver’s seat. Even closer and I easily made out that the person was bulky, had a beard, and was definitely Brock.

I kept walking, telling myself it was just lunch, nothing more. If it was too much too soon, we could always table the other stuff for later.

“Hi,” he said as I climbed into the passenger seat.

“Hi.” I felt shy. “I don’t think anyone saw me.”

Two foam containers were stacked on his lap. He handed one over to me and gestured toward his cup holder.

“I wasn’t sure what you wanted to drink, so I brought water,” he said.

“Perfect.”

Water probably wouldn’t have been my beverage of choice for lunch, but right now, I needed it. My stomach was so fluttery, I doubted I could eat, but hydrating couldn’t hurt.

“I’m kind of out of practice with this stuff,” he said. “I’ve had my head down, working my butt off at the garage. This time of year, I have a constant flow of skiers coming through town with vehicles not equipped for the steep terrain, so I tow them and fix them. When things die down, I guess I kind of hole up at home.”

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