Page 4 of Fierce Mountain Man

She shrugged and picked up the box of adhesive bandages from the floor. She should be celebrating. Why was she acting like this wasn’t as big a deal as it was?

“I’d say it’s a pretty big accomplishment if you won fifty grand,” I said. “How many bakers are there in the world who didn’t even try? So, what’s your specialty?”

“Cheesecakes. Funny thing was, there were no cheesecakes in this competition. But my bakery will definitely have a selection of them. I’m thinking everything needs to be bite-sized, though, for the tourists coming through the shopping center.”

Tourism in Seduction Summit was pretty much a joke, but they were hoping to change that. A business like hers wouldn’t do well if she only had sales a few months out of the year. But I didn’t say any of that.

“Do you like living here?” she asked suddenly, crumpling up the paper that had come off the bandage.

I pulled my mind back to the conversation. “I came here for the same reasons you’re eying the town. They needed loggers for all the construction—to clear away sites for cabins and, well, stuff like the shopping center in town. I don’t think the opportunity is going away anytime soon.”

“And the more people move to Seduction Summit, the more they’ll need pies and cakes.”

“Don’t forget doughnuts,” I added.

Emmy frowned. “Doughnuts?”

“Bakeries make those, don’t they?”

“Usually, that’s a separate business,” she said. “But pastries, definitely.”

Suddenly, she set both feet on the ground and pushed herself up. I resisted the urge to rush forward and help her. She hadn’t asked for help.

“Ow!” she cried out, immediately dropping back to the ledge of the tub. “I think I may have to take you up on the offer for pain meds.”

“Hard stuff or over-the-counter stuff?” I asked.

She looked up at me, surprised. Yeah, I had a bottle full of hardcore pain pills to help with lingering pain from a gunshot wound I’d suffered while working in a combat zone. I nearly threw the whole bottle away, but something had told me to hold onto it just in case. And now I was glad I had.

“Just the over-the-counter meds. The other stuff makes me woozy.”

“Be right back.”

That was all I said as I exited the bathroom and headed to the kitchen. I’d just met this woman, but the thought of her taking heavy-duty pills from a stranger in a cabin in the middle of the mountains horrified me. I knew she was safe with me, but I felt this need to protect her from everyone she’d met in the past or might meet in the future.

I’d feel that way about any woman, but this was different. This was very specific to her. I might feel this need to protect her, but the one thing I couldn’t afford to do was fall in love.

No, that wouldn’t be good for her. I was not relationship material. I’d just have to find a way to keep my distance from this beautiful woman while still making sure she was okay.

But I could already see that wouldn’t be easy.

3

EMMY

Icouldn’t walk. I had to be able to walk.

I also needed to be able to drive my car from downtown Seduction Summit, where it was still parked, back up to the lodge. To the room where I’d be sleeping tonight—the room where all my belongings were.

My plan was to pack up in the morning and move to one of the hotels near the interstate. There were several of them, and I’d gone ahead and reserved a room for the week. I had no idea what I was going to do after that week, but hopefully, I’d be able to find an apartment in Adairsville that I could move into on short notice.

“I’m back!”

The voice of the mountain man who owned this cabin filled the open space, bouncing off the high ceilings. Tobias had carried me to the sofa and settled me in front of the fireplace, even being kind enough to turn on the TV before he left. I couldn’t process the images and sounds coming from that large flat screen, though, so I’d ended up muting it. All I could think about was how nice it felt to be taken care of for the first time in a long, long, long while.

“I caught them right before they closed,” Tobias said. “There’s a twenty-four-hour chain drugstore farther into Adairsville, but I prefer to buy from locally owned places.” He came around the couch, holding a bag, and looked down at me. “You doing better?”

Next to me on the end table was the bottle of over-the-counter pain pills he’d brought to me in the bathroom, along with a glass of water. He’d offered something stronger, but I didn’t have anything to do with liquor. Not with my genetic predisposition to alcoholism.

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