Page 150 of Mountain Boss

“You could’ve kept your eyes on the road. Then you would’ve seen me slowly step out of the woods.”

“Yeah, well…”

“Good argument.” Sterling keeps his gaze forward, but I can see another one of his secret smiles trying to appear.

So, I poke him in the side, high up on his ribs.

His arm snaps down so fast that it makes me jump back with a yelp.

He shoots me a narrow-eyed look. “What are you doing?”

I give him a wide-eyed look back. “Are you ticklish?”

“Absolutely not.”

My mouth drops. “I can’t believe it.TheMr. Black is ticklish.”

“I just said I wasn’t.”

“I heard.” I nod. “And you’re a liar.”

He slides another look my way. “You saying you’renotticklish?”

“I would never tell such an untruth.”

Sterling shifts closer to his door, putting more space between us.

And I finally lose the battle against my laughter. “Relax. I’m not going to tickle attack you.”

His elbow is still pressed firmly to his side. “Mm-hmm.”

I settle back into my seat, then, without turning my head, I walk my fingers across the center console between us.

Sterling’s hand snaps out, grasping mine.

We drive in silence, and I try to steady my heartbeat, but it’s hard to focus on our surroundings when all I can think about is the way his rough fingers feel against my skin.

Holding hands shouldn’t feel so… intense. But everything with Sterling is intense.

It’s just how he is.

We bump along the narrow drive, and as we round another corner, the trees thin and I spot a couple of structures ahead of us.

Before us but off to the left is a square brick outhouse with a shingled roof and a metal door.

Still an outhouse, but it’s like something you’d expect to see at a rest stop, not in the middle of the woods. Honestly, better than I was expecting.

No regrets about bringing my own toilet paper though.

The outhouse is set a few yards away from the strip of land designated for parking, giving the illusion of privacy.

Straight ahead in the parking area are two pickup trucks—Sterling’s, Fisher’s.

And to our right is a gazebo and the cabin.

The gazebo-looking thing covers one big, square picnic table.

The cabin looks to be one room, like Fisher said, and that’s where everyone, including me, will be sleeping.

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