Page 160 of Mountain Boss

It’s still dark out, but it’s getting lighter.

They might’ve seen us.

I listen closely, straining my ears.

The creak of a bed frame signals the person going back to sleep, but I can’t tell which bunk it is. It doesn’t sound like the one closest to us, which would hopefully mean it’s not Fisher who’s up. But I can’t be certain.

“Sterling,” I whisper.

He doesn’t respond.

I wiggle my fingers free of his grip and tap my fingertip against his chest. “Sterling.”

The arm around my back tightens, and I hear a small rumble in his chest. But that’s it.

I need him to wake up, but his sleepiness is so cute I find myself smiling.

“Sterling.” I flatten my hand on his chest and give him a little shake.

The hand on my back slides up over my shoulder.

I think he’s going to hug me to him, but then his hand is reaching around and clamping down over my mouth.

I grin under his palm.

This man is such a goober.

Then I remember what I learned yesterday.

I shift back, just enough to make room for the hand that’s trapped between us. Then I dart it up, wiggling my fingers in his armpit.

Sterling’s eyes snap open.

The palm over my mouth stifles my laugh.

The arm around my back squeezes me to him, but my fingers are already at their target. Still wiggling.

In a blink, Sterling twists toward me, rolling me onto my back until he’s looming over me.

With his hand off my mouth, I work to keep my breathing quiet.

We’re right on the edge of the bunk. And if I wasn’t so turned on—looking up at his mostly naked body, feeling his hardness against my thigh—I’d be worried about falling off the bed.

“Morning,” I whisper.

His eyes drop to my mouth. And stay there. “Morning, Honey.”

Honey. Gah.

I shift, that hardness against my leg feeling harder with each moment.

Then I remember why I woke him up.

I use my head and brows to gesture toward the rest of the room. “Someone was up.”

Sterling lifts his head and looks around.

“Shit,” he whispers, then drops his full weight onto me.

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