Page 6 of Merciless Mountain Man

“Your secret’s safe with me,” I said.

Her gaze held mine in a long stare that did something to me. That something happened to my cock, which had been ready to stand at attention at a moment’s notice tonight.

No, this time she was affecting other body parts. My heart was beating a little faster and my stomach seemed to be doing flip-flops.

She broke the stare to grab another onion ring, dragging it through the pond of ketchup she’d made on her plate. I took a second to catch my breath. This was ridiculous. She was a woman. But she was unlike any woman I’d ever met.

“So, are you one of the guys who chops down trees for a living?”

That was an interesting way to put it. I waited until I swallowed to speak.

“Joined the crew five years ago. Chopping down trees was the whole reason I came to Seduction Summit. A guy I’ve known since boot camp moved here, told me about all the jobs. Seems a bunch of us have settled here. Seduction Summit is becoming a regular military base—only for veterans who fight trees instead of for our country.”

“Makes sense.”

I frowned, reviewing what I just said. It didn’t make much sense to me. In fact, it sounded like I was rambling.

I had to ask, “What makes sense?”

“That you were in the military. Most of the guys around here were.”

“I look like a military guy, huh?”

“Yep.”

She took another big bite of her burger. She didn’t say any more on the subject.

So again, I had to ask, “Is that a good or a bad thing?”

I had to remind myself the silence was because her mouth was full, not because she didn’t want to answer. I waited patiently, watching as the bartender flirted with one of the servers at the end of the bar. The server didn’t look interested, but that wouldn’t stop the bartender. I’d seen it every time I’dbeen here. I’d intervene if necessary, but most of the women seemed able to take care of themselves with this guy.

“You’re definitely the type of man I’d want fighting for me in a war…or whatever it is you guys do. In fact, you look like you would’ve been special operations.”

“Nope. Just ordinary old military duty.”

I was always downplaying it like that. I wasn’t sure why. I guess I’d never been the type to broadcast anything I did. I didn’t want attention or praise for my military duty. It was my duty. Plus, I’d gotten paid for my years of service and even had a pension.

“Nothing ordinary about it,” she said. “You should be proud.”

“I am.” I nodded. “But I was also lucky. It was an honor.”

I didn’t go any further with that. No point in sounding like a cheeseball, making a speech about joining the ranks of thousands of years of soldiers who fought for our country.

She looked at me seriously. “Thank you for your service.”

“You’re welcome.”

Silence followed that interaction. Things had gotten a little awkward, and I couldn’t pinpoint why. I knew it had something to do with the fact that we were discussing me, and I needed to turn the conversation back around to her. But I’d already asked about her work.

“So, what do you do for fun?” I blurted.

Crap, that was a question I should have asked earlier. I sucked at this. I hadn’t dated in a long time. I was out of practice.

“Go to dinner with friends,” she said. After a brief pause, she added, “Go to lunch with friends. That’s about it. Sometimes we go shopping, but we’re all pretty busy with work. I’m trying to save to buy my own place. Apartment life sucks.”

“You live in Adairsville?” I asked.

As much as Seduction Summit had grown, we were nowhere close to having apartments. This just wasn’t a town that wouldsupport that kind of housing. We didn’t have enough full-time residents.

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