Page 2 of Tormented Mountain Man

“Did you hear?” Pepper asked. “We serve alcohol now. Just beer and seltzers.”

As she spoke, my gaze landed on a large cooler full of exactly that. Cans of beer and flavored seltzers. Last I’d heard, the ski lodge was the only place in town to get alcohol. Everyone else had to go across city lines, like a few of my classmates had done in high school.

“I heard this town has a bunch of hot logger guys now,” I said.

I set my purse on the stool next to me and looked at Pepper. She hadn’t spoken. Her gaze was on something behind me.

“Yeah, there’s one right behind you,” she said. “I’ll be right back.”

There was a hot logger behind me? I wouldn’t look.

“It’ll take a while to get that big an order together,” Rosie was saying. “Just have a seat at the counter and I’ll grab you that drink.”

Oh great. I was going to have company. A hot logger as company, no less.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a hulking form approach. I figured he’d take a seat at the end, leaving plenty of stools between us. Instead, he came surprisingly close and pulled back the seat only two down from me. And then he spoke.

“Are you Joely?”

My head snapped up at the sound of my name. I looked over and nearly fell off my stool at what I saw. Holy hell, this guy was gorgeous. He was not at all what I’d expected.

Loggers were supposed to have long beards and look like they hadn’t showered for days. I’d been perplexed how my best friend had fallen for one until I saw his picture and noted that he was not scruffy like I’d expected. The mountain men we’d seen roaming around town when we were kids never looked anything like this.

As I stared into those intense eyes and tried to ignore the chiseled jaw and solid build, I said, “How did you know my name?”

He held out a hand. “I’m Hunter.”

A handshake? Were we doing business? I was used to it at work, but I didn’t have too many men thrust their hands out at me when I was out with friends—or sitting alone at a bar, which I never did now that I thought about it.

I eyed his hand for several seconds before finally reaching out and sliding mine into it. The warmth that shot straight up my arm and through my body made me jerk the hand right back again.

What the heck had just happened?

“You’re one of the two bridesmaids,” he said. “The bride has been talking about you. Actually, we’ve all been waiting for you to arrive.”

That made sense. There were only six people in the wedding party, including the bride and groom, and we were all staying at the cabin tonight. One missing bridesmaid would definitely be noticed.

“I’m picking up a bunch of burgers for the group,” he said.

That was when it hit me—I wasn’t supposed to be here eating. They were getting dinner for all of us late. They’d probably even waited until I was closer to town. I should have dug into all those missed texts better.

Pepper approached, pulling my stare off the guy’s handsome-as-heck face. “Burger and fries?” she asked.

I shook my head. “I’ll take a root beer float to go,” I said, glancing deliberately at the logger guy. “I have a wedding to get to.”

2

HUNTER

Icouldn’t take my eyes off Joely.

Our small group was gathered around the coffee table in the living room. The happy couple was on one sofa, joined by Joely, the beautiful redhead I’d met at the diner. I sat across from them on one sofa, while the other groomsman and bridesmaid, Dane and Cassady, sat on a loveseat at the end of both sofas.

All eyes were supposed to be on the bride and groom, but Dane and Cassady couldn’t stop looking at each other. The chemistry between them filled the room. My full attention was on the redhead sitting on the sofa next to the bride.

“Hunter single-handedly rid the entire mountain of deer,” Memphis, the groom, teased.

That got my attention. My gaze skittered over to Joely briefly. She was staring down at her mostly full wine glass. She’d barely sipped it during dinner, instead focusing on the root beer float in the foam cup.

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