Page 14 of Thirst in the Mountains

I hold my breath as I wait for her answer. It’s the question I’ve been dying to know the answer to since this morning. I even looked him up on all the socials, but I couldn’t find a profile anywhere. He probably has better mountain man things to do than stare at a screen, like chopping wood shirtless or swimming naked in a cold lake.

“Oh yeah,” she says with a sad little sigh. “I’ve known him since we were kids and he’s never had a girlfriend. None that I know of anyway and trust me, I would know.”

I don’t doubt that.

“Allthe girls in high school tried to snag him,” she goes on, “but none of us had any luck.”

“Why not?”

She rolls her eyes. “He’s one ofthose.”

“Those what?”

“Those guys who wait for their soul mates,” she says, clearly annoyed that she wasn’t the one he was waiting for. “They’re only interested in the girl who was made for them and all the rest of us are chopped liver.”

“Oh,” I say, glancing at the window.

“Ridiculous, right?”

I don’t think so. I’m getting tingly all over thinking of Emmanuel like that, with so many options, who chooses to remain loyal to his soul mate.

“I think it’s kind of romantic.”

Jenny scoffs. “I think it’s a waste. A body that hot and he doesn’t want to share it. That’s a crime against nature.”

I can’t help but chuckle as she heads to the kitchen window where her plates are coming up.

“So, he’s from here?” I ask as I grab one while she grabs the other two.

“Oh yeah,” she says as we head into the dining room. “He was born in these mountains and now he protects them. Well, he was born in the hospital but you know what I mean.”

I’m keeping one eye on his cop car and I walk right into an empty table, slamming it with my thigh.Ow!I’ve been distracted all day. I can’t stop thinking of him.

The intense way he was looking at me… God, it still gives me shivers.

His big strong hand wrapped around my wrist… His delicious masculine smell… I wantmore…

We deliver the plates and then head back to the server area. I take the long way through the quiet restaurant, swinging by the large window that gives the best view of Emmanuel’s cop car. It’s dark out now and the street is pretty empty. I don’t think there’s a lot of crime to worry about on a Monday night in the Greene Mountains.

If Emmanuel wasn’t looking out for me, he’d probably be napping in his car somewhere or looking at his phone. Actually, that’s whatIwould be doing. He’d probably be doing a thousand push-ups.

His car is empty.Damn it.I need my hot mountain man fix!

I’m trying to remember every detail of his tattooed arms as I walk into the back, looking for something to do. I’m going crazy here. I keep thinking of him in that tank top and getting turned on.

I need something that’s the opposite of sexy.

The garbage…

I pull out the bag and tie it into a knot, but even that doesn’t work. I’m back to thinking about that massive chest and wondering what it would feel like to drag my fingertips down it as I head to the back door. Nothing is working.

I’m crushing hard on this man.

“I’m bringing the garbage out,” I call out to Jenny who is crouched down and hiding behind the counter, absorbed into her phone. She gives me a thumbs up.

I step out through the back door and take a deep breath of the crisp night air. I’ll never get used to the feeling of this cool mountain air filling my lungs. It’s electrifying.

I smile as I walk over to the garbage bin, trying not to drag the heavy bag on the ground.

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