Page 5 of Wounded Mountain Man

I shook my head. “I don’t keep a lot of stuff around. There’s a burger stand in Adairsville. I thought I’d run down there and grab us a bag full of food and come right back. What do you like on your burger?”

Her eyes widened. “A burger sounds amazing, but that’s pretty far to go, isn’t it?”

I shrugged. “Fifteen minutes.”

She knew that. She’d said she was a rideshare driver in this area. Maybe she thought motorcycles couldn’t go as fast as cars.

“I’ll stop to look at your car on the way out,” I said. “Where are your keys? Feel free to make yourself at home.”

I didn’t even know what that meant. This probably seemed far from a home to her.

I was aware, as I stepped out into the warm night air and headed to my bike, that for the first time, I actually cared whatsomeone thought of my place. It was such an unfamiliar feeling, I wasn’t even sure how to feel about it.

So I shoved it aside, got on my bike, and headed toward the road that would take me to her car.

3

JESSALYN

Ijumped up even before the door to the RV opened. I’d heard his motorcycle approaching and realized just how on edge I’d been.

“How’s my car?” I called out even before I laid eyes on him.

He stepped up into the camper, carrying a paper sack in one hand and a six-pack of flavored seltzers in the other. “I don’t know what you drink,” he said, lifting the six-pack. “But this looked like something a woman would like.”

I frowned at him. I wasn’t sure whether to consider that a sexist comment or not. But he was right. I loved flavored seltzers, and he’d gotten strawberry, which was my favorite.

“Thanks,” I said.

I held my breath. I didn’t want to ask again. He hadn’t walked in giving me bad news, so maybe that was a good sign.

He settled everything on the table and walked to the kitchen, opening one of the cabinet doors. “Looks like a radiator issue. I think it’s a hose. I’m not a mechanic by any means, but I got some experience in the military. Plus, my dad taught me how to fix some minor things on cars. They’ve changed a lot since I was a kid, though.”

I stood and headed to the table. “Thanks for doing all this.”

“No problem. We can hop on my bike after we eat and get you home. Then you can call Brock at Brock Solid Repairs to tow it to his shop when he opens in the morning.”

Disappointment slammed into me with such force, it stopped my footsteps. I just stood next to the bench where I’d sat earlier, sipping water and staring at his gorgeous brown eyes. And that strong jaw that had me feeling a little trembly all over.

“I don’t want to be any trouble,” I said, sinking onto the bench and grabbing one of the seltzer bottles from the carton.

“No trouble.” He brought a couple of paper plates and a roll of paper towels to the table. “My schedule’s wide open.”

It wasn’t really that I didn’t want to be trouble. It was that I didn’t want to leave, and that was weird. I should be dying to get home and settle in for a night of relaxation. But instead, I just wanted to stay here with this super handsome recluse, drinking seltzers, eating burgers, and staring at him.

“So, have you always lived in this area?” he asked.

I was unwrapping my burger when the question came. My movements froze. How much did I tell him? I didn’t open up to anyone about my past, but I felt this weird draw toward him. I was safe. I could tell him anything, and he wouldn’t judge me. When was the last time I’d had that in my life? Never, that I could think of.

“I’ve never really had a home,” I said. “I mean, I had places to live, but they weren’t homes. For the first fifteen years of my life, we went from place to place as my mom moved in with different guys. And then, when I turned fifteen, I moved out and got a job.”

I’d worked some horrendous jobs during those years. Cleaning office buildings. Waiting tables in crappy restaurants where I was harassed by male managers and coworkers…

I skipped all that, though. He didn’t want to hear the finer details of my sob story, even though he was watching me.

I took a long sip from my bottle for courage and bit into the most delicious-looking burger I’d ever seen. It was amazing. Incredible. How had I been in town for three weeks without trying this place?

Once I’d swallowed that first bite, I resumed telling my story. “My friend’s mom took pity on me and gave me her car when I was sixteen. Eventually, I was able to save up enough to put a decent down payment on something a little better. And that was when I started driving for various rideshare companies. I did grocery delivery too, for a while in Charlotte. That was where I lived before. But the competition was fierce. One of my fellow drivers told me about Seduction Summit. No drivers and a growing population, plus all the tourists. And that’s why I’m here.”

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