Page 14 of Hunted By the Mountain Man

“You promise you won’t freak out if I admit something to you?” Beau asks, his face stony.

“I promise,” I say without hesitation, far too curious to turn back now.

“Because it implies an overlapping of our fates. Something I want, though it’s been a highly inconvenient realization.”

“Highly inconvenient? Why?”

He stiffens, looking like the cat who swallowed the canary. “Because I’m a loner, Brynn. The kind of guy who doesn’t want to rely on anyone else for anything.”

“Is it really about having to rely on somebody else?” I ask, puzzled.

He pauses for a long moment, looking up to the right side of the ceiling before answering, “It’s also about being vulnerable. Putting my heart out there to be hurt by somebody.” He looks down, shaking his head. “This truth-telling stuff is intense.”

“It is, isn’t it?” I respond breathily. “It’s amazing how quickly you can get to know somebody when you cut through all the bullshit, though.”

“Or stalk them for a week,” he murmurs, his eyes simmering.

“Are you flirting with me, Beau?” I ask, speaking to the seductive arch of his eyebrow and smooth delivery.

“Could be…”

“Honesty,” I remind.

He works hard to suppress the grin that captures his face, failing. “Yes, in that case. I am flirting with you. Is that okay?”

“Yes. Very much so.”

“Even though I’m thirty-eight to your twenty-five?”

“I like older men.”

“Much older men,” he corrects. “Why?”

“Okay,” I admit, looking down. “You caught me. It’s not so much older men that I like. It’s you that I like.”

“I prefer that answer,” he observes huskily, inching closer to me. I can feel the electricity sizzling between us as he reaches his hand towards my hair. Wrapping one of my ruby-colored locks around his fingers, he strokes it with his thumb. “Your hair’s as silky as I imagined it would be. And you smell like me now instead of your usual strawberry shortcake perfume—all sugar, vanilla, and berries.”

My eyes drop to his hand, touching my hair like it’s a priceless treasure. I don’t understand why I haven’t burst into flames yet, the air suddenly on fire around us.

“I know so much about you. But what do you need to know about me, Butterfly?”

It takes me an awkward moment to process his words, my mind fuzzy with want. “What’s your favorite candy?”

“I don’t eat candy,” he mutters grumpily, leaning back and dropping my hair.

I frown. “Really? Well, what if you did?”

“I’m more of a dark chocolate kind of guy than those fruity sweets you like. Sorry to disappoint.”

“Oh, I like chocolate, too.”Preferably drizzled down your chest for me to lick clean.I shake my head almost imperceptibly to clear my thoughts. This man is destroying my willpower one naughty fantasy at a time. I wonder if he knows what he’s doing.

His eyes bore into me, dark and dissatisfied.What is he thinking?Clearing his throat, he says in rich tones, “Especially peanut butter and chocolate together. And I make a mean homemade hot cocoa. I’ll have to do it for you tomorrow.”

Tomorrow? My chest heaves at the thought of waking up under the same roof as this feral man.

Licking my lips sensually and watching his eyes smolder as they drop to my mouth again, I question, “When I asked around, people said you were born and raised in Murrieta. Do you like living here? Or is it out of habit?”

“I love living here. It doesn’t get any more rugged and pristine. I could take you on hikes and show you places that would make your soul sing. Places that would have you doing all sorts of fancy poses on your mat.” His delivery is serious, but I swear his eyes twinkle for one brilliant, though fleeting, moment.

---