Page 7 of Heart of the Mountain
“You’re staying.”
“I couldn’t–”
“Do you know your way back to town?” he asks. I shake my head no. “Do you have proper shoes to help you make the trek down the mountain?” Again, I shake my head no. “Do you have a flashlight or lantern to light your path now that the daylight is almost gone?”
I sigh heavily, knowing when I’ve been defeated. “Fine. One night.”
“One night,” he confirms.
I hold out my hand for him to shake, and this time, he does. “It’s a deal, then. Thanks for the extra blankets, I’ll snuggle up here and then I’ll be gone in the morning.”
For some reason, my chest grows tight at the thought of leaving him. Ridiculous, I know. It’s not like I can stay here forever and study the nuance behind each one of his grunts and growls.
“Take the bed,” Cutter commands as he sets the bedding on the coffee table next to the couch.
“No, thank you. I’m fine here,” I tell him with a saccharine smile.
“Bed.”
“Couch,” I grunt, attempting to match his deep, gravelly tone.
“Sadie…” He crosses his arms over his chest and stares down at me.
“Cutter…”
The man heaves out a frustrated breath and runs a hand through his hair. I try really hard not to ogle the muscles flexing in his arm as he tugs at the strands, but I’m only so strong.
“Take the bed…. Please?” He chokes out the last word as if it’s physically painful for him to say.
“While I appreciate the manners, I have to insist on staying on the couch. For starters, I’m already here. Possession is nine-tenths of the law, right? Furthermore, I’m the unexpected house guest, so I can’t steal your bed from you, too. Also, this is sure to be the comfiest couch I’ve ever slept on, so really, you’re giving me a luxurious experience already.”
I tip my chin up and smile brightly at the grumpy mountain man, completely satisfied with my arguments. He furrows his brow and opens his mouth to say something, only to close it again and frown.
“Fine,” he relents. Cutter mumbles something about how he crumbled too easily, but I’m sure he didn’t mean for me to hear it. I smirk in victory all the same.
I’m not expecting him to spread out the blankets over me or fluff my pillow, which confirms my earlier hypothesis: Cutter isn’t a mean, growly loner like he wants to portray. He’s a good man, a kind man, and even a gentle man, at least with me. I wonder, not for the first time, what his story is.
“Thank you,” I tell him sincerely once he’s satisfied with the three blankets tucked around me. “No one’s ever…” I trail off, not sure what I was going to say. No one has ever cared this much? No one has ever made me feel this safe in such a short period of time?
“Get some rest,” he says, his tone lower, a bit softer than before.
I nod, and he turns around, giving me his back. I can’t help but appreciate the corded muscles in his back and shoulders, stretching the fabric of his tight T-shirt with every step.
Closing my eyes, I snuggle further into the couch and pull the blankets up to my chin. This is certainly not how I thought my day would end.
4
CUTTER
Iquietly open the kitchen cupboard next to the sink and grab the bag of coffee grounds along with a filter. I’m careful not to make any loud noises as I fill the carafe and pour it into the coffee maker. The start button beeps when I press it, and I wince, looking over my shoulder at the couch Sadie is currently curled up on.
She doesn’t move an inch. Poor girl must be exhausted. I know I am.
I run a hand down my face, tugging at my beard before leaning against the counter. It’s only a few minutes past seven in the morning, but I’ve been up for hours. Truthfully, I never went to sleep. I couldn’t seem to get comfortable last night, and when I finally found an acceptable position in bed, my mind assaulted me with thoughts of my curvy little trespasser.
Sadie is unlike anyone I’ve ever met. She’s stunning, yes, and sexy as hell with her curvy hips, thick thighs, and green eyes that sparkle with mischief when she grins. But there’s something buried beneath her sassy smile and endless topics of conversation. I felt it before I even laid eyes on her, and the longer I spend in Sadie’s presence, the stronger the feeling grows.
Bits and pieces of our conversation from yesterday rattle around in my brain. In the forest, she said she’d been in worse positions than this. When I examined her ankle, she had enough experience with injuries to tell me it wasn’t broken or sprained, just a bad bruise. She said she’d had worse, which ignited flame deep in my bones that wouldn’t go away.
