Page 121 of Snowed In With the Mountain Man
He grunted his agreement, his mouth too full to speak.
After their early dinner, he followed her into the subway, not bothering to ask where they were headed. It wasn’t like he knew one neighborhood from the next.
When they got out, he caught her pinching her lips together like she was holding back a laugh.
“You look like the cat that ate the canary. Where exactly are you taking me?”
Her grin was mischievous and adorable. “I thought of a place where you might fit in.”
“Uh-oh,” he muttered, making her giggle.
When they turned a corner and the neon sign came into view, he stopped, froze… and then burst out laughing. “What on earth is The Lumberjack?”
She was laughing too as they took in the sign, which had two axes crossed over the door. “It’s an ax bar.”
“An ax what now?”
She took his hand and pulled. “Apparently there’s a local league and everything.” She shot him a coy smile. “It’s highly competitive.”
“It is, huh?” He followed her in and let a hostess show them to a booth in the back, where their table was located directly across from an ax-throwing alley. Hatchets and axes of varying sizes were lined up, and after signing their lives away in release forms, they were left to throw axes and drink beers.
“Like this?” she asked an hour later.
JJ chuckled, the grin on his face starting to feel like a permanent fixture. He took a second to just revel in how cute she looked when her gaze was narrowed in concentration, her lips pursed like she had a personal vendetta against the block of wood they were aiming for.
He adjusted her arm, mostly because her form was off, but also because he couldn’t resist the urge to touch her whenever possible. “Okay, let ’er rip, Lia.”
She threw the hatchet, and it spun blade over handle, landing perfectly with a thud that had Dahlia whooping and dancing around before he pulled her in for a hug. “Nice work, beautiful.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “But I’m up next.”
Her head fell back with a laugh. “No fair. I shouldn’t have to compete against a professional.”
He arched a brow, feigning haughty indignation. “You do know I don’t spend my days on the ranch tossing axes around for fun, right?”
She took a sip of her drink with a wave of her hand as if to say,Yeah, yeah. Get on with it.
Another hour later, they were laughing so hard they stumbled out of the ax bar, clutching each other to stay upright.
“You did not,” she said.
“I most certainly did. My little sisters never teased me again after that.”
She wrinkled her nose. “But a real live snake? That’s disgusting.”
He turned to face her. “Tell me you’ve never done something gross to torment your sisters.”
She rolled her eyes. “I didn’t have to do something gross. Tormenting them was my full-time job.”
He chuckled, a new warmth stealing over him at her rueful grin.
Ever since she’d told him about her childhood, she’d been more laid-back about mentioning it. Even making the odd joke, like now.
He knew for certain the memories still stung, but he was grateful that she’d gotten comfortable talking about it. For his part, now that the bad memories of his marriage’s bleak ending were in the open—with Dahlia, at least—it took away some of its power. He supposed airing out the dark past was rather like shining a light into the shadows.
“Where to next, city girl?” he teased as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
“Well…” She bit her lip and cast him a quick sidelong glance. “There’s a game on, so if you don’t mind heading back…”
“Mind?” he echoed, already heading toward the street where taxis were whizzing by. “What are we waiting for?”
