Page 8 of Lumberjack DADDY
“How so?”
“He just… he followed me around the store and just… the way he looked at me…. it made me uncomfortable,” she says, then stands firmer. “So, if he’s a regular fixture here?—”
“He’s not,” I tell her.
She visibly relaxes, and a shaky smile touches her lips. “I’m sorry. I just?—”
“You have nothing to be sorry about. If he’s making you uncomfortable, I get why you wouldn’t want to be around him,” I tell her. “I was actually going to call his boss and tell him to have somebody else do my deliveries from now on. I don’t like him much either.”
“Really?”
I shake my head. “Not a bit. You don’t need to worry about him coming around again.”
“Thank you, Eli,” she says. “I appreciate that.”
“Not doing it for you,” I tell her, even though in a way I am. “I just don’t like him.”
The corners of her mouth turn upward, and there’s a glint in her eye that’s both mischievous and seductive at the same time. It’s all I can do to keep from pulling her to me and having my way with her. And that gleam in her eye tells me it might not be unwelcome. Clearing my throat, I turn away, refusing to let myself give in to those urges.
“Anyway. Thanks again,” she says with what sounds like a hint of disappointment.
“Sure thing.”
She opens her mouth like she’s about to say something, but closes it again without speaking. Instead, she puts in her AirPods and then turns and jogs away. As she goes, my eyes are fixed on the way her ass bounces and sways in those tight little Spandex shorts. I feel my cock stiffening as I imagine what that would feel like in my hands. And as I’m standing here with a raging hard on and a plethora of filthy fantasies bouncing through my head,Emery glances over her shoulder at me. She catches me staring at her tight little ass and smiles.
Stepping back into my cabin, I close the door and shake my head. “Fucking hell.”
7
EMERY
After my run this morning, I showered up, got myself off thinking about Eli again, then had something to eat and spent most of the day traipsing through the woods. If I hadn’t decided to get out and enjoy some of the amazing nature here, I might well have stayed in all day thinking about the man and getting myself off … again. There’s just something about him that ignites this white hot, primal fire inside of me. Which is why I need a distraction.
Aside from getting my mind off the big, burly lumberjack of a man, I also need to distract myself from the fear of seeing Travis again. He obviously knows I lied to him about where I was staying up here. And I know some guys don’t take kindly to being lied to. I just didn’t feel comfortable telling him where I’m staying. There’s something about him I found… unsettling. The way he looked at me in the store was just creepy. So, I lied.
I just never imagined I was going to run into him here. I mean, I know the cabin is only a few miles from the store, but I never expected the guy to show up here to make a delivery. Maybe I should have. In such a small community, maybe I should haveanticipated him popping up here. I probably should have. I just hope Eli ran him off for good. It does make me feel better to know Eli has the same opinion of him, so I hope that’s the end of it.
Picking my way along the trail, I’m doing my best to avoid falling into a hole or tripping over an exposed root as I take in the majesty of the forest around me. All my photography has been centered on the city—buildings and people mostly. I’ve never really had the chance to photograph nature like this. And as I watch the way the sunlight filters down through the canopy, or glistens off the rushing river, or the quiet gracefulness of the animals that fill the woods around me, I wish I had.
This world around me is stunning.
It makes me realize coming out here was the right decision. Getting away from the city, away from my abusive asshole of an ex, and everything that was dragging me down back home was absolutely the right thing to do. My mind and my heart already feel clearer. I feel like I can breathe. And I feel like I can smile for the first time in a very long time.
I’m able to take some photographs without hearinghisvoice in my head, telling me how amateurish and pathetic I am. Without hearing him tell me I’m not good. That I need to give up this dream because I don’t have what it takes to make it. Telling me I’m a failure and chasing my artistic dreams is stupid and ridiculous.
This stillness in my head is powerful. The lack of that voice telling me all those horrible things I’ve grown so used to hearing is jarring. It hasn’t been this quiet between my ears in so long that I’m almost not sure what to do with myself.
With a smile on my lips, I raise my camera and take a few more shots of another buck I spot downstream. A moment later, he’s joined by a doe, and together, they stand side by side on the riverbank, drinking their fill. It’s such a beautiful moment, and my heart is filled with such an abundant and powerful happiness that a tear of joy spills from the corner of my eye and races down my cheek.
The sharp snap of a branch echoes through the trees, as loud as a gunshot, shattering the serenity of the moment. I nearly jump out of my skin, and the two deer downriver turn and bound away.
“Oh,” I gasp.
As I sit on the rock listening, I hear a furtive footstep rustle the undergrowth. I don’t know how, but when I hear it, I know it’s not an animal.
There’s somebody out there amongst the trees.
Goosebumps crawl across my skin, and the hair on the back of my neck stands on end. Being a woman in the city, I’ve learned to trust my instincts, and right now, they’re telling me to get the hell out of here. That somebody’s lurking out there. And in my experience, people don’t lurk in the shadows like that with good intentions.
