Page 7 of Pucked Mountain Man
“I wasn’t going to argue.” She lifts her shoulder. “But that’s a new one.”
“Is new good or bad?”
“Ask me later.”
“Later when?”
“When you’re not limping.”
“I’m not limping.”
“That’s debatable.” She steps closer. The hairs on my arms stand up. Her hand lands at my waist. “Quad set,” she says softly. “Don’t chase the pain. Let the muscle work.”
In another life, another knee, I’d walk her back to the wall and see how long it took her to forget she’s my best friend’s sister.
In this one, I hold still and take a deep breath, trying to cool the hot lust bursting through me.
She looks up. I don’t know who moves first—maybe both of us. Her eyes drop to my mouth. Mine do the same. I lean closer. She meets me part-way. I can almost taste the toothpaste on her breath and?—
Both our phones erupt with alarms.
We jerk apart. She fumbles her pocket. I slap at the shelf to kill the sound and read the screen.
Red banner:BLIZZARD WARNING. WHITEOUT CONDITIONS. POWER OUTAGES LIKELY. SHELTER IN PLACE.
“Okay,” she says, reading hers. “That’s… kind of aggressive.”
“Welcome to Alaska,” I say, voice all gravel. My pulse is still cross-checking my ribs. “We’ll be cut off from the rest of the world for a couple days. Maybe more.”
She lifts her chin. “Then we prep. Firewood, fuel, food. And by we, I mean me, because you are not hauling anything heavier than a loaf of bread.”
“I can carry wood.”
“You can carry coffee,” she says primly. “And your weight in sarcasm.”
“Ouch. That’s a five-minute major.”
“For what, backtalk?” she asks.
“For being you.”
Her laugh catches. “And that a penalty now?”
“Depends on the ref.”
She pockets her phone. “Okay. Rockstar rule number one.”
“You’re making rules now?”
“Rockstar rule number one,” she repeats, her tone taking on an edge. “You listen to me. We prep smart, not macho.”
“I’m not macho.”
She gestures at my shirtless torso as if that proves a point. “Sure.”
I should put on a shirt. I don’t. She should stop looking at me like that.
“What’s Rockstar rule number two?” I ask, because if I’m not going to kiss her, I need to talk.
