Page 2 of Fall Wedding With the Mountain Man
The chest was attached to a burly, bearded man ten years my senior.
His mouth dropped open when I met his eyes. And he rumbled out, “Ma’am, do you need some help?”
I swallowed hard. He was gorgeous, but he also looked wild and uncivilized. I’d never been to the Ozarks before, and I hadn’t realized men like this really existed.
When I didn’t say anything he told me, “I can change out your battery for you, if you want. Screwdrivers aren’t hard to come by.”
“Uh… uh…”
He’d rendered me completely speechless.
But that didn’t stop him. Once he realized I was incapable of communication, he took control of the situation. He slapped a couple of hundred-dollar bills down on the counter and told Charlie, “I’ll buy her battery. Think you can handle that?”
Charlie glared at him, but I managed to stammer out, “Thank you. I can pay for it, though. I have the money.”
The edge of his lip tilted up, and I realized that was his version of a smile. “Your choice.”
Charlie scowled but headed back to get the battery.
That gave the hunky stranger who was saving my butt the chance to introduce himself properly. “I’m Hudson.”
“Uh, Elizabeth.”
“Nice to meet you, Elizabeth. You’re not from around here, are you?”
I shook my head.
“Well, I’ll get you squared away. That guy was being a dick.”
“Thank you. I was feeling kind of stranded. And that’s never a good feeling.”
We stood there staring at each other, with tiny smiles on our faces. If I had to be rescued by someone, it didn’t hurt that he was hot as hell.
“You know about cars?” I asked.
“Yup. As long as they’ve got the battery, I can get you back on the road in less than fifteen minutes. You’ll be in time for that wedding.”
Relief flooded through me. “Oh, that’s amazing. I’m supposed to be in Deer Springs already. My best friend from college isgetting married tonight at the Fall Festival, and I’m supposed to be the maid of honor.”
His eyebrow quirked up as he took in my outfit. “That explains the dress. You’re cutting it close.”
A strained smile landed on my lips. “You have no idea. I was supposed to be here two days ago. The flight from Minneapolis was full, and they bumped passengers. I told them I needed to be on the plane, but they bumped me anyway. Then, I got a rental car and started driving. We promised we’d be each other’s maid of honors and I’m not doing a good job holding up my end of the bargain.” I realized I was rambling and stopped talking.
Hudson glanced down at my left hand, and I realized he was looking for a ring.
“Oh, no, Shelby beat me to it. Maybe when it’s my turn, I’ll get married in some exotic location that takes a pack mule half a day to get there at the end. It would serve her right for getting married in the middle of nowhere.”
He chuckled. “If you feel that way about Arkansas now, just wait until you’re in the country. It gets a lot more remote than this.”
“I’d never even heard of the Ozarks until Shelby moved here. She came for what was supposed to be a short-term internship and fell in love with a local. Never left.”
Hudson’s brows lifted, and he started to say something in response, but Charlie showed back up at the counter.
Too bad, I was enjoying talking to this man.
My concern reappeared when I noticed Charlie was empty-handed. “No go.”
I looked at Hudson. “What does that mean?”
