Page 8 of Fall Wedding With the Mountain Man
She was polished to my rough. Civilized to my barbarian.
I was just glad I’d put on my good town jeans today. It would have helped if I’d worn something other than this old flannel shirt, but… I’d had no idea such a beauty was waiting for me to rescue her. I would have taken a shower and put on my best shirt if I’d known this was going to happen today.
The kitten was curled up in her lap, sleeping, and Frankie had his head in her lap, too. His eyes were glued to the kitten as they had been ever since we’d all piled back in the truck.
“And then that was it. She went crazy and decided to move here. She thinks it’s real love, like Thatcher is some kind of Romeo, but I think it’s just sex,” Elizabeth finished her story. She’d been telling me all about the woes between her and her best friend.
“So your friend Shelby met a mountain man and got herself shacked up with him, huh? That sounds like anaturalturn of events to me. Sorry, hon. I don’t see the problem.”
Elizabeth pursed her lips. “It is, though. Shelby hadeverything,and she threw it all away on awhim.”
“Maybe her priorities changed. That happens to people. Haven’t you ever changed your mind about something?”
She snorted. “Sure. About painting my kitchen yellow. That’s the kind of thing to change your mind about. Not about a degree she spent seven years working towards!”
I glanced at her before pulling my eyes back onto the road. “But didn’t you say she’s still a lawyer? I think it sounds smart, buying that practice from the man who wanted to retire. Ready-made clientele, just like that.”
Elizabeth scoffed. “It’s not the same.”
“What’s different about it?”
She wrinkled her forehead, deep in thought while she stroked Leona. “Partnership is a future. It’s what we both worked toward. And yes, it’s hard and the hours are insane, and the senior lawyers treat us juniors like crap. But it will all be worth it in the end. She’llneverbe a partner now. She’ll be stuck in that practice in a Podunk town for the rest of her life.”
I laughed. “If you think Deer Springs is a Podunk town, remind me to never invite you to Red Oak Mountain.”
It was like she’d just realized she’d insulted me and all my kinsfolk. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say anything disparaging.”
“Disparage away. We all have different life goals. Your life sounds like a nightmare to me. Eighty-hour workweeks? Not having time to own a cat? That’s insanity.”
She peered over at me, and I could tell she was studying me intently. “What are your life goals?”
“Me? I’m what you call a classic underachiever. I’ve figured out the perfect balance of doing just enough to not end up broke but never more than I need to. I believe life is for living. Your ratio is eighty percent work and twenty percent life. I’m the opposite.”
“And that satisfies you?”
I took my eyes off the road and met hers. “It sure does. I spend time with family and friends. Take care of my hobbies. I havea weekly fishing date with one of my buddies, Cash. And poker night every Friday. In between all that, I scrape together a few Benjamins. That’s enough for me.”
“What do you do for a living?” she asked.
This would be the moment I underwhelmed the gorgeous princess completely. No prince charming hadmyjob.
“I transport porta-potties.”
“You dowhat?”
“Yep. You’ve hitched a ride with ahigh-classgentleman here. I haul shit for a living. It pays well. And it’s not like I have to touch it. I just need to deliver the units and take them away again. I bet all your lawyer boyfriends would get a laugh out of that. You’ll have a story to tell them when you get back home.”
She shook her head, a frown landing on her pretty mouth. “I don’t date lawyers. It’s a rule of mine.”
I saw my opening and took it. “Do you date shit-haulers?”
Chapter 5
Elizabeth
This was the moment when I should have put a stop to it.
It was one thing to flirt with the sexy man who’d saved me from the auto shop staff, and quite another to cross that line. You know the one I’m talking about.
