Page 5 of Romancing the Mountain Man
“Imeantto do that,” she lies, attempting to stand and save whatever dignity she has left.
“Bullshit. Youmeantto give me a hard time and act like you know what you’re doing.”
With her hands on her hips, she says, “If you haven’t noticed, I don’t exactly look like the Brawny paper towel guy, so excuse me if I wasn’t stacking wood correctly.”
“I tried to warn you–”
She cuts me off and points her finger at me. “And then instead of helping, you criticized.”
“Quinn–”
“And then you laughed at me! I could have been hurt!”
“Trust me, with an ass like that, you weren’t getting hurt.”
Those words slip out before I have a chance to really think about it. The fire in her eyes tells me it was the wrong thing to say.
“And now I have a fat ass.”
“You called me the Brawny guy.”
“You’re infuriating,”
“And you make me crazy.”
Fuck. Why did I say all that? This woman takes all the sense from me. The air around us dances, and suddenly, grabbing wood doesn’t feel like a simple chore anymore. I think my coming to help her was a bad idea. I want to touch and kiss those lips delivering all those snarky fucking comments. I clear my throat, pick up the logs she dropped, and walk toward the cabin.
“You coming?” I ask without looking back, but my heart races and my dick jumps when I swear I hear her sing-song, “Not yet.”
Chapter 5
Luke
We enter the cabin, and she disappears into the bedroom. I hear the shower turn on, and I will my hard-on away. I picture everything that is happening behind that door, and boy, do I want it in real time.
I stare just a little too long at her every time she’s around. She doesn’t really fit. You can tell she belongs in the city, sitting at cafés, shopping in bookstores, writing her stories, and calling people out on their bullshit. It’s funny how she can say three words, and it instantly makes me feel a certain way. She makes me want to argue with her, and at the same time, throw her down and have my way with her.
And yet…
Despite all that, she seems like she’s taken to mountain life in a short amount of time. She’s not afraid to get her hands dirty, and though she wasn’t happy hearing about the storm, she didn’t sulk and cry like a little girl. She just got to work. I know it’s only been a few hours, and the novelty will wear off, but could she fit here?
Could she fit with me?
Could I even let her in?
I hear the door creak open, and she comes out wearing thatdamn fucking tank topand short shorts. I huff a laugh to myself and take back every word.She doesn’t get it.
“Something funny?”
“Mm,” I grunt and bend down in front of the fire. “Just remembering your face.”
When she’s silent, I turn around to see her with her middle finger in the air. “Next time, remember this.”
I bark a laugh and again, the sound takes me by surprise. I clear my throat. “It’s going to get cold, you should put on some real clothes.”
She does a twirl. “I’m fine.”
Yes, the fuck you are.
