Page 3 of Romancing the Mountain Man
That earns me a look so intense I feel it spread from my toes all the way up to my ears.
“Don’t worry, Red,” he says as he grabs his toolbox. “If I was gonna eat you, I’d have done it already.” He walks to the door and opens it, letting himself out, but not before he turns around and says, “Luke Gatlin.”
Chapter 3
Luke
The door swung open, andshewas standing there.
Red hair cascaded over her shoulders, her cheeks were pink, either from the cold or the wine I saw she was drinking, and her gorgeous hazel eyes were wide as I stepped through, not waiting for her to invite me in. I was so shocked by her appearance and my reaction to it, I pushed past her, wanting to do my job, then get the fuck out of there.
She belonged on the cover of some pretentious magazine that sold stories about "cozy winter getaways." She smiled too wide and too bright. And her laugh was easy. It was like she thought she was already my friend, and that didn’t sit right with me.
She was trouble. Beautiful, talkative trouble.
And worst of all, she looked at me like she knew what I was thinking.
I hightailed it out of there and have been sitting in my cabin for the last hour. The fire pops in my fireplace, but I ignore it. I sit near my window, carving another handle for another knife I don’t need, but the action that usually calms me does nothing to relax me.
Not afterher.
Quinn.
She talked too much and asked too many questions. I couldn’t stop staring at her gorgeous hair, imagining how soft it’d be if I could get my hands in it. And when she called me a wolf? I couldn’t escape the room without dropping aLittle Red comment.
I shook my head and cursed under my breath.What a dumbass.
She was a city girl, which meant she was temporary. She was probably already posting selfies and hashtags about cabin life. She’ll be gone in a few days, back to whatever loud, fast world she came from.
And still, something about her had already attached itself to me.
Before I realized it, I had carved a knife almost exactly like the one my dad gave me before he passed away. Even though he passes through my mind every day, it’s been quite some time since I held something tangible that reminded me of him. And if I didn’t know better, I’d think it was a sign.
“You shouldn't be alone, Luke.”I can almost hear him whisper. I put down the carving knife and walk to the window. The wind was really picking up, and the rain had begun. It wouldn’t get bad until about two in the morning, but for right now? It was way more weather than what a city girl like her would be used to, that I knew for sure.
I should’ve just fixed the damn fireplace and left it at that. But something about Quinn sparked a fire in me that hasn’t been there in years. That same fire that had me adjusting my flannel to cover the bulge in my jeans.
Despite trying to talk myself out of it, I throw on my rain gear and trudge back over to her place. When I was called to check her fireplace, Audrey told me she had just gotten in. I don’t know what supplies she brought with her, but I’m sure it wasn’t anything she needs if a storm hits. The cabin was stocked with basics, but a city girl won’t know a thing about how to get by up here.
She’ll be safest in my cabin.
Fuck. Where did that thought come from?
I’m used to being alone. I actually prefer it. After all the noise I endured during my time in the Army, and then once I got out, the silence of the woods is exactly what suits my mood. But she had me thinking louder thoughts in the last hour than I had in a year. I don’tdofeelings. I ignore them.
But here I am anyway, knocking on her door again. When she opens it, that messy ponytail of hers takes over my imagination. I picture myself wrapping my fist around it and directing that mouth of hers right along my cock.
“Luke?”
I will myself out of my daydream and walk in again. “You’re not from around here.”
“Obviously. What gave me away? The tank top I’m wearing in a storm or the bottles of Pinot in the fridge?”
I ignore her feisty attitude and the way her hand on her hips accentuates her shape that I want to learn. With my tongue. “You didn’t check the weather.”
Her tone is sharp. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Means a storm’s hitting in about four hours, and you’ve got limited supplies.”
