Page 1 of The Forbidden Mountain Man Lumberjack
CHAPTER ONE
WYATT
The chainsaw roars to life between my hands, vibrating with enough power to bring down the massive pine I've marked for cutting. The crisp October air carries the scent of decaying leaves and approaching winter, my breath fogging slightly with each exhale.
Around me, my crew works with practiced precision against the backdrop of mountains ablaze with autumn colors, every man knowing his role as we race against the shortening days. As owner of Brennan Logging, I've built this operation on discipline, expertise, and an unwavering commitment to doing things the way they've always been done.
The right way.
The chain bites into bark, sending wood chips flying. I breathe in the familiar scent of fresh-cut pine and sweat, letting the physical labor clear my mind the way it always does. Up here on this mountain, everything makes sense. Nature doesn't change its rules. Trees don't need new systems. The forest speaks a language that's stayed the same since long before anyone tried to tame it.
My radio crackles. "Wyatt, you copy?" It's Mike, my foreman.
I release the chainsaw trigger, the sudden silence almost as deafening as the noise. "Go ahead."
"Just got a call from Tim. Says there's someone waiting at the office. Some consultant the investors sent."
I growl, wiping sweat from my forehead with my forearm. The "investors" are what I call the silent partners who provided capital when I expanded five years ago. They stay out of my way, I send them profits. At least that was the arrangement.
"Tell Tim I'll be there when I'm done."
"She says she's been waiting since nine this morning."
She.Of course they'd send a woman to try to tell me how to run my business.
"Fine. I'm coming down." I power down the saw completely, secure it, and call out to my second-in-command. "Barry, take over. I've got to deal with some bullshit at the office."
The forty-minute drive down the mountain gives me plenty of time to stew. Some corporate consultant with a laptop and a business degree thinks she can walk into my world and tell me how to run the company I've built with my own hands? Every calloused finger on those hands has earned its hardness through years of knowing exactly what this business needs.
The office is a simple cabin-style building at the edge of town, nothing fancy but functional. My truck kicks up dust as I pull into the lot. I catch my reflection in the rearview—dark beard flecked with sawdust, lines around my eyes deepened by years in the sun, the scar above my right eyebrow from a logging accident when I was twenty.
I look exactly like what I am: a forty-five-year-old man who belongs on a mountain, not in a boardroom.
With a deep breath, I step out of the truck, not bothering to clean up. Let her see what real work looks like.
Tim, my office manager, gives me a sympathetic look when I walk in. "She's in your office," he says. "Been waiting almost three hours."
Good. Maybe she'll realize her time isn't any more valuable than mine.
I push open my office door without knocking. After all, it's my damn office.
And then I see her.
Fuck.
She's young—impossibly young—with dark hair pulled back in some kind of twist that still looks professional despite the hours of waiting. Her skin is olive-toned and flawless, and when she turns to look at me, her dark eyes widen slightly before she schools her features. She's wearing a blue button-up shirt tucked into fitted black pants, both of which hug curves that have no business being in my office.
She stands and extends her hand. "Mr. Brennan? I'm Sophia Coleman from Aspen Business Solutions. The investment group hired me to help modernize your operation."
I don't take her hand. Instead, I walk around to my chair, putting the desk between us. "Modernize."
The word tastes wrong in my mouth.
She doesn't seem bothered by my rejection of her handshake. Instead, she sits back down, opening a sleek laptop.
"Yes. Your investors feel that with some updated systems and practices, Brennan Logging could significantly increase its efficiency and profitability. I've been hired to implement those changes."
The calm, matter-of-fact way she says this—like she's already been given permission to turn my life upside down—makes my jaw clench.
