Page 12 of Haunting the Mountain Man
“No!”
“I had to ask!”
It takes me an hour to convince Noel I’m not marrying Cole for his money. The entire time she tries to guess his name and fails spectacularly. The age gap should have given his identity away. There are only so many single men above forty.
Noel is off her game, but I’m not sure I would’ve guessed the burly lumberjack either. Walking into the cemetery I had no clue what man I was meeting. But now that I’ve met Cole, I can’t imagine a different man waiting for me amongst the weathered headstones. A different man kissing me like he never wants to stop. A different man pining me to the brick wall of an alley.
It feels wrong to even try.
Cole
“Word is you were getting handsy with the witch behindBean There,” Casanova snickers at work Thursday.
Buzz smirks.
“Guess she likes ‘em older.”
“Did she curse you?” Dan asks before I can set the two men straight.
The crew is gathered around the picnic tables waiting for our daily safety meeting and while they’re trying to pretend like they’re not listening to our conversation they all stop talking as they wait for my answer. I clench my fists hard enough to make my knuckles pop. They’re no better than the Anderson sisters for how much they like to gossip.
“Nope.”
“Was she mad? Did she take a strand of your hair or talk backwards?”
Dropping my lunchbox onto the table I level the younger man with a deadpan look.
“She’s not an actual witch, you moron.”
“You don’t know!” he shouts back.
“I do know.”
“How?” Dan asks. He doesn’t give me a chance to answer before he shouts, “She could be luring you in to steal your soul!”
“Bunch of idiots,” Buzz mutters in an unexpected display of support.
Casanova and Dan both begin to argue but they’re interrupted by Tobias Carmichael coming out of the office. He took over the business from his dad a few years ago, but a stranger would never know it. Tobias and his two younger brothers have worked for the family business since they graduated high school, and they’ve earned it. There isn’t a job on this site they haven’t done. So, when the boss speaks, we shut up.
He's a tall man with dark brown hair and a matching beard. In L.A. or New York City, he’d stand out from the crowd, but in Crescent Ridge he blends into the crowd of mountain men.
“I hear congratulations are in order,” he says with a wide grin when he joins us at the tables.
My glare could melt steel, but Buzz is unbothered by my irritation. Gossips. All of them.
“I’m getting married on Friday,” I tell Tobias.
“You’re marrying the witch?” Dan asks, shaking his head. “She’s a thick one.”
Sabrina leans into the spirit of Halloween, embracing her television namesake with joy but it hasn’t escaped my notice the way she shrinks when the locals poke fun at her weight. I’ve been watching her for a while, and I’ve bitten my tongue more times than I can count. It wasn’t my place to fight her battles. She managed well enough on her own, always returning verbal jabs with quick quips and witty remarks. It burns my throat to think of how many shitty passive aggressive comments she’s had to deal with over the years.
But that was before me. Before I knew I would find my soulmate in a small mountain town. Before she agreed to give me a chance. Little miss independent isn’t on her own anymore. Fuck that shit.
“Don’t you dare talk about her like that,” I growl.
Tobias raises his eyebrows at my tone and Dan is shocked but I’m not backing down. The guys can joke about anything else, but they’re not going to make fun of my girl. Not anymore.
“Easy,” Buzz mutters to me. “The kid’s still wet behind the ears.”
