Page 5 of Mountain Man's Winter Wonder
“Good,” I said. “Because the fanciest place I had in mind is a diner with Christmas lights strung over the jukebox.”
Her laugh was the only answer I needed.
3
SHERATON
“Is this place always like this?” I asked, looking around.
“Just at Christmastime,” Buck said.
He had a smile on his face as I shifted my gaze back to him. We were surrounded by multiple Christmas trees, with “We Need a Little Christmas” blaring through the speakers above us. If anyone needed a little Christmas, this diner in Wildwood Valley, North Carolina, had it.
“Are there always this many empty tables?” I said. “I would’ve expected…”
I didn’t have to finish that. Anyone with half a brain would know what I’d expected with a major Christmas craft festival happening less than a mile away. I would have assumed throngs of people would have rushed here as soon as the rain came in.
“It’s just after four,” he said. “Plus, I think the rain sent a lot of people home or off to track down indoor plans.”
I nodded. Since I’d barely eaten lunch, I hadn’t realized just how early we were having dinner. The hostess had seated us way at the far end of the restaurant in a tucked-away corner. All the other tables were empty but one, and that family was seated ata table near the door, so we pretty much had this part of the restaurant to ourselves.
“I’ve been meaning to thank you for this morning,” I said between sips of my sweet tea.
“Any time,” he said. “I’m a sucker for a damsel in distress, especially when it looks like she was dropped straight from the heavens.”
My eyes widened. I wasn’t sure what to make of that compliment. Was he saying I looked like an angel?
“Not that you need somebody to swoop in and rescue you,” he said. “It’s just…I was trying to work up the courage to talk to you when that kid bumped into your table.”
I nearly choked on my sweet tea. “You were trying to work up courage to talk to me?”
His cheeks actually flushed, and something warm unfurled in my chest at the sight of this confident mountain man looking bashful. “All week. Every damn day, I found some excuse to work near your booth, hoping I’d figure out what to say.”
The butterflies in my stomach took flight. “I had no idea.”
“Good. I was trying to be subtle about it.” His eyes found mine across the table, dark and intense. “From the second I saw you arranging those snow globes, I couldn’t stop thinking about you.”
Heat flooded my face, and something deeper, warmer, pooled low in my belly. No one had ever said anything like that to me before. The way he looked at me—like I was something precious, something worth pursuing—made me feel beautiful and desired in a way I’d never experienced.
“You couldn’t stop thinking about me?” I whispered, hardly believing it.
“Not for a minute.” His voice was rough, honest. “The way you tilt your head when you’re concentrating, how careful you are with everything you touch, that little smile you get whena kid stops to look at your globes. I’ve been memorizing every detail.”
My breath caught. I felt exposed, seen in a way that should have been terrifying but instead sent electricity racing through my veins. “Buck…”
“Tell me something,” he said, leaning forward, his elbows on the table. “Is there someone back in Brevard? Someone I should know about?”
The question caught me off guard. “Someone?”
“A boyfriend. Husband. Someone who gets to see that smile every day.”
I shook my head, maybe too quickly. “No. No one.”
Something shifted in his expression—relief, hunger, something that made my pulse skip. “How is that possible?”
The server chose that moment to appear with our food, and I was grateful for the interruption. I needed a second to process the way Buck was looking at me, like he wanted to devour me right along with his burger.
When she left, Buck reached across the table and took my hand, his thumb tracing circles on my palm. The simple touch sent sparks shooting up my arm.
