Page 43 of Mountain Grump
I frown. “What is it?”
She rolls her lips together. “I wasn’t planning on getting the pool. I figured I’d get a bird bath or something for the duck to play in.”
“Okay…”
She looks down, my hat’s bill blocking my view of her face as she slides her hands into hidden pockets at her hips. “I’m not stupid.”
Something unpleasant strikes me in the center of the chest. “I know you’re not.”
She doesn’t look up at me. “It’s just that I saw the pool and thought it would be perfect. But I didn’t think about the wind. And if you hadn’t shown up…”
I step forward, putting myself so close she has to tip her head back to avoid the front of the hat hitting my chest. But she only lifts her head enough to avoid collision, not enough to see me.
She pulls her hands out of her pockets, like she might reach for me, but then she lowers them to her sides.
“If I hadn’t shown up, you would’ve gone back in to return the pool, and they would’ve sold you some straps.” I reach behind her, gripping the makeshift ponytail and tug, tipping her head back until our eyes meet. “And I promise that someone in there would’ve been more than happy to help you.”
I almost growl at the thought of another man crawling all over her truck. Holding her hair back. Getting this close.
But then Tilda stops my spiraling thoughts because she reaches her hands up… and this time, she touches me.
Palms against my sides, bracing herself as the wind pushes against us, Tilda finally touches me.
And goddamn it, I want her hands everywhere.
But I focus on the conversation. “I know you’re not stupid, Starlight,” I tell her gently, meaning it. “Just like I know you’ve never lived alone in the mountains before.”
Her fingertips flex, just the smallest bit, but I feel it in my bones. “That obvious?”
I tip my head to the side, letting her see the hint of a smirk. “Little bit.”
Her shoulders drop, but not in defeat. More like she’s letting go of tension. “I’ve lived alone, but never in a house. I’ve never even owned a car.”
“You do have a driver’s license though, right?”
Her expression turns back to the annoyed one she gave me yesterday. “I have a license. I know how to drive.”
I give her a slow nod, like I maybe don’t believe her.Even though I do.In the hopes of breaking her even further out of her self-doubt.
“You’re a pest.” She moves like she’s going to press her fingertip into my chest. But I’m still holding her hair. So when she shifts, I do too, and instead of a fingertip, she flattens her palm against my pec.
Her gaze drops to where her hand is.
And then a car horn honks.
Chapter 23
Tilda
I snatchmy hand away from Ethan’s chest.
Then I drop my other hand from where I was practically clinging to his side.
His firm, muscled side.
What is wrong with me?
This man has my senses twisted in knots.
