Page 4 of Mountain Grump
I shake my head.
The humming stops, and my attention moves back to the woman.
She bends down, grabbing something out of the box at her feet. Simultaneously flashing her panty-covered ass at me again.
My body reacts on its own.
My stomach clenching. My chest heating.
And it pisses me off.
This nonsense ends now.
“Who are you?” My voice comes out too loud in the quiet.
The woman lets out a scream, obviously startled by my appearance.
She spins to face me and something shiny flings from her hand.
I’m too far away to do anything, so I just watch as her foot—covered in a little yellow shoe—catches on a rock.
Her pretty hair flies around her face, obscuring my first glimpse of her features. And she loses her balance.
The shiny thing lands in a muddy puddle with a splash.
And I continue to stand, helpless, as the woman in the pink party dress falls onto the rough gravel.
Chapter 2
Tilda Wright, Mountain Fairy
The pain radiatingfrom my knees and hands is muted by the thudding of my heart.
Someone is here.
In the middle of nowhere.
At the top of a freaking mountain.
Fear shoots through my veins as I scramble to my feet.
A boot crunches over the ground, and I shove my hair out of my face as a man steps onto the driveway.
From the direction of the woods.
If he’s here to do me harm…
He takes a step forward.
I step back.
“Stop.” His gruff voice cracks through the air between us.
I hold my hands palms out. “Y-you stop.” My voice shakes, revealing my nerves.
He halts and holds his hands out in a similar gesture. “I didn’t mean to scare you.” His tone is gentler than it was before but still not quite friendly.
His hands are huge, and his forearms are covered in tattoos.
