Page 3 of Mail Order Mountain Man

Why is it the feistier she gets, the more I’m interested?

“Okay… give me five minutes. I can guarantee that in five minutes I can prove I’m not a weirdo.”

She hitches her hip and rolls her eyes again. It’s now that I see what a pretty shade of blue they are. “Four minutes. Go.”

“Okay, I’m a carpenter. I build cabins all over the mountain. My last build was up at Waylon’s ranch. I also used to ride in his rodeo. Though, it’s been a few years now at this point. I love my mother and my grandma used to call me her favorite boy, so… I’m pretty sure I’m a good guy.”

She holds back a smile. “How have you been building up at Waylon’s ranch and I haven’t seen you? I’m there every day.”

“What do you do there?”

“Horse trainer. You’d know that if that app would let you view my information.”

“Then maybe we would have never been matched.”

“Who’s your boss up there? Don’t tell me Bob Nichols?”

“How’d you know? That’s wild. We’ve been working so closely for how long now, and we never noticed each other.”

She turns back. “I never noticed you because you work for myfather, and I stay far away from where my father works.”

My chest tightens. She may have just sunk my battleship. “Your father is Bob?”

She nods. “And he’s very protective. He would literallykillyou if he knew you were dating me.”

I’m offended, young lady. “What’s wrong with me?”

She scans me up and down. “Aside from your propensity for insanity? Nothing. Well, except your age. I dated an older man once and my father drove him out of town.”

“Then why did you put older men on your profile?”

“I like older men. I figured I could see someone on the side. We could fall in love and be married before my father even had a say in it. But… you work for him. That’s not really the recipe for dating in the shadows.”

“How so? Have you never heard of hiding in plain sight? We—”

“Look,” her gaze turns down and I feel the rejection coming, “you seem like a crazy, nice, weird, and kind guy, but I can already tell you aren’t going to be able to look at him daily and not crack. He’d know when you started acting differently. Trust me, it’s not worth it.”

“How do you know I’m not worth it?”

She laughs. “I don’t, but I’m saving you from yourself. You’re welcome.”

I stand in front of her truck door and stare at her. At this angle, she’s about as close as she’s gotten all night. Sweet blue eyes, long auburn hair, soaking wet dress, and an attitude to match. I’m smitten, and I’m not sure I can walk away. “Let me talk to him.”

She laughs harder. “If you value your job, your town, or the people you love, you won’t. Trust me, he’s old fashioned when it comes to his daughters. The kind of old fashioned man that keeps a gun by his bed at night and shoots into the woods if he thinks he hears an unusual rustling. He wouldn’t think twice about firing you and shooting your ass on the way out the door.”

Losing my job right now would be a slight inconvenience. I’m halfway through rebuilding on my own cabin and I need the revenue stream to finish things off. Not to mention the fact that there aren’t a ton of construction jobs in Rugged Mountain. Bob Nichols is the only game in town.

That said, I can’t imagine not seeing this firecracker again. “Let me at least take you to dinner tonight. No one has to know about a simple dinner. It can be just us.”

“This is a small town.” She smiles. “Everyone knows everything, and everyone knows my father. Trust me, it won’t work.”

“Then let me cook for you.” As soon as the words come out, I’m hesitant to hear her answer. I want to see her above all else, and cooking for her sounds perfect, but my cabin is a mess. I have half-built furniture everywhere and part of the place is blocked off for the expansion I’m working on.

She turns her head to consider the idea. “And how do I know you’re not going to murder me and feed me to your chickens?”

I grin. “That’s the fun of it, right? It’s an adventure.”

She glares toward me like she still isn’t sure.

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