Page 7 of Feelin' Pine

Shit, leave it to me to get deeper into a mess— every time. I don’t think I’m meant to be left alone. All I do is cause myself more problems.

So much for finding myself, I’m just even more lost!

My throat seizes from the air, and I begin coughing. My vision starts to get cloudy, and I can’t help but wonder where all the smoke is coming from. I rub my eyes as they begin to sting slightly and feel dry. I thread my fingers through my hair, but it’s no use. It flies around in my face.

Barking starts to move closer to me, and I shake a little at the relief when I hear Kraine. I’m twice as thrilled when his barks get louder, but as he gets closer, my heart starts racing, and his barks sound different. It’s a different bark. Staccato and intermittent like he’s talking to someone… or something. Clenching my jaw, I pull the bear spray from the latch on my belt loop. My knees wobble, and I struggle to swallow from the dryness invading my throat.

Twirling in circles, I look for my dog. “Kr—” his name catches in my throat when I notice someone standing in the distance. Instinctually, I step back but see a familiar shape at the guy’s knee, and my dog stares at the stranger with what I might call admiration.

“Kraine?” Stuttering, I call for him, feeling slightly abandoned.

He mindlessly follows some stranger while I’m hunting for him in the terrifying woods? I mean, a part of me is happy someone else is here. I’m so lost and cannot find the cabin. I hope this man can help me find my way back. But why leave me?!

My fears of abandonment pull down into a deep cave. I need to stop the tumble, so I grip the bear spray tighter in my hand but it’s not that feeling that stop the fall. It’s staring at the specimen of male who’s got a trotting deserter at his knee.

The man quickly walks forward, but he approaches with his hands up and stops about ten feet away from me, and all I can do is stare slack-jawed and pray I don’t drool and embarrass myself in front of the ridiculously handsome man. My stomach flips like it’s on a rollercoaster with my feet planted on the ground.

I didn’t think it’s possible, but my mouth gets drier, and I struggle to swallow. The man’s tall, over six-foot, with the sexiest red hair and short scruffy beard that has my palms itching to touch it. Is it as soft as it looks? With the strands tangle in between my fingers?

As he moves in closer, I can’t tear my eyes away from his bright green eyes that pop as a contrast with his red hair. His muscular shoulders and tapered waist reveal a toned body only gained from active and hard labor. He must be a man of nature because his physique hasn’t been created in the gym.

Working my mouth and throat to swallow, I struggle. It must be from the smoke making it more challenging.Right.

“Hi. Ummm… that’s my dog.”

Nice opener.

The rugged, sexy-as-sin man makes my life even more difficult when I realize I’m standing before a god because he smiles at me with a cocky grin. “Clearly.”

My body inflames with tingles, and my body clenches with the timbre of his rich voice. Clearing my throat, I struggle with control as he innocently unlocks something inside of me. I wrestle the feelings and lock everything down tight again.

I can’t and won’t fall for another man. I vowed to myself not to let it happen— at least not until I know Daniel is out of my life for good. With the chaos and mess he brings, getting him involved in anyone else’s life is cruel. It’s a mess.

My mess. A hot mess. A boiling mess.

The attractive hiker eyes me slowly, and I quickly stiffen as I remember exactly what I look like. I must look like death as I barely wiped the sleep from my eyes today, and I’m only in the comfy sweats and a light gray tank top that doesn’t hide an ounce of my curves. Loungewear is what they might call it, my daily uniform is what it’s been out here.

Daniel always suggested I wear something a little less revealing, but that was and is something I didn’t do. My clothes bothered him, not me.

When Mikaela told me about this find-myself getaway, I threw all my casual clothes in the bag. I’d have packed better if I knew I’d be meeting Mr. Mountain Man.

Fiddling with my shirt and smoothing down the non-existent wrinkles of my sweatpants, I nervously stare at the man. Out of the blue, the wind whips up and tangles my hair further as the scent of smoke blusters around me and traps my lungs forcing me to start another round of coughing.

“Damn asthma,” I mutter. Getting myself under control, I take a step forward. “I’m— I’m Maitlyn.”

“Jake. Jake McCovey. And I’m assuming this is Kraine?”

Kraine tips his head and gives me his goofy doggy grin with his tongue hanging from the side of his mouth.

“Traitor,” I mutter under my breath. “Any chance you know how to get back to the Blaine cabin?”

Jake nods. “I do, but you’re not going back there.”

Panic lurches my heart into my throat, and my skin slowly crawls as I fight the urge to run. A steel rod grows along my spine, and I grit out, “I don’t know what you’re insinuating, but I’m not going with you.” I keep my voice steady, but there’s no hiding the shaking in my knees.

“Oh yeah, you are.”

Fisting my hands at my sides. “I don’t know who you think you are, but no, I’m not.”

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