Page 2 of Mountain Man's Offer

At six five, I stand a good head taller than him and a quick guess says I outweigh him by a buck and a quarter.

"This is none of your business," he spits out at me when he sees the fury in my eyes.

God only knows what makes me say it, but the words are out of my mouth before I can think about them. I say the godawful thing I wish was true: "Anything you have to say to my fiancée is damn well too my business."

ChapterTwo

Sparrow

This is probably not the most appropriate time for my panties to soak through, but ohmygosh do they ever.

Maybe it's the sheer power he exudes as he stands over the smaller man, maybe it's the protective stance as he makes it clear that no one is getting through him, maybe it's hearing Vale claim me as his in front of everyone standing around gawking at the intrusion into the sleepy community's usually calm afternoon.

Vale flexes slightly, his wide shoulders drawing back as his body gathers energy like a snake preparing to strike.

Travis's eyes widen, taking a good look at the mountain of man looming over him and staring down at him with murder in his eyes.

"You got fucking engaged, Spare?" Travis puts a solid two steps between himself and Vale.

"You've been gone for a month." He spits the words at me from his side of the bar and if anyone had missed the part where Vale called me his fiancée, they sure as hell heard Travis just now. "What did you do? Shack up with the first Neanderthal you could find up here?"

His eyes rake over Vale, who's still towering over him, his fists clenched at his side, steam virtually billowing out of his ears.

I'm so relieved that Vale is here. Without even thinking about it, I run straight for him and wrap my arms around him.

"You okay, Birdy?"

Vale's hand caresses the side of my face as he tips my head up to look him in the eyes.

He just called me his fiancée. Out loud, in front of the entire bar. And he already has a pet name for me?

"'Fiancée?' What the fuck, Sparrow, you've been out here a fucking month. What'd you do, give it up to the first Neanderthal you could find?"

Travis stares at Vale with open contempt as he goes back to his ranting. It's like he doesn't even notice that Vale's several inches taller than him and outweighs him by close to a hundred pounds. A hundred pounds that's all muscle, by the way, which I always suspected but now I know.

"Go stay behind the bar, Birdy," Vale tells me, giving me a gentle push away from him, "I'll be right back."

Reluctantly, I let go of Vale and go back behind the bar like he tells me to, where I find my cell phone already blowing up with messages from my friend, Cami. It's then that I realize how many of the locals have cell phones aimed at the scene and I realize that the entire town found out I'm engaged to Vale the same time I did!

Travis's feet are barely able to mimic steps as he dangles from Vale's grip while being unceremoniously pushed out the door and dropped in the mud and snow outside.

"Thank you," I whisper to Vale as soon as we're alone in the supply room where he dragged me away from the curious crowd that was gathering around us.

"Seemed pretty obvious you weren't interested in getting back together with him," Vale mutters, running a hand through the thick curls and pushing them off his forehead.

"Travis isn't my ex." I'm quick to clear up any misunderstanding there, taking a step closer to Vale before remembering that he only said what he said to get Travis to leave me alone.

"We worked together back home," I explain when Vale's eyebrows furrow, "he asked me out but I said no."

"I take it he didn't take that well?" Vale asks.

"He didn't really take it all," I admit, "he kinda built up a fantasy about us being a couple. I had to quit my job because he kept showing up and causing trouble. When I came to Moonshine Ridge, I thought he'd just give up."

For an answer, I get a grunt.

"I'm going to call Cedar and get someone down here to cover your shifts for a while," he tells me, pulling his phone out of his back pocket, "You're going to stay up at the springs with me till we can this asshole out of town for good."

"Look, Vale," I try to calm the hurricane inside my head and act reasonably, "I'd love to take you up on your offer and all but--"

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