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Damn, my cock twitches at the thought. Like I said, it’s been a long ass lonely winter.
She flashes me a broad grin as I meet her gaze. She brushes a strand of her fiery-red hair back from her face, her freckled features like the icing on a goddamn cake.
"Hey!” She greets me brightly. "Do you work here?”
"Depends," I reply. "What do you need?”
"Someone to get me checked into my cabin," she explains. "I have it booked over the next few days. Harper Higgins?”
I furrow my brow at her as I make my way around the desk and check the bookings that Charlie keeps scribbled down in the notebook. Sure enough, there it is, Harper Higgins, in black and white.
I lift my gaze and eye her again. Nothing she’s wearing looks even close to suitable for this part of the world, and I wonder if she has any idea what she’s in for.
"You look pretty comfortable back there for someone who might not work here," she remarks, smiling. She has a slightly crooked smile, warm and genuine.
I shrug. "Do anything enough times and you figure it out," I reply, and I go rooting under the desk for the keys to the cabin that she has rented. She watches me as I do so, and I can feel those piercing blue eyes on me as I try to get this done.
"Thank you for helping me out," she tells me as I put the keys down in front of her.
"You’re going to need all the help you can get," I reply before I can stop myself. She tips her head to the side, pouting playfully and raising her eyebrows.
"And what’s that supposed to mean?” she demands. I could have just stopped right then, told her to forget it, but I’ve never been good at keeping my mouth shut when I should.
"Don’t see many girls like you marching around here this time of year," I explain. "And the ones who do don’t last long."
"First off, I’m a woman, not a girl," she shoots back good-naturedly. "And second – maybe if you all were a little more welcoming, more of us would come up here."
"Maybe," I remark, and I find she is still smiling at me.
"So, where exactly is the cabin?” she asks.
"There are signs outside, you just have to follow the path that comes out of here down to the stone marker, and then take a left, and–"
I can see from the expression on her face that all of this is falling in one ear and straight out the other. I know that I shouldn’t rub it in, but I can’t help it.
"Don’t tell me you already need my help," I remark.
She pulls a face at me. "I’ve just never been good with directions, and I don’t want to end up wandering the wilderness when I should be relaxing," she explains.
"You want me to walk you down there?" I ask.
She nods, relieved. "If you don’t mind."
"Sure, I can see my way to that," I agree. If she took a wrong turn, after all, she could end up in cougar territory. And not even her high-heeled boots could save her then.
But if I’m being completely honest, it’s not the cougars that have me offering to lead the way. It’s the fact I am not ready to let this woman out of my sight.
Chapter Two
Harper
"Wait, so, I have to take another turn here?” I ask Cliff as he leads me down the narrow path to the cabin where I’m going to be spending the next few days.
He nods. "It’s not hard once you’ve done it a couple of times," he replies.
Honestly, I am not as bad at directions as I have made myself out to be, but I just want a little time alone with this burly, bearded mountain man. He is broad-shouldered and looks like he was born in these mountains. There’s a feral look in his eyes. A hunger. One I don’t fully understand.
And I admit to wanting to hear more of his gravely, deep voice for a little longer before I step into my cabin and my me-time can begin. He even sounds like a real man.
A man who can wield plenty more than an axe.
"Whatever you say," I reply, and I tug my jacket a little closer around me and hope that he doesn’t notice how much the cold is bothering me. I don’t want him to think I’m any more of an amateur at this mountain retreat thing than he already does. Though, if it means that he keeps helping me out like this, maybe I can see my way to indulging his preconceptions a little further...
"Oh!" I squeak as I step on a loose rock and my heel skids. Cliff flashes round in an instant and catches me, hands on either side of my shoulders. There’s a confidence to the way he moves, and it’s clear that he has been up in these parts for a long time now. His hands are strong, and I wonder just what the arms he has hiding under that heavy jacket might look like, too.
