Page 8 of Guarded By the Mountain Man

A muscle in his jaw ticks. “Juliette…”

“Everyone in my life has told me what I want! You don't get to do it too, not you, I won't…”

I don't get to say any more, because he crosses the space between us and kisses me.

Despite his huge size, he holds my face gently, one big hand sliding back into my hair. His mouth is slow and certain, and I moan as his tongue explores my mouth. I stand on tiptoe, pressing my body against the hard lines of his and he groans. He smells of fresh air and woodsmoke, so good that I don’t want this to ever stop. My heart hammers in my ears as his hands move on my back, pressing me closer.

When he stops, we're both breathing hard. Six is looking at us like we’ve gone insane.

He shakes his head. “I shouldn’t have done that.”

“I disagree.”

He laughs, a deep rumble in his big chest. His eyes are warm as he trails a finger under my jaw. “You're going to take my whole life apart, aren't you?”

“Maybe…” My mouth is an inch from his and all I want to do is kiss him again. “I haven't decided yet. I hear I'm allowed to decide things now.”

He smiles. Then he steps back.

“We need more wood. It’s bedtime.”

I raise my eyebrows.

Holt shakes his head, smiling. “That was my mistake. I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

The door closes. Six sighs from the couch like the whole performance exhausted him. I stand in front of the fire and put my fingers against my mouth, tracing where his lips have been.

I go to bed smiling, because he's wrong, and I think he already knows it.

Chapter Six

HOLT

I manage not to kiss Juliette again for a whole day.

Early in the morning, I drive her down the ridge in the dark for her first shift. I check she’s gone inside safely, her silhouette moving through the rain into the lit-up kitchen of Latte Da!, then I do some stuff in town. Drop off a load of extra firewood at the church, then go get chain oil from the Fix-it Shop. I stop back for a second coffee I don't want, just to stand at the counter while Juliette boxes somebody's Danish. Nora rings up my order without a word, but the look she gives me over her glasses is clear. She knows I’m just here to breathe the same air as Juliette for a minute.

Back home, I try not to think about the kiss. I get in the shower but the memory of her mouth, that little moan and her curvy body pressed up on tiptoe against me, and I'm hard before the water's even hot. Leaning against the tiles, I fist my cock and come almost immediately, her face in my head the whole time.

Bobby calls at noon.

“Bad news, Holt. The supplier sent a pump for a diesel. I chewed him out, he'll get the right one on next week's run. That bride of yours will have to suffer here a while longer.” I can hear the grin in his voice.

“She's not my bride.”

“Uh-huh.”

The cold part of me, the one that counts exits, tells me I should be worried about that. It takes one idiot to spread the gossip to the wrong person and Juliette could be in trouble. But I hang up the phone feeling like the supplier sent me a gift.

I’ve got her here for a while longer.

When I pick her up she comes out of Latte Da! with a big smile on her face.

“I'm taking you to dinner,” she says, climbing in. “Guac and Roll. Nora says the al pastor is the best in the county, and I have a day's wages to spend.” She holds up an envelope. “I've never spent money I earned before… so you're getting thank-you tacos, and you're not allowed to argue.”

“Yes, ma'am.”

Guac & Roll is packed, most tables taken, and a line at the counter. Conversation dips when we walk in, then comes back at double the volume. Ted Farley salutes me with a bottle of beer. Two of the O'Connor boys wave at Juliette; they must have met her at Latte Da! today. One of them is definitely eyeing her up, so I put my hand on the small of her back and guide her to the corner table.