Page 22 of Thaw My Heart

But in this moment, I forget about the guilt with Alaska, the run-in with Cash, and the new problems awaiting me at Lone Pine.

The feeling of her lace corset brings me back to this morning, when I brushed up against her bare skin by accident. I still can’t believe she decided to run in only a sports bra and tiny shorts in goddamn November in Montana. I’m only a man, and I can only forget so much.

She steps closer to me, close enough that I can hear the uneven rhythm of her breathing. I realize how small she is compared to me. How could someone so aggravating be so small and still throw such a mean right hook? This woman is nothing like she appears to be.

An enigma I can’t quite figure out.

Would she really have changed her mind about dancing with me? Or is she just trying to get under my skin?

My throat swells as her big doe eyes meet mine, flickering with an emotion I can’t decipher. A man could get lost in their depths. She sweetly smiles underneath thick eyelashes, filling my body with heat. Everything about Sadie draws me in. Her scent, her curves, her raspy laugh, her perfect smile, her confidence and fiery attitude…

Fuck, I shouldn’t be here. I shouldn’t be thinking about her this way. And I definitely shouldn’t have agreed to dance with her.

Being at this bar tonight feels like the beginning of a fresh start. A new and exciting chapter in my life. I can’t remember when I last felt so calm in a room full of people.

The last time I felt so alive.

Kit is not happy that I rode with him tonight, but I didn’t want to risk bringing my truck into town too soon… to risk being found when I’d only just arrived. But for a man who acted like he wanted nothing to do with me, he sure did stare at me a lot.

Besides the fact that we had a staring contest, which I won, his body was constantly betraying him. He could try to hide the gleam in his eyes or the way his tongue darts out when I frustrate him, but it gave him away every damn time.

And I have to admit that tonight I’m staring at him, too.

Black ink covers his muscular left forearm—a mountainous scene displaying a river flowing through snowy mountains with dense pine trees and an elk woven into the design. Aspen Hollow, perhaps? I never would have guessed that boring and uptight Kit Harlow had tattoos.

But then again, I never would’ve guessed that he listened to hot rocker music, or that he would literally consider knocking out his cousin because he wanted the first dance. He’s a surprising man, to say the least. I wonder if he has tattoos anywhere else…

“Stop looking at me like that,” he snaps, breaking me out of my daze.

“Like what?” I smile sweetly.

“Like that. Stop it.”

My front teeth graze my bottom lip. “Why? What are you going to do about it?”

My pulse accelerates. Half-afraid that I’m pushing him too hard. That he’ll shove me away or say something cruel, but instead, his gaze softens, roaming to my mouth, catching me completely off guard. “Do you want me to do something about it?” he challenges.

I’m surprised my pulse hasn’t burst out of my veins. “Well, I—I…” Fuck. Yes. No. I cannot think of a clear answer with those striking blue eyes staring into mine. “What would you do exactly?”

The slightest of smiles crosses his face. “Look, let’s just talk about something else.”

I loose a breath, adjusting my arms around his neck. “So, you and your cousin are close,” I tease.

“Did you want to dance with Cash?” he fires back, narrowing his eyes, nearly hidden under his navy ballcap.

Okay, so he really doesn’t like him.

“Not particularly,” I smile innocently. There’s just something about him I couldn’t trust… especially after he tried to grab me and force me to dance.

“How’d you know who he was?” he asks, skeptical.

“I know lots of things about Lone Pine.”

He stares at me incredulously.

“I’m a massive fan.” A fan who may have a photo of you tucked away in her bedroom for certain occasions. The thought makes my smile turn into a smirk.

He snorts. “Well, whatever you’ve heard. Cash isn’t all that the media makes him out to be.”