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“Want a sip?” he offers before I have to ask. I love it when people let you try their drinks. If I get a good cocktail, I’m offering sips to everyone.
“I’d love one.” He slides his glass over and I rest my hand on his while I put my lips on the straw. I take a sip, but I like mine better.
He takes a sip of mine and then we sit in a comfortable silence for a moment, just settling into the booth and into the evening with our drinks.
“I have a confession to make,” I tell him. He raises an eyebrow. “I saw you save that little girl.”
“Alice,” he says with a smile. “She was a cutie.”
“What happened?”
“She was on the trail with her parents and ran up ahead,” he says as I gaze into his beautiful blue eyes. “Took a few wrong turns and before she knew it, she was all mixed up. Instead of staying put until someone found her, she took off running, only it was in the wrong direction. It’s easy to get lost out there if you don’t know what you’re doing.”
“How long was she out there?”
“Only about an hour,” he says. “But the poor girl twisted her ankle.”
I swallow hard as I watch him put his sexy lips on the glass and take a sip. “They called us right away, but I was the only one working. I grabbed Charlie and took off. She hadn’t gone too far, so it was a piece of cake for Charlie once he got a whiff of her sweater.”
“I think it’s incredible what you do,” I say, looking at him in awe. “Saving people like that.”
He just smiles like it’s nothing. I don’t know… This guy… Everything about him screams marriage material. I can really see myself ending up with someone like him.
He’s sweet, funny, and he’s got just the right amount of possessiveness in the way he touches and looks at me. I’m really starting to fall for him.
This is already feeling like our fifth date instead of our first.
Trish’s voice pops into my head. “Pace yourself, Abby. You just got here.”
Sorry, not going to happen, Trish.
I’m jumping in with two feet.
And I’m not afraid of falling.
Not with this hunky mountain man here to catch me.
Chapter Eight
Abby
After our incredible dinner, we move over to the bar and have a few more drinks. We’re having a great time. It’s the best date I’ve ever had, by far.
“What was it like growing up in the mountains?” I ask Julian. We’re turned on the stools, as close to each other as we can get without me sitting on his lap.
“The mountains were my playground,” he tells me. “I was always wandering around the wilderness with my friends—hiking, camping, getting into trouble. It was the best way to grow up.”
I smile as I picture Julian as a kid. I bet he was a mischievous one, but at the same time had all of his teachers eating out of his hand.
If I’m lucky enough to have kids one day, the Greene Mountains will be their playground too.
We talk for another hour until I spot the time and gasp. “It’s midnight?”
“What time do you have to get up tomorrow?” he asks.
I don’t even want to think about it. I want to stay in the moment with him and not worry about tomorrow.
But at the same time, I can’t be a walking zombie on my second day of work.
“My alarm is set for 4:45,” I tell him.
He winces. “Ouch.”
“Tell me about it.”
“Let’s get you home,” he says with a sigh.
He insists on paying the bill and we get up and leave. The stars are out and we take our time walking back. I suddenly wish that my place was a little further away.
“There are so many stars out here,” I say as I gaze up at the night sky. “It’s so beautiful.”
His hand slides into mine and I get a happy feeling all over.
I don’t want this night to end.
He walks me to the bakery and I slide my key in the lock. I open the door a crack and then turn around, looking at him while biting my bottom lip seductively.
Those heated blue eyes are locked on mine as he steps forward, entering my personal space. My heart races. I want him to kiss me. I want to taste him again.
When his eyes drop to my mouth, I lick my lips and our bodies come together. I moan when I feel his strong arms wrapping around me and pulling me in close. I step on my toes and part my lips.
He takes my mouth in a hard demanding kiss that rips the air from my lungs and has me moaning on his tongue.
This kiss is hotter than the one on the bridge. It’s more passionate. More desperate. All of the aching desire that’s been building all night combusts in a heated frenzy of sliding tongues and pulling hands.
