“Oh, there’s a pie-eating contest at the diner on Sunday. They’re looking for a judge after Mr. Richardson got sick. I could text Josie and let her know you’re interested.”
“How is that going to help me with the community?”
“You’re annoying,” she says, turning away. “I’ve got tables waiting.”
I grip her arm and she turns back, looking down at my hand as I hold her loosely. Touching her again is enough to have my nerves soaring. I’m not sure what I’m doing. I need to stop. It’s wrong. I shouldn’t touch her at all. I definitely shouldn’t grab her.
Her eyes flicker with a desire I haven’t seen in years. “I thought you didn’t like making your customers wait.”
I glance down the hall, checking for other employees. There’s no one. I could tug her into me, I could kiss her, I could seal our bodies together and press her against the wall. The thoughts run through my head quickly, and soon they’re insatiable. I’m an animal, operating on instinct alone.
I act on my urges.
I reach out and pull her close to me, our bodies against one another as heat brews between us. I expected relief, but instead a new, more intense feeling arises. The need to claim her. The need to devour her body and make her mine.
Our eyes stay on one another as we pant against the recycled air pushing between us. She’s so close I could kiss her. My thumb grazes over the top of her lower lip and I hold her gaze.
“What’s happening?” Addie whispers. Her words are ragged and breathless, her eyes wide as she rests her hand on my bicep. She looks confused.
Fuck. What am I doing? What have I done?
I back away from her touch and shake my head, staring down at the ground, disgusted with myself for acting like a barbarian.What the hell is wrong with me?
“I’m sorry,” I say, twisting away from her. “You should get to work. I’ll be down in a bit to check on everyone.” I don’t want to push her away, but I need to clear my head. I need to get myself together.
She doesn’t do as she’s told. No surprise there.
“No. What was that all about? Were you going to kiss me?”
I want to tell her that I’d planned to do more than kiss her. I want to tell her that I want to put that tight little pussy in my grip and bounce her on my cock all night. But, again, that’s wrong. So instead, I snap. “No one’s kissing anyone. Your tables are waiting, though.”
My stomach turns as she moves away, scowling as she works back down the stairway. I’ve hurt her. It wasn’t my intention. My intention was to make her feel better than she’d ever felt. My intention was to hold her and make her mine. Instead, I’ve pushed more distance between us. Hell, I’ve probably just confirmed every suspicion the people in Rugged Mountain have about me. I’m the weirdo on the other side of the mountain that can’t be trusted.
Chapter Three
Addie
There aren’t enough pages in my diary to write all the things I feel about Declan. He’s annoying, pompous, full of himself, and hot as hell. My entire body tingled all night as I thought of him touching me again. I’m pretty sure now I know he wants me. I can’t imagine why else he’d have reacted the way he did. Though, he didn’t talk to me the rest of the night, and he didn’t bother doing rounds like he usually does.
Maybe he touched me and hated it. He’s way out of my league. He’s got to be twenty years older than me and could be a dancer for Chippendales or some other male strip show. I’m not sure what he’d ever want with a twenty-three-year-old girl whose ass is too wide. Then again, his body felt so right against me that it feels wrong to be away from him.
“Where are you?” Violet asks the second I pick up the phone. I’m running late for work. I never run late for work.
“I’m stuck behind elk on the pass. I’ve been honking for ten minutes. They don’t care.”
She laughs. “Well, Declan is looking for you and he’s furious.”
I want to tell her everything that happened yesterday with him, but the whole thing feels like a blur. One second he’s touching me, about to do everything I’ve fantasized about. The next, he’s pushing me away and demanding I get back to work.
“Let him be furious. I’m only a few minutes late.”
She laughs. “In Declan’s eyes, you’re an hour late. Did you tell your dad yet?”
I drive closer to the oversized deer, hoping that they’ll get the hint, but they don’t budge. “No. I haven’t told him anything. I’m starting to think it’s best if he just finds out through the grapevine. By then, maybe my cabin will be finished and I can ignore his calls.”
“You won’t, though. You’ll cry. You’ve always been a daddy’s girl.” I know she’s right, which is why he’s the hardest to talk to. As a kid, I spent nearly every fall fishing or hunting with my dad, and every summer on the ranch, training horses, mucking stalls, and feeding chickens. In his mind, even the diner was temporary because he knew I belonged on the ranch. Granted, a part of me wants to be there.
Someday.Someday I want my own ranch. That’s what I’m building the cabin for.