Chapter 3

3

KACIE

W oo-hoo! I’m so proud of our girl.

You go get him, Kacie!

Hot mountain man? I’m super jelly.

Those were the messages that came through from my friends as I sat in front of the fire at the Seduction Summit Lodge, sipping salted caramel hot cocoa with my feet propped up on the coffee table in front of me. What the heck was I doing? I should’ve been on my way home, celebrating the fact that I’d never have to see the guy on the chairlift again. I could leave this entire embarrassing chapter behind.

But instead of being embarrassed, I was drawn to him. I wanted to see him again. Correction—I had to see him again. Every time I thought about being naked on that gondola with him looking at me, heat rushed to my private parts.

Had it turned him on, seeing me like that? Did he have an erection? Did he continue to get hard every time he remembered?

None of this was like me at all. If my friends knew, they’d let out another round of virtual cheers. But it wasn’t fearless to have a fantasy about a man. What was fearless was carrying out that fantasy.

I closed my eyes and gripped my cup a little tighter. I allowed myself to imagine riding the gorgeous construction guy from one of the benches inside the gondola. In my fantasy, he was seated, his pants down just enough to expose his massive erection. I’d pulled my pants down to my ankles and spread, straddling him while facing away from him.

In the fantasy, he was plunging deep into me while his hand went between my legs to stroke my clit. It wouldn’t be our first time because I’d be riding him hard, fucking him as I cried out, hoping the chairlift didn’t come by and reveal us to anyone riding on it. But the thrill of possibly being caught was what made it even hotter.

“I found you.”

My eyes popped open, and I nearly dropped the cup at the sound of a male voice. He was standing just in front of me, blocking the view of the fireplace.

I didn’t mind. This view was much better.

“Hi,” I said, feeling my cheeks grow warm.

He couldn’t possibly have known what I was thinking. It wasn’t like I’d been touching myself during the fantasy. I’d never even done that before. Still, I couldn’t help but feel more exposed than when he’d seen me wearing not a scrap of clothes.

And once again, heat went to my nether regions at the thought of him knowing exactly what I’d been thinking.

“Did you catch any powder?” he asked, moving over to the couch to the left.

God, he was so freaking hot. I had to force myself to stop staring at him. He’d lost the jacket and now wore a Seduction Summit Lodge sweatshirt and jeans. I’d noticed they’d started selling those in the lodge gift shop this year. Until now, the town had been completely devoid of any branded souvenirs. Just wooden, bear-themed household items and assorted bear carvings at the one gift shop in town.

“I thought about it,” I said. “But I decided to chill in front of the fire until the restaurant starts serving lunch.”

It was a good excuse. Really, I would’ve been fine with a bowl of oatmeal from the breakfast bar before hopping in the car. But I’d been hanging out, hoping he’d show up here.

“You haven’t eaten?” he asked. “I was just thinking about grabbing a sandwich. I’ll buy you lunch.”

He didn’t wait for a response—just jumped up and gestured for me to stand. I glanced at my fitness watch and confirmed it was still a good twenty minutes before the restaurant would shift to lunch service.

“I have connections,” he said. “We can at least get seated and put our order in. I have a feeling they’ll make an exception, though.”

Now I was the one whose eyebrows shot up. He had connections. He’d mentioned helping with the construction here in town, but he wore a lodge sweatshirt similar to the ones I’d seen employees wear. Did he work here? Maybe he ran the place. No, I’d seen the owner, and this definitely wasn’t him…unless things had changed since last year.

Curious how this would go, I pushed myself to my feet and started toward the door, which meant breezing past him. The restaurant was far from empty, even though an employee was removing trays of food from the breakfast bar.

I glanced at my fitness watch again. Yeah, it might not even take Brandon’s connections to get lunch if they were already shutting down breakfast. I was a little disappointed. I wanted to see exactly how he’d line this up.

“Welcome to the Glacier Bar and Grill,” the hostess, whose name tag read Darby, said. “Two for lunch?”

I looked over at Brandon. He’d stepped up to stand next to me. He was hardly working his charm on the woman behind the podium, though. In fact, he had a bit of a grumpy look on his face.

This was the demeanor I’d expected of a mountain man. Kind of rough, definitely standoffish. What did it mean that he hadn’t shown that side of himself to me? Maybe he liked me. Maybe he was trying to win me over. Maybe this hostess hadn’t undressed in front of him before he even knew her name.

“Yep,” Brandon said. “Could we get a seat by the window? And is Mike back there?”

The hostess’s smile faltered a little, and she looked around, as if this Mike person could be standing nearby and she hadn’t noticed. “I think so. Is he the cook? It’s my first day.”

“Your first day is New Year’s Eve?” I asked. “Sorry about that.”

Darby shrugged. “I’ll be off in plenty of time to head to Adairsville to meet up with my friends.”

I was all too familiar with Adairsville. My friends had dragged me there every winter break going back to junior year. While it wasn’t exactly brimming with nightlife, there were a few bars and honky-tonks that served alcohol, and if you worked it right, you could get a guy to buy you a drink even if you were under the drinking age, as we’d been.

On New Year’s Eve, it was the only place to go to drink and celebrate unless you wanted to hang out in this very restaurant. I never enjoyed going out to bars, but it wasn’t like I had a choice. If I was here on vacation with people who wanted to party, I had to go with them to avoid fitting the labels they’d put on me.

Darby took us all the way to a corner booth—the one area of the restaurant that wasn’t overpopulated. They probably seated most people near the breakfast bar.

My heart sped up a little at the thought of having this guy to myself, but when I faced him, the view of the snow-covered green run behind him, I remembered our encounter just a few hours ago.

He’d seen me naked. Oh, God. This guy had seen me naked.

“Is everything okay?” Brandon asked.

I squeezed my eyes closed and took a deep breath. The last thing I wanted to do was bring it up again. I was hoping maybe he’d forgotten.

“It’s about this morning, isn’t it?” he asked. “You feel vulnerable. I could take off all my clothes and run through the snow out there if it would make you feel better.”

My eyes popped open. I felt warm in ways that had only a little to do with the image of him standing in the snow, wearing absolutely nothing. He’d be gorgeous. All hard muscle and sexiness.

But no, his comment had gone straight to my heart. He probably knew I wouldn’t make him do that, but the offer made me feel like someone cared about me.

When was the last time that had happened? My parents had been great at providing the material stuff. They’d sent me to one of the best schools in the region and now paid for my apartment while I tried to find a job. I had no right to complain.

But my reaction to this Brandon guy’s statement reminded me what was missing in my life. That cozy, comfy feeling that came from parents who truly nurtured their only child. I’d trade all our money just to have a Christmas where my parents were excited to see me home, not annoyed by my presence.

“Penny for your thoughts,” Brandon said.

His words snapped me out of my trance, making me realize I’d zoned out. Worse, I’d zoned out just after he offered to run naked through the snow. Did he think I was picturing him naked?

Would I ever stop making a fool out of myself in front of this guy?

“Sorry.” I shook my head. “I was just thinking about family.”

It was the truth, but I didn’t really want to elaborate. Talking about my life in Charlotte would just bum the guy out and bring the entire mood down.

“Do you live near Seduction Summit?” Brandon asked.

We had to pause the conversation briefly because a server approached to take our drink orders. We both ordered our food too—turkey wrap for me and a grilled cheese and bacon sandwich for him—and I waited for her to rush off before I spoke.

“Charlotte,” I said. “But I love this place. If I could find a job, I could totally see becoming a mountain woman.”

That brought a strange look. “Mountain woman?”

“You know, you guys live all alone in your cabins without running water or indoor plumbing and grow long beards and don’t bathe.”

His eyes grew wider with each word. Finally, he held up a hand, looking down as he seemed to suppress a laugh.

“I live alone in a cabin, yes,” he said. “But it definitely has all the amenities I’m sure you have in your…apartment?”

“Condo,” I said. “It’s a rental.”

Why I told him that, I wasn’t sure. It was definitely a detail he didn’t need.

“And I bathe,” he said. “Shower, actually. Every day. So I guess I don’t qualify as a mountain man.”

“Do you know any?”

“Any what?”

“Mountain men. Do you know any?”

He hesitated a long moment. Maybe I’d insulted him and his friends. I really knew nothing about the men who lived in this town, aside from seeing them at the bar sometimes. This was the only place to get alcohol this side of the city line, so they tended to take up all the stools at the bar. They set themselves apart from guests with their long beards and lumberjack flannel shirts.

“I don’t know anyone who doesn’t have electric and plumbing,” he said. “But most of the locals here live at the base of the mountain, in the houses scattered around the city limits.”

“Is that where you grew up?” I asked, eager to learn more about this guy.

“We lived in a mobile home not too far from here,” he said. “My mom loved the fresh mountain air. But most of my friends were in the area I mentioned.”

“You never left?” I asked.

“I left. Was in the military for a while. When I came out, I took a job an hour or so from here. I just moved back a few months ago.”

“To be closer to family?”

He shook his head. “I never knew my dad.” He laughed. “My mom didn’t even know him that well, and she died while I was overseas. Had to get emergency leave to come back for her funeral.”

“I’m sorry.”

This guy had been through so much. I couldn’t imagine. It only made me admire him more.

“I got a job here when I was fifteen,” he said. “The owner, the father of the guy who runs the place now, was the closest thing to a father I ever had. That’s why it was so important for me to mend fences with Alex. He’s the guy who owns this place now. That was his dad. Apparently, he had some resentments that his father and I got so close. Now he understands how valuable that was to me.”

“Yeah, you weren’t out to steal his dad,” I said.

“Not at all.” He took a deep breath and let it out. “Anyway, that’s my sad story. What do you say we hit the slopes after lunch? I have a pair of skis in my truck that I haven’t gotten to use this season yet.”

I smiled. I should say no. I should get in my car and head home. I’d slowed down my job search over the holidays and I really needed to prepare to hit the ground running in a few days.

But instead, I found myself giving him a smile and a nod as I said, “Sounds like a plan to me.”