Chapter 6

My eyes were peeled as I entered the Scoreboard Bar and Grill parking lot. Noah drove a giant black truck. Most of the guys around here drove vehicles that seemed much too large. But a big guy needed a big vehicle, I assumed.

I would have stayed in my car until Tinley arrived, but something was different today. I had a confidence I'd never felt before. Sex with Noah had done that to me.

It had been almost twenty-four hours since our pizza date started, and I was as conflicted as ever. Part of me was exhilarated at the idea of him watching me when I didn't know about it. Of him finding me so sexy, he couldn't take his eyes off me. The other part was creeped out by it.

To be truthful, though, that part was mostly how I thought I should feel. Basically, I was creeped out by how turned on I was at the thought of being watched by Noah.

"Have a seat anywhere," the bartender called out as I entered.

He wasn't kidding. The place was empty. I had my pick of seats. But how did he know I wasn't going to walk up and sit at the bar? He probably assumed from my messy bun and college sweatshirt that I was not the type to sit at a bar alone.

I'd barely gotten seated when a server rushed out with a stack of menus. She beelined for my table near the door.

"Will someone be joining you today?" the server asked.

I looked up at the woman. She was middle aged and had a kind smile. I remembered this town seemed to have a shortage of women. My friend Piper had worked at this very sports bar until her engagement. She'd taken a job at the bakery with our friends Hannah and Tinley soon after.

"Yes," I said.

She took my drink order—water with lemon—and headed toward the back. Seconds later, the door opened, and Tinley came rushing in.

"So sorry I'm late," she said. "Have you ordered yet?"

I shook my head. "Just water."

She narrowed her eyes at me as she slid into her seat. "Water?"

"I have to drive up the mountain," I pointed out.

She settled her purse strap onto the back of her chair and turned to face me. "Okay, so what's up with you?"

I'd sent her a text asking to meet for dinner, mostly because I dreaded eating dinner in the cabin alone, knowing Noah was just feet away. His truck hadn't been in the driveway when I started down the mountain, so I'd been hoping he wouldn't be here.

I opened my mouth to answer Tinley's question, but the server was on her way back. Instead, I nodded in that direction and looked down at the menu.

I knew Tinley wouldn't let me off the hook easily, so I just blurted it out as soon as the server was gone. "He was stalking me."

Tinley's stunned expression could be expected, but it was mixed with confusion. "Who?"

"Noah. He lives next door to Grayson. He watched me undress every night, sitting in the dark in his own bathroom. Isn't that…weird?"

Tinley opened her mouth, then shut it again, then opened it and looked off into the distance thoughtfully. "Normally, I'd say yes," she said. "But it's obvious he was attracted to you, and he doesn't come across as a creeper to me. In fact, Aiden said he swore off women a couple of years ago. Said he wasn't going to sleep with anyone until he found ‘the one.' I think you're the one."

Her gaze landed on me with that, and I was torn between thinking she was making excuses for him and wanting to believe her. She'd take up for any of the loggers since they were friends with her boyfriend. But there was a part of me who knew Tinley would be the first to tell a guy off if he was spying on one of her friends against her will.

But could it be against my will when I was so into him?

"Not that I think it's right in any circumstances," Tinley said. "But my view on things has changed a little since meeting Aiden. Not just that, but I've seen what this town can do. I've watched two of our friends come here and find love with these men. It's not the muffins. It's not the mountain air. It's these men. They're just…"

"Amazing," I blurted.

That raised her eyebrows. It also lifted the corners of her mouth into a smile. Those probably weren't the words she'd planned on saying, but it was clear we both got it. The guys in Blackbear Bluff were hardworking, virtuous men who went after what they wanted. And if they happened to spot the woman of their dreams through a window, they wouldn't look away.

"It's not like he deliberately tracked me to Grayson's house," I said. "He could see the bathroom from his window, and I was stripping naked."

"He saw you by accident?" Tinley asked.

"At first." I sighed. "That's the problem. He snuck in there at the same time the next night. On purpose."

"That is a little creepy," Tinley said.

"He said once he saw me, he couldn't get me out of his head."

Tinley cast her gaze upward as she thought about it. "That's a little more on the romantic side. So, are you going to give him a chance?"

I hesitated. As best friends, we told each other everything. But both Tinley and Piper had stopped opening up about their romantic lives after moving here. We'd all four been virgins, including my roommate, who was still back in Durham. It was one thing we'd bonded on. Obviously, Piper wasn't a virgin anymore, and I was guessing the friend seated across from me had lost her virginity by now too.

"We kind of already had a thing," I said, striking a compromise between TMI and holding back. "We slept together last night."

Tinley's jaw dropped. We had to pause the conversation while the server set Tinley's water in front of her. Apparently, she'd decided to refrain from alcohol too.

Once we were alone again, Tinley said, "You're in love."

Of all the things I might have expected her to say, that would've been the last. But she was right. I wouldn't have given my innocence to just anyone. I had to feel something pretty intense for him.

"I'm not sure," I said. "It just doesn't make sense."

"Love isn't about common sense. It's about the heart."

I stared at my friend. She was my lifeline in all of this. I needed someone to help me understand.

"I can't just go back to Durham," I said. "I'll wonder for the rest of my life."

Tinley smiled. "Why do you think I stayed? And Piper. When one of these mountain men gets into your heart, there's no going back."

Those words seemed to stick in my brain. She was right. No matter what Noah had said or done before we officially met, he'd gotten into my heart. I couldn't move on with my life, knowing I'd walked away from whatever this was between us. I had to stick around and see what happened next.