“That’s right.”Just because you know who I am doesn't stop me from wanting to play, honey.
“Good.” Her feet plant firmly in the hard packed dirt before me. “Because I’m sick of walking. I need your help.”
I huff a laugh under my breath. Who in the hell has this woman been talking to in Hope Peak that gave her the impression that I’m one of the good guys? Because I’m sure as hell not one. She can keep thinking that if she likes. It’ll mean a cute surprise for both of us.
Merry fucking Christmas to me.
CHAPTER TWO
ELENA
Gabriel Decker looks exactly the way I was told to expect him to appear: the epitome of mountain man rugged kitsch. Not that I expect he’ll self-diagnose any of that from the expression on his weathered face, or the little I can see of it around his wild beard. Beneath the unmanicured bush his lip curls in what might be a sneer or a smile. I know it’s going to take me a while to interpret some of his expressions.
A black Henley is worn beneath a tan jacket that shows signs of wear over khaki pants. Boots that look as sturdy as the mountain he stands on are on his feet. Hair covers his head and face in a wild tangle that leaves me itching to comb my fingers through it and discover the man beneath.
But I don’t need to do any of that. Because his eyes—grey laced with shots of green like he’s been carved from the side of the mountain itself—stare back at me. Or through me, as though he can possess me with a single stare.
Good. Because I hauled my not inconsiderable ass all the way up into his mountain range today for a reason.
Not because I’m a princess, but because of…preferences. One of which may have followed me up the mountain, which is why I spent half a day scrambling through underbrush and hoping that the only bear I come across in his mountains is the one that I’m looking for.
Before him, I feel small.
Gabriel stares at me like he thinks I’m looking for something that’s not here. But I’m not searching for the good guy. Gabriel Decker isn’t a hero—at least, not any more from what I’ve heard—and he’s not what I need right now.
But I do need the skills he offers, and I’m willing to pay for that service.
The man I climbed a mountain for steps closer. His hold on the oversized gun that matches his size never wavers.
Good.
“If you know my name, and you don’t expect anyone else to be out here…” He pauses and holds my gaze with those strange mountain god eyes that suck me right in. “Do you mind telling me why you keep looking over my shoulder like you keep expecting extra company when you don’t have an invitation to be here?”
The faintest smile tugs at my lips. I like a man who gets right to business. Actually, I've always preferred the company of men to women, and with six brothers that’s been my natural habitat for a long time. At least, it used to be. My smile fades.
“I have a business proposition for you.”
He leans against the next boulder. Not the one he emerged from behind, but the one closest to me. “You do, huh? Wanna come inside and talk this through,Miss I-climbed-a mountain-to-find-you-and-you-already-know-my name-but-I-don’t-have-any-idea-who-the-fuck-you-are?” His genial toneerodes as he talks, like the sun disappearing behind a cloud. He shifts away from his boulder, stalking forward until he stops right in front of me. A wall of pure muscle wrapped up in a Henley and other soft materials.
I doubt I’ll find anything so gentle underneath.
Hard ass.I knew he would be, a man with his history. He brought back his best friend from an overseas hell where they were both kept prisoners, only they were never let go and only one of them escaped. He was able to bring his best friend home because he couldn’t stand leaving him there.
That’s the man I need now.
Going inside with him is a really stupid move. It’s also where I need to be right now, to break this impasse.
“Sure.” I put on the flirtatious persona he seems to love so much even though my energy is fading fast after my day long hike. “Got enough coffee in there to pep a girl up?”
Gabriel Decker stares me down for a long moment before he pivots ninety degrees and walks around me like I’m an object he has to avoid. Like we’re magnets that repel each other if we get too close.
But that’s a lie. Because I read the heat in his eyes when I first stumbled out of the forest and into the clearing, back when he dropped his scope and looked at me. Really looked at me. A rawness was written there and it had less to do with lust and more to do with a vulnerability that I’m not sure the mountain man before me knows about himself.
This will be a fun visit.
I follow him and hope I don’t have to chip stale coffee out of a tin in order to stave off a fast growing caffeine headache. Perhaps I should have brought my own emergency sachets in order to combat a situation just like this one.
A girl can’t be too careful, after all. And I need my coffee to function.
