People always joked about my low prices. But the money was only part of it. Sure, it kept the heat on inside my cabin and paid my truck insurance. But more than that, I needed the physicality of it to keep me under control.
Without it, well, without it I was liable to fall back into old thoughts about lost friends.
Fresh snow had fallen last night, and there was a tranquil hush over the woods today.
I wasn’t the first one out. I could see the tracks of a doe and her fawn meandering through the snow. And another set of squirrel prints. And at least three wild turkeys that had wandered by at some point in the early morning hours.
I scanned the woods as I hefted my axe, a rare moment of peace flooding my heart.
Some people might think I was crazy for chopping wood in the snow almost naked. But luckily for them, I lived so far out in the middle of fucking nowhere that they’d never have to know.
The truth was, I liked the cold on my skin. It made me feel alive.
I steadied my first piece of wood on the block, gripped my axe tight and swung a hard and steady arc. The wood split into a satisfying spray of pieces.
I positioned the next chunk and swung. Then the next. And the next.
Comet found a spot in the snow, circled three times and laid down. He was made for snow. He had so much fur.
It must have been two hours later, sweat pouring down my chest, when Comet’s barks caught my attention.
I looked up mid-swing and almost took my foot off.
There was a woman standing not twenty feet away, with a tiny lapdog in her arms.
She was a vision of beauty with long dark hair and curves that made my dick ache. She was wearing a white and red stripedwinter hat, along with a red sweater that highlighted her curvy breasts, and a pair of delightfully tight white pants. To finish it all off, she had a tiny holly choker around her neck.
She looked like Christmas come to life.
“Who the fuck are you? And what are you doing out here?” I growled out at the same time Comet ran over to investigate.
Chapter 4
Robin
I couldn’t take my eyes off him.
Before I’d arrived, I’d almost turned around half a dozen times. It had taken me three days to drive all the way to the Ozarks and then another half day on small, winding country roads to make it to Red Oak Mountain.
This place was at the very edge of civilization, and it surprised me that anyone could live here.
But then I’d seen the town square, all decorated for Christmas, and it had reminded me of home. It was cheerful and bright.
Now that I washere, though, actuallyhereat Levi’s place, I knew I’d made a mistake.
“I’ll say it again, woman. What the fuck are you doing on my property?” he growled out as his expression turned stern.
He really was a beast of a man.
He hefted the axe as I studied him, incapable of looking away.
Levi was so tall—at least a foot taller than me — and covered in thick muscles. A sheen of sweat was glistening across his chest,leading my eye straight to it. Then of course I had to sneak a peek lower.
I didn’t know men actuallyhadabs like this.
And why was he chopping wood in his underwear?
Other than the dog tags around his neck all the man had on were beat-up work boots, an old-fashioned Santa hat, and a delicious pair of camo-printed boxer briefs that were likely to live in my dreams for the next decade.
