Chapter 1
Grayson
We didn’t get many visitors around here.
After a lifetime of living in Iron Peak, I could usually peg a tourist within seconds of laying eyes on them.
We’d get three kinds around here. Weekend warriors with their brand-new gear. Granola types who wanted to “find themselves” in the wilderness. Or retirees chasing some romanticized vision of mountain life.
But this woman was none of those things.
She stood just inside the doorway of the Ridge Diner, letting the cold air swirl around her while she got her bearings.
She was younger than me by a decade, and hadcitywritten all over her, from the impractical fashion jacket that wouldn’t keep a chihuahua warm to the way she clutched her purse like someone might snatch it.
Butdamnif she wasn’t the prettiest thing I’d seen walk through that door in years.
She was soft in all the ways that made my hands itch, and built like a womanshouldbe built.
Every inch of her was made up of generous curves that would feel like heaven pressed against me on a cold night.
I watched her drift toward the wall by the hostess stand where Marla had tacked up Polaroids over the years of people who’d eaten her huckleberry pie.
As the woman turned to look at the photos, my eyes dropped to the swell of her big ass encased in a pair of tight jeans, completely transfixed. I shifted in my booth as my pants grew tight.
Marla swung by, chortling in my ear. “Well, Grayson Ford, I never thought I’d see the day whenyoushowed any interest in a woman.”
Marla’s voice cut through my thoughts, and I jerked my attention back to my coffee cup and off the tourist’s ass, but it was too late.
The owner of the Ridge Diner, a crotchety, cantankerous old gal who happened to be one of my best friends, was already sliding into the booth across from me, her weathered face split into a grin that spelled trouble.
“Don’t start,” I warned.
Then I cleared my throat and dropped my eyes, studying the menu even though I knew everything on it. “I wasn’t really looking,” I rumbled quietly.
“Grayson Ford, I’ve known you since you were in diapers, and I’ve neveronceseen you look at a woman like that.”
“Don’t make it a thing,” I grumbled. “I only looked for a second.”
“Honey, you were staring so hard I’m surprised you didn’t fall out of your booth.” Marla leaned back, crossing her arms over her chest. “She’s cute. Little lost, maybe, but cute.”
I grunted and took a long sip of coffee. “Are you going to take my order or what?”
“Naw. I think I’ll fetch that pretty young thing for you first. Maybe you can talk her into taking atourwith you. Don’t forget when it comes time to vote for my boy, Brady.”
Brady was trying to join the search and rescue crew.
We took SAR seriously in these mountains. And Brady wasn’t quite up to speed yet. He was still getting his mountain legs under him. I’d been leaning toward a ‘no’ vote, but I could tell Marla was pushing hard for us to give him a chance.
The decision would ultimately be in Wyatt’s hands. He was the head of our local SAR operations. But Wyatt always liked to get feedback from the other guys, and I was one of his main men. If I gave Brady a vote of confidence, it would go a long way in getting him on the team.
I sighed. The boy wasn’t ready. He needed a few more years to man up.
“Now, Marla, you know I can’t swing the vote for you just because—”
“You know what?” she interrupted. “I’m gonna do you a favor.” Marla started to slide out of the booth, and my stomach dropped.
“Marla. Don’t.”
