Still, I don’t stop.
I’ve split enough wood to last through the whole season and into the winter at this point, but every time I slow down, she’s there.
Those big, way-too-innocent eyes, her plump lips curled up into a teasing smile. The taste of her on my lips. The feel of her sweet skin under my rough hands.
Those tits.
Damn. Those round, perfect globes spilling from the cups of her bra, begging to be sucked and teased and?—
Fuck.
I bring the ax down one final time and bury it in the log on the splitting block.
I’m in very dangerous territory. I need toget her and the way she was looking at me like she knew exactly what she was doing out of my head.
And that’s the problem.
The kiss was supposed to scare her away. It was supposed to prove she was in over her head with me.
Despite what she might think, she can’t handle what I have to offer.
She has no idea.
I drag the back of my arm across my forehead and blow out a breath. I’ve spent my whole damn life learning how to walk away, how to stay in control, how to shut things down before they turn into something I can’t fix, and how to hide out when all else fails.
But something tells me I’m not going to be able to hide from this.
Not from her.
Tessa didn’t even flinch.
She didn’t hesitate when my lips took hers.
She didn’t look at me like I was dangerous.
It was exactly the opposite. She’d looked at me like shewantedme.
No one looks at me like that.
I curse under my breath and grab myjacket, pulling it on over the shirt I didn’t dare take off again.
I fill my arms with a load of freshly split wood. It’ll be a cool night again in the cabin. I’ll need to keep the fire going.
As soon as my foot hits the porch, I freeze.
Her voice drifts from the living room.
“I’m fine, Dad. Don’t worry.”
Guilt hits me square in the chest.
Of all the people on the mountain, of all the lines that shouldn’t have been crossed, this one sits at the very top of the list.
I hesitate, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to lurk outside on my own goddamn porch.
I drop the wood in the basket on the porch and slip into the cabin, stopping just inside the doorway. I don’t mean to listen, but I don’t move away either.
She’s on the phone. Obviously, Luke’s satellite system is still in place despite the storm.
