Page 20 of Undone By The Mountain Daddies

I’m not surprised. Cooking has always been my thing. “I grew the broccoli and roasted it myself.” I give her a wink. “It starts with the tahini sauce. A lot of people don’t use the right olive oil to make it, and that’s a mistake.”

Sienna squints. “You made the…?”

“Tahini sauce? Yes. All of my cooking is from scratch.”

“But that’s impossible.”

“You must hire the wrong private chefs, then.”

Sienna straightens her spine, her eyes narrowing again. “What do you know about private chefs?”

“I know that some are better than others.”

Sienna crosses her arms on the table, her bangles clanging against the wood surface. “Are you a private chef?”

“I was.”

“Why did you quit?”

For reasons she won’t want to hear. “I wanted a change,” I reply.

“But they get paid really well.”

Not everything’s about money, as I’ve come to learn in the past few years.

I return to slicing the bread, still not finished with the simple task.

Sienna continues to eat her broccoli, looking thoughtful. “What do the rest of you do?” she asks after a few minutes of silence, turning around in the chair to address Knox.

“Mountain watch, I already told you.”

“That’s not a proper job." Sienna turns fully around to meet Knox’s unimpressed face, determined to get an answer from him. “What do you really do?”

“I exist.”

Sienna huffs. “That’s ridiculous.”

“Is it?” Knox rises from the couch, the leather creaking. He’s the most intimidating out of the three of us and looks more beast than human.

He takes measured steps toward a very tense Sienna, not stopping until their faces are inches apart. He could swallow her whole, but he won’t. Not after what happened when he was in the military.

I feel the tension coming off of Sienna as she locks eyes with Knox. They share a long, intense gaze that makes me uncomfortable. Jealousy shoots through me, but it’s gone when Knox breaks eye contact and announces he’s going to bed.

If anyone’s gonna touch her, it’ll be me. I’m the one putting in the most effort here.

“What the hell was that?” Sienna swivels back around, looking visibly shaken. She reaches back and pulls her hair into a ponytail, and her hand is shaking.

I notice her flushed cheeks and feel my cock twitch. “It’s nothing. That’s Knox just being… Knox.” I push the bread aside and lean into the countertop. “You’ve had a big day. You should probably get some sleep. I’ll show you to the cabin around back.”

“I don’t understand why you all live here, and why none of you have normal jobs. What the hell do you do all day? Sleep, eat, kill your own food and do it all again the next day?”

“I could ask you the same question.”

“You’re not making any sense.” Sienna pushes the plate away from her.

“Why are you up here in the middle of a snowstorm?” I search her eyes for my answer, knowing she won’t give it to me straight. But her eyes give away nothing. She’s been in Hollywood long enough to learn how to keep her face neutral at all times.

But I know how this works. She’s wearing a mask to protect herself from constantly being in the spotlight.