Page 6 of Scarred Mountain Man
I hitched my thumb toward the building. She glanced in that direction, then shifted her attention back to me. I could almost register her deciding to trust me. She’d technically just met me, so I couldn’t blame her. But including what she’d watched me do last night, we’d packed a lot into the past twenty-four hours.
She cut off the engine and handed me the keys. Then she surprised me by climbing out of the car and following me into the repair shop. I’d assumed she’d stay in the parking lot and let me handle it all. But I definitely wouldn’t complain. In fact, if she could just stay by my side for the rest of my life, I’d be happy.
That thought had me sucking in a breath as I pulled open the door and held it for her. The rest of my life? Since when did I think like that? Since meeting her, that was when. It wasn’t like me at all.
We walked out a few minutes later, with the employee behind the desk barely acknowledging us. He’d grabbed our keys, taken down Summer’s name and phone number, and gone back to frowning at the computer monitor in front of him.
Not exactly the best first impression on Summer, but I knew he was a good guy. And Brock was no doubt hard at work finishing up in the bays. Since we were coming in at the last minute, I hardly expected the red carpet treatment.
“You still up for that burger?” she asked as we headed to my truck.
“We don’t have to eat in your car anymore. We could eat anywhere.”
She climbed into my truck without responding to that. In fact, I was starting to wonder if I should head toward Adairsville, home of the hamburger stand I’d mentioned earlier, or go toward the mountains.
Suddenly, she blurted out, “Mexican!”
I immediately flipped the turn signal and took a right. This town had one Mexican restaurant, and I knew exactly where it was.
“Sorry,” she added sheepishly. “I love The Spicy Sombrero. Daisy and her friends introduced me to it last weekend. We had a girls’ night. I don’t know why I’m telling you all this.”
There was something about what she was saying that brought a smile to my face. It wasn’t the words as much as the fact that she seemed to be oversharing, which might be a sign she was nervous. I didn’t want to get my hopes up, but maybe she liked me, and it was making her overly chatty.
“Sounds good to me,” I said. “I love the Spicy Sombrero.”
“So, are you one of the guys who cuts down trees around here?” she asked as I pulled onto the main road.
I tried to judge from her tone whether she was against the tree-cutting, like some people were. I didn’t have an opinion either way. But I needed the work, and it paid well.
“Yep,” I said. “My buddy got me the gig. I guess Seduction Summit has become a community full of military vets.”
“You were in the military?”
Oh. I supposed we hadn’t discussed that before. Maybe part of me had hoped she’d asked around about me. I’d rather tell her myself, anyway.
“Special Forces,” I said. “Two terms overseas. Multiple deployments. Our platoon even won an award for rescuing hostages.”
“Wow.”
She truly sounded impressed. It made me want to come up with more achievements. But I wasn’t a bragger. I just didn’t mind bragging about the award because it was something we earned as a team.
“Is that how you got the scar on your cheek?”
She immediately gasped after the words slipped out. She even covered her mouth.
As she slowly pulled her hand away, she said, “I’m so sorry. That was rude.”
“No.” I shook my head. “I don’t mind talking about my scar. We took some bullets rescuing those hostages. I was one of the lucky ones who survived.”
There was no missing the darkness that crept into my tone as I spoke. As soon as I detected it, I did what I always did—I rushed to shift the subject.
“What about you? You always wanted to work with kids?”
“I dropped out of college,” she said. “I made it to junior year. My plan was to go into marketing and advertising, but sitting in a classroom just bores me. Is that weird?”
I shook my head. “I never enjoyed it. It’s been a while. As a vet, I could have gone to college for free, but life is for living, not being trapped between four walls. We’re here.”
That announcement wasn’t necessary. Summer could see with her own two eyes that we’d pulled into the parking lot. The guys and I had come here for lunch a few times. A heavy Mexican meal wasn’t ideal for working out in the heat all day, but the food was so good, we did it anyway.
