Page 5 of Possessive Mountain Man
“I’m cool with all of that, but I’d love a double deluxe burger if you could scrounge one up,” I said.
“And I’ll take another drink,” Eve said. “Maybe something a little stronger. The sweetest thing you can make.”
The bartender headed off to put in our order and make Eve’s drink while I continued grappling with the knowledge that she lived on the other side of the country. I didn’t know what I was going to do about that, but I couldn’t walk away from her, even if I knew it wouldn’t end well.
“So your name is Eve,” I said. “I guess we didn’t introduce ourselves.”
“You’re Hayden. You introduced yourself to all of us.”
And they’d given me their names. Hers hadn’t stuck. That wasn’t like me, either. I usually made an effort to remember people’s names, at least for the short time I worked with them as a guide. In Eve’s case, I’d been too busy trying not to stare at the way her chest filled out the cropped T-shirt she was wearing and how her hips jutted out beneath it, filling those shorts in a way that made my hands itch to touch.
I reached out my hand. She slid hers into it and gave a shake. Ridiculous, considering we were hardly just meeting. But if I were honest, I’d have to say I just wanted an excuse to touch her. Any excuse.
“So, have you always lived in California?” I asked.
“Yep. I grew up in San Francisco, and that’s where I went to college. I met my roommates there. The four of us share a condo in a suburban area between there and Silicon Valley.”
“You’re all in one condo?”
“Two per bedroom. It’s the only way we can afford it.”
I cringed. I didn’t even hide it. Having been in the military, I’d had my fair share of cramming into places with other people. But I wouldn’t want to do it now.
“I’m hoping to land a job in San Francisco,” she said. “The pay is really good. It has to be to cover the cost of living.”
I wanted to point out that houses here were a fraction of the cost she would pay there. Would that be too obvious? I wasn’t sure, so I kept my mouth shut.
“My friends are all into the Silicon Valley vibe,” she said. “Not me. I’d be happy working from home. It’s just a matter of finding someone who would let me do that.”
“And you could do that from anywhere.”
Damn. I was not supposed to be talking her into this.
“Like Seduction Summit?” she asked, looking over at me.
A smile lifted the corners of her mouth. Maybe she was checking to see if I was serious. I was dead serious.
“Like Seduction Summit,” I said. “No better place to live, as far as I’m concerned. It’s the perfect town for raising a family.”
“Is that what you plan to do? Raise a family here?”
“Absolutely.”
The word slipped out of my mouth before I even knew I was going to say it. I’d imagined myself as a dad and husband someday, but I’d never pictured living in a mountain town. Myyears in the military had taken my mind far away from any childhood visions I had of having kids and a family, though. By the time I settled here, my goal had simply been to work, make money, and keep my cabin in good shape.
“Why not?” I asked. “The schools are good. There’s pretty much everything you could ever need, and what you can’t find here, you can get in Adairsville. Tons of family activities in these mountains. Rappelling, hiking, camping. That’s the kind of family I want to have.”
We paused while the bartender set a basket of chili cheese fries in front of Eve and took off. I waited for her to realize I was not her kind of guy. Sure, she’d rappel, but that didn’t mean she was up for a lifetime of hiking and camping.
I could certainly compromise on that if it meant being with my dream woman. I’d just always hoped to find someone who was as into the outdoors as I was.
“That is what I always pictured,” she said. “But I need a survivalist kind of guy.”
I frowned and watched her slide the basket over so we both could reach it. She dug a fry out from under the pile of chili.
“What do you mean?” I asked. “Survivalist?”
I was not one of those. All I could think about was that TV show where they shipped a bunch of people off to an island and made them play games to avoid being kicked off. I had no desire to live off the land for weeks at a time.
