Page 2 of Drawn to the Mountain Man

“People from the retreat center.”

Okay, so that made total sense. I’d just gotten angry, told off my colleagues, spun on one heel, and marched across the campground toward the hiking trail. I fully expected them to call out to me, to ask me to stop, but when they didn’t, my pride kept me moving forward, one foot in front of the other.

I kept walking until I was on the trail. Thinking surely, they’d be sorry and any minute now, they’d realize they’d gone a step too far and at least report me missing.

And now they’d sent a search team out for me. This guy was a member of that search team, and he’d found me. Problem was, my clothes were on the bank.

“I’m naked,” I said, lifting my hands out of the water to shrug.

Too late, I realized that lifted my breasts, giving him an unintentional view. I lowered my arms quickly and squeezed my eyes closed, praying the guy hadn’t seen nipple.

When I finally opened my eyes again, he was removing his shirt. My mouth fell open. I found myself unable to will my vocal cords into action.

What are you doing? Those were the words I wanted to say, but instead, I was just staring at him. His shirt was barely on the ground before he was unfastening his jeans, then lowering his zipper and shoving them down. He wore a pair of plain white boxer briefs, and I braced myself for seeing a penis in the flesh, literally, for the first time in my life.

But instead, he walked toward the water, underwear still in place, and hopped in, making a splash so big I may as well have been standing under the waterfall. It took me a good couple of minutes to get the water out of my eyes so I could see him. By then, he’d already emerged, and his head and shoulders were above the water. Somehow, he’d ended up only ten feet or so away from me.

“What are you doing?” I asked. He was close enough now that I didn’t have to shout to be heard.

“Swimming,” he said, looking around. “I thought that was obvious.”

I didn’t know what to say. It seemed obvious to me that it made no sense that he’d jump in here.

“You’re supposed to be looking for me,” I finally said. “I assume you’re on the search team.”

“I’m a volunteer park ranger.” He looked back over his shoulder, maybe to verify no one had caught up with him yet. “It’s our job to help track down missing campers and hikers.”

“Missing hikers and campers? Does that happen a lot?”

He shook his head. “Nope. The retreat center put in the first campground ever in Rosewood Ridge.”

I realized I’d been covering my chest, even though it was underwater. There was no way he could see my body, right?

“So, I’m the first lost hiker?”

He laughed. “No, but I just moved to town a few months ago, so you’re my first. Somehow, I got volunteered for this. I work on the same construction crew with a couple of the guys. My boss is out here looking for you too. We all went in different directions.”

“So, what if they show up here and find you skinny dipping when you’re supposed to be working?”

“Swimming with a beautiful naked woman?” He laughed. “They’ll probably high-five me. Not many women around this town, if you haven’t noticed.”

I shrugged. “All I’ve seen are women. But I’m here to attend a makeup conference.”

“A makeup conference?” He frowned. “What are you making up for?”

I pointed at my face. “Cosmetics.”

But even as I said the word, I realized how ridiculous that sounded. I had not a scrap of makeup on. I hadn’t even washed off my night cream, although the pond would have taken care of any that remained.

But despite my bare face, he thought I was beautiful. That was one thing from our conversation that would probably stick with me long after I left these mountains. The hottest dude I’d ever laid eyes on had called me beautiful. He even said his friends would high-five him if they saw him with me.

The funny thing was, I’d always been somewhat confident in my looks—well, aside from those awkward teenage years when it was normal to feel self-conscious about things. But I’d spent hours watching makeup tutorials and perfecting techniques for making my eyes look wider, my cheekbones more prominent, and my lips fuller. I could barely take a sip of water or a bite of food without retouching my lipstick. I just never thought I looked all that attractive without makeup.

“Mind if I come a little closer?” he asked. “I’m having a tough time hearing you out here.”

I nodded, but I wasn’t even in control of my body. My head just moved up and down on its own. Having him closer would not be good for me. I knew that as well as I knew I was naked as a jaybird in here.

Was it the adventure? Maybe so. One thing I did know was that I had to see what would happen next. I couldn’t walk away from the chance to find out.

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