Page 68 of Major Love

I chuckle quietly and squeeze her hand. “The whole place is my man cave, baby.”

“Or bachelor pad,” she adds huskily, with a mischievous glint in her eyes, and then she releases my fingers and starts sashaying back outside.

And I just watch her walk for a moment, the swish of her hips as she wades through the snow.

The fluffy blonde curls, her blushing cheeks, and those fitted baby blue thermals… yeah, she’s beautiful, and exactly the kind of view you want to wake up to every morning.

With a deep inhale, I press the heel of my palm against my groin, and then I follow outside behind her, taking her lead as she inspects the cabin.

And then she stops exactly where I want her to, right in front of the snowmobile that I last rode a few days ago.

She looks up at me from under her lashes as she carefully points a finger toward the handles.

I give her a nod, letting her know that she’s free to touch it, and her gaze drops back to the vehicle, curious uncertainty dancing in her eyes.

“This is what you ride when you go to rescue people?” she asks quietly, her fingers barely a millimetre away from the brake and, for some reason, I want her to touch it. I want to sharethis with her. To make it real, something tangible, not just some unspoken thing between us.

“Search-and-rescue,” I reply. “Depending on the situation, sometimes it’s only a search.”

Her lashes flutter in understanding, her brows drawing close at what that means. The fact that sometimes a mission doesn’t have the outcome you were hoping for.

“Each case is different, so it’s not always about people getting lost in the wilderness. Sometimes people find things that they think should be checked out, other times it’s to do with illegal hunting. The job is convenient because it’s right on my doorstep, but I’m not a full-time ranger – I only volunteer in the winters.”

I know that Sunday has always been concerned about people putting themselves in danger, but I’m willing to accept some of the risks if it means preventing something bad from happening.

She hesitates for a moment and then she wraps her palm around the handle.

And my chest swells on a deep inhale as I step up behind her.

“You can sit on it if you want,” I rumble. “I promise it’s real sturdy.”

She peeks up at me from under her lashes and teases, “I bet you say that to all the girls.”

I shake my head as I chuckle quietly, my heart pounding as I rub a palm down my jaw.

And I can’t help but check her out as she steps forward, my quad muscles flexing as I take her in.

“Here,” I tell her roughly, gripping her hips as she tries to mount the seat. The vehicle is so wide that she lets out anoofwhen she’s finally straddling it.

“It’s huge,” she rasps, then she laughs because it sounds like she’s being naughty again.

I scrub my knuckles over my smile creases. “Yeah, I guess it’s pretty big.”

She gives me a playful shove in the abdomen and I settle both of my palms over her shoulders, loving the feeling of having her here and wondering how she’ll react to what I’m about to offer her.

Now that I’m no longer in the Army, I don’t want her to worry about any of the shit that I do for work, and the best way for her to lose those fears is if she faces them head-on.

If I can show her that I’m safe and capable then there’ll be nothing in our way to finally start up what I’ve spent a fucking lifetime longing for.

“I’m gonna try and get Casey’s power up and running tomorrow,” I tell her. “But, in case that doesn’t work, I was thinking we could go for a ride.”

Sunday spins around on the seat, eyes wide as she looks up at me.

“Onthis?” she squeaks.

“What other kind of ride were you hoping for?”

She rolls her eyes in amusement but her cheeks flush the prettiest shade of pink.

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