Page 3 of Taming the Wild Mountain Man

His grin widens. "Yeah. Heard you made a pretty bad first impression."

I stop walking. "How do you know about that?"

"Because your new neighbor is Schapelle's sister."

"Your Schapelle's?"

"Yeah." He nods, beaming. "MySchapelle's."

The hint of possessiveness in his voice sets off a twinge in my chest. In all my fifty-two years, I've never been a settle-down kind of guy. Guess love just isn't in the cards for some people, and I happen to be one of them. But seeing someone so in love that it's radiating off of him makes a small part of me wonder what it might be like to have that. A woman to love, support, and cherish. Someone to come home to at the end of the day. Maybe even start a family with. But I've left all that a little too late, haven't I?

"Tenley," I repeat her name, testing it out on my tongue. "I like it. It's…unique."

"She's also a twin."

"You mean…?"

"Yep. She and Schapelle are twins. Identical twins."

My mind drifts back to the last time I saw her, a few days ago at the fence line. I saw that she'd dropped a box, so I offered tohelp. She promptly knocked me back. I couldn’t figure out why she disliked me, so I did the only thing I could do—I took in her exceptional beauty. She's got long, silky brown hair down to her waist, modelesque cheekbones, and striking blue eyes. Not to mention a great figure.

"She's gorgeous," I say and immediately shoot Brock an apologetic look. "I mean, Tenley is. Although, since she's an identical twin, I guess that does apply to Schapelle as well. Not that I would ever look at your woman like that." I finally shut up and exhale with a shake of my head. "Sorry, man."

Brock laughs and claps me on the back. "It's all good. I know what you meant." His lips quirk. "And in case you're wondering, she's single."

"Now what makes you think I'd want to know that?"

"No reason."

Oh, there's a reason. "Tell me."

"Well, when I talked to Tenley at Schapelle's surprise, belated thirtieth party two weekends ago, let's just say she had a strong reaction when your name came up."

I drop my head. "Oh."

I spotted her at the party, too, but whenever our paths would get closer and look like they might cross, a few seconds later she'd be gone, vanishing into thin air, making me question whether in addition to my ears conking out on me, my vision might be as well.

I know I didn't make a good first impression the first day we met, so I can't blame her for having a strong reaction. I messed up, so I wrote her an apology note the next day and left it on her front porch before I took off for work. I also offered to help her out with any stuff that needs fixing. That house has been vacant the entire time I've lived there, so it's fallen into disrepair.

And what did I get in return? A big load of nothing.

She's never acknowledged the note. And even when she could clearly use some help, like when her box broke in her front lawn, she refuses. Guess I've really screwed up.

Brock and I reach the other guys. Fenton, Jed, and Beau are hammering anchor points into the rock face, testing each one with a firm tug, while Drew and Shannon are getting into their harnesses. Knox, our trusty team leader, is double-checking all the knots in the pulley system.

"What exactly did Tenley say about me?" I ask, picking up two harnesses and tossing one to Brock.

My nausea from earlier is almost entirely gone. But my brain? My brain is still stuck on the woman I haven't been able to stop thinking about for the past thirty-four days since she moved in.

"I can't really remember."

"You're lying. Tell me. I'm a grown man. I can take it."

Brock loops his legs through the harness, then stops. "Okay. Well, she may have said something about you being the most frustrating man to ever live."

"Oh." My heart sinks. Not that I seriously thought I had any shot with her, but it stings having it confirmed.

"And she said something to Schapelle about you making enough noise to wake the entire neighborhood late at night."

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