Page 5 of Devoted Mountain Man

“Anyway, I can’t figure out how to start it,” she said. “I’ve typed in so many different things, and none are quite right.”

I couldn’t even begin to give her advice on that. Not that she was looking for advice, anyway.

“I could creep around the cabin later tonight, if that would help,” I said.

I was only partly joking. I’d be all too willing to creep around her cabin. Maybe look in some windows and catch a glimpse of her as she came out of the shower.

Yeah, that would be way wrong. But I let myself entertain the fantasy for a few seconds.

“No thanks,” she said. “I do a pretty good job of getting myself scared. I may need to borrow Gigi to keep me safe.”

“I’ll tell you what. I’ll give you my phone number, and if you get creeped out about anything, just give me a call. I’ll come check it out for you.”

The appreciation in her eyes made my day. It also made me want to say more things that would invite that look from her.

“You’d do that?” she asked. “I don’t even know your name.”

“Dayton.” I grabbed my phone from the table next to where I sat. “What’s your number?”

I programmed it in and called it, at which point she informed me she’d left her phone back at her cabin. It didn’t matter, though. I now had a way to get in touch with her. And hopefully, she’d have my information saved to her phone soon enough.

I just hoped she’d call me for reasons that had nothing to do with being scared. Although, at this point, I’d take any excuse to see her again.

3

VANESSA

Imissed the dog as I lay in bed. I could still feel her fur under my fingers. Every single second of my time in Dayton’s cabin had been the best seconds of my life.

And that was messed up. I was here to work, not lust over some hot guy in jeans and a white T-shirt bearing the wordsStone Peak Logging Crew. What good would it do to be attracted to him?

It was Friday night. One full day here, and then I was getting up bright and early Sunday to head home. Checkout time was ten. Getting all goofy over a guy I was never going to see again after this weekend seemed…well, typical me.

It was probably why I’d never had a real boyfriend. I was always going for the guys I couldn’t have. I liked the challenge.

I tossed the sheets off my body, and the chill from the air conditioner wafted over my skin, reminding me I’d set the thermostat way too low. I liked to sleep in a cooler bedroom, but this was downright arctic.

Pop.

The sound had me bolting upright in bed. It was definitely a sound I hadn’t heard before. Cabin walls could make strangenoises, though. The wood expanded and contracted, causing creaking and popping and all kinds of other things. That’s all it was.

But what if it wasn’t? What if a murderer had been waiting in the bushes outside and snuck in when I left to go to Dayton’s cabin? He might’ve been hiding in my cabin all this time, waiting for me to fall asleep so he could make his move.

That was ridiculous. Killers didn’t hang out in houses for hours at a time. I would have been grabbed the second I walked through the door.

Tell that to my racing heart.

I glanced over at the digital clock next to the bed. It was 10:42. Next to the clock was my phone. Dayton texted as soon as I left.

Now you have my number.

That was all he’d written. By now, he’d be in bed, probably snoozing happily. I couldn’t wake him.

Scratch, scratch, scratch.

This time, the sound was coming from the roof. No way was that Gigi. Dogs couldn’t climb like that. Cats, maybe, but not dogs.

I swung my legs over the side of the bed and stood. This wasn’t one of my books. It wasn’t a bad dream. It was just a noisy cabin. There was no need to panic.

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