Page 4 of Obsessed and Naughty Mountain Man

“Tell you what,” he leans in and whispers conspiratorially, “if you try climbing just once with me, I’ll let you teach me how to properly organize books. It’s by cover color, right?”

“Author last name,” I hiss.

“See? I’m in dire need of a lesson.”

My body is abuzz. Already, I feel dizzy, but I don’t think it’s from the prospect of climbing up some stupid rock.

I lean back against the shelf and close my eyes. “Fine.Deal. But you better pay attention to my lesson. I’m going to quiz you.”

“Spend tomorrow with me, climb once,” he says, “and I’ll do anything you ask me to, Luna.”

Lucas gets up and holds out his hand. It engulfs mine and grates my skin with all the deep lines of his adventures.

Standing barefoot in the aisle, we smile and laugh awkwardly, toes mingling.

“You promise it’s safe?”

“Totally,” he says. “I’m literally a professional.”

“I’m not going to die?”

“Not tomorrow, I promise.”

I nod, and we get our shoes back on.

Adventure is something I’ve only read about. It’s for fantasy characters, not me. Still, I trust him. I trust that smile and those perfect blue eyes and the way my heart flutters when he looks at me.

I’m not going to die—he promised.

CHAPTER 2

LUCAS

"I'm gonna die! I'm gonna die! I’M GONNA DIE!"

Luna twists and turns in her harness, scrambling for purchase on the rock. I keep the slack tight, belaying her from below. She screams and kicks and holds on for dear life.

She's twelve feet off the ground.

"You're fine," I laugh. "Seriously, Luna. You're hooked in, there's a crash pad, and I can catch you if all else fails."

From here, I have the perfect view of Luna's delicious body. The climbing harness tugs at her denim shorts so that they ride up and her butt spills out. Everything digs into her soft flesh, making my fingers jealous. Her fiery red hair glows in the morning sun.

A part of me wants to let her fall just so I have an excuse to catch her.

It's been years since my last visit to Pine Whistle. My brother is always hassling me to come out, but it’s hard to find the time. And when I do visit, he spends half our time together trying to convince me to become a fireman.

Maybe he should have told me that the local librarian is a total fox.

Look, I'm no stranger to beautiful women. I've traveled the world, climbed the highest peaks, and met a million free spirits along the way. I’ve seen beauty in all its forms.

No sight or sound or silhouette of a mountain against the sunrise has ever seduced me like finding Luna propped up on her toes in the history section of her library. All I've been able to think about since is the way her primrose skirt rode up her thighs, the curve of her ass peeking out of the fabric, and the way she peered at me just over the rim of her nerdy glasses.

One look, and I was hooked.

"Reach, girl," I call out to her. "Plant your foot and lunge!"

I give her some slack as she takes a few manic breaths, lets go the line, and tries to leap for the next hold on the boulder.

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