Page 8 of Obsessed and Naughty Mountain Man

CHAPTER 3

LUNA

If you'd told me last week that I'd be having dinner at Fire Chief Stone’s house this Sunday, I would have laughed at the impossibility of it and still been frightened by the prospect.

Add this to the list of fears I'm confronting just to spend time with Lucas...

I'm sitting across from Chief Stone at his dining-room table. The sun is setting on his cabin in the woods, replaced by light from an old chandelier and a dozen candles his wife lit. The idea of a fireman allowing fire in his home tickles me.

Lucas’s gruff older brother sits like a man made of stone, clearly perturbed by the unexpected company.

His wife, however, is a ray of sunshine.

"We’re so happy you're joining us, Luna," Ana says as she piles up the table with ribs, potato salad, cucumber salad, some other regular salad, and three pitchers of various teas. "Aren't we, Brock?"

She's not shy about bopping her husband on the head with her spoon as she takes her seat. I've met Ana before; she worked the summer camp at the lake before she married the chief, and she'd bring the kids into the library sometimes. I recall her having a fascination with bugs.

Chief Stone clears his throat, sits up straight, and curtly nods. "Thank you for coming. Eat."

Lucas, sitting next to his older brother, holds his hand up to hide his lips. He mouths,I told you...

We share a silent laugh before loading up our plates. Under the table, he nudges my leg with his foot, making me blush. Admittedly, the image of Lucas climbing with his shirt off has been on my mind all day.

It’s hard to stop my thighs from rubbing together with him sitting there playing footsies with me…

"Thank you for having me," I finally say. "You have a lovely home."

Ana thanks me and beams.

Chief Stone grunts and chugs his iced tea.

"So, Luna, how's the library treating you?" Ana asks. I'm pretty sure she kicks her husband’s knee under the table.

Chief Stone looks at his wife, sighs, and bores into me with his steely gaze. "Yeah, how are the books?"

Now that Lucas and his brother are right next to each other, I can see just how different they are. Lucas is wild-eyed, handsomely unkempt, and always has this look on his face like he's about to sprout wings and soar off into the horizon.

Brock Stone looks like a bearded boulder with a buzz cut.

"The books are good," I say. "Well, some are good, some are bad. Such is the nature of literature."

Lucas smiles brightly.

His brother stares at me like I just randomly read him a passage fromThe Da Vinci Code.

"Not a bad job. Librarian," the chief says as if I made some comment about the quality of my career. "Stable. Regular hours. Critical to the community." He glances to the left at his younger brother. "You sure she's your type? Sounds like she has a 401(k) and everything."

This time, Ana does kick him under the table.

Lucas just laughs, digging into his ribs and letting the sauce soak his fingers.

I shrug and smile at Lucas. "I do have a 401(k)."

"That's hot." He leans over the table and pretends to whisper, "I have almost twenty-thousand dollars worth of climbing equipment. Accrued over fifteen years. Some of it is even hand-me-down…"

Ana's giggling with a bunch of potato salad in her mouth, but I can tell Brock is annoyed. So, of course, I play along. I don’t know what it is about Lucas that makes me feel brave, but I’m addicted to it.

"Seriously?" I fan myself dramatically. "Lucas... not in front of your family."

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