Page 13 of Possessive Mountain Man

“Much better.”

“I know, right?” She strikes a pose and I chuckle.

Letting down her arms, she turns back to study the bookshelf.

I add another log to the fire, listening to the crackle and pop of the wood as the flames catch. Elise is poking around my shelves, her fingers trailing along the worn spines, head tilted as she scans the titles.

“I don’t suppose you have any board games hidden around here?” she says.

“I’m not much for games.” I smirk. “At least not board games.”

Her eyebrows arch at that. “You don’t even have Monopoly?”

I shake my head. “Too many damn rules.”

“You know, some rules are meant to be broken.”

“Believe me. I’m learning that first hand.”

She laughs, turning back to her search. A few seconds later, she lets out a triumphant noise and pulls out a battered box from the bottom shelf.

She holds it up as if she’s discovered a grand prize. “Checkers.”

I raise a brow. “I didn’t know I had that.”

“Well, today’s your lucky day,” she says, already moving toward the low table near the fire.

She sets the board up quickly, dusting off the pieces and arranging them. Her tongue sticks out of the corner of her mouth in concentration.

“What’s the wager?” I ask, moving to sit across from her.

She grins, her eyes gleaming with mischief. “Loser has to make dinner.”

I snort. “Pretty sure that’s gonna be you, sweetheart.”

“You think so?”

“I know so.”

She laughs, the sound bright and easy, and it loosens the tightly wound tension in my chest.

We start the game, and it doesn’t take long for her competitive prowess to show. She’s relentless. Determined. She studies the board with a furrowed brow, biting her lip when she contemplates a move.

A lip I’d like to bite myself.

Fuck me. It’s distracting as hell.

I try to focus on the pieces and my strategy. But every time she smiles or laughs or brushes her hair behind her ear, I lose track of my strategy.

It’s no surprise when she clears the board and pumps her fists in the air. “Victory is mine.”

I scowl and start resetting the board. “Best two out of three?”

“Aren’t you afraid to lose twice?”

“I’m not afraid of anything.”

The sassy smirk she gives almost has me clearing the board. So I can throw her on the table and claim a victory of my own. Instead, I give the board more consideration.

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