Page 3 of Rough Mountain Man

Oh crap. My friend had been won over by one of these guys. Maybe this was their game. Sadly, I could see how it might happen. But I couldn’t fall for it. I had to keep my wits about me. Even if this guy was just too tempting to resist.

Still, it was all about finding my friend. And that was why I found myself accepting his offer.

As I set the final glass on the counter between us, I said, “Let’s do this.”

Was it the alcohol? No. I was here on a mission. If he could help with that, I couldn’t turn down the opportunity. But I had to admit—I didn’t mind the thought of spending more time around this guy.

2

RYAN

Common name, unusual spelling. That was the first thing I noticed on Gennie’s driver’s license—along with the fact that her picture didn’t do her justice.

She was, without a doubt, the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. She was all curves, including an eye-popping chest that pressed against the fabric of her pink T-shirt.

Her hair was in a ponytail, and she wore very little makeup, but she didn’t need to. Big, brown eyes with long eyelashes that were straight out of my fantasies. Hell, I couldn’t have even fantasized anything like that, but now I had her in the passenger seat of my truck.

“I’m buddies with some guys on this crew,” I said as we headed down a narrow two-lane road umbrellaed by trees. “We served together, and when I decided to move here to start a business, they helped me find my way around.”

“This guy’s a lumberjack,” I said.

He laughed. “Aren’t we all?”

She wouldn’t know what that meant. And I really wasn’t in the mood to explain. I might not be actively working on a logging crew right now, but I was definitely a lumberjack. I’d helped outmy logging buddies more times than I could count. It was a great way to blow off some steam. Plus, it got me outside of the four walls of my shop and let me work with my hands.

“So, one of those guys might be Vanessa’s new boyfriend?” Gennie asked.

I assumed Vanessa was the friend she’d come here to rescue from a kidnapper. That thought tripped me up a little.

“Wait—is he her boyfriend or someone you think is going to harm her?”

“Both.”

Now I was really confused. She’d come all the way here to rescue her best friend from a guy she was dating? Would that qualify as a rescue? My guess was her friend didn’t want to be rescued.

“I’m trying to think which of the guys on the crew are still single,” I said, glancing at the group as I pulled in next to Enzo’s truck.

Enzo was my closest friend in this town. I probably could have texted him and asked if he knew who might be dating this woman’s friend. But he wouldn’t check his phone until the end of the day, and besides, doing that wouldn’t give me a reason to drive around with Gennie in my car.

“I’ll go talk to the guys,” I said, reaching for my door handle. “Do you want me to take your phone with the picture?”

She reached for her seatbelt. As she unfastened it, she said, “I’ll go talk to them.”

I opened my mouth to protest, but she climbed out. She was already halfway across the parking area before I’d fully processed what had happened.

Oh, shit. Most of the guys I knew on this crew were gentlemen, but there were some I didn’t know all that well. The last thing I wanted was for Gennie to have to deal with harassment for approaching a group of men.

My protective instincts were in full force as I hopped from the truck and boldly strode toward the crew. I had no idea how this was going to go.

A couple of the guys had stopped working to watch Gennie approach. I immediately scanned the group behind them and spotted the guys I knew, but they didn’t seem to realize someone had joined them. I shifted my attention to Gennie and didn’t take my eyes off her as I neared.

She didn’t seem worried about walking up to a group of guys she didn’t know. Was that because she knew I was with her? Or maybe it was just blind determination. Either way, I didn’t like it. I wanted her to be more careful.

I had no right to feel that way. I’d just met her. This was the very thing that had kept me running from relationships for so long. I learned in my time overseas that there was this side of myself I didn’t like, and when I returned, I couldn’t seem to turn that side off. It was a constant feeling that I was in combat, and I needed to kick the ass of anyone who threatened me—or people I cared about. That was unacceptable behavior in the real world, so I just needed to stay away from caring about people. Problem solved.

“O’Connell, you got a new chick?” one of the guys called out.

My buddy Enzo turned at the sound of his name and began walking toward us. I had reached Gennie by then and was standing just behind her. I wanted to be nearby in case shit went down.

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