Page 69 of The One With the Mountain Man

He was like a whole other person when it was just the two of us. He was relaxed. Silly. He looked at the world with wonder. Put that man alone in nature and he was like a golden retriever, bounding from one place to the next.

But if he were here in this room with all this noise he'd shrink away, and the grouch would come out.

I had no idea how he was going to get through our trip to Atlanta without scowling.

Which was a problem for tomorrow. I pushed my growing obsession with Jackson aside and focused on Mack's question.

"Combine all these ideas. Start a website where you offer your thoughts on all these books you read. Send out a newsletter and build a following. Create merchandise to sell. There are plenty of readers out there just like you all, and maybe they don't have a club to be part of like this. Give them a space to be part of it all."

"An online book club, but better," Sharon sighed with a dreamy look on her face. "Yes. This."

"My husband can build the website!" Liam offered.

"If we keep this up, we might need to look into making our own merchandise instead of ordering it," Mack mused with a wink to Scottie.

"A new business for Lost Creek isn't a bad thing," Aviana agreed. "We can set the TBR Pile as our preferred bookstore and maybe bring more business Willow's way."

After the business portion of the meeting was over, we got down to discussing this month's murder book:Pretty Girlsby Karin Slaughter.

"I liked the sisters aspect of the story," Harrison said. "Especially since they were estranged. I liked the dynamic it brought to the story. Family, but not at the same time. It made me question a lot of things as I read."

"Way too dark for me." Mack looked green just thinking about the parts she read. "I stopped halfway. Again."

"I miss Will Trent," Sharon sighed. "But this was still such a good Karin Slaughter book. She twists my mind up like no other!"

Mack shuddered. "Why do you always say that like it's a good thing?"

"Because it is! That's why we have a murder book club! To explore the dark parts of the human mind and reach a deeper understanding of who we are as people."

"You're not a serial killer, Sharon!" Scottie called from the kitchen.

Her eyes twinkled with mischief. "Or am I? You don't know everything about me, Scottie Shaw!"

He pushed through the kitchen door, arms laden with plates of food. "Sharon, if there's a murder around here it will be because you orchestrated it, not because you actually did it." He set out dishes of chicken wings and tater tots. "Every plate is a different flavor. I put a dot of hot sauce on the plates with spicy flavors. There are three different kinds of tots. Have at them you murderous little book nerds." He dropped a kiss on Mack's head.

My heart squeezed.

They had an effortless love that I envied. It was clear that to Scottie, no other woman on earth existed. His gaze always strayed to her and if he gave another woman a look, it was a scowl. And Mack was just as in love with Scottie. Sometimes a sadness would come over her, but one brush of his lips against her forehead or touch of his hand, and her smile returned.

I liked to think I had that same effect on Jackson. I seemed to. He always relaxed when I touched him. When I saw his forehead pucker or his jaw start working, I made it a habit to touch him or kiss him, depending on the situation.

"You seem to have captured our Huk's cold, dead heart." Maeve and Liam formed a wall in front of me holding plates of chicken wings.

I'd been caught and cornered without food and now I was forced to stand before a well-intentioned firing squad that was a firing squad, nonetheless. "I thought we were discussing murder books."

Maeve huffed. "We agreed to take a break from talking murder when the food is out.Someonehas a weak stomach." She rolled her eyes at Mack, who smiled sweetly in return.

I would rather discuss bloody knives and oozing wounds than my love life. The magic we created in our cabin hideaway felt sacred. Precious andours.

Liam leaned closer and dropped his voice to a loud whisper, not that it mattered. Everyone somehow heard everything, even when they were talking over each other. "Are you two a couple now?"

Maeve's eyebrows lifted as she waited with bated breath.

"We're," how did I phrase this so no one invaded Jackson's privacy, but also conveyed the truth? "We're...figuring it out."

"Well, what's to figure out?" Maeve bristled. "He's a very good-looking young man and you're a beautiful young woman. You like each other."

"Yes, but I don't live here." Not that I wasn't falling head over heels for this town.

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