Page 4 of My Protective Mountain Man

SIERRA

I waketo the soft feel of water dripping.

The water is cool—blessedly cool—and the air smells… masculine? I blink slowly, my lashes sticking together. Everything is hazy at first—shadows and light, warmth and chill. Then I feel it: a large hand on my back, firm but gentle, guiding me.

“Easy,” a deep voice says, smooth and low. “Don’t try to sit up too fast.”

I do anyway.

A sharp wave of dizziness hits me, but it fades as I register the room—log walls, rough-hewn furniture, the creak of old floorboards beneath us. A cabin. Not the kind you rent with wifi and heated floors. The kind someone actuallylivesin. And then my eyes focus onhim. Whoa.

He’s crouched beside me, helping me lay back onto a couch that smells like wood. His arms—Jesus, his arms—are the first thing I really see. They’re massive. Tanned and veined and straining against the sleeves of a torn, faded T-shirt that probably fit ten years ago. His forearms flex as he steadies me, and I try not to stare at the way his biceps practically bulge through the cotton.

My gaze drifts up—because how could it not? It meets eyes so blue I swear the air leaves my lungs again. Bright and piercing, like glacial water. Framed by thick brows and a beard that’s scruffy, golden-brown, and way too sexy for someone who clearly lives off the grid.

“You alright?” he asks again, his voice like gravel warmed in the sun. “You fainted on my porch.”

I open my mouth. Nothing comes out.

His eyes search mine with real concern. “Can you talk?”

Talk?That’s apparently a lot to ask when your brain is short-circuiting from the fact that a Paul Bunyan fantasy just saved your life. And he’s crouched in front of you like some woodland god.

I blink and force air into my lungs. “I—I’m okay,” I finally manage, though my voice sounds embarrassingly weak and breathy.

His shoulders visibly relax. He nods, his eyes scanning my face like he’s checking for any cracks.

“Good. That’s good,” he says. “You’ve got heat exhaustion. I’ve been cooling you down. EMTs are on their way, but it’s a hell of a drive out here.”

I nod, though I’m not really listening.

Becausehe’s still touching me—his hand at the small of my back, warm and steady—and every neuron in my body is firing like fireworks. The whole thing feels surreal. I’m supposed to be working, making deals, negotiating land. Not… melting into the touch of some blue-eyed stranger in a cabin in the middle of nowhere.

My chest tightens and I’m suddenly hyper-aware of everything—how close he is, how soft his touch is, how incrediblysafeI feel in his arms. And how absolutelynotsafe this feels in my chest. This fluttering, this heat that has nothing to do with the sun.

I glance up at him again, trying to gather myself. “I… don’t even know your name,” I say softly.

His lips quirk just slightly, a smirk tugging at one corner. “Everest.”

Ofcourseit is. Rugged, wild, impossible to scale.

He hands me a glass of water, and I drink it like it’s liquid gold, barely pausing to breathe. It’s lukewarm and metallic from the tap, but I swear it’s the best thing I’ve ever tasted. He watches me with those glacial blue eyes, one hand resting on the arm of the couch like he’s trying not to hover.

Then he leans back slightly, arms crossing over that broad chest of his, and says, “So… what are you doing up here, anyway?”

I choke slightly on the last sip and wipe my mouth with the back of my hand. My brain scrambles.Right. The project. The reason I risked heatstroke and getting eaten by a bear.

“I’m, um… looking for someone,” I say casually, letting the glass rest on my thigh.

His brow lifts just a little. “Only one up this far is me.”

Bingo. I glance at him from beneath my lashes. “Is that right?”

He nods once. “Haven’t seen another soul in days.”

There’s something calm and assured about the way he says it. Like he doesn’t justliveon this mountain—heownsit. Not in a legal-deeds-and-boundaries way. In athis-place-is-part-of-mekind of way. He’s got that rough, grounded thing going on. Bearded, quiet, weather-worn. Alpha energy without the cockiness.

He lifts an eyebrow. “And you? Who are you?”

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