Page 8 of Rescued By the Lumberjack
"Guess I'll have to find another way to say thanks, then."
I don't think she meant the innuendo I hear in her words, but that doesn't keep a hundred images of ways I'd like her to thank me from crashing into my brain.
With a groan that I hope I keep to myself, I pass through the small town of Moonshine Ridge that's become my home, ignoring the little office where our resident doctor hangs hershingle, the daycare center that our local sheriff deputy's wife runs, and turn onto the small road that branches off the main highway through town just before passing the two eateries in town.
Current and Ginger Jone's brewpub passes on my side of the road, looking busy with the outside tables full of hungry locals and tourists enjoying Ginger's craft beers alongside her husband's brick oven pizzas.
In the side mirror, I catch a glimpse of Cedar McAllister's tavern disappearing behind us and think about how much I'd like to walk into either of those places with Phoenix tucked under my arm.
I oughta take her over to the doc's and have her give my girl a look, but it's late in the day and Doc's probably already home up on the river with her family anyway.
Phoenix is scraped the hell up, but nothing's broken and none of her cuts are deep enough to need stitches; I can swing her by Doc Jone's office tomorrow.
Truth is, I don't want anyone else looking after Phoenix. I want to be the one taking care of her, making sure she's safe and comfortable.
This girl's got me feeling more than just protective over her, she's got my body all keyed up and my brain thinking of her as mine already.
Chapter Five
Phoenix
Adam lives in one of the old neighborhoods in town, a block of houses that were renovated to modern places from the bones of cabins originally built in the early nineteen hundreds.
Some contracting company came in and did it years before I'd ever heard of Moonshine Ridge.
So the house I walk into doesn't fit the weathered, board and batten siding on the outside at all. Inside is all tape and textured walls with double paned glass windows and a kitchen that I can instantly see myself spending hours in, baking breads and pies to keep my man's belly full while he works hard up in the mountains all day with his chainsaws and axes. So he'd have something good to eat while he's gone, and then I'd make sure he had a reason to look forward to hurrying home afterward too.
Sliding my eyes off the modern appliances and wide counter spaces of his kitchen, I brave an appreciative look at the man who saved me today.
Now that the adrenaline has ebbed and I know I'm safe, my nerves are buzzing from some other kind of anxiety. Something delicious and exciting that ramps up every time I look at Adam's imposing figure, or get close enough to him to smell his specific scent of pine sawdust, one of those manly deodorant brands withits vague spiciness, dust, and sweat that carries a unique quality that has had my body waking up to new ideas the whole ride down the mountain with him.
The kiss we shared when he hauled me onto to level ground keeps replaying in my brain too, and I'm wondering if I can get another one. One that ends differently, now that we're safe and know each other better.
"Fresh towels in the bathroom for you," Adam tells me as he pokes his head around the frame of a doorway that I assume leads into the bathroom. His eyes slip over me, head to toe and back up again, lingering on parts of me that respond to his heated gaze. "I'll grab some spare clothes for you. Everything I've got is probably going to be way too big."
I swear the man gulps, his throat working in a hard swallow under the long beard with those intense, dark eyes fixed on my hips.
Ordinarily, that much attention on my body would make me self-conscious, but something about the way this man looks at me has me feeling flushed and wondering what else he might enjoy looking at.
"When you're done, I want to take a good look at those wounds. We need to make sure they get treated so nothing gets infected."
His voice is a low, deep hum, when I go to slip past him at the doorway. One more time, he tenderly slides the pad of his thumb along my skin. This time in a soft sweep up my cheekbone on the side that's not scraped, all the way to the little spot right in front of my ear.
The touch sends a thrill skipping all the way down my body. My nipples hardened and I can feel wetness between my thighs. I just stand there, transfixed under the weight of his stare. His eyes are such a deep brown, and standing close to him like this, Ican see his pupils are dilated so wide, it makes his eyes look that much darker.
He could kiss me again right now, and I'm hoping he does. It would be so easy for him to unfurl that large hand and wrap his fingers around the back of my head to pull me into him.
Time stops. His hand lingers. I feel myself leaning into his touch and I tip my head up to hopefully make it clear what I'm waiting for.
"I'm just gonna jump in the shower in the other room real quick." Adam snaps out of it before I do, dropping his hand away from my face and stepping back, half turned toward another door just down the hall. "I'll be waiting for you when you're done."
Nodding dumbly, me and all the butterflies in my stomach close ourselves into the guest bathroom, hoping that when he says "waiting" he means naked.
Adam
Ishower fast; knocking off the sweat and the forest and the dirt of the day while giving serious thought to rubbing one out to thoughts of Phoenix's curvy little body naked and willing while she stares at me with that same adoring expression she was giving me just a few minutes ago.
Like she wants me as bad as I want her.
