Page 5 of Should I Fall
Dash grabs me by both arms, steadying me in an instant. His deliciously muscular arms are covered in tattoos, and my mouth goes a little dry.
I flicker my gaze to his, mesmerized once again by those intensely hazel eyes. A woman could get lost in eyes like those. A woman could make some bad decisions because of those eyes.Verybad decisions.
So be bad for once, Stormi.
“Careful,” he says, his words an annoyed warning if I ever heard one.
I push away both the man and the intrusive thought that has no grounding in reality. I literally just met Dash five minutes ago. Though I trust Winnie’s assessment of him and sense by his energy that he’s a good man, I know exactly nothing about him. He might have some dark past or a secret family somewhere.
But he does have a dog, and that dog appears to be very happy to have Dash as his dad.
“Let me help you,” I say about the supplies.
“No,” he fires back.
I’m not put off by his grumpy tone. “I’m stronger than I look, you know.”
His gaze scans up and down my body, and I feel a shiver of delight race through me. It doesn’t matter that the man is obviously sizing me up, assessing whether my statement has any real merit. Or that most of my body is hidden beneath my pale yellow jacket.
I feel…turned on.
Has it really beenthatlong since a man paid attention to me? God, Iampathetic.
I turn away from him, pulling my phone from my pocket to film the scenery I never want to forget. It’s safer if I keep my focus on the wonders of nature, so I do my damnedest to concentrate on the mountains, the trees, the wispy clouds, the heavy fog streaking through the brilliant autumn colors. Yet, no matter how much I try to block him out, I’m fully aware of the man behind me.
The man who’s definitely ten years older than me. Maybe a few more judging by the salt and pepper in his beard.
I’ve never been with an older man before.
I’ve only ever dated guys my own age, all of them in college or shortly after when I was. All in the legal field. None of them with a single tattoo, much less sleeves of them. I can’t help but wonder if there is more ink beneath his clothes.
“You going to have that thing out the whole time?” he asks of my phone.
“You going to be grumpy the whole time?”
“I’m not—” He shakes his head. “Follow me to the tower.”
“But the supplies?—”
“You won’t be a lot of help if you get distracted along the way and decide to take a selfie with Brutus.”
“Brutus?”
“The grizzly.”
A shiver races up my spine. “You’re trying to scare me,” I accuse.
“No, I’m trying not to have to save you from a bear attack.”
I give the area a quick scan. From this vantage point, I can see a lot of the land. There are fewer trees up this high, and it’s easy to rule out a grizzly hiding in the immediate vicinity. But one could be lurking nearby, just out of sight. “Are you always this chivalrous with all your tours?”
“What?”
“Now I get why I’m the only one here.”
At the aghast expression on his otherwise serious face, a fit of giggles escapes me. I can’t seem to help it, or stop it. Before I know it, I’m keeled over, holding my aching abs, wiping tears from my eyes.
And to my utter surprise, Dash is laughing too.
