Page 3 of Mountain Man's Forgiveness
Hands on his hips, his voice is steady. “Are you one of Dr. Davis’s researchers? I’ve given her and Dr. Sheridan permission to study wildlife on my property as long as they let me know in advance.”
Huh. The mountain man knows Dr. Davis and Dr. Sheridan?
He throws his phone at me and tells me the code. “If you swipe up, you’ll see the text message from Dr. Davis yesterday setting up a research walk in a few days.”
His lock screen is a red and white propeller plane, and when I unlock it, sure enough, the conversation is there.
I slip the phone into my pocket. My mother didn’t raise a fool. I’ll be holding on to this until I know I’m safe.
Aidan raises an eyebrow but doesn’t argue. “I’m going to lead us back to the main trail, which is where you were before you ran. And then I’d like you to go back to your car and never come out to these woods again without a partner. It’s not safe to be hiking by yourself for a myriad of reasons.”
The man turns and follows the yellow markers. As he walks in front of me, I take in his wide shoulders, his trim hips, the way his muscles ripple underneath the navy fabric stretching acrosshis skin. And I notice for the first time that he has a prosthetic lower leg limb. He moves with such ease, it’s clear he’s had it a while.
Heat flushes through my body, awareness prickling my skin as I follow along, his rugged body moving with an athlete’s powerful ease. He also has a great butt. I’ve been attracted to men before, but never an athlete. I’m a bookworm, and the two have never mixed.
Most of my brothers’ friends treated me like a science project, interesting in theory, confusing in practice. They’d ask about my research with polite interest, then their eyes would glaze over thirty seconds in. Dating in undergrad was worse. Guys expected me to care about their fantasy football league, and I’d be mentally cataloging bird migration patterns. We never spoke the same language.
Not that I ever played house or dreamed about babies, anyway. While my cousins cradled baby dolls and played mommy, I was outside catching tadpoles and building terrariums. Who had time to carry around a plastic doll when real live creatures were waiting for me?
Nowadays, I don’t make time for men. I get so wrapped up in my work that whenever I date someone, the relationship never moves past the first few dates because I’m always more interested in my research. It’s not surprising that I’m still a virgin at twenty-six. And horny apparently, because as Aiden Blackshear leads me back to the trail, I keep picturing him turning around, pulling me close, and sweeping my face with his powerful hands.
Mortification spreads underneath my skin. Gawd, I have got to have sex with someone. Being a virgin is messing with my good sense.
As if reading my thoughts, Aiden looks at me over his shoulder, so I mean mug him and he rolls his gray eyes at me.
“I’m gonna walk you back to your car, and you need to promise me you won’t come back here looking for animals without bringing someone else along.” He motions to a tree. “And if you ever see these orange ties, you are on my land. The knots point toward my house.”
We reach the trailhead in silence, so I hand him his phone.
He holds it in his firm grip, his jaw tight. “I don’t welcome visitors. This is my property, on my part of the mountain.” He airdrops his number to me. “But just in case you ignore my warning and end up out here again by yourself, text me.”
He watches me walk toward my car before disappearing into the shadowed woods. An inexplicable pull tugs at my heart.
Why do I feel the urge to follow him?
Chapter 3
Eva
“Are you sure this is okay?” Julia’s voice hesitates, her peachy skin flushed, as we hunt for an orange trail marker through the thicket. She ducks under low cedar branches to catch up.
I didn’t text Aiden ahead of time because studies show it’s much harder to say no to a request in person. He wasn’t exactly friendly when I wandered onto his property earlier this week.
“It’s fine,” I lie. I don’t know if it’s fine. Aiden Blackshear could kick us out as soon as we step foot onto his property. But I look her in the eye because I do believe this will work out. He has something I want, and I have knowledge he doesn’t. Plus, I’m prepared to pay him for his time. We’ll just have to figure out how to accommodate his schedule.
We both know showing up at Aiden’s house without calling is a gamble. For all we know, he could be outside chopping wood with nothing but athletic shorts on. His muscles would be flexed, his abs washboard firm. Yum.
Stop it, Eva. This is just your libido talking. You are not actually interested in the mountain man.
“I hope you’re right. We won’t get arrested for trespassing, will we?” Julia’s just twenty, and although she’s an incredible student, her lack of life experience is showing right now. Sometimes you have to take risks to get what you want.
That’s my dad talking. He owns a machine shop in Houston, where I grew up, and manages a staff of forty. He’s one of the toughest people I know. He could tell early on that I was a little different from most people, so he taught my brothers to look out for me but not to coddle me.
I don’t know how long a walk it is from the main trail until his property, but I see the private land sign that I missed the last time I was out here, its faded lettering half-hidden by climbing vines. Aidan had said the trail marker knots faced in toward his house, so that’s the direction we go.
We both want Aiden to guide us in searching for the Golden Warbler. My dissertation is about how to protect the warbler’s habitat in light of increased area development. Julia agreed to be my research assistant, which will look great on her grad school application.
With Aiden’s firefighter expertise and his clear knowledge of the the mountain, he’s our best option for a guide. We just have to convince Aiden that this is something he wants to do.
