Page 21 of Mountain Man's Naughty Elf
"Yeah?"
"Try not to scare her off with your charming personality." He hung up before I could respond.
I looked at Pepper, who was staring at the phone with a troubled expression. "So Nolan's connected to organized crime. Perfect."
"Explains the weapon," I said, remembering the holstered weapon his goon had flashed.
"This is so much bigger than I thought." She wrapped her arms around herself. "I just wanted to protect the toy drive. Now I'm dealing with criminal conspiracies."
My jaw clenched, my protective instinct kicking in – the same one I'd felt countless times on deployment when civilians got caught in crossfire. "We'll handle it."
She looked up, meeting my eyes for the first time that morning. "We?"
"I told you before—I'm in this now."
The smile she gave me triggered a strange pressure behind my sternum. "I should check that generator," I said, needing space to clear my head. "There's eggs and bacon in the fridge if you're hungry."
Outside, the cold hit me like a blast from a tactical wake-up call. The generator was humming steadily, just as it had been since dawn. I cleared some accumulated ice around the housing and checked the fuel levels, confirming we had enough for several more days if needed.
While outside, I spent twenty minutes uncovering the hot tub and checking that the maintenance system I'd set up was still working properly. I'd kept it running on a timer even though I rarely used it myself - old habits of maintaining equipment die hard. The water was already heated and balanced, ready to go. The snowfall had made the task harder, but something told me it might come in handy.
As I worked, I tried to make sense of what was happening to me. I'd spent three years building these walls around myself, mastering the art of needing no one. Then Pepper Prescott had blown in with the storm, and now my hard-won solitude felt more like a cage than a sanctuary.
I finished and headed back inside, stamping snow from my boots. The cabin was quiet. No singing, no holiday commentary. I found the kitchen empty, breakfast dishes washed and put away.
"Pepper?"
No answer.
I frowned, checking the living room, then the bathroom. Empty. The back of my neck prickled with unease. Had Nolan somehow gotten to her while I was outside?
Then I heard a soft rustling from upstairs. My bedroom.
I took the stairs two at a time, moving silently despite my size. The bedroom door was ajar. I pushed it wider to find Pepper standing on a chair, reaching up toward the exposed beam that ran across the ceiling.
In her hand was a small green sprig tied with a red ribbon. Mistletoe.
She froze when she saw me, caught in the act like someone crossing a line they shouldn't.
"What," I said slowly, "are you doing?"
She had the grace to look embarrassed, though not particularly sorry. "Decorating?"
I crossed my arms, leaning against the doorframe. "I thought we agreed you'd ask before adding more unnecessary embellishments to my cabin."
"Technically," she said, her eyes sparkling with mischief, "I'm not adding more. I'm simply... redistributing what was already approved."
"Over my bed."
Her cheeks flushed slightly, but she held her ground. "It's strategic placement."
"Is that right?"
"Absolutely." She stepped down from the chair, still holding the mistletoe. "The bedroom was seriously lacking in festive atmosphere."
I raised an eyebrow. "And you're the authority on appropriate levels of holiday spirit?"
"The Christmas Queen," she reminded me, gesturing to herself with a flourish that was both ridiculous and somehow endearing. "Royal decree and all that."
