A Mountain Man Christmas Crush (Mountain Men of Granite Junction #1)

Chapter 4

Chapter Four

G ene watched Sarah stumble a bit as she dressed herself and flung open the back door. Bo raced past her, knocking her into the door frame in his eagerness to romp in the snow. Gene had only had one of the doctored drinks and if Sarah’s had been as strong as she’d made his, well, he needed to keep an eye on her.

When she’d brought out the creamy liquor with the mugs of chocolate, he’d thought it was cute, a sweet little girly tough that would be a nice little something added to the warm drink. Then he took a sip and almost choked on the strength of the alcohol. Had to be at least half liquor. And Sarah drank four, as if she tasted nothing. And she still beat him in two games, though in the last two, she was clearly not as on her game as the first two.

Now, she was rolling snowballs and throwing them for Bo, laughing as if she didn’t have a care in the world and it was fucking adorable. The dog was barking and racing around, snapping at the snowballs, having a blast, acting like the puppy he was, and Gene couldn’t help but smile. Gene popped his head into the barn and checked on the goats, all curled up and drowsy, not at all bothered by the cold or barking dog.

He made sure everything was secure and came back outside to see Sarah leaning against the fence, watching Bo tunneling through the snow, apparently having gotten bored with snowballs.

“At least someone enjoys the snow,” Gene commented.

Sarah wrapped her arms around herself. “He’s so happy. When did you get him?”

Gene leaned against the goat pen, watching Bo racing through the snow. “Someone dumped him in the woods a few months back when he was just a pup. He’s not even a year yet. He’s so full of life.”

“How could anyone abandon a puppy? I’ll bet he livens up your cabin.”

Gene sighed, thinking about how the pup seemed to sense his moods and knew when to just curl up with him and when to be playful. “Yeah, he definitely forces me out of my moods.”

Sarah took a step, then stumbled a little. Gene grabbed her, righting her. He held her against his body, the feel of her body reminding her of how long it had been since he’d actually spent time with a woman. The feel of her curves against his body, the softness of her breasts, reminded him how Sarah was not the little girl or even young woman he tried to think of her as. She was all woman. “I think we need to get you inside.”

She laid her head against him, trusting and confident. He wrapped an arm around her. “Are you ready, Sarah? Bo? Let’s go.”

Gene led Sarah inside and helped her get out of her outer gear. He sat her on a chair while he undressed.

She leaned back and eyed him, her eyes unfocused. “You’re very sexy, you know?”

He stifled a sigh. He should have watched her alcohol intake.

How to resist her when she was looking so sweet, adorable in fact, and eyeing him like he was the sexiest thing she’d seen in years. It was the biggest turn-on he’d ever had. The way she was running her hand over his back and torso as he was leading her to her room made his job much harder.

Standing in the doorway to her bedroom, she paused with her hand on the doorknob. “Thank you for a nice evening. I haven’t played chess in more than a year, not really. I had fun.”

Her teeth worried at her lower lip as she stared at the door, then she turned, rose on tiptoes and pressed her lips to his, the innocent caress taking his breath away. She placed her hands on his shoulders for balance, her fingers gently tightening, as if not wanting to let go. His hands had loosely rested at her back when walking her to the door but had circled to her waist when she’d turned to face him.

Now, they rested lightly at her hips and he tried to remember why he shouldn’t pull her closer when all he wanted to do was sink into the kiss, deepen it until he forgot how lonely he was, and could only taste her sweetness.

He growled. Damned the consequences. He pulled her to him, crushing her body close, taking over the kiss. His tongue teased the seam of her lips until she opened for her him, her own tongue tentatively stroking his, letting him in to dominate her. She moaned and wrapped her arms around his neck, trying to get closer.

He slipped his hands under her ass and lifted her, pinning her to the wall until he made a home between her thighs and she was wrapped around him, her hands twining through his hair pulling him close as he devoured her as if his life depending on it.

The taste of chocolate, vanilla and cinnamon combined with the innocence of Sarah and the pricks of her nails on his scalp slowly penetrated the fog, and he lifted his head to stare down at her. Her eyes were heavy lidded and drowsy with passion. A dazed smile curved her swollen lips, and she tried to pull him back down, but reality had intruded.

He slowly lowered her to the ground, mentally kicking himself for taking advantage when she was drunk. “I’m sorry, Sarah. I shouldn’t have done this. Good night.”

He pivoted on his heel and strode down the hall, leaving her staring holes in his back.

* * *

T he next morning, Sarah groaned at the sharp pain in her head and the taste of dirty cotton in her mouth. If this was a hangover, well, she’d never drink again. Flashes of the previous evening came back to her, her plan of lowering her inhibitions to a level where maybe she could flirt a bit with Gene having gone horribly wrong after getting drunk and chasing the man away after the truly spectacular kiss. Well, it was spectacular for her. He clearly thought it was something else, if it made him look at her with horror and run like the hounds of hell were on his heels.

Maybe she could fake illness, a hangover being a real thing, and avoid Gene until he left for the workshop. It could work. Sharp rapping on the door belied that, however, and she groaned, throwing the blankets over her head.

“Are you alive in there, or are you wishing you were dead?” Gene’s voice came through the door and she cringed.

“Dead?”

“Was that a question or a statement?” He replied, clearly amused, judging by his tone. “I fed the goats and have a cup of ginger tea I found in the cabinet. I figured you may not be ready for coffee yet.”

“Why aren’t you at work yet?” She grumbled, knowing she was being ungrateful, but she had been counting on him being gone so she could postpone her embarrassment, at least for a little while.

“The roads are terrible. We got at least a foot last night. Who plows your drive?”

Shit, she’d forgotten about the snow. She sat up and the room swam a bit and her stomach lurched. She waited while it settled, but she could see out the window at the snow blanketing the world outside. “Samuel plows me out, but he may not have gotten here yet, knowing we don’t have any guests. He’ll be along. I’m sorry. I’ll call him.”

“Can I come in?”

She glanced down at her old pajamas. Nothing made for seduction there. “Sure, why not?”

He opened the door, an amused glint in his eyes and a tray in his hand. “Tea and toast?”

“Sure.” The one time she had a man in her room, and a sexy one at that, and he’s more interested in making sure she doesn’t vomit than getting into her bed. Great.

She nibbled the toast and sipped the tea, praying her stomach settled and avoiding the serious gaze Gene was settling on her.

“Sarah, last night can’t happen again.”

“Of course it can’t. Time travel is impossible, unless you know something I don’t.”

He frowned. “Don’t avoid the subject. Sarah, I care about you, but I’m too old for you, too stuck in my ways. You have to let this crush go.”

She ignored the chill that wrapped around her heart. “It’s not a crush and you’re not too old. Barely ten years older. That may have been a problem years ago, but now, not really. Gene, you deserve to be happy, too.”

He shook his head. “Happiness has nothing to do with it. You need to let this go, Sarah. If you won’t, I won’t stay here.”

She blinked against the tears gathering in her eyes, but she nodded. “It’s more important that you have a place to stay. I promise not to make you uncomfortable again.”

He studied her for a long moment. “Okay. The goats are all set, though I left them in the barn for the morning. I’m going to do a little work in the barn. I brought a piece of wood to work on, if you don’t mind. It’s for a commission piece and I wanted to get a jumpstart on it.”

She nodded, not trusting herself to say anything. He stood. “I don’t want to hurt you. I’m sorry if I have. But I can’t offer you anything more than friendship.”

She smiled at him. “That’s all I want.”

Even as she said the words, her heart broke inside.