Merry & Wild (The Wilds of Montana #0.5)

Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

JOHN

“ W hat are your questions?” Joy asks as she watches me from across the table. She leans on her elbows and offers me that sweet smile, and I almost forget my own name. “John?”

That’s right, that’s it.

“Sorry,” I reply and clear my throat. “So, you work at the doctor’s office?”

“Yep.” She nods, and her hair bounces around her shoulders.

“What do you do for fun when you’re not at Jazzercise?”

“That’s not fun,” she says, shaking her head slowly back and forth as she fiddles with the straw in her water. “That’s just exercise. Let’s see, for fun? I like to read. I like to hike in the summertime.”

“Do you ski?”

She wrinkles her nose at that, and I can’t help but think that it’s adorable. Her nose has little, tiny freckles on it.

“No. I tried once, but I fell and broke my arm. It’s best if I stay off of skis. Do you do it?”

“Nah, no time. I work a lot. ”

“Are you the kind of rancher that gets up before dawn and doesn’t eat dinner until after dark?”

“You just described every kind of rancher, sweetheart.”

She smiles and, if I’m not mistaken, blushes a little as Heather sets our pizza on the table, along with breadsticks and Joy’s salad.

“This looks amazing ,” Joy says, breathing it in. “Smells so good.”

“You two dig in,” Heather says and sets a stack of napkins on the table. “If you need anything, just flag me down.”

“Thanks.” I set a slice of pepperoni on Joy’s plate, then take a piece of the supreme, and we enjoy our late dinner. We don’t even talk much at first because we’re both devouring the food in front of us.

Finally, when the pizza is nothing but a memory and we’re both full, Joy leans back and sighs.

“I shouldn’t have eaten that last piece.”

“Come on.” I toss some cash on the table and reach out to help Joy to her feet. “Let’s go walk this off, shall we?”

“You might have to just roll me back to my car.”

She dramatically grunts when I pull her up, and then we wave to Heather and walk back out into the snowy night.

“The snow is coming down harder,” she says with a frown. “Last I heard, the storm was going to go around us.”

“Looks like it’s not going around us,” I reply, and mentally kick myself for not going home to tend to the ranch. Sure, I have hands who will cover for me, but I don’t like to do it that way.

I should be there.

But then I look down at Joy, and frankly, I’m not ready to leave her yet. What started out as a chore this evening, taking Melissa to town, has turned into a lot of fun.

I like Joy.

“Where do you live?” I ask her.

“Well, that’s complicated.”

I narrow my eyes down at her as we cross the street. “Don’t tell me you live in your car after all.”

“No.” She smiles up at me and almost loses her footing on the ice, but I grab her arm and right her. “Oops, thanks. Stupid ice. Anyway, I don’t live in my car. Not yet.”

“What does that mean?”

“I’ve been renting an apartment for two hundred bucks a month over on Riverside Drive. You know the brown apartments there?”

“Sure. They’re not bad.”

“No, my place is cute, actually. But they’re raising the rent in two months, and I don’t see how I can afford to stay. So, I’ll probably be looking for a new place soon. Moving sucks.”

“It definitely sucks,” I agree. “Why are they raising the rent?”

“Because they can.” She shrugs. “Because more and more people are discovering Bitterroot Valley and moving here, and they’ll pay higher rents. But, if worse comes to worse, my mom said I could hang with her for a while. We’ll see.”

“I was sorry to hear about your dad. He was a nice guy.”

“Yeah, thanks.” She nods and sniffs, her nose dripping from the cold. “Cancer also sucks.”

“How’s your mom doing?”

“She’s actually really good. Not ready to date or anything, but she’s not quite so visibly sad as she used to be. It’s been a rough couple of years for her. Thanks for asking.”

She smiles up at me and then loses her footing again, and I can’t catch her this time. Down Joy goes, right into the snow of the snowbank.

“Well, so much for impressing the hot guy from high school.”

“Who’s that?” I ask and laugh when she sticks her tongue out at me. “Now, that’s charming. Here, let me help you up.”

She takes my outstretched hand, but instead of letting me pull her up, she yanks me down beside her in the soft snow.

“Hey!”

“We can lie down here for a minute, and I can wallow in my embarrassment.”

I grin over at her, loving the way our breath puffs out in the cold. “Your cheeks are pink.”

“I’m sure they are. I wish the stars were out tonight.”

“Instead, you’re getting covered in snow. Before long, I’ll have to dig you out with a shovel.”

“It doesn’t feel cold.”

“You look cold,” I counter.

She turns her head to the side and watches me with somber chocolate eyes. “Thanks for the pizza.”

“Thanks for hanging out with me.” My eyes drop to her lips, and she licks them in response. “Do you have any objections to being kissed?”

“No.”

I cup her face and feel the cold of her skin through my glove as I lean over to press my lips to hers.

It starts out… cold. But as our skin warms, I sink into her, and she leans up to wrap her arms around my neck and hold on to me.

She makes a little mewling sound in the back of her throat, and I know without a doubt that I’m done for. I can’t get enough of this girl.

“Come home with me,” I growl against her neck. “Let me take you home.”