Shelter (Heroes of Big Sky 2)

But she apologized, and I know she feels foolish. I just hope she never tries anything stupid like this again.

Not that it’s any of my business what she does once she leaves my park.

The firelight dances on her skin, and her dark hair looks black in the dimness of the room behind her. Her throat works as she swallows some water, and I want to lean in and kiss her there.

Jesus, I’ve thought of little else since I saw her in the bar the other night.

And I only know her first name.

“So, who was the asshole?” I ask to distract myself from the long line of that neck.

“Huh?” Her gaze whips over to mine in confusion.

“The jerk who told you that you couldn’t climb this mountain.”

She shrugs a shoulder and turns back to the fire. “Someone I used to know a long time ago. I’ve always loved hiking, biking, rafting. You name it. If it’s an outdoor activity, I want to do it. It’s my jam. And this guy I dated once must have been intimidated by that because he mocked me. Said I was probably raised by wolves or something.”

“And you dated him?”

“I was, like…nineteen,” she says with a disgusted eye roll. “And he was kind of hot. Anyway, swimming is my weakness. I’m not a strong swimmer. We were out on a boat with friends one time, all talking about bucket-list trips. And while most of the others were talking about things like Paris and Tahiti, I said I wanted to hike through all of the national parks. Some of the others nodded or said that sounded cool. But the asshole that I thought was hot? He scoffed and said, ‘Whatever. You won’t do that. You won’t even jump off this boat.’”

“He sounds like a winner.” I shake my head. I hate guys like that. “And what did you say?”

“I don’t remember,” she says. “I just remember being so pissed that he said I wouldn’t do what I’d dreamed of. And I didn’t give a shit about proving anything to anyone in regards to swimming.”

“Yeah, you don’t seem like the type to give in to peer pressure.”

She snorts and sips more water. “No. I’m not.”

“So, you don’t like to swim, but you do like rafting?”

“As long as we’re doing things right, I don’t have to swim,” she reminds me. “But if I have to, I can. I just don’t like it.”

“Gotcha. Are you close with your family?”

She narrows her eyes at me. “I think we’ve talked about me enough for one night. What about you?”

“What about me?” I feel my lips twitch as she lets out a laugh. God, she has a fan-fucking-tastic laugh. Throaty and sexy. I bet she makes all kinds of great noises. And that dimple in her cheek just begs for my attention.

“Tell me a little about you,” she says.

“I’m from Montana. My family has a ranch outside of Cunningham Falls, and I live on the property. I also like to be outside. I love animals, and I work here in the park. That’s about it.”

That doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to spend the night baring all of my secrets from my shitty early childhood to this woman.

“I grew up in LA,” she says, surprising me.

“And you love the outdoors? City people are usually…indoorsy.”

She grins. “Well, there are places to go near LA that are fun for outdoorsy things. I’ve liked to hike from the time I was small. But I’m dying to know what it’s like to grow up in a tiny little town in the middle of all of these stunning mountains.”

“I had the time of my life,” I reply without thinking about it. “Fishing, hunting, running around. We skied, we played on quads, we chased wildlife off the property. Still do all those things, now that I think about it.”

“You hunt?” Her violet eyes round, and she sounds appalled. “Like, innocent animals?”

“We hunt legally.” I frown at her. “Do you really want to have this conversation? Because I can go into a ton of things like controlling animal populations and the need for families to eat, which will make your eyes glass over.”

She wrinkles her nose. “Okay, I probably don’t need the lecture. I just could never shoot at an animal.”

“So, hunting isn’t something we’ll do together.” I make a check mark in the air. “Check.”

“The rest of it sounds fun, though,” she says and leans back on her hands. “I’ve never spent a full winter in the snow. You know what the best thing about your house having wheels is?”

“You can avoid tornadoes?”

“That, and I can do pretty much whatever the hell I want. So, maybe I’ll stick around for winter. It’ll be interesting. And I haven’t skied in forever.”

“We have some of the best skiing in the world.” I grin when she looks at me like, really? “I’m not exaggerating. People train for the Olympics here.”