Bounty (Colorado Mountain 7)

He was going to talk to Max to talk to Callahan to speed that up. Callahan wouldn’t need walls and floors set in to give her security.

“Deke?”

His eyes dropped to hers.

“You eat?” he asked as greeting.

“Generally, yes, as you know since you’ve seen me do it and likely are aware all beings need some form of sustenance to survive,” she sassed. “Tonight, not yet. I was about to go out because I’d heard there was a Mexican place in Chantelle that can’t be beat.”

“Rosalinda’s. Hit that, hit jalapeño heaven.”

Even that deep into dusk, he saw her pretty face light with a smile.

Total dumbfuck.

“Tonight, though, we’re breaking in your fire pit,” he told her.

At that, she beamed.

“Please say hot dogs,” she begged through the rays.

He shoved the six-pack her way and gave her what she wanted.

“Hot dogs.”

“Far out!” she cried, too fucking cute for any man’s peace of mind, especially his, grabbing the beer from him, turning and moving into the dark space.

“Light the pit, Jus. I’ll go get the chairs.”

“You got it,” she said, hustling to the back door.

He followed her, dropped the bag by where she’d put the beer on the decking and left her lighting the pit. He came back with one of the chairs that sat on her other deck to see the pit dancing but she was gone. He took off to go get the other chair and when he returned, she was back.

“Napkins,” she declared, waving some in the air. “No plates, dude. Sorry. And only plastic cutlery. So sorry again.”

“I look like a man who gives a shit about plastic forks?” he asked.

“Not really,” she answered.

“That’s ’cause I’m not.”

“That’s good, Deke, but I have no plates either.”

“You got some flesh-eating virus I’ll get from sharin’ a bag of chips and a tub of macaroni salad with you?” he asked.

“Not that I know of,” she answered.

“Then we’re good.”

She said nothing and he didn’t look at her face because he could actually fucking feel she was smiling.

He squatted and reached into the bag. “Open a beer for me, yeah?”

“I live to serve.”

Deke wanted to test that but do it when they were both naked.

Fuck him.

Total dumbfuck.

She got him a beer while he clipped the hooks off the hangers and straightened them out. In no time, they were both opposite each other at the pit. Jus sitting on her chair but leaned in with her dog on her wire roasting in the flames. Deke had sat back, feet up on the edge of the pit, soles of his boots warmed by the fire, his dog also in the flames.

He was thinking there was probably one place on earth he’d like to settle in for a time that wasn’t his place by the lake.

It was here.

Total dumbfuck.

She started it.

“So, Max called tonight. Says scaffolding is being delivered.”

“Need it to drywall the upper areas and get started on laying the wood ceiling.”

“And we get Bubba a couple of days,” she went on.

“Yep,” Deke confirmed. “Not smart to work alone on scaffolding.”

“I could spot you.”

Deke amended.

“Not smart to work alone two and half stories up laying a ceiling on scaffolding with a five foot five woman in baggy overalls spotting your ass.”

He heard her soft giggle.

He liked it.

“I’m five six,” she corrected.

A foot shorter than him.

She seemed smaller.

He said nothing.

She didn’t either.

They roasted dogs.

Finally, she ended the silence.

“I’ve got a friend coming to town end of next week.”

He looked through the flames to her and said quietly, “That’s good news.”

And it was. When times were bad, she needed someone close who meant something to her.

She caught his eyes also through the flames and he saw her expression change, the feisty went out, nothing but sweet left.

He could not do this.

And he couldn’t not do it.

He was totally screwed.

“We’ll be trying jalapeño heaven,” she shared.

“You can thank me when you do.”

“I hope so.”

“You will,” he affirmed, taking his dog from the flames and reaching out for the bag to get the buns.

“I know you’re a manly mountain man, Deke,” she suddenly stated and that weird statement made him look from the buns to her. “So I’ll get this out of the way so you can be done with it. But this means a lot.” She indicated him, the fire and the night by circling her dog. “You’re right. The crap Mav is pulling will get sorted and life will go on. But right now, life sucks a little bit. And it feels nice you give a shit enough to bring some dogs, beer and marshmallows to make it better.”

Wood had been right. Nothing about Jus suggested she was a rich bitch of the variety he knew.

She wasn’t Emme either.

She was all Jus and aside from not liking mornings, there wasn’t much to her that wasn’t good.

He still was not going to go there. She had cabbage and a lot of it and he was not that man who could be down with that when he’d not only never earn as much as she had, he didn’t want to.

He was also not that man who was down with settling. He’d lived a life with significantly limited options up until he was twenty and his mother was solid enough he could take off. He needed endless options now and not many women were good to go on the back of the bike whenever he was ready to roll. Jus, he was certain, considering she was laying roots in Carnal in that house, being one of that many who wouldn’t be good to go.