Wicked Sexy (Men of Discovery Island 1)

When she stopped and repositioned the chain saw, Daeg nodded approvingly. “There you go. We’re going to cut her into a V, okay?”

“Got it.” She concentrated on making the second cut. Working with Daeg shouldn’t have been so easy. They both preferred giving orders, but this felt comfortable, an easy give-and-take that, strangely, had nothing to do with how they’d spent the night of the storm. She liked him, she realized. The blade had almost made it through the tree.

Her ex had been coming round the motel, pushing hard to get back together, but she’d resisted. Rick was fundamentally a decent man who had made one terrible mistake. Still, she now understood how he wasn’t right for her. There was none of this easy camaraderie or trust. So she just wanted to...

Hang on to Daeg. And find a way to make this work.

Hmm...whatever this was. Sex. Romance. A combination of the two. As her eyes met Daeg’s over the chain saw, she could calculate the odds just fine—and they were low. Maybe too low? She dismissed that; he was worth the risk. She should try a closer, more hands-on approach with him.

In fact, she wanted to try for a relationship with Daeg.

“Daeg—” she said, and his gaze met hers.

The whine of the chain saw changed abruptly, the blade biting through the remaining wood, and the trunk started to go. Out of time, she backed up, like he’d instructed her, as he pulled hard on the rope. The tree was either heavier than he’d estimated, however, or something else had given, because the tree surged forward, dragging Daeg behind it.

* * *

THE TREE MUST have had a core of lead because nothing could have prepared him for the sudden jerk and forward lunge.

The trunk toppled over. The muscles in Daeg’s arms bulged as he fought the pull and burn of the unexpected weight. He dug in his heels, but the tree was still going, threatening to do his shoulders some serious harm.

No way he’d let go now.

No way to drop it safely.

His mind was racing as he thought of scenarios to shift the weight left or right, anywhere but have it go straight through the roof, but he was fresh out of options. And then there was movement beside him. Dani.

“Get clear,” he roared. He didn’t want her in any danger.

“You have to let go!” she screamed. No. He didn’t let go. Ever. No, he held on as the trunk went down slowly, dropping loudly through the roof. His boots were almost on the front porch and his chest was heaving, the muscles in his arms and calves shrieking in protest. As the trunk became stationary again, the weight jerked the last of the rope through his palms, burning them even through his work gloves.

A rumbling moan came from inside the damaged cabin as the tree tore its way through to the floor. He wrapped an arm around Dani’s waist and led her away. The only thing left to save here was her, because the cabin was now a total loss.

Not part of the plan.

“Oh, no. That was insane.” She sounded shocked and disbelieving. Yeah. He’d made a huge mess, and all in the name of helping her. He’d be lucky if she didn’t toss him clear off the property now. His chest was still heaving, his muscles still trembling. The drop was too much, too fast; he should have known better.

“I’m sorry, Dani.” He pulled off the gloves, slapping them on his thigh to shake free the splinters. “I owe you a roof.”

She glared at him. Her eyes said she was furious. He’d replace the roof, no problem. “I’m not worried about that.” She eyed the carnage. “Much. I know what that costs to replace and what that will do to the insurance. That’s not the issue here. The issue is you. I can’t put a dollar amount on you, okay?”

* * *

HE COULD HAVE died.

Right there in front of her and in the blink of an eye. The fear was a visceral reaction, adrenaline pumping through her body like some kind of sexual rush. She wanted to kill him herself; he didn’t understand. Watching the tree go down and drag Daeg with it was worse than anything she could have imagined.

She didn’t want him hurt.

She had feelings for him—and that revelation was about as unwelcome as the tree now resting on the floor of Cabin Six. Eventually, she’d get the insurance company on the line and they’d send out an adjustor, followed by contractors, and the whole matter would get dealt with and eventually be forgotten. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a similar service or simple procedure for matters of the heart.

He was supposed to be her hot, sexy distraction from the admittedly low-key weeks of monitoring Sweet Moon’s front office. Not long ago she hadn’t thought about him at all. Daeg had been her past. Now he was her present and, yes, she confessed, she was starting to imagine a future with him.