Mountain Delights (Wild Mountain Men 2)

She took a sip of her beer, set the glass down on a coaster. “My parents? They’re not assholes.”

I tipped my head and the corner of my mouth tipped up. “One out of the three of us isn’t bad.”

“I want to know why Lucas’ parents don’t hate you. I mean, with your dad and all,” Hailey commented.

I glanced to Lucas, who shrugged. “I have no fucking idea. I figured they’d be after me with pitchforks or something after what my dad did, but no.”

It made no sense. They’d always liked me, at least they didn’t outwardly hate me like they did with Kit Lancaster. That had been obvious since high school, back when she’d been friends with Erin, before she and Lucas even dated. But with what my dad did, I’d expected to be eviscerated when I’d shown up with Hailey.

But no. Mr. Mills had slapped me on the back instead of punching me in the face.

“I’ve given up figuring them out,” Lucas added.

So had I.

“Your turn, sweetheart. Your parents aren’t assholes, you say.”

“Right. I followed in my mom’s footsteps,” she added. “Like I said earlier, she skied competitively. Dad’s learned to remain calm through yoga or Tai Chi. He has to be with two female daredevils in the family.”

I lifted my glass, imagining a man who probably had white hair and an ulcer. “To your dad.”

She gave me a small smile. “They live in Jackson. That’s where I grew up.”

I knew the town just over the Montana border in Wyoming. Pretty spot. Epic skiing.

Her cell rang, the same ringtone as before. Her coach. She looked down at it as if it were going to bite her.

“Sweetheart, talk to the man,” I ordered.

She frowned, then sighed. “Fine. Hey, Mark,” she said when she answered it.

While the bar music wasn’t too loud for her to take her call, we couldn’t hear what he was saying. But watching Hailey’s face was indication enough that it wasn’t all rainbows and unicorns.

“I’ve been busy. Yes, I know I should be training.” She rolled her eyes. “Yes, PT is well. One hundred ten degrees. No, they haven’t benched me.”

She picked up her beer, took a swig.

I looked to Lucas, leaned in. “What’s up with that?” I murmured, tilting my head toward Hailey.

“Snow’s coming. Her coach is itching for her to get back to training. I met him at the mud run. He’s hard core.”

“I got that, but why’s she not excited about it?”

“The Springs, tomorrow?” she said. “I don’t know. Look, Mark, I’m not sure if I’m—”

She looked down at the table, listened. “Fine. I need a week. Yes, a week.”

She swiped the screen, set her cell on the table.

“Everything okay?” I asked.

“He wants me in the Springs at the training center tomorrow.” She laughed. “As if that’s going to happen.”

“Don’t you want to train? To get back out there?” From the film clips I’d seen of her, she was incredible. Yeah, she’d had a horrible accident, but it wasn’t stopping her. Was she afraid? Had she lost her nerve?

She shrugged, grabbed an unused coaster and started fiddling with it. “I’m happy here with you and Lucas. I like the way you keep me occupied.”

I liked it, too. I grabbed her hand, tossed the coaster onto the table. “Sweetheart, I’ve fucked you good and hard and your ass is probably still sore from my palm, but we only met this morning.”