“Most people don’t, but that does not mean your subconscious was not doing the thinking for you.” He cocks his head. “Why didn’t you run away when you saw Talon?”
“Who?”
“That big ox of a fella whose hand you were holding.”
I wrinkle my nose. “He’s not an ox. He’s… well?—”
Far from it. He was…
Alluring is the only word for it.
Sexy is another.
He is not classically handsome, but I definitely swooned a little when I saw those gray eyes of his. More wolf than bear—nothing like the mountain men I had imagined up here. Something older, wilder.
His long hair and beard give him that rugged mountain look, and then there is his size.
He is even taller than Luke, and until today I thought Reid was the tallest man I had ever met at six foot four. What on earth are they feeding these men up here?
Luke cocks an eyebrow. “You think he is handsome?”
I shrug, trying not to blush. “Well, yes. I mean, I was kind of crying too hard to notice properly, but he is certainly not just an ox.”
“Well.” A secretive smile spreads across his face. “I am sure he will be happy to hear that.”
I am not sure why Luke said it like that, nor why he is smiling. It feels like there is a punchline in there somewhere that I am missing.
“Anyway,” he says, “you didn’t answer my question. Why didn’t you run away from him if you wanted to be alone?”
I shrug. “I don’t know. He was there and he held me and …” And it felt good to be held, especially by someone like him.
Someone big and protective, with a growl that made me want to curl into him and stay there.
He smelled like fresh soap and wood, felt solid and grounding in a way that steadied the chaos inside me. Everything about him was raw, unpretentious, real.
He made me feel safe.
Which is a crazy thing to think about a stranger you just met in the woods.
“Didn’t you feel better after?” Luke asks.
“I guess.”
“Good. Maybe that’s the trick. Maybe you need to get it all off your chest.” He tucks both hands in his pockets. “I came to find out if you’re ready to tell me all about it.”
“You mean you want me to tell you about me and Reid?”
“About that… or anything else you want to talk about. The floor's yours.” He smiles at me, and the smile is genuine. Like he knows me of old, even though we’ve only just met. Like he actually cares.
I stare at him as he stares back, all traces of his earlier amusement gone, replaced by a soft, accepting calm.
On second thought, I can see how he could be a cult leader. His charisma is undeniable, and he has a disarming charm that makes it difficult to turn him down.
Not to mention his movie-star looks. Those blue eyes. That blond mop any woman would want to run her hands through. Those lips.
I could eat him up right now.
Another energy rises inside me, heat spreading.