My Guarded Valentine (Hope Peak’s Valentine’s Day)

3. Mitzi

Chapter 3

Mitzi

I groaned as I sat down at the table. “You don’t have to do this.”

“I do. You’re a guest. Can’t have you starving.”

“I’m not though,” I whined. I grabbed a fat roll and jiggled it, but he didn’t see that.

“So you came through town to…?” he asked as he futzed around the kitchen. This was the perfect time to watch him. Buck was tall with dark hair that was wavy. It reached the tips of his ears and was a mess. His eyes were a pretty blue, but something about them seemed familiar to me and I couldn’t figure out why. He had a scruffy beard with a few dots of gray. He had to be about ten years older than me. As he moved around the kitchen, I watched his muscles tense underneath his tight jeans and shirt. Did he work out? Or were those honest muscles? I wasn’t sure how handy he was.

“I need to go to Summerfield.”

“Ah, the big city.”

“It’s only big because of O'Brien Industries. After that, it started to get on the up and up. It’s changed the region,” I replied. “I mean, may have changed the state, ya know.”

Buck threw his knife into the sink with a loud clatter. “Sounds like you’ve been reading the company website,” he grunted.

“Well, if I’m going to the city, I need to know about everything. O'Brien is the city.”

Buck’s frown deepened as he slapped sandwiches into a sizzling pan. “Ain’t nothing good there.”

“Ooh, small town guy scared of the big city?”

He sucked in a breath before flipping the sandwiches. “No. Just bad memories there.”

“Oh. Sorry.”

The silence seemed to stretch between us before he spoke up again. “I like my life here better, anyway.”

“What do you do for work?” I asked.

“I work at home. You?”

“Journalist.”

“Ah. That explains the research,” he replied as he plated the sandwiches. A moment later, he sat in front of me and pushed one plate in front of me. “It’s not gourmet, but it’s a grilled cheese sandwich. It’s not radioactive gas station food.”

I giggled. “Well, duh, it’s a grilled cheese sandwich. We have these in the city, too. And the food wasn’t poison!”

Buck’s eyes caught mine and smiled. “Are you from the big city?”

“I work in a big city and commute from my little town I grew up in. It’s okay. I get to do what I love, but obviously, it’s all in danger now,” I said as I took a big bite of my sandwich. The intense flavors filled my mouth, a symphony of tastes that made me moan quietly in pleasure. I covered my mouth as I pointed to it on my plate. “Okay. This is pretty good. Maybe I did need this. Are you sure that wasn’t gourmet?”

His nostrils flared as he nodded and crossed his arms. “I figured. I have a secret to making the best grilled cheese sandwiches.”

“You haven’t started eating,” I muttered as I waved towards his plate.

Buck nodded. “Yeah.” He picked his sandwich up and started eating as he watched me. I smiled before taking a few more bites.

“Thank you very much for helping me. I know I was a little rude to you when you first stopped.”

“I almost ran over you.”

I beamed at him. “But you didn’t.” Standing up, I grabbed my plate and walked to the sink, and started to wash my plate.

“You don’t have to clean that. I can do that.”

Quickly, I washed the plate and put the plate in the dish strainer. I turned around and waved my hands. “I cannot be a bad guest!” Swanning past him, I picked up his dish and tossed it in the sink. Before I could flip the water back on, Buck grabbed my hips and twisted my body around.

“Don’t wash that dish, “ he growled.

My cheeks grew warm as I tried to suppress a smirk. “What are you gonna do if I don’t listen to you? Are you going to punish me?”

His eyes darkened, and my breath quickened. His hands were firm on my hips and I could only imagine how they would feel spanking me. He was still touching my hips, and a heat bloomed bright inside my core with his touch. Maybe being stuck in a small town might not be so terrible after all. My eyes darted down towards his hips. The realization that he was still touching me must’ve dawned on him, because he pulled away from me like I was on fire. “Sorry.”

But I was on fire on the inside.

“Don’t run away like I’m contagious or something,” I said. I sashayed past him as I laughed at him. Maybe I threw in an extra wiggle as I walked. As I climbed the stairs, his heavy steps echoed behind me.

“I swear I didn’t mean any offense when I touched you. I wanted to make sure that you knew I didn’t expect you to be my maid,” he babbled.

Turning, I smirked at his reaction and raised my eyebrows.

Guilt streaked his face. “I really am serious.”

I winked. “Blah blah blah, just a horny man with an excuse to touch a pretty girl,” I said, as I stopped in front of my door and turned towards him. He’s probably being the most polite guy I could ever, ever meet on this mountain. How many people were here for the coming holiday? Somehow, I landed the sweetest and most honorable man on this mountain and he looked single so far. I tried to shake my thoughts out of that way. I’m sure this mountain man had a townie honey or something.

Buck lifted his hands up. “That’s not me. I don’t fuck around like that. I don’t want you to think I’m that sort of person.”

I laughed and patted him on his shoulder. “I’m just fucking with you. It’s been a long day. Should’ve waited one day before driving up here. I was just so revved up and needed to leave, and I was mad at my boss. I wanted to spend money on the company card and go. Instead of leaving, I should have gotten an oil change first. I think my friend tried to warn me, but I ignored her.”

Buck seemed to relax, as I smiled at him and opened my door without turning around. “I’m glad. I just didn’t want you to think that I wanted to use you. I’m not really good at this. I’ve kind of stuck to myself the last few years.” When he said that, his face shifted like he was hiding a great pain. Since I was still touching him because, like him earlier, I forgot to let go of him. I squeezed his shoulder and stepped into the room without turning around.

“It’s okay. But I hope whatever hurt happened to you, which caused you to run away to the mountains, I hope you find a chance to heal one day. But I am going to go to bed. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Sweet dreams, Mitzi. I’ll see you in the morning and I will call my friend to get your car. He will love to have some work to do.”

I shut the door, grabbed my pajamas on my suitcase and climbed into the bed. This wasn’t how I planned my weekend. I would have to figure out how I could somehow make a thrilling article in the small town. It would have to help me not lose my job, but small towns always had inspirational stories. I just needed to look around and open my eyes. Something has to be here.