10. Sierra
10
SIERRA
“It’s three o’clock, bitches.”
My head snapped up at Carter’s words, and then my jaw dropped.
Again.
Because he had just appeared in the hallway half naked.
Again.
This time, I looked quickly away, but the image of his broad, bare chest and black running shorts was seared into my memory. Did this dude think he was at a beach resort or something?
He crossed over to the table and waited until I looked up. “I meant those guys, not you.”
I nodded, trying not to stare at his sculpted pecs.
Tristan shut his laptop. “Probably best to retire that one from your vocabulary.”
Carter gave Tristan a noncommittal shrug. “Aren’t you going to change?”
Tristan stood and pulled off his shirt. Now there were two incredibly ripped men right in front of me. Out of desperation, I located Drew, who was sitting on the couch, his feet up on the coffee table as he worked on his laptop.
“We work out every day at three,” he said when he caught my eye.
“Helps keep us from going stir-crazy,” Tristan added. “You’re welcome to join us.”
“Thanks, but I’m just going to keep working.” My voice was faint, but what did they expect when they looked like that?
Drew set his laptop on the hearth of the fireplace and then effortlessly picked up the coffee table and moved it out of the way. “Okay if I go get my workout clothes?” He pointed at the small bedroom.
“Sure. It’s your bedroom.”
He shot me a wink. “Not anymore.”
He and Tristan left to change, leaving me with a man who was hard enough to talk to when he was fully clothed… which apparently wasn’t often. But he ignored me, moving into the space Drew had just cleared. He dropped to the ground and started doing pushups with military precision.
Which had nothing to do with me. I was a professional—sort of. I could keep writing no matter what the guys were doing.
Except soon, there were three shirtless men there, stretching, jogging in place, doing jumping jacks and burpees. Even if they hadn’t been so good-looking, it would’ve been distracting.
Drew was the biggest surprise, and the one I currently couldn’t keep my eyes off of. I’d had no idea how well-built he was. His biceps were practically the size of my waist. I’d overheard the others talking, and I’d gotten the impression that Drew was their IT guy. But what kind of IT guy looked like that ?
A casting director would never have hired someone like him for a computer nerd role. No way in hell.
Biting my lip, I continued to sneak peeks at him while my fingers hovered over my keyboard, uselessly still. I couldn’t believe that I’d thought Drew had boyish charm and looks. Nothing about him looked like a boy right now. He was all man. All three of them were.
My face flushed, and I was tempted to take my hoodie off as heat spread across my chest. God, the way the muscles on Carter’s back moved was mesmerizing. When I tore my gaze away, I got caught up in the efficient way Tristan did jumping jacks.
Nothing sagged. Nothing jiggled. His entire body was made up of tightly packed muscles.
My gaze moved on to Drew. He had some heavy-looking free weights, and his biceps bulged as he lifted them.
The three of them seemed to take up a lot more space when they were exercising, and it felt like there wasn’t enough air in here.
And then Carter switched up his pushups so that he lifted his hands off the ground and clapped at the height of each one. Except that’s not the only sound he made. He also grunted with exertion, a noise that was annoying but hit me at a primal level and seemed to enter my bloodstream.
The way they were flexing their bodies reminded me of the way male actors did exercises to pump up their muscles before filming a shirtless scene. Their goal was to appear as masculine, macho, and ripped as possible. These guys weren’t doing it for that reason, but still, it reminded me of it. And also brought back a flood of not-so-great memories of working with men like that.
I hopped up so quickly that I nearly knocked over my stool. But I had to get out of here. There was too much testosterone. Too much bare flesh. Too many hot-as-sin men.
Squeezing past the guys, I dashed into the laundry room. Without giving myself time to get squeamish about it, I shoved my feet into the ski boots we’d found. They were tight, but they fit—thank god. Now I could at least go out for air every once in a while.
Drew’s winter coat was still hanging there, so I pulled it on, figuring that he wouldn’t mind. “I’m going outside for a bit,” I announced as I made my way around the men. There was no response except for more grunting.
I quickly donned my scarf and hat and pulled open the door, causing a light swirl of snowflakes to blow into the house. A few more steps and my getaway would be complete—except I was followed.
“Stay, Zeus. I’m going out.”
Oops. Apparently, the dog knew and thoroughly approved of the word “out.” He danced around my legs, looking up at me as if waiting for me to go first. “I’m taking the dog,” I said loudly, figuring that someone would stop me if that wasn’t okay.
No one said anything as the collie and I walked out into the winter wonderland.
Once the door was closed behind me, I took a deep breath. The cold bit at my face, but I didn’t care. The fresh air smelled great. There was no scent of aftershave or masculine sweat. Just clear, fresh air.
Zeus was already exploring the tree line, and I took a few tentative steps toward him. My foot slipped once, but I didn’t go down. The boots were a great improvement over my slippers, which were now ruined anyway. Plus, the snow had partially covered some of the hard, unforgiving ice.
Slowly, I made my way to the front of the cabin. It was only then that I was able to look down the hill.
Holy shit.
From up here, it looked as if my cabin had been completely destroyed. I mean, I knew that the tree had done a lot of damage, but I hadn’t gotten a good look yesterday.
My legs grew weak as I realized I was lucky to be alive. And even more lucky that Tristan, Carter, and Drew had gotten me out and brought me up here. I’d be forever grateful, but that wasn’t the same as being comfortable around them. Still, seeing that much destruction left me feeling shaky, and I vowed to thank them again when I got back. And when they had more clothes on.
With Zeus at my side, I walked a little farther. It was still slippery, but it was much better on level ground. I came across a tree stump that had splinters of wood all around it. My guess was that someone had been chopping wood with that axe I’d seen in the cabin. Maybe we could make a fire tonight. That would be nice—at least, once the living room was no longer being used as a gym.
Zeus disappeared into the woods, his jaunty tail wagging as he went. I wondered if I should call him back, but he was probably okay. After all, they’d let him wander before, since he’d shown up at my cabin twice.
Using a shuffle step so as not to fall, I followed him. He’d stopped in front of two trees that were close together. Loose twigs and branches stretched between the trees, creating sort of a snow break. On the far side, snow was piled up against them, but on this side, they held the snow back.
Slowly, I made my way over there. There was a log in front of them that wasn’t covered in ice. I brushed off some snow and then sat down.
Zeus came over to sit in front of me, and I hugged him. His fur was so warm and glossy. “You really are a good boy, you know,” I told him. “I can see why they named you after a god.”
He gave me what could only be called a smile and nuzzled his snout against my hand. I obliged him by scratching his broad head. “Next time I’ll see if there’s a brush I can use on you.”
We sat there for quite some time. The area between the two trees was surprisingly sheltered. It was still cold, but the branches above kept the snow from falling on my head. It wasn’t even windy, at least not in this spot.
It almost felt like the snow forts my grandfather had helped me make when I was a kid. He was my mom’s father, and lived in Oregon, so I didn’t see him often. But making snowmen and snow forts with him were cherished childhood memories.
Despite the chill, it was kind of pleasant, sitting there hugging the dog. But after a while, a sharp whistle pierced the air, and Zeus was gone in a flash.
I followed him, only I was moving a lot more slowly. When I emerged from the trees, Zeus was sitting at Carter’s feet, looking up at him in an adoring fashion.
Carter made no comment when he saw me. I had to admit, he looked every bit the handsome, rugged outdoorsman. He stood tall, looking like it would be impossible for him to take a wrong step and end up on his ass—unlike me. Of course, he had those metal spiky things on his boots, but I got the feeling he’d look that way no matter what.
“I saw my cabin,” I said when I neared him.
He turned to take a look and then swore under his breath. “It got hit again.”
“What?” Surprise made me take a quick step forward, and my foot slid out from under me.
Carter grabbed my arm before I could go down. His grip was firm and intractable. “The roof over there by the deck. That was intact yesterday.”
I squinted, but I couldn’t quite make out what he meant. Over half the cabin looked like a big pile of rubble. Carter put his hands on my shoulders, angling me in the right direction. Then I could see it. A big branch had caved in a corner of the roof over the deck.
Despite the thick winter coat, I could still feel the heat from Carter’s big hands. Strong fingers like that could probably give one hell of a massage, not that I could picture Carter doing that. Men that good-looking seemed to be more into receiving than giving.
The silence made me feel awkward. “I’m glad I’m not still under all that.”
“Me too,” he said, his voice quite soft in my ear. I shivered, but not from the cold. For some reason, the moment felt rather intimate. Unless it was for a scene, I didn’t usually stand this close to men—or anyone, really.
“Um, I hope it was okay that I took Zeus out. He kind of didn’t give me a choice.” It was all I could think of to say.
“Yeah, he’s like that. I have to take him in now, or he’ll get in the way.”
He strode away, and with no one around to observe me, I watched him leave. He had such confidence. Had he ever been nervous about anything? It didn’t seem like it. Zeus trotted along next to him, happy to be with his master even if they were just going inside.
But that’s not what Carter did. He let Zeus in and then picked up something long and narrow. As he came back toward me, I saw what it was.
A bow.
A sleek, black, lethal-looking bow.
He slung it over his shoulder as he passed me. “Don’t want to risk Zeus getting in the way when I take a shot.”
Carter strode off while I stood rooted where I was, my mouth agape. Take a shot at what? Bambi? Bambi’s mother? Probably— what else was there to hunt up here? He didn’t seem like the kind of man to waste time on squirrels.
Hunting—ugh. I’d never even liked to think about it.
Slowly, I picked my way up the path back to the cabin. Back to the other two strangers. For all I knew, they hunted, too. Or who the hell knew what they did. I certainly didn’t.
They were strangers, and they were men. In my experience, those were two very good reasons not to let my guard down.
Ever.