Dared By Dawson (Instaloving Mountain Men #4)

Chapter 1

Amy

Shipment days were always exciting for me. I loved opening all the boxes and unpacking the treasures.

I was the store manager at the Happy Pig, a gift shop in Fernwood, and to say that I loved my job was an understatement. I’d scrabbled hard to get into this role, starting as a cashier at a gas station the day I turned eighteen.

And when the owners of the Happy Pig had brought me in as a lead cashier, it had been a big promotion in my life. Then came supervisor. Then assistant manager. And now I was in charge of the whole place.

It was a dream come true for someone who’d never gone to college.

“Dee, what do you think?” I asked as I held up a new piece of cowboy wall art. “Should this go in the front window?”

Cowboy stuff had been the ‘it’ thing all year long. And this canvas had a sexy shirtless cowboy on it along with the motto ‘Kiss Cowboys and Drink Whiskey’.

Dee glanced at it. “Oh, that’s cute. People are going to love it. But I think this should go in the front window.”

She pulled out another canvas I’d forgotten I ordered. It had a cute-looking cowgirl done up in a vintage pinup style with the saying, ‘Bring Your Ass-Kicking Boots To The Party’.

Looking at the two together, I announced, “I think they should both go in the front window. Like a western couple.”

Dee grinned at me. She was my most recent hire, and a real firecracker. Her smile had a wattage switch hidden inside, and she could turn it up big enough that people could see it three states away.

“That’s perfect,” she said. “Everyone needs a cowboy in their life.”

I snorted. “Not me.”

“What? Why? Are you auditioning to be a nun?” she asked as she started opening the next box.

We’d be unlocking the front door in fifteen minutes and needed to hurry to get the place presentable before the first customers of the day filtered in.

“No, it’s just that sometimes the idea of a cowboy is better than the reality.”

Chris Macon’s face drifted into my mind before I swatted it away.

She stopped what she was doing and stared at me. “Sounds like there’s a story there. Did you get burned by a real-life cowboy once?”

I was over it now, or at least mostly over it, so it was easier to talk about than it had been a year ago when I’d been fresh off the breakup.

“Yeah. You could say that. I dated a tall, dark and handsome, complete with the cowboy boots and the pickup truck. It turned out he didn’t mean half of what he said.”

But I’d believed him at the time. I wouldn’t get burned like that again.

Chris had been a sweet-talker with bedroom eyes and a low, gravelly voice. Did I mention the muscles that went on for miles?

None of that matters if the man is just playing games, though. And Chris had definitely just been playing games.

Dee studied my face as though she could hear my inner thoughts.

“You know, a couple of my girlfriends and I are going out to the Bear Den on Red Oak Mountain tonight. One of my friends told me about it recently. You should come. It will help you forget about whoever the asshole was who burned your heart.”

I chuckled. “No. Thanks, but…”

What, I had a date with my cat? Noodles could handle a night on the couch by himself. As long as he got dinner on time, he’d be fine.

“I hear those mountain men up there have some serious giddy-up and go in them. I hear they’re all horny and desperate for women on that mountain. A friend of mine went there once. It changed Caroline’s life completely. Before she left the mountain, she was a married woman.”

A laugh burst out of my mouth. “I don’t need sex with a random stranger. I’m perfectly satisfied with the little vibrator I bought myself. It’s better than a man.”

Now it was Dee’s turn to laugh. “Not better than one of these mountain men. Come on. It will be fun. When was the last time you did something fun? And you don’t have to leave with a man. Just go to hang out with us girls.”

I felt myself wavering.

I tended to be frugal with my money, and it had been ages since I’d splurged on a frivolous outing. I could afford to buy a drink or two at a small country bar.

And maybe it would be good to get a change of scenery. I hadn’t been out to the country since I went to the War Eagle Fair in October.

“All right,” I relented. “I’ll go.”

Dee danced around the store. “Woo! We are going to catch ourselves some cowboys tonight!”

I couldn’t help but feel some of her spirit. Dee was still young enough that every day felt like an adventure. I was nearing thirty, and my party days were long gone.

Chuckling, I told her, “I thought they were mountain men.”

She gave me a mischievous look. “Well, there’s bound to be both types there tonight. You just choose whichever you want.”

Either way, tonight would be fun. And who knows, maybe I would catch a cowboy for the night. But I was strictly on a catch-and-release program. No way would I risk getting attached again.