5. Holden
Holden
Seeing Olive standing so close to John had set me on fire.
“You want to take a walk with me, Olive?”
Her lips quirked up into an amused smile. “Sure. But it’s the middle of the night. Is there anywhere to walk around here?”
“Yup. Midnight walks are the best,” I told her as I led her away from the bonfire. The loud, familiar laughter of the Harrison crew faded behind us with every step we took.
The heavy shadows of the Ozark woods swallowed the light from camp, shrouding us in darkness. Out here it was just us, the wind rustling through the trees, and a lonely owl hooting somewhere in the distance.
I shoved my hands into the pockets of my jeans, my thumb brushing against the tight bandage on my palm. The dull throb emanating from it was a quiet reminder that I’d overdone it this week against nurse’s orders.
After a few minutes of walking, I finally stopped in a small clearing, out of sight from the logging camp but still close enough that the distant voices from the party drifted through the trees.
She turned to face me.
It was time to let Olive know how I felt about her.
“I didn’t like seeing you with John. And I know that makes me sound like an ass, because you were just helping him.”
A tiny smile landed on her lips. She looked so pretty tonight that it was hard not to stare at her.
“Did you drag me all the way out here to say that?”
My chest tightened. “Naw. I dragged you out here because I wanted to see you without anyone else around. I don’t like thinking that other men are panting at your heels.”
Olive took a step closer. “I’m not interested in him. I was just looking at a little burn on his arm. And if it sends your mind at ease, he wasn’t flirting with me, either.”
That made me feel a little better.
“I know. But a man can’t help how he feels.”
A tinkling laugh bubbled past her lips.
“Wow, Holden. I’m nervous as hell when it comes to men, but you’re making this easy.”
“Making what easy?” I looked away from her, staring at the dark silhouette of a massive white oak to my left.
She took a step closer, the cool night air carrying the faint hint of her perfume to my nose. She was wearing a different scent than usual tonight. Something floral instead of clean vanilla.
“Well, I’m just assuming that if you don’t want another man looking at me, that you must like me a little.”
More than a little.
“No one knows anything about John. But it seems to me that you’re the real mystery. My sister didn’t know much about you when I asked.”
“You asked about me?”
She nodded. “Yeah. And I let her dress me all up tonight, too. Because… I was hoping to see you.”
Hm. That settled warmly in my chest. And she did look amazing tonight, although she looked just as good in scrubs with no makeup on according to me.
“But if anyone’s a mystery man. It might be you. You smile all the time and hide behind your jokes, Holden. The question is, what are you hiding?”
“I’m not hiding anything,” I rumbled.
But the look in her eyes told me that I needed to tell her the truth if I wanted her to trust me.
“I mentioned I was in Montana before this,” I told her, the words feeling thick and heavy in my throat.
“Yeah.” She stood there in the moonlight, waiting.
“I worked at a big commercial logging operation up near Kalispell,” I continued, keeping my eyes fixed on the bark of the white oak. “I liked it there and… I was settling in well. Bought a truck. I even started looking at a piece of land to buy. I thought I was finally putting down roots.”
I clenched my jaw, the memory washing over me. I’d been days away from signing the closing paperwork.
“What happened?” she asked gently.
“Pine borers,” I told her, finally looking up to meet her eyes. “An infestation swept through the timber lease. Wiped out half the harvest for the year. The company panicked… they had to lay off a quarter of the staff just to make payroll.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah.” I swallowed hard. “I was a hard worker. But I was the newest guy on the team. You know the motto: last hired, first fired. Well, that was me. They cut me loose without a second thought. Just like that, I was packing up my life again.”
Olive’s voice softened. “That sounds terrible.”
“I came here after that,” I rumbled. “And I like it here. I want to stay. But I know exactly how fast things can change. So yeah, Olive. I work hard. I make sure people like me. I make sure I’m the guy who helps Shane with his rig, and the guy who buys the first round, and the guy who doesn’t complain when he rips his hand open on a delimber.
Because I don’t want that to happen again.
I’d like to set roots here. But before I can do that, I need to make sure Dylan’s not going to toss me off the crew. ”
Olive took my good hand and squeezed it hard.
“I know Dylan,” she said, her voice fierce and steady. “And his wife, Mina. And the Harrisons. They’re all good people.”
“Tell that to Brent,” I muttered.
She let out an exasperated breath. “I can’t tell you Brent’s private business. But I can tell you Dylan didn’t throw him away.”
My brow furrowed. Was that true?
I thought back. I’d only been here for a few months when Brent hurt his knee at the logging site. The next thing I knew, he was out of work for a week, then he lost his job.
Even though he still hung around at the Friday night bonfires, he was a sawmill guy now. And he’d been pissed about it, too.
I definitely remembered walking in on him as he cussed and threw shit around the bunkhouse when he first found out.
But I didn’t know the details of what went down.
“Brent didn’t want to leave. He didn’t quit.”
“Do you know that?”
“I know he didn’t want to leave,” I admitted roughly.
“Well, you don’t know the whole story. I’m telling you, Dylan didn’t fire him.”
If that were true, it would change everything. But how could I find out?
“Look,” she sighed, tilting her chin up to look at me. “I like you. And… I think you like me too. But I’ve had my heart broken and stomped on so hard, I can’t risk getting involved with someone who’s not serious.”
My heart thumped in my ribs.
“Are you really planning on staying on Red Oak Mountain?” she asked, her eyes searching mine. “Or are you just going to drift out of here to the next place when you get tired of it?”
“I’m staying,” I growled, the truth of it ringing crystal clear in the quiet woods. “I’m not going anywhere, Olive.”
She bit her lip and hugged herself. “I’m scared, Holden. You scare me.”
“What?”
I’d never had a woman say that to me before. I took a step back as alarm bells rang in my mind. Had I completely misread the heat between us? “Should we head back to the others?”
She sighed. “No. I mean… I’m scared to let someone in again.”
Oh.
And that’s when I saw her in a different light. Olive looked vulnerable and a little anxious. My bossy vixen from the doctor’s office was missing.
She likes me too.
“I don’t want to hurt you, Olive,” I rumbled. “I just want to get to know you better.”
The air between us suddenly changed.
“You do?”
I grinned at her. “Did you really think I kept coming back to the clinic all week for Doc Hansen’s sexy butt? No, ma’am. I was there for you.”
Despite my jokes, I could still feel anxiety emanating from her. What was she afraid of? That I just wanted a quick fuck?
I took her hand and threaded my fingers through hers.
“Olive, I’ve been living the life of a celibate monk since I moved to Red Oak Mountain. But you set fireworks off inside me the second I saw you. I don’t know what it means, but I know I want you. Is that so bad? Wanting a beautiful woman?”
Her lips parted, and she stared up into my eyes, a rare moment of vulnerability knocking her defenses down.
I took a step closer.
Then another.
Until I had her wrapped up tight in my arms.
“I want you, Olive Hanford. I want you bad.”
That was all it took.
Her chin tilted up, her eyes going soft on me.
I moved fast. I brought my good hand up, tangling my fingers deep into her hair, and brought my mouth down onto hers.
She gasped softly against my lips, her hands immediately flying up to grip the front of my shirt.
The kiss was hot and hungry, stolen in the dark of night with only the stars standing witness.
But kissing her was a problem because it just made me want more.
I backed her up until her back hit the trunk of the white oak, my chest pressing flush against hers. She tasted like vanilla and whatever she’d been drinking by the fire, and I couldn’t get enough of it.
I kissed her harder, my tongue sweeping past her lips, claiming her mouth with a desperate kind of urgency.
She kissed me right back, her nails digging into my chest through the fabric of my shirt.
And I didn’t have to ask if she wanted this. Because it was clear that she wanted it just as much as I did. I groaned and reached for her waist, but as I gripped her hips, a sharp spike of pain shot through my bandaged hand.
I flinched, pulling my bad hand back with a quiet hiss.
“Holden,” she said, pulling back just enough to look at me. Her chest was heaving, her eyes wide with desire. “Your hand.”
“It’s fine,” I rasped, leaning in to kiss the sensitive skin just below her jaw. “Forget the hand.”
“No,” she said firmly. She pushed gently against my chest, putting an inch of space between us.
For a second, I thought she was going to stop this. I thought she was going to put her nurse hat back on and send me back to the bonfire with a lecture.
Instead, she reached down and grabbed the thick metal buckle of my leather belt.
My breath caught in my throat.
“You shouldn’t use your hand,” Olive murmured, her eyes holding mine as she smoothly unhooked the buckle. “So let me.”
I couldn’t have formed a coherent word if I tried.
I just stood there, my back rigid, completely at her mercy as her small, capable fingers went to work on the metal button of my jeans. The slow drag of the zipper going down sounded deafening in the quiet woods.
The night air hit my skin, but I was burning up from the inside out.