Chapter 3
3
ASHLYNN
T he angry mountain man wasn’t just gorgeous. He was super smart. And that was why I was all flustered when I exited the meeting room. I turned right instead of left, which had me heading deeper into the building rather than toward the door.
I flipped around, my ballet flats gliding smoothly over the linoleum. Halfway through the turn, my mind registered the figure walking toward me.
Zack was just a few feet away. And unlike yesterday, there were no sunglasses to mask the heat in his stare.
“What’s it going to take?” he asked.
My mouth fell open. My legs were still in an awkward position from my interrupted turn. But I couldn’t seem to move. Or speak. Or breathe.
“If I can get enough money together to buy you out,” Zack explained. “How much would it take to get you to move your plans to another town?”
“No.”
That was the only word I could force out. It wasn’t really an answer, though. I had to pull myself together.
I started by shifting to a more comfortable position. Then I crossed my arms over my chest like I’d done earlier.
“There’s no other place to start my business,” I said. “This is my town.”
He narrowed his eyes. “Really? How many actual days have you spent in Rosewood Ridge?”
“I’m not getting into a pissing contest with you. Yes, you’ve spent more time here than I have. That doesn’t make this more your town than mine.”
“No, but the fact that you think your resort center is good for Rosewood Ridge says it all. You don’t know anything about these mountains and the people who live here.”
“You’re talking about guys like you,” I said. “The ones who live alone up in the mountains with no running water or electricity.”
His expression softened, but I wasn’t sure why. Then he laughed. It wasn’t a happy laugh. But I liked the small wrinkles around his eyes. It was a look that made him a little more human.
“That’s what you think of us?” he asked.
I was having a hard time thinking at all with him standing so close. His solid chest and muscular arms made me long to step toward him. It would be so nice to have him hold me?—
“Most of us have electricity and water,” he said. “Some even have jobs. A couple made a lot of money early on and retired here for some peace and quiet.”
“My grandmother told me?—”
“Your grandparents were no different than everyone else,” he interrupted. “Crossing the street when they see us in town like we’re contagious or something.”
I wanted to defend my grandparents, but he was right. They were freakishly protective of me as a kid. And I distinctly remembered them trying to keep me safe from the big, bad men who lived up in the mountains. I’d never been scared of them, though. In fact, they’d always fascinated me.
“Okay, so I’m wrong about you guys.” I shrugged. “But I know this town.”
“Your business will be up in the mountains,” he pointed out. “You’re in my backyard.”
“So, what do you expect me to do?” I asked, uncrossing my arms and letting them fall to my sides. “How can we make this work?”
I expected him to shoot an answer back, but he didn’t. Instead, he stared at me for what seemed an eternity.
After several seconds, I saw it again. It was the same fire in his eyes I’d seen in the meeting room. It was a fire that had reflected the attraction roaring through me—an attraction so strong, it sucked the air right out of my lungs.
I wanted him. I wanted him then, and I wanted him now.
I had no idea who moved first. Maybe it was both of us at the same time. All I knew was that our mouths came together in a kiss more intense than I could have imagined.
All my senses were on alert as our tongues tangled and his hands settled in the small of my back. His clean smell, the warmth of his body against mine, the distant sound of council members talking?—
With a jolt, I pulled away, breaking the kiss. “We aren’t alone here,” I said.
I half-expected those words to erase the heat from his stare. They didn’t. But he did step away and take my hand, leading me into another meeting room. We’d kiss. That was all. We’d make out, then go our separate ways. We’d forget this ever happened.
But I’d barely gotten the door closed behind me when his mouth was on mine again. As I pressed my hands against his rock-hard chest, I knew there was no way I’d ever forget this, no matter how long I lived.
At some point, we shifted until my butt was against the corner of the gigantic conference table that filled this room. He was going to lift me onto it.
I should tell him I was a virgin.
He nudged the jacket off me, letting it fall behind me somewhere. And then he broke the kiss to lift my blouse over my head. This was part of making out, right? It wouldn’t go any further than kissing. Naked. In a meeting room in City Hall.
I had to tell him I was a virgin.
With a gentle tug, he unclasped my bra and pulled the straps off my shoulders. He paused kissing me to stare at my breasts as he removed my bra, tossing it to the side.
I opened my mouth to reveal my secret, but his hands were on my breasts. His large, work-roughened hands teased my nipples, bringing a hearty sigh from my lips.
“Zack,” I managed to say as he moved in for another kiss.
He didn’t seem to see that as a request to pause for a second. Maybe he thought I was saying his name in the throes of passion. So I moved backward slightly, resisting the kiss. His heated stare shifted as his eyes filled with confusion.
“I’m a virgin,” I blurted before I could lose my nerve.
He straightened then, releasing his hold on me. My words had been like a bucket of ice water over his head. Crap. I’d ruined it.
“I don’t want to be,” I said. “But I was so focused on getting through college. And then I heard about my grandparents’ will and rushed here…”
Why was I mentioning my inheritance? I’d just reignite the fight.
“Just how far have you gone with a guy?” he asked.
“Not this far,” I said, breathing a sigh of relief. At least we weren’t fighting over my development again.
But I was suddenly all too aware I was standing in front of him topless. I could also clearly make out the bulge in his pants.
“A man has never even touched you?” he asked.
Hope swelled. The heat was returning to his gaze. I shook my head.
“Never.” I shook my head. Then I reached for his hand and placed it on my breast. “Not even here.”
His gaze lowered to my chest. And then he captured my mouth in another long, hungry kiss. He wasn’t scared off by my virginity. That meant this was on.
Zack Gray was the man I wanted to take my virginity. I’d never been surer of anything in my life.