2. Chase
2
CHASE
I stride through the forest, listening to the birds chirping overhead as I head for a thicket of pine trees. This is the first dry day for weeks and I need to make a start on chopping firewood for the winter. It’s only June, but it takes months for the wood to dry, so I lug my axe to the perfect tree and start to hack through the trunk until I hear the telltale snap of roots.
“TIMBER!” I shout as the tree starts to topple, landing with a crash on the forest floor.
There’s nobody around, but I always call out a warning just in case. This forest is full of men like me—ex-military guys looking for a quiet life—and we often cross paths when we’re working. Our cabins are spaced out, and my nearest neighbor, Ronan, lives a mile east. We like our privacy, but we’re always willing to help: sharing tools and fixing up each other’s cabins. Something about Cherry Hollow draws us in. This town is a safe haven for guys like us after the shit we’ve been through.
Once I’ve chopped up the fallen tree, I haul the wood into my truck and drive back home. Then I unload the logs into the woodshed, stacking them to dry before heading into my cabin to feed Moose. He bounds toward me, jumping up with excitement and whining like he hasn’t seen me for days.
“Drama queen. I was only gone an hour.”
I fill his bowl and watch him gobble his food, giving him an affectionate pat on the head. Moose is a blue-eyed husky, but I’m pretty sure he thinks he’s a wolf. He’s my best friend—stubborn, smart, and dramatic as hell. I’ve had him for seven years and there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for him.
And he knows it, I think to myself, smirking down at him.
I’m about to start making my own lunch when something stops me in my tracks.
The sound of an engine outside.
It’s not unusual to hear pickups driving around out here; every lumberjack I know has a truck. But I can tell from the sound of the engine that this is something smaller. A car.
I scowl, peering out the window. The trees are too thick for me to see the vehicle, but I hear it squeal to a stop, a car door opening and closing a few moments later. I own a solid chunk of the land around my cabin, and judging by how close the car is, the driver is trespassing.
“Goddammit,” I mutter darkly.
I never have to deal with trespassers. My cabin is so deep in the forest that nobody comes out here except other lumberjacks, and the last thing I need is some out-of-town asshole disturbing my peace. I feel a flicker of anger as I throw open my front door and stride in the direction of the vehicle. Finally, I spot the car—a tiny tin can that no sane person would be driving around the mountains.
Definitely some dumbass tourist.
Then I hear footsteps—twigs snapping as somebody walks around nearby.
“HEY!” I shout. “THIS IS PRIVATE PROPERTY!”
I hear a faint squeak of surprise as I push my way around a thick fir tree and finally set eyes on the trespasser.
It’s a fucking miracle that I manage to keep walking.
I don’t know what I was expecting, but it sure as hell wasn’t this pretty little angel looking up at me. My mouth goes dry as I take her in. She’s young—early twenties—with brown eyes, plump lips, and pink hair the color of cherry blossoms. Her cute summer dress does nothing to hide her thick curves, and a bolt of desire zips through me, sending blood rushing straight down to my cock.
Shit. Pull yourself together.
Despite the fire raging inside me, I keep walking until I’m standing in front of the girl, close enough to see the adorable smattering of freckles on her cheeks. I’m a big guy, but next to her, I’m a fucking giant. She must be all of five foot nothing, and her head barely reaches my chest.
“You’re on my land,” I say, my voice hoarse.
The girl blinks up at me, her lips parted in surprise. She’s so fucking pretty. My heart is pounding as I look at her, my body thrumming with energy. I’m not used to it. I want her to get the hell out of here, back to wherever she came from. Anything to stop my heart feeling like it’s about to burst out of my damn chest.
“I’m…I’m not on your land,” she says. Her voice is nervous but she lifts her chin, eyes glimmering with defiance as she gestures to the old shack behind her. “This is my cabin.”
I stare at her, waiting for the punchline.
She can’t be serious.
The shack has been abandoned ever since I moved out here seven years ago. It borders my land but doesn’t encroach on it, so I left it alone for the forest to reclaim. I sure as hell wouldn’t call it a cabin—not anymore.
“This place isn’t habitable,” I tell her gruffly. “It’s been a wreck for years.”
“Well, I’m going to make it habitable.”
I scowl down at her, trying to ignore the adorably stubborn look on her face. “Are you a qualified builder?”
She scowls right back at me. “No.”
“Well, I am. And I’m telling you there’s no way you’re going to make that place habitable by yourself. Want my advice? Get back in your car and leave.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” the girl retorts. “This is my cabin, and I won’t let some grumpy forest man tell me what to do with it.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Grumpy forest man?”
“Yes.” Her cheeks turn the same color as her hair. “That’s exactly what you’re being right now.”
She looks so damn cute when she blushes that it takes me a second to remember how to speak.
“I’m being realistic,” I tell her. “The roof’s caving in, the floors are rotting, and god knows what’s living in there.”
“I know exactly what’s living in there,” the girl shoots back. “Me. For the next four days at least.”
“Four days?” I shake my head incredulously. “You think you’re going to be able to fix that place up in four days?”
She frowns. “It’s…it’s not as bad as it looks. Once the roof is fixed, the job will be half done.”
“I’m telling you it’s impossible. It’s going to take more than a stubborn city girl to make that place livable.”
She narrows her eyes. “Who says I’m a city girl?”
“It’s obvious.” I glance down at her hands, baby-soft and smooth. “I don’t think you’ve ever swung a hammer in your life.”
“You’re just saying that to annoy me.”
“Where are you from then?”
She mumbles something incoherent that sounds like “derrrr”.
“What was that?” I ask.
“Denver,” she snaps. “Okay fine, I’m a city girl, but that doesn’t mean I can’t use tools. You’re just trying to scare me off because you don’t want a new neighbor.”
“You’re right, I don’t want a new neighbor, but that doesn’t mean the stuff I’m saying isn’t true. I’m trying to save you some trouble.”
The girl opens her mouth and closes it again, the anger in her expression cooling slightly. “Well…thanks. But I’ve got this. I’m more capable than you think.”
“I don’t doubt it.”
We look at each other for a moment, silence falling between us. A thousand crazy thoughts race through my mind—thoughts of pulling this stubborn city girl into my arms and holding her tight, running my hand through her pretty pink hair, kissing those pouty lips…
I snap to attention immediately when I hear the sound of something barreling through the trees toward us. A streak of black and white fur. Moose.
“Shit. Must have left the cabin door open,” I mutter as he bounds toward the girl, yapping with delight.
“Aw!” she cries, her face splitting into a beautiful smile as she pets him. “Hello, baby! It’s so nice to meet you! Oh, look at you!”
“This is Moose,” I grunt. “He’s better with strangers than I am.”
The girl laughs. “He’s gorgeous.” She fusses over him, lavishing him with attention before she straightens up and says, “Well, I know your dog’s name, but I don’t know yours.”
“Chase. But some people call me Grumpy Forest Man.”
She laughs again and the sweet sound makes my heart stutter.
“I’m Sienna,” she says. “Also known as Stubborn City Girl.”
Sienna. It suits her.
I reach out to shake her hand, but before I can make contact, Moose starts yapping again, excitably circling us both before jumping up to lick my face.
“I should get this guy home,” I say reluctantly.
Sienna nods, giving Moose another affectionate pat. “Okay. I better get started on the cabin.”
I grunt. “For the record, I still think it’s a crazy idea.”
She rolls her eyes, smiling. “Yeah, you’ve made that pretty clear.”
“Just be careful. And when you realize you’re in over your head…well, you know where to find me.”
The offer leaves my lips before I have time to think about it. If it was a fellow lumberjack, I’d lend a hand in a heartbeat, but spending time with Sienna sounds like a bad idea. I’m already starting to lose it over this curvy beauty—the last thing I need is an excuse to be around her. Hopefully, she’ll see soon enough that there’s no way she’ll be able to fix the shack. Then she can go back to the city and I can go back to my quiet life without all these crazy thoughts running through my mind. Until then, I need to keep my distance.
“Thanks for the offer, but I got this,” Sienna says brightly. “And once my cabin is all fixed up, I’ll bake you an extra-large humble pie.”
“We’ll see about that.”
With one last look at Sienna’s teasing smile, I turn around and head for my cabin with Moose by my side. I let him in through the front door, but I don’t follow him. Instead, I hover on the threshold, blood pumping hard through my veins until I let out a groan of frustration and turn back around. I circle quietly through the trees and find a hidden spot where I can see the shack clearly. Sienna is staring up at it with her hands on her hips, and my pulse races as I look at her.
If this stubborn beauty wants to spend four days trying to fix up this tumbledown shack, I won’t stop her. But I can’t let her do it unsupervised. I told myself I’d stay away, but I need to make sure she’s safe, even if it means crouching in the undergrowth all day long. With a sigh, I settle deeper into my hiding spot and watch.