Chapter 3
CHAPTER THREE
Mia
Everything about this man is gorgeous in a very rough around the edges kind of way that is completely opposite from the slick and polished city boys I’m used to seeing.
It’s hard not to look at him. Which is why the exact moment his face changes, I see it.
His mouth falls open, he drops his spoonful of chili, and his eyes harden as he stares at me.
“Mia?” His voice is low and controlled. “What’s your brother’s name?”
He did say he knew everyone in Rock Creek.
I’m not sure how I feel about that considering, of course, I came here to see Jamie, but I don’t want that knowledge swaying this sex god of a man’s opinion of me.
Because right now, he’s my very best option for taking care of the other, very important reason I came to town.
My whole body shivers. My clit is throbbing just thinking about having Briggs take my virginity, and I have to rub my thighs together in an effort to relieve some of the ache. I swallow hard and lick my lips as the thought settles over me.
Yes.
He’s perfect.
Briggs is a man. He’ll know exactly what to do. He’ll be—
“Mia?”
My name on his lips for the second time pulls my attention back to him and the unanswered question.
“What is your brother’s name?” he asks again, and in a way that tells me he already knows the answer.
I open my mouth to lie, but what am I going to say?
“Jamie Webb.”
“Fuck.” He slams his palms flat on the table and pushes back against the padded booth. “Figures.”
What does that mean? Does he feel it too? The attraction between us?
I wait and watch while he pinches the bridge of his nose between two fingers. As sweetly as I can, I ask, “Do you know him?”
He doesn’t answer right away, but when he does, he leans forward and exhales slowly. “Yes,” he says. “I know him, Mia. I told you, I know everyone in Rock Creek.”
Right.
“He’s my best friend.”
It’s my turn to look surprised. “Your best friend?”
Briggs nods and picks up his spoon again. “We work together.”
“At the mill?” That’s why Jamie moved to Rock Creek. And apparently why there were more men than women. The sawmill provides a lot of good-paying jobs in the area. It was hard labor, but Jamie says it’s good money.
“No,” Briggs says. “I should say, we volunteer together with the local search and rescue. I work with the family business.”
“Oh.” I don’t know what the family business was, but judging by the look of him, I don’t think he means that he works here at the Den. It probably has something to do with physical labor, too. Even though he’s fully clothed, his powerful muscles are impossible to miss.
Still.
Oh yes, I had it in my head to seduce this man. No matter what it takes. The fact that he’s my brother’s best friend is only a slight hiccup in that plan.
“I assume he doesn’t know you’re coming, does he?”
“How do you know that?”
Briggs looks me in the eye, his lips curl up into the first smile I’ve seen from him, and he shakes his head. “Because I happen to know that Jamie left this morning on a three-day training exercise in the backcountry. He’ll be gone until Thursday sometime.”
Briggs
I see the panic in her eyes as her sexy bravado finally falls away to reveal the innocent girl I believe her to truly be.
“Three days?”
“At least.”
“But…what am I…” She glances around, as if the answer lies somewhere in the Den. It doesn’t. Ma keeps a few rooms upstairs for out-of-towners, but there is no way I’m letting this innocent little thing stay upstairs. Not with the likes of Joey Cartwright lurking around. “Thursday? You’re sure?”
“I’m sure.” I nod. “It’s a backcountry training exercise that we join in on with a few of the other S&R groups around here. In fact, I think he was driving out to Granite Falls to meet up with the others and catch the chopper.”
“A helicopter?”
Again, I nod. “You know what? We might still be able to catch him before he goes out of service.” I pull my phone from my back pocket and put it on the table between us before flipping easily to the number in my favorites.
Like I said, Jamie is my best friend. Which made it very inconvenient that, ever since laying eyes on his sexpot of a baby sister, my dick has been at half-mast.
“Yes.” She slides forward eagerly and shoves her bowl of chili aside. “Let’s try him.” She gives me the nod, and I push the button to connect the call.
“I should have let him know,” she says while the phone rings. “I just didn’t think that he’d go—”
“Hey, Wolf!” the call connects, and Jamie’s voice booms through the speaker. “You just caught me. We’re expecting our chopper any second. Everything okay?”
I glance at Mia and raise my eyebrows before shaking my head with a chuckle. “Everything’s good here, man. But I did want to let you know that a little situation has come up.”
“Oh?”
I don’t take my eyes off Mia as I fill him in.
“She’s what?” Jamie’s voice is a mixture of panic and anger. “What the fuck is she doing in Rock Creek?”
I shoot Mia a look, and she blows out a breath.
“Hi, Jamie.” Her voice is so sweet and lacking all sassy traces of the sexy vixen she was pretending to be earlier. “Surprise.”
“Surprise? What the hell, Mia? You’re supposed to be at home, getting ready for med school.”
Mia glances down at the mention of school and a blush creeps over her cheeks. It’s an interesting response, and I can’t help but notice how she avoids mentioning school at all when she responds.
“I had a few days off and I missed my big brother, so I thought I’d surprise you.”
“Well, shit, Mia.” Jamie’s voice softens. “It would have been a nice surprise, but I have this training thing and I can’t get out of it. We’re just about to leave.”
“It’s okay. I’ll just—”
“You need to take the next bus out of there, Mia. Rock Creek isn’t safe for young girls.”
She straightens, her chest sticking out. “I’m not a young girl, Jamie. I’m twenty-two years old.”
Damn. That was young in my books.
“Besides,” she continues. “The next bus isn’t until Thursday night.”
“What?”
“Seriously?”
Jamie and I speak at the same time.
“Shit, I don’t have time for this, Mia. It’s not safe for you there. Rock Creek is full of wild and unpredictable men.”
Hell, she knows all about that already.
“Help me out here, Wolf. Tell her.”
“Oh…” I chuckle a little. “I don’t think I need to tell—”
Mia’s arm shoots out and her slight fingers wrap around my wrist. When I meet her gaze, she’s pleading with me with her eyes, and I can see that there’s no point in worrying Jamie more.
I shake my head and I know, before I even say them, that I’m going to regret the next words out of my mouth.
“Not to worry, Jamie. I’ll take care of her for you. She can stay with me until you get back.”
Mia sucks in a breath but I don’t dare look at her. I already know this is going to be trouble.
“Seriously, man?” Jamie’s relief is audible. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate that. My little sister means everything to me. She’s going to med school in the fall, and the last thing she needs is to fall into the hands of…well, you know. Take care of her for me, Wolf.”
Mia doesn’t release her grip on me, but instead slides her hands around until her palm is beneath mine and we’re almost holding hands. Her smile is sweet, but there’s something else in the way she’s looking at me that has my cock rock hard and straining the zipper of my jeans.
I don’t take my eyes off her as I say, “Don’t worry about it. She’ll be safe with me.”
Fuck me. I’m a dirty liar. And I know it.