Off Limits in Hollow Peak (Hollow Peak Mountain Men #9)

Chapter 1

Chapter One

Natalie

Ipulled my car up to the rundown cabin. My grandpa’s shabby old rocking chair sat on the sagging porch like it was waiting for him to return.

A sad wave of nostalgia flowed through me.

I had so many happy memories of my summer breaks here.

And yet it was bittersweet because I knew I’d never see my grandfather again.

I pushed open the car door and looked around at the expansive mountains. I closed my eyes as I listened to the nearby stream. I forgot how quiet it was here. Like I was the only person in the world.

Speaking of being the only person. Where was Beth? I glanced down at my watch: 10:20 AM. We said 10:30 and Beth was late at the best of times. May as well look around outside.

I’d barely taken a handful of steps when I heard a vehicle on the winding, dirt mountain road. It sounded close.

A moment later, Beth’s SUV pulled into view. I couldn’t help but grin at the goofy way she smiled and waved as she tried to pull her car to a stop. The vehicle had barely stopped moving when Beth flew out of the car and leaped on me.

“Oh my God, you’re here. I can’t believe it,” Beth screeched as she practically tackled me to the ground.

I laughed and hugged my oldest friend in the world.

“Me neither.” I sighed as a calm settled in me, a feeling I hadn’t felt in years.

Lately all I felt was confused, and sore, and restless.

This was exactly why I’d needed to come here.

Nothing grounded me like these mountains. And I desperately needed that.

We pulled apart, and I took a moment to look at my friend. The sunlight hit her long dark brown hair and tanned skin, making it look like she’d just stepped out of the spa, not rushing here from parenting three kids. “You look amazing. Being a divorced woman suits you.”

Beth grinned. “It does, doesn’t it?” She studied me for a moment, then a frown knit her brows. “How are you doing, honey?”

I winced. “Do I look that bad?”

“What?” Beth’s eyes widened. “No, of course not. You couldn’t look bad if you tried.” Her gaze scanned my body. “You just look like you’ve been working too hard. Do they even let you eat?”

I pulled my blue shirt away from my body and shifted uncomfortably on my heels. Why was everyone always so focused on my body? In the dance world, I was borderline too heavy. To everyone else, I was too skinny.

Why couldn’t everyone just leave me alone about it?

I dragged my sleeves over my hands and slid my thumbs into the holes. Like the added coverage of my hands would somehow shield me. It didn’t.

“So, did you bring the keys?”

Beth scrunched up her nose. “About that? I kind of forgot to go by Ash’s house to grab them yesterday.”

“Seriously? You’ve known I was coming for two weeks.”

“I know, but Ash wanted to check a couple of things before you came so I couldn’t get the key early.”

“Your brother checked on the place for me?”

“Yeah, I mean he comes by every few months and makes sure nothing has gotten inside and what not. But with you coming, he wanted to make sure it was livable for you.” Beth rolled her eyes.

“I told him I could clean the place, but he said it would need more than what I knew how to do to get it livable.”

My heart jumped. I looked back at the cabin. I couldn’t believe Ash had done that for me. “That’s so sweet of him.”

Beth groaned. “Please tell me you are not still hung up on my brother.” She stared at me as if she honestly expected me to answer.

I scoffed. “Good lord, I haven’t seen your brother in almost a decade. Of course I’m not still hung up on him. I just thought it was really sweet that he did that.”

“Of course he did. He’s always been protective of you. He always said he may as well have had twin sisters with the two of us.”

And just like that, the door slammed on what I may or may not have been feeling about Asher Briggs.

“I was supposed to go by last night and pick them up, but Diesel had baseball practice, and I needed groceries.” She shrugged.

I shook my head and smiled. “Enough said.” I glanced toward the cabin, then back at her. “So we need to go by Asher’s place then?”

“Yeah, I texted him and said we’d walk up to his place, and he offered to drive us back down and show you how a few things work since you’ve never stayed here alone.”

At the idea of seeing Asher Briggs again, my heart ramped up. I shoved it down. This was ridiculous. I was almost thirty years old. I wasn’t some schoolgirl who had a crush on her best friend’s big brother. “I don’t want to take your brother away from his workday.”

Beth waved her arm. “It’s fine. It’s Ash, he won’t care.”

I raised my eyebrows at my friend. “Are you kidding me? You might not remember how much it used to annoy him when he had to drive us all over the place in the summer, but I do.” I chewed on my lower lip. “Maybe you should just call him and give him a heads-up.”

“Don’t be dumb. He’s working from home today. He knows I’m going to bug him at some point.” She grinned. “He’ll be happy I’m just stopping by for keys and not dropping off his niece and nephews like I normally do.”

I winced. “Yikes. How does that go over?”

“He grumbles like you’d expect, but then when I come to pick up the kids, they’ve turned his living room into a fort, he’s got barrettes in his hair, and the last time I went his nails were painted.

” Beth smiled affectionately. “You might not have ever noticed that Ash is all bark, but my kids definitely have.”

My chest flipped again, and I placed my palm against it. “Oh, that is so sweet. I can’t imagine your brother letting them do his hair and nails.”

Beth sucked in her lips. “Crap, please don’t tell him I told you that. He likes to act all tough.”

“My lips are sealed.” I might not mention it, but that didn’t mean I’d forget.

“If we cut up the mountain there.” Beth pointed away from the gravel road and into the woods. “Ash’s place is just up there and over a bit. As the crow flies, it’s not too far.”

“Up that hill?” I pointed at the steep, tree-covered mountainside in front of us. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” There was no way I could climb that hill. “Wouldn’t it just be easier to take the car?”

“Oh, come on, where’s your sense of adventure? You used to love hiking when we were kids.” Beth linked her arm with mine and dragged me toward a faint path in the landscape. “Didn’t you say you wanted to get out in nature and spend some time exploring?”

“Well, yeah, but I didn’t mean climbing that,” I grumbled. “I was thinking more like walking down to the river and going for a swim, or seeing if I could find that little lake I remembered being up here somewhere and setting up my chair for the day. Not scaling a mountainside like a goat.”

“Come on, it’ll be fun. Besides, you’re a woman alone in the woods. You need to know how to get to your closest neighbors from all directions—that’s just good safety.”

I huffed out a breath. “Fine.”

Halfway up the hill, I seriously regretted my decision. I danced several hours a day, every day, and climbing this hill was intense. I glanced back at Beth. She looked like I felt.

She shoved her dark hair away from her flushed red face. “I don’t remember it being this steep the last time I did it.”

I snorted. Now she told me. “Well, we aren’t turning around now.” I looked up at the remaining incline and squared my shoulders. I danced on bleeding feet. I sure as heck wasn’t going to be taken out by a steep climb. “Let’s do it.”

It took another several minutes of hiking straight up, but finally we made it. The top. I sucked in a breath as I looked out across the valley. “Oh, wow,” I gasped. “This was so worth the climb.” I looked at Beth, then back out across the expansive forest below. “This is gorgeous.”

“I know, wait till you see the view from Ash’s place. It’s even better than this.”

“I don’t know how that’s possible.”

“Come on.” Beth marched across the ridgetop.

In the distance, I saw a log cabin. No. Cabin was definitely not the right word for what that was.

You could fit several cabins into that log home.

The closer we got, the more in awe I was of the house.

I don’t think I’d ever seen a more gorgeous log home in my entire life.

Solar panels lined the roof. A beautiful wrap-around deck surrounded the home so you could take in the view from every angle.

Beth hopped up the stairs on the side of the deck, and I followed. Lush cushions covered a large sectional sofa that faced out, looking at the valley below. The same view we had while walking up.

“Wait till you see the other side,” Beth said as she rounded the house to the other side of the deck.

I stopped in my tracks as I looked down at a beautiful lake surrounded by forest. “Is that where we swam when we were kids?”

“Mmm hmm, pretty spectacular, isn’t it?”

I leaned my arms along the railing and looked out. “Amazing.”

The sound of a door sliding on its rails drew my attention. Before I could even turn, I heard a growling, deep male voice. “Ever heard of calling?”

I spun and sucked in a breath at my first sight of Ash in almost a decade.

Holy cow. If I’d thought Asher Briggs had been impressive at twenty, it was nothing compared to him as a grown man.

Every mountain man fantasy I’d ever had seemed to be rolled into one gorgeous package because apparently, I really liked beards. Wow!

His gaze swung to me, and a slow smile curled up the corner of his mouth. “Hey Nat, good to see you.”

The warmth in his deep voice slid over me like a hug. “Hi Ash.”

His long legs covered the deck, and suddenly he was in front of me. He wrapped his arms around me and picked me up off the ground the way he always did. With a laugh, I wrapped my arms around his neck and closed my eyes with a sigh. Nothing felt like a hug from Asher.

But the Ash I remember didn’t have arms like that. His entire body felt like a rock, with muscle upon muscle.