Page 4 of Haunted Hayride with the Mountain Man

I simply tip my head in a nod. “The Harpers have a great garage, over by the new condos, I’m sure Wynn will give you a good rate.”

“Thanks,” she mumbles, holding on tighter as we hit the main road. If she recognizes Wynn’s name from Anchored by Love, she doesn’t let on. There’s no way a wedding planner doesn’t watch that show. Maybe she thinks I don’t. But dad loves it, probably more for the curvy girls in bikinis than the romance aspect.

The hotel can’t be more than a mile down the road but my stomach dances at the thought of having Nova’s arms wrapped around me for that long. She’s the type of girl I could see myself settling down with, if I ever saw myself settling down. I don’t know what my future holds or what my dad’s does, I can’t be available for anyone else like that. Not again. Not after my heart was trampled in my time of need. Just the thought of all those repressed feelings makes my throat close like a guillotine. I don’t talk about it with anyone, I can’t relive it. No relationship could make me go through that pain again, it just wouldn’t be worth it.

I’m scared of letting myself get hurt a second time, the kind of soul-crushing pain I barely got over the first go round. I have responsibilities, my dad’s counting on me, and I need him to be my singular focus.

No matter how much I’d rather devote my focus to Nova.

THREE

Nova

Skyland doesn’t pull over until we’re standing in front of Fox Valley Resort and tourists are staring, he didn’t even send a text to his boss. If I was incommunicado during the workday, Mum would have called ten times. As it is, I probably have half a dozen emails from her. But he’s a grown man, with an understanding boss, and if he disappeared it was for a good reason.

I don’t want to disengage from around him. He’s warm and comforting beneath that prickly exterior. Every word I want to say is somehow lodged behind my windpipe though. About his dad, his near marriage, whatever the hell this attraction is between us. For a millisecond, I get a flood of unexplained compassion, like I could be the one to take the burden from him.

I couldn’t explain it if I tried. There’s something drawing me into him. It’s more than a physical attraction, though there’s that too, it’s so much deeper.

“I’d offer you a nightcap but you probably have to get back,” I say, hope blooming beneath my sternum.

He looks at his watch in a manner that suggests he forgot time exists. “Well, shit, the world doesn’t revolve around me after all,” he jokes. “I have nowhere to be for another hour. I guess that last run went on without me.”

“Is that a yes, then?”

An eyebrow raises but he doesn’t say no.

Does he feel it too? Can Skyland tell that his walls are slowly crumbling in my presence or is he going to rush to put them back up?

I can’t help but joke with him. “I know I look like an extra from Nosferatu right now but I promise I won’t bite.” I pause, giving him a split second to contemplate my words before I add on. It’s my turn to raise an eyebrow. “Unless you’re into that.”

I didn’t come to town for a hookup but the thought of not at least having a taste is more than I can handle. Maybe we can give each other the night we both need and he can ride off into the sunset and pretend he never laid eyes on me again.

My eye twitches with nerves.

Watching his adam’s apple bob in his throat, I’m worried he’s wondering how the hell he can let me down easily. Maybe a man like Skyland needs to make the first move. Maybe I’d screw it up if I walked towards him with purpose and laid one on him like I want to. Like I’ve wanted to since he took off that stupid, and way too anatomically accurate, headless horseman costume.

We both speak at the same time but, being the gentleman he is, he defers to me.

“I was just going to show you to my room. I’ve got a nice bottle of red resting but if you want something stronger, we can order from the bar.”

His gaze leaves me, trailing over to the rustic tavern across the parking lot, leaving me cold without his focus. The tension’s thick as napalm, it’s probably a good thing he decided to look away from the lust shining through in my eyes.

“Red sounds fantastic,” he says, a rusty purr that lights my chest, and other parts of my body, on fire. Holy hell, now I’m fantasizing about words whispered on my skin, the way I could make him beg for mercy and dig stones out of that gravelly tone of his.

I swear the door takes double the time it usually does to open. My fingers feel like they’re made of ice, so clumsy I must look like an idiot, either that or he thinks I’ve already tucked into the pinot noir.

“Let me help with that.” When Skyland pulls the keycard from my fingers, my thoughts swirl like a tornado. My fingers tingle with the need to reach out for him again, just to feel the heat of his body through those clothes.

“Oh my god,” I giggle, realizing how we must look, me in my vampire-esque attire, him in his ratty costume. “We look like we’re celebrating Halloween early. All that’s missing are my fangs.” Without thinking about it, I let down my hair, feeling it swish across my overheated skin.

Skyland pushes in the door behind me, pulling me in and shutting us in the room with his horse still outside. He moves so fast I’d think he was embarrassed to be seen with me if it wasn’t for the smile on his face.

He presses me to the door, pinning me in with his hands on either side of my head. Lust runs circles around his face, his body moving closer to me with each breath. I can hardly think, all I know is I haven’t wanted anything this bad in a long time.

I have to keep reminding myself that it’s just one drink, a few minutes for two people to relax after the day wraps up. He’ll be rushing back to the farm soon, alone, and I’ll be heading back to my real life in the morning, the one where I wrap up wedding season and spend my time at trade shows and conventions. I don’t have time for anything serious, and anyway, Skyland’s not looking.

But that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be fun to unwind together, just the two of us.