Page 117 of Mountain Men Heroes
“Oookay then,” she agreed, hesitantly. “Thank you.” No one had ever offered her anything for free and she wouldn’t start now. “Afternoon or evening work okay?”
“Yep. Whenever works for me.” His lips parted in a wide grin like he’d won the lottery. Damn him. He made it hard to look away.
“Ready?” Holden came to the door, and after kissing her cheek goodbye, Zahara joined him. “Damon has the number for the house and you have my cell. I’ll be by tomorrow to pick you up.”
She bit her inner lip and nodded. Tomorrow it was then. She’d tell her sister the news and play it by ear afterward. Damon may not get his helping hand for the holidays, after all.
“Yes, now go. Rest before your husbands blame me for keeping you up past your bedtime.”
“Oh, they do that enough on their own.”
Ivy chuckled. “Too much information, woman, now go. Sleep. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
With her sister gone she turned to Damon, who hadn’t moved from his spot at the bar.
His mesmerizing eyes examined her as she’d done to him earlier that day while he sported a loincloth. He unhooked his arms and made his way around the bar.
“Let me show you to your new home.” He led her to the door and killed the lights on the way out. “Tomorrow is going to be a very long day.”
Calm darkness fell over their spot on the sidewalk. Slowly her eyes adjusted as the soft glow from the street lights rushed in to fill the shadows.
To the right of the bar entrance was a metal door, and she moved to the side to allow Damon access. Instead, he turned her by the shoulders and pointed to the sky.
Ribbons of emerald and sapphire with slashes of red and yellow cut through the night sky. At some point the snowfall had stopped and the clouds had cleared. Diamonds scattered across the midnight blue richer than crushed velvet. She mentally gave a check beside a bucket list wish.
“The Northern Lights are our reward for braving the harsh weather this far north dumps on us.”
“I couldn’t agree more.”
“It’s like magic,” he said softly and it hit her. He was the worst idea she ever thought about tackling head-on without a care for the consequences. God, she sounded like a moron even in her own head. Three days gave her plenty of time to fuck up like she did every other thing in her life. Throw a package of temptation like him at her and how could anyone expect her not to rip open the pretty paper to find out what was underneath?
She cleared her throat. “Magic doesn’t exist.”
She knew it as a fact.
Four
He was so stupid.
Damon stepped off the back step and relished the bite of the cold on his bare chest.
He gnashed his teeth and worked through the last twenty-four hours in his head. One minute he was preparing to kick ass on the Risky Whiskey, have a little fun beating his brother at his own game and then enjoy some family time. The next, he was mentally fucking the last person on earth he needed to be hard and ready for. His dick, on the other hand, had no qualms about wanting Miss Ivy Kennedy.
Those sweet eyes. Her tender smile. they were all exactly what he didn’t fucking need. A man his age had no business lusting after a damn twenty-something girl barely above the legal drinking age. He wasn’t over the hill like his brothers teased, but at thirty-eight that put him way ahead of a young thing like Ivy.
He welcomed the bite of cold against his skin. Wearing nothing but sweatpants and some lace ups, stepped off his porch
He felt sorry for his sparing student standing opposite of him.
“Mr. Savage,” the boy greeted with a nervous smile that almost made Damon feel sorry for what he was about to do. The boy had a lot to learn to become a cop like his old man, Damon’s partner, and today’s lesson would be hell.
“Samuel. Glad you made it. You know the rules.”
“Yes, sir. Anything goes.”
“That’s right. Criminals don’t follow rules. Only we do. But you need to learn to expect the unexpected.”
“Yes, sir.”