Haley's Mountain Man. Tracy Madison

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      In all likelihood, she could scream at the top of her lungs and not a soul would hear. But she wasn’t afraid, of the remoteness or of Gavin. Angry or not, she was certain he wouldn’t hurt her. As certain as she was of her height, her name, the color of the sky and the scent of freshly baked bread. The knowledge sat inside her with the same solidity, and she didn’t question it.

      “My sense of self-preservation is alive and well, thank you very much,” she said with all the dignity she could muster. “And I happen to have very good instincts about people. I wouldn’t have come here if I’d had any worries in that regard. I’m not an idiot.”

      “Didn’t say you were an idiot,” he conceded. “But there’s more than one kind of smart, and I’m guessing that no one knows where you are, that you followed a strange man home to a fairly secluded area. I’m guessing that you didn’t give a thought to letting even one person in on where you were headed, what you were doing. Would those be accurate assumptions?”

      “Um, yes. But—”

      “That’s a problem,” he inserted, halting his pacing. “I’m stronger than you, bigger than you, and dammit, Haley, a different man, a dangerous man, could and would take advantage of such a situation.” He cursed again, rather colorfully. “So I find it hard to believe that you have even an ounce of self-preservation in your entire body, otherwise you would not be here now.”

      This exchange, all of it, felt more familiar than it should. Somehow, that flared her own temper into being. Narrowing her eyes, she said, “Yep, you are bigger and stronger, but I know how to protect myself. And yep, you live in a secluded area. Lots of folks around here live in seclusion. There’s nothing new about that, but Gavin, you are not a different man. You are you, and—” she lifted her chin, met his gaze with hers “—you are not a dangerous man.”

      “You do not know that!”

      “I do know that!” And she did, whether she could put the whys for that into words or not. Maybe she was an idiot, after all. Why hadn’t she just phoned him? Everything was spiraling out of control, and she could only blame herself and her stupid heart-on-sleeve tendencies.

      “You can’t know that,” he fired back.

      “But I do! Sure, following you home was overkill, so I totally get your side on this.” She stopped and gave herself a mental shake. “I’m sorry for that, really. It was an impulse, I guess. I just wanted to talk to you, and I saw you in your truck, and … here I am.”

      “I see.” He stared at her, she stared right back, and somewhere in the few seconds that passed, some of the tension dissipated and a faint glimmer of humor teased into his expression, lightening the storm in his gaze. And her heart melted all over again. “Do you typically have a difficult time controlling your impulses?” he asked. “Or is this something new?”

      “You’re the first man I’ve ever followed home,” she admitted. “So that’s new. But I’ve been known to drive to the store at two in the morning for chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream when the impulse strikes, and I’ve perhaps made a few rash decisions here and there.”

      Such as when she got the bug to drive to Vegas after a late-night study session in college. But she hadn’t eloped, even when the opportunity presented itself, even though she’d considered it. That was an impulse she’d controlled just fine.

      “Look, Haley, you don’t know me—”

      “You’ve made that clear. Abundantly.” She almost said she wanted to get to know him. Almost asked him to please, please allow her the gift of getting to know him, but she didn’t.

      “Even so, the fact remains that if I were a different type of a man, this could have ended badly,” he said in a slow, purposeful beat. “A lot of people in this world aren’t nice. And I hate the thought of anything bad—” Here, he broke off, as if the words he’d planned on saying got stuck in his throat. “You need to be more careful.”

      “Message received.” Another staring competition ensued, and the moment also seemed familiar, almost intimate. When she couldn’t keep the words inside any longer, she said, “I like you, Gavin. I can’t explain why, so don’t ask. But I like you, okay? Sue me.”

      His head reeled back, but he didn’t drop his focus. “You’re maddening. Absolutely maddening,” he said under his breath. “And while I can’t say for sure, it seems to me you might want to work on controlling your impulsive nature, before you find yourself in trouble.”

      “There’s nothing wrong with a little trouble. The right type of trouble, anyway.”

      Out of nowhere, the idle thought came to her that if Gavin had been the one proposing in Vegas, she might not have been able to resist. Something else to think about. Later.

      “No such thing as the right sort of trouble,” he said.

      “I beg to differ.” Determined to eke more light from the darkness, she winked and donned a bright smile. “But I admit you’ve made several valid points, and I’ll take your advice under consideration the next time I have the impulse to trail someone.”

      “Uh-huh. Why don’t I believe you?”

      “Now you sound like my brothers.” And God, did he ever. Not necessarily a bad thing. Her brothers were rocks, solid and dependable. Of course, she didn’t view Gavin in a brotherly way, but she felt no need to share that information with him.

      “Your brothers sound wise,” Gavin said after a slight pause. “And like they love you.”

      “They do, and I love them. But let’s keep that wise part between us, shall we?”

      Something close to a grin appeared, and oh, how she yearned to see him with a real smile. With nothing but happiness in his eyes, instead of shadows. That also would be a gift.

      “You’re something else, Haley Foster,” he said after a long, assessing moment. “What the something is, I haven’t quite decided, but … something.”

      “You mentioned that. Earlier.” Then, she’d thought he meant it as a compliment. Now, she wasn’t so sure. “Ten minutes, Gavin. Can you give me that? Please?”

      He sighed. “You aren’t going to leave otherwise, are you?”

      “No.” She lifted her chin another stubborn inch. “Not until you hear me out. Ten minutes,” she wheedled. “Tops.”

      “Does anyone ever say no to you?”

      “Yes. Fairly often, in fact.” Usually, though, she found ways to sidestep those noes until they became yeses. Or simply pretended she hadn’t heard the no to begin with. “Feel free to say no. Really. Doesn’t mean I’ll hear it, though.”

      “I figured as much,” he mumbled in resignation. “Go on, then. Say whatever it is you came here to say before I change my mind.”

      Mentally, she pumped her fist in the air and did the victory dance. In reality, she reminded herself to take it slow. Careful. She started with, “I surprised you when I offered to help at the Beanery. Sometimes, I get ahead of myself, and I didn’t handle that all that well.”

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