Page 1 of Mountain Man Defender (Mountain Men of Pineville #3)

ONE

DYLAN

Time to poke the bear.

Our back and forth had gone on long enough.

Four months, three days too long.

I wasn’t staying at the Triple R Lodge simply to help my sister and her new husband out of a tight spot. Or his partners. But the third partner, the only one currently unattached, had made me want to stay beyond the four weeks I’d agreed to.

Lars Olsen was grumpy, burly and kindhearted when he thought no one was looking. But most frustrating of all, the bear of a man and retired Ranger was a man of few words.

Wasn’t there a saying about still waters running deep? Yeah, I really wanted to find out if that was true. He was a first-generation Norwegian and a man I’d never thought I’d be attracted to. Stoic alphas had never been my catnip, but he had “it” and I wanted it.

Maybe it’s because he’s pushing me away?

Or the temptation of having something forbidden.

No, I think it's simple chemistry and the thrill of someone so opposite to me that has my panties in a twist near constantly. It’s driven me to purchase a battery- operated boyfriend.

I’d never needed a “BOB” before him. I was never for or against owning one but considered myself more of a middle of the road person sexually.

Sure, I enjoyed sex, just never been wowed by it.

But with him? I knew it would be out of this world historic. Because all I had to do was picture his near constant scowl on his handsome face, his muscle bound six-foot-three frame and when the electricity between us became unbearable, a date with my BOB ensured a good night’s sleep.

But enough was enough.

The bickering was fun. Exciting even, and I loved winding him up. Hoping he would reach that point of no return. Maybe even bend me over the closest surface. Or better yet, giving me a good spanking for all the mouthy things I’ve said to him. Argh!

Hell, I’d take a good round of wall sex at this point. Anything to cut the damn, and unnecessary tension between us.

Our back and forth had given everyone else at the lodge plenty of entertainment value. That is when the other couples weren’t locked away in their cabins enjoying their newly minted marital euphoria.

Lauren and West, my sister and her new husband, the original owner of the hunting lodge he inherited from his uncle, now christened the Triple R Lodge and Ridge and Addison were all in the full bloom of love and orgasmic bliss.

Dammit, I wanted that too.

“You keep staring at Lars like that, and he’s going to hole up in his place again with that equally grumpy dog.

Remember the last time you two went at it?

We didn’t see him for a day and a half. West and Ridge had to drag him out to finish the flooring in your new apartment.

I’m still hearing about my husband’s groin pull.

” Lauren, my beloved twin, often exaggerated.

Her husband may have tweaked a muscle here and there, but that hadn’t kept him from performing his nightly duties as a husband.

We were currently standing in the doorway as her husband West, and his best friends and business partners, Ridge and Lars, were in the mudding and taping phase of the project.

Since we had no skills to offer, we’d brought them lunch.

Ridge’s wife, Addison, was in a counseling session with one of the lodge’s client-guests. Otherwise, she’d be here with us.

“Oh, please. It barely put a dent in your sex life.” As twins, we shared everything, so I knew the truth.

“Besides, it’s not really my apartment. It’s for the lodge’s permanent manager.

I’ll only be its temporary occupant.” I’d stepped into the role as a favor to Lauren since I had no job at the time and because Lars hadn’t filled the position.

But I wasn’t about to let her know how much I was enjoying it. Not yet anyway. Not until I figured out how to convince Lars he’s the one for me. So, I had no plans to go anywhere. I was winging it. For now.

Working alongside my sister and all three soldiers turned mountain men as they created a space for others who’d served their country and communities had become the purpose I’d hoped to find in my yearlong overseas sabbatical.

If Lauren hadn’t fallen instantly for West all those months ago, I wouldn’t be here now, drooling over the Norse giant I now lived to poke. Just needed to get him to want to poke me back.

My gaze returned to him as it did more times than I could count.

What was he thinking about now? His permanent, narrow-eyed stare had been leveled at me often.

I’m not ashamed to admit it did something to me.

He thought it’d keep me at arm’s length, but all it did was trigger full-body goose bumps and creative thoughts of how I could show him what he did to me.

Where most people would cave under the glare from the short-tempered, often silent, burly grump of…okay, yes, man candy. I never thought someone like him would do it for me, but bless me, he had become my catnip. He’d become a challenge I was determined to conquer.

Something about Lars Olsen lit me up hotter than a north Idaho summer night in August, which surprisingly gets way hotter than people living beyond the northwest section of the country probably believed.

Sighing, I continued to watch as the three owners continued to mud and tape the apartment walls.

There was just something about a man who was good with his hands.

And to think Lars had spent years in the Army, then learned carpentry after retiring and using that skill to help his two best friends to turn the hunting lodge into what it’s become was damn impressive.

And it made me want to learn all his whys. Why he chose the Army? Why carpentry? Why he’s never married? Why he mainly communicates with nods and grunts? Why doesn’t he pick up on all my signals and silly attempts to tease him into smiling?

Sure, on paper Lars and I seemed like an unlikely pair, but there was something going on between us and I was determined to play it out until he either confessed to feeling the same or told me to get lost.

Lauren and West’s whirlwind romance had been the best thing to happen in our family since our mom found love again with Beck, our step-dad, a few years ago. He was also a retired Ranger and had slipped into our family seamlessly.

So if the six-foot-four mountain of a man would pull his head out of his butt and get over whatever hang ups were keeping him from taking what his dark brown, brooding eyes telegraphed to me every time we argued, or when we locked eyes when hanging out with the other two happy couples then, my life may just get very interesting real soon.

And if not, we’d soon find out if spontaneous combustion was an actual thing.

Because when he wasn’t looking at me as if he wanted to pick me up and tuck me into his side and carry me off to his cabin, I was conspiring on new ways to get him to do just that.

Or when he was warning any man who came within ten feet of me away with a look, I imagined he’d honed while in the service. If I was a smart woman, I’d fear that look. Especially since it was now directed at me.

But today, being smart was at the bottom of a very long list. Today, I was determined to get him to kiss me or spank me. Either would serve me well.

I’d often jumped before I looked in life and now would be no different. Here goes nothing.

“So, how much longer before you finish slinging mud? I mean, it looks great and all, but it’s not like you’re painting a masterpiece. It's just walls. Maybe I can—” I left Lauren to moon over her husband and walked over to Lars.

“No! Touch nothing. It’ll be done today.

” Lars wore protective eye wear, low slung work pants, and waffle stompers, and a camo tank top that outlined every dip and rise in his powerful chest. My gaze ate him up as it dawned on me he actually spoke over five words in a row.

Sure, they were underlined in frustration.

What else was new? But I think I was finally getting to him.

My gaze strayed to his beefy arms, which were splattered with dried “mud” and suddenly all I could envision was his burly, hard body, naked in a hot shower, covered in suds, surrounded by steam. And he’d need a good scrub brush to get clean.

I wanted to be the one wielding that brush all over those mammoth shoulders and heavily muscled, sun-kissed arms. And my daydream didn’t end there. But his throat clearing did. Knocked me right back into the moment and his frowny face that I somehow had fallen in love with in a matter of weeks.

There must be something about the mountain air.

Crisp and woodsy. Then there were the sunsets overlooking the valley below toward the city of Pineville, which stretched all the way to the Kokanee River, had become my second favorite view.

This place was set up for romance, almost as if it’d been scripted for a Hallmark movie complete with the town grump who only needed the love of a good woman to turn his frown upside down. And I’d fallen for all of it.

“Dylan!” Lars barked out my name and it set off his dog, Pepper Jack, aka PJ, into a fit of howls.

Shortly after Lars rescued the ten-year-old Newfoundland, the dog had gotten ahold of a block of pepper jack cheese.

The poor thing had been sick all that night.

Anything with spice was not a canine’s friend, and Lars, in a rare bout of humor, renamed the Newfie after the cheese.

And now, both of their loud and unexpected reactions had me rethinking my decision to push him into revealing his feelings for me. Had I built this whole back-and-forth thing between us into something it wasn’t? Dammit, I hated second guessing myself.

Yet, since I took this job and witnessed what my sister had discovered up here on the mountain, experiencing the same connection she’d found with West, and this had become my new priority.

Because, dammit, she was right. Love rarely made sense, and it didn’t happen on a preconceived timeline.

But how much deeper was I willing to go to find out if Lars wanted me as much as I wanted him?