Page 84 of The Mountain Echoes

However, this time the man Celine is interested in doesn’t want her but is pretending to want me. I’m petty enough to enjoy that.

I step away from Maverick, his hold on my waist sliding away like a caress.

He glances at me, his grin crooked. “What?”

“You didn’t have to humiliate them,” I admonish.

“They walked into it with both boots.” His eyes are bright with amusement, and then he leans, brushes his lips close to my ear. “They had no right talkin’ to you like that.”

Something warm and unwanted stirs in my chest.

“You look like you’re ready to run,” Maverick adds quietly.

I lick my lips, nervous, unsure.

This man has moves, and I’m out of my depth in more ways than one. It’s not that I’m some ingenue who has no experience with men. But Maverick is more man than I’ve ever had to deal with. It’s overwhelming.

The music shifts—an easy country two-step. He studies me for a beat, then offers his hand. “Dance with me.”

I don’t take it. I’m scared.

“Last time we danced, things got out of hand.”

“That’s true,” he agrees. There’s no apology in his voice. Just that low drawl that coats every word like warm bourbon. “Might be I’m hoping for a repeat.”

And now he’s flirting with me.God, but it’s hard to keep up with him.

I arch a brow, my demeanor laconic. “Is that right?”

I can play the game, too, Mister, ‘cause I can fake it with the best of ‘em.

His lips trail my cheek. His voice drops. “It’s all I’ve thought about, darlin’.”

The breath I take in is shallow. So much forfakin’it.

Inside me, a red warning light flickers—one word:dangerous.

But…I slip my hand into his all the same.

The makeshift dance floor is just an open patch of trampled earth, lit by string lights someone’s looped over a few posts. Couples move around us—slow, easy steps, boots scuffing dirt, a rhythm you can fall into without thinking.

Maverick pulls me in, one hand strong at my back, the other taking mine.

We sway, slow and steady, like we’ve done this a hundred times before. Like we know each other. Like we trust each other.

Which is funny because I don’t trust anyone.

“You’re looking at me like I’m going to bite you.” He twirls me around and then pulls me in.

“You tellin’ the world we’re fuckin’.” As soon as the words are out, my head conjures up naked Maverick and….

“I’m tellin’ you that I want to.”

I’m so far out of my league with this man, it’s not even funny. In fact, it’s a damn catastrophe.

“I got no idea what to do with that,” I murmur.

“Darlin’, you’re not payin’ attention ‘cause, if you were, you’d see we’ve been walkin’ down this path since I was an asshole to you.”