Charming Hannah (Big Sky #1)(16)

I pick my head up and look him dead in the eye, then plant my sore foot on the ground and stand.

“It’s not broken.”

“Good.” He’s still touching me, grounding me. “Can you get down the mountain?”

“I can get up the goddamn mountain,” I reply and raise my chin. “I’m sorry you saw that.”

“Don’t be.” He gives Sadie a hand gesture and the dog falls into line next to him. “We can go down to the car.”

“I came to hike.” I step away from him and cringe inside when there’s a slight twinge in my ankle. But it’s not broken, or even sprained.

“I don’t want you to hurt yourself.”

“I’ll take it easy.” I look back at him and offer him a smile. “Honest, I want to hike this mountain. I’ll take it slow, and I’ve got you with me, so I’m safe from bears, right?”

He tilts his head to the side, and I can see the wheels turning in his head. I’m sure he’s wondering if he should make me go back.

I mean, he could try.

“You’re safe,” he confirms.

“Great, let’s walk up this mountain.”

***

“It never gets old,” I say and take a long, deep pull of the fresh mountain air. “I mean, look at these mountains.”

“You’re right,” he says and takes a drink of water, then pulls a bowl out of his pack and pours some water for Sadie, who eagerly drinks it down. “This was worth the four miles.”

“Right?” I turn to him, excited. The wooden platform we’re standing on is at the summit of the mountain, and we’re looking into Glacier National Park and on into Canada.

It feels like we’re at the top of the world.

Brad drags a finger down my cheek and hooks a stray piece of hair over my ear. “How’s your ankle?”

“Fine.” Sore. Swollen.

He leans in and presses those lips to my ear again. “You don’t ever lie to me, Hannah. I thought we already had that worked out.”

“It’s sore.”

He kisses my cheek. “Let me take you home and put your feet up.”

I back up an inch and raise an eyebrow at him. “To your house?”

“My house.”

“You want to take care of my sore ankle.”

“I want to be with you. I don’t give a rat’s ass in what capacity that is. Hiking, grocery shopping, watching TV, or having you naked and moaning under me.”

He’s still whispering, but he makes me blush.

“Okay.”

“To what?”

“Your house.”

He grins and kisses me chastely, then motions for Sadie to come to the chairlift line with us. Because we have her with us, we have to ride in a gondola, rather than on the chair, which is fine with me.

The view is the same.

I press my face to the window and watch the valley coming closer and closer. We pass over people hiking the trail. A deer and her fawn are lazily eating in a meadow.

“I wonder who that kid was that tried to kill me?” I wonder out loud.

“He was going too fast for me to see,” Brad replies grimly. “He did yell sorry.”

“Well, that’s something.”

We come to a stop at the bottom of the lift, and I hobble out of the gondola. Sitting for only twenty minutes has made the ankle swell more and get stiff.

Damn it.

We begin to walk to the truck, but Brad stops me. “Wait here, I’ll go get the truck.”

“You can’t drive back here.”

A cocky smile slides over his lips. “Honey, I can drive wherever I want. And you’re injured. Sadie, stay with Hannah.”

Sadie sits at my side and we wait while Brad, still wearing the sleeveless shirt, jogs to the truck and returns with it a few minutes later.

He helps me inside, and begins the descent down the mountain.

“I live not too far away,” he informs me. “We’ll get some ice on the ankle.”

“It’s too nice outside to spend it indoors,” I reply with a slight pout. “Dumb ankle.”

He smiles. “I think we can work something out.”

He’s right, it doesn’t take us long to get down the mountain and to his house. He has a nice sized lot with a tall white fence surrounding it. The house is grey and not too big. Well cared for, and new.

“Did you have this built?”

“Yeah, about three years ago,” he says as he pulls into the garage, cuts the engine, and closes the door behind us. “Stay here for a minute.”

It’s not a question, and he doesn’t give me time to ask why. He’s out of the truck, along with Sadie, and inside before I can blink. I’m waiting for maybe five minutes when he comes back into the garage and opens the door for me.

“Sorry about that, I wanted to make sure everything was still locked up tight and there was no danger before you came in.”

“Why do I think there’s a story behind that statement?”

He shrugs and takes my hand, helping me out of the tall truck. When I limp inside his house, he simply lifts me into his arms and walks into the kitchen.

“How about a tour?”

“Are you going to carry me through the whole house?”