Mountain Lion by Terry Bolryder Read Free Book Online Page A

dangerous.
    She didn’t need one more guy perving on her. Not with what she’d been through. Not when she seemed to only want him for a friend, despite the way she looked at him.
    He knew people could be attracted to someone and still not want to do anything about it.
    But in his case, he did want to do something about it. He rubbed his hand over his chin and told himself to calm down. Just a simple date. No big deal.
    Just a simple hangout. At night. In the dark. With a bunch of other families and couples.
    Sure.
    “Are you okay?” she asked. “You look tense.”
    He laughed. He liked that about her, that she would always speak her mind. “I’m fine. I just. Well, hell. I’ll just come right out and say it. You look nice tonight. More than nice.”
    “Thanks,” she said. “I did my hair in braids so it would dry like this.”
    “It looks great,” he said.
    “You look nice too,” she said.
    Damn, now it really did feel like a date.
    “So what do you want to do first when we get there?” he asked. “Corn maze? Eat treats?”
    “I’ll have to see when we get there,” she said. “I may just want to do all of it at once.”
    “All right,” he said. “We’ll do as much as we can, then. I guarantee it.”
    But given that he’d also promised she wasn’t his type and that he wouldn’t look at her that way, he didn’t have much faith in his promises lately.

7
    V al was all too aware of Wyatt sitting next to her, looking far too good in that green fleece jacket and those tight-fitting jeans that showed off large, taut thighs.
    She squirmed on her chair and couldn’t wait to get out when the truck came to a stop outside a huge clearing with lots of hung lights and decorated buildings.
    She didn’t wait for him to get her door. Instead, she jumped out and ran around the truck to get a look at everything in front of her.
    She was twenty-two years old. She shouldn’t be this excited to be at what amounted to a Halloween amusement park.
    But she was.
    There were people milling about around stands that sold delicious looking items and buying tickets for a game that involved smashing pumpkins.
    There was an ominous black sign pointing toward a large barn that housed something called “The Haunted Horror.” Cheesy, but it made her grin.
    She’d never minded scary things or scary movies. When they’d come on the small TV in her family’s trailer, she’d always liked watching them. Whereas her dad would rather be out drinking.
    Still, observing everyone walking around her, she couldn’t help feeling uncultured. Out of place. She’d only gone to high school and then stayed home to help raise horses. And fight off Lyle.
    The people around here were simple but dressed well. They’d probably travelled from nicer parts of Montana, where she’d travelled from a more remote part. And they were probably educated. Like Wyatt.
    Wayne said Wyatt had completed his MBA online, to help him in running the ranch.
    Maybe she could do one of those online degrees one day. If she was smart enough.
    Wyatt came up behind her, making her jump. “What do you think?” he asked.
    She folded her arms and tried not to look up at him. She didn’t want to look at that straight nose. Those high, carved cheekbones. That solid, male jaw. Or those glowing golden eyes.
    Not to mention that thick, tawny hair.
    He made her aware of feelings she’d never known she could have. She thought she was deadened to men in general. That she was broken that way and would never want them.
    Now she realized it was just Lyle she didn’t want. And the other guys at camp who’d tried to come on to her.
    So why did she have to start wanting the one that didn’t want her?
    She could tell he was feeling awkward on the date. He’d been quiet and stiff in the car, and he was still walking and acting like he had a stick up his butt.
    Was he that put out by having to take her here on a pity date when he didn’t even like her?
    Maybe he just didn’t see