I don’t rescue women. I rescue hikers, hunters, and the occasional drunk who thinks midnight trail running sounds like a good time. Then I go home to my cabin in the mountains and enjoy the silence.
Tonight’s callout is different.
Piper Langston’s car broke down on a mountain pass fifteen miles from the nearest cell signal. By the time I reach her, she’s tried to hike out in sandals, twisted her ankle, and set up the worst campsite I’ve ever seen with a fashion magazine as a fire starter.
She’s stubborn, lost, and so damn beautiful it makes my chest hurt.
One night. That’s all I’m offering. A fire, a meal, my camp while I keep watch. I’ll get her to town in the morning and forget all about the curvy city girl with the smart mouth and the legs that won’t quit.
Except morning comes and the road’s washed out.
Two more nights on this mountain. Two more nights of her pressed against me for warmth, laughing at my bad jokes, looking at me like I’m something worth finding.
She got lost in my mountains.
Now I’m the one who can’t find his way back.
