Hunter's Fortune (River Jewel Resort Series Book 2) Read Online Free

As far as she was concerned, she was better off staying away from all of them. Another reason she’d done all of her Christmas shopping online.
    Speaking of Christmas, thankfully, that was over. At least she’d had the money to give her employees their year-end bonuses and a token of the company’s appreciation. This year she’d given them all calendars in the hope of reminding them that deadlines had to be met. For the most part, the drivers were always good with their deliveries to the various steel plants. But there was always an oddball who just couldn’t get it right. Hunter had felt it was her duty to instill a sense of responsibility within her company. Now, all of that was gone.
    “Listen, buddy. I don’t want any trouble. Just go back to whatever rock you crawled out from under and I’ll be leaving.
    “No, you listen. Sweetheart, you’re not goin’ anywhere.”
    A shiver of terror ran through her and the man’s cold gaze stared back at her, freezing her in her tracks. “You’re on my land. You’re not going anywhere. You can’t leave.”
    He inched closer to her and Hunter tightened her grip on the weapon in her hands.
    “No!” She screamed as the guy reached for her. “Don’t touch me, you bastard!”
    He yanked her only means of defense from her and held it up. “This is what you were going to beat me up with? Impressive.”
    Hunter only then realized she’d been holding a stick.
    “Sticks and stones. That’s the best you could come up with?” He erupted into another fit of laughter and tossed the stick aside. “A damn twig! You don’t get out much, do you?”
    Mortified, Hunter did her best to maintain her stance. Brushing up against this burly beast of a man had clearly rattled her nerves. And she couldn’t help but wonder if there were now hundreds of creepy-crawly bugs running amuck across her designer clothing. The man’s hair was definitely unkempt and if his clothing was any indication, he most likely lived in the woods.
    He pressed even closer to her body and Hunter felt herself recoil. “I said, don’t touch me.” She backed away and found her backside pressed up against the car.
    “Gladly. I was merely disarming you. Though I’m pretty sure you’d have poked your own eye out before you’d have done any damage to me. Let’s just say it was for your own good.”
    What a jerk!
    “Now, are you going to allow me to help you with this flat tire or are you still hell-bent on, what did you say? Oh yeah, kicking my ass.”
    “Just get away from me. I’ll figure it out myself. Kindly point me in the direction of the closest person’s home and I’ll be on my way.”
    “Not a great listener, are ya’?”
    “Why must you answer questions with questions? Have you lived in the woods all your life? No human interaction?”
    “What?”
    The man was incorrigible! “Never mind. I don’t want to confuse you with words of more than one syllable.”
    Hunter pulled her hair to one side of her neck and crossed her arms in front of her.
    “You’re quite the piece of work, aren’t you?”
    “Okay, look, Mr. Woodsman, just leave me alone. Clearly, we aren’t going to be able to have a civilized conversation. Obviously I’m not surprised, considering…”
    “Considering what? Oh, you mean considering how I look? How I talk?”
    Hunter smirked and shrugged. “If the shoe fits.”
    “Alright, have it your way. Where’s your spare?”
    “If I had a spare or anything to help me change a tire, do you think I’d have grabbed a stick to defend myself with? Do you think I’d still be here if I had a spare?”
    “Shucks, ma’am. I have no idea. I’m just a dumb ol’ mountain man.” He spit out the side of his mouth and tucked his hands in his pockets.
    “Typical.”
    And where did he get off calling her ma’am? Did she look like a ma’am? Hunter was barely thirty-five. How could anyone think she was old enough to be a ma’am!
    “Look, I’ve had the worst week of my life.