Jason laughed and pulled her hand away from her mouth. “Said what? Dick?”
“I don’t cuss.”
“Ranger, I think it’s sexy when you let naughty words slip. Call me sexy dick whenever you want.”
Her cheeks blazed bright red, making her freckles disappear completely. Damn she was cute. He leaned forward and kissed her, nipping her lip right before he pulled away. He climbed in front of her on the ATV and pulled her arms around his waist. It felt as if she’d been made to fit right against him like this. He revved the engine, then hit the gas. Georgia laughed breathlessly as he sped through the piney woods toward the treehouse.
Over the sound of the whipping wind, Georgia asked, “How was Tessa today?”
Relentless, haunting, heartbreaking. When the ghost wasn’t spewing hate at him, her sobbing rattled around in his mind, making it hard to focus on working the processor up on the landing. With Clinton gone, he’d taken over the big machine to strip the lumber into neat, limbless logs with perfectly cut ends. The entire shift had been a miserable affair as he operated heavy machinery in the midst of Tessa’s efforts to ruin his confidence. Georgia didn’t have to know how much Tessa had been battering him, though. She would only worry and put her job on hold to come up to the landing if she thought she could protect him. That’s how Georgia was. Selfless.
“Tessa was fine.”
“Good. When is Easton getting home? I picked him up a present.”
“Any time now. What did you get him?”
She squeaked and ducked a low-hanging branch with him. “You’ll see.”
Jason pulled the ATV into the shed that kept it safe from Mother Nature. It was warmer under the metal awning with the wind blocked. Jason turned around in the seat. Facing her, he gripped her jacket and pulled her in close. “I came here to ask you on a second date.”
“Mr. Trager,” she said, placing her hand on her chest and looking scandalized. “You mean I wasn’t just a one night stand?”
“Never. Are you free tonight?”
Georgia frowned at the woods outside the shed door. “If it was Friday, I’d say no because I have some poacher hunting to do this weekend, but since it’s only Thursday, I’ll accept.” Her blue-gold eyes danced when she gifted him with a happy glance. “Where are you taking me?”
“Into Saratoga, but I have to tell you something. It won’t just be us. Creed wants us to go to Sammy’s Bar together and get a night off from all the crap going on with Clinton and Tessa. Some of the Ashe Crew are awesome on the microphone—good old country boy crooners, and they have a special show tonight. Usually they play on the weekends, but Tagan, their alpha, has invited us out tonight. I know it might not be your scene, but I kind of want everyone to see you on my arm.”
“You gonna show me off?” she asked, quirking her eyebrow.
“Hell yeah, I am. A couple of weeks ago I was basically sleepwalking through my life, and now I feel…I don’t know…alive again. Let’s go out drinking and listen to some live music and pretend we’re a normal couple for the night. Like we don’t have a ghost tailing us.”
Georgia bit her lip, then admitted, “I think this is the first party I’ve ever been invited to.”
“Bullshit, that can’t be true.”
“It is!” She lifted both his hands and intertwined her fingers with his. “I’ve been in the woods for years with one or two co-workers at most, and all of them have been grizzly, old, grumpy, mountain men. There haven’t been a lot of opportunities to go buck wild.”
Jason kissed the knuckles of her gloves and offered her a wicked grin. “Well, I’m glad I’m your first then. Now say something dirty. I want to watch your lips around a filthy word.”
“Hard pass.”
“I’ll reward you.”
Georgia glared and sighed, but he could see her conviction faltering. “You look fuckin’ sexy.”
“Oh, damn woman, say that in my ear.”
That beautiful blush was back in her cheeks as she leaned forward. When she pulled his earlobe between her lips and sucked, he groaned and rolled his hips against hers. Fuck, he could probably cream his pants just dry humping her.
“You look fuckin’ sexy,” she murmured.
Jason angled his chin and pressed his lips against hers, then thrust his tongue in her mouth. She let off that sexy little moan she had last night when he’d done something she liked. His mate was a noisy little creature, letting him know what buttons she liked pushed best.
He popped the button of her pants open as she draped her legs over his thighs.