Guarded Mountain Man And the Curvy Librarian
(2026)(Book 27 in the Sexy Mountain Man Flame series)
A novel by Emily Crescent
There was a note on my windshield. He'd written: I can't be what you need.
Silas Reed: tall as the ridge, a sweater stretched over broad shoulders, sun-bleached hair and a crescent scar on his forearm. He smells like woodsmoke and good trouble. He hunts storms. He guards the valley. And he keeps grief like armor—so careful it cuts.
He dragged me into his cabin during a white-out. He made coffee before dawn on a frost-bitten bench. He sheltered my shaking limbs under his jacket and—quietly—kept a scrap of my handwriting folded in his wallet. Then he left me a note on the car and walked away like absence was protection. The town started whispering. The radio spat warnings. A possible smoke sighting put us both on a ridge that wants to take more than it gives.
He says he'll try. I say I'll stay. But his past could burn me by association. People are watching. There are truths he won't speak and dangers he won't let near him.
Stay messy with him. Fight for him. Or walk away and live safe. Which is braver: to risk being loved or to hide from the hurt he carries?
Genre: Romance
Silas Reed: tall as the ridge, a sweater stretched over broad shoulders, sun-bleached hair and a crescent scar on his forearm. He smells like woodsmoke and good trouble. He hunts storms. He guards the valley. And he keeps grief like armor—so careful it cuts.
He dragged me into his cabin during a white-out. He made coffee before dawn on a frost-bitten bench. He sheltered my shaking limbs under his jacket and—quietly—kept a scrap of my handwriting folded in his wallet. Then he left me a note on the car and walked away like absence was protection. The town started whispering. The radio spat warnings. A possible smoke sighting put us both on a ridge that wants to take more than it gives.
He says he'll try. I say I'll stay. But his past could burn me by association. People are watching. There are truths he won't speak and dangers he won't let near him.
Stay messy with him. Fight for him. Or walk away and live safe. Which is braver: to risk being loved or to hide from the hurt he carries?
Genre: Romance