Free Air Ryder (Harper's Mountains Book 3) by T. S. Joyce

gonna be blowin’ dust.”
    Lexi couldn’t breathe. She was doubled over laughing like a braying donkey, holding her middle because her abs were hurting so bad.
    Ryder pulled her up and kissed her unexpectedly. His kiss was rough, and her giggles turned to chuckles, then to soft needy sounds as he worked her mouth. He eased her back against the Jeep and deepened their kiss, brushed his tongue against hers over and over until her legs buckled. He backed his mouth off hers with a soft, sexy smack, then rested his forehead against hers. “I wanted to taste you while you were laughing.”
    “And?” she asked.
    “Fucking perfect.” He pushed his hands off the Jeep and left her weak-kneed and wanting, the tease. Chuckling like he found himself very amusing, Ryder pulled the cooler and rolled-up, red blanket out of the back seat. “What did you bring me?”
    “I cooked the last meal of a couple’s vacation at lunch, and they had no need for the leftovers since they’re headed to the airport tonight. I don’t know where you live, so I called Alana and asked where you were so I could surprise you.”
    “Best surprise ever. Unless you showed up bare-ass naked. Then that would be the best surprise ever.” Ryder winked and made a tick sound behind his teeth. “Tip for next time. Oh, my God, is this blackened catfish and alexander sauce?” he asked as he stared down into a plastic container.
    “Yep! It’s got some kick, too.”
    “Woman, you’re gonna get an owl baby put in you today.”
    Lexi laughed, but really, that didn’t scare her as much as it probably should. Ryder was going to make a very good daddy for some lucky kid someday. She could tell with how tender he was with Sprinkles and how he’d genuinely loved engaging with children the other day at the Taste of Bryson City.
    Ryder led her down a squishy trail toward the ATV garage, and when they came to a bog, he let her climb on his back, then carried her, the cooler, and rolled-up blanket through the muck like he didn’t mind mud on his jeans. And all the while, he talked about his and Weston’s plans for this place. She loved the sound of Ryder’s deep, rich voice when he was excited like this.
    He backed out a couple of quads and showed her how to use the smaller of the two. Then he strapped the cooler on the back of his with bungie cords and pulled a wide circle, his face in an animated smile as he talked, his eyes following her. Everything slowed, and the moment dragged blissfully on. Ryder had put on a baseball cap backward, and his thin, white V-neck T-shirt was splattered with mud and dirt from the work he’d been doing before she’d shown up. His jeans were old and threadbare at the knees, and his giant work boots were muddy as he shifted gears on his ATV. His lips moved in slow motion with the words he spoke to her, and his blue eyes sparked with happiness.
    She loved him.
    That’s what this joyous buzzing feeling in her middle was. She’d fallen that deep already.
    Time resumed its natural rhythm, and Lexi pressed the throttle, easing her quad into the tracks Ryder had made. After a few minutes of getting used to it, her confidence grew and she felt comfortable enough to speed up. Ryder grinned over his shoulder in a challenge and hit the gas.
    His laughter echoed through the woods and flooded her heart as she raced after him, her lungs burning with how hard she was laughing. He led her through mud puddles and around tree stumps. He led her past brambles and brush, up hills and through gently rolling creeks.
    This place was beautiful. Ryder was building a business in an enchanted wood, and she had no doubt that tourists would fall in love with the adventure he and Wes would lead them on. Up and up, they climbed sloping hills until Ryder pulled to a stop in a clearing. He cut the engine, hopped off his quad, showed her how to turn hers off, and then helped her down. Her shoes and calves were splattered with dark mud, but she couldn’t find