Page 16 of Curvy Girl for the Mountain Man

My heart cracks more with every step with take.

God, can I do this?

As we approach the cabin, Olivia bursts out the door. Her eyes widen, flicking from me to the man behind me.

"Olivia, thank God!" He rushes forward, and she takes a step back, scared, confused.

I take a step forward, ready to intervene.

But then she blinks rapidly, and recognition dawns on her face.

My chest tightens. I feel like I’m going to have a heart attack.

"Nate?” her voice is full of wonder. “Oh my God, Nate!" She throws herself into his arms and clings to him, tears streaming down her face.

I look away, gut twisting. I knew this moment would come. That she'd remember her old life and leave. Deep down, I knew.

And it hurts like a son-of-a-bitch.

Unable to stand there and watch their reunion a second longer, I turn and head into the woods.

The image of her in his arms is seared into my brain.

I find a log and sink down onto it, head in my hands. She's better off. A woman like her doesn't belong in a place like this.

With a man like me.

I hang my head low and do something I haven’t done in a long time—since my parents died, in fact.

I cry.

eight

. . .

Jack

Moonlight filters through the trees as I trudge back to the cabin, shoulders hunched against the chill night air. Twigs snap beneath my boots, echoing the hollow ache in my chest. Hours spent wandering the woods trying to drive Olivia from my mind. The image of her in another man's arms, laughing, smiling in a way she never will with me again.

I shake my head, jaw clenched. It's over before it even began. I never should have let myself hope, never should have believed her lingering gazes and soft sighs meant anything more.

Not when she had a whole life waiting for her. Why would she willingly stay here with me in the middle of nowhere?

My cabin comes into view. I climb the porch steps, fumbling for the doorknob with numb fingers.

The door swings open, and I freeze, my hand still suspended in mid-air.

Olivia sits curled on the couch, haloed by the glow of dying embers in the fireplace. Her eyes meet mine, dark with some emotion I can't read.

"Jack," she says softly. "Where have you been?"

I swallow hard. "Out. What are you doing here, Olivia?"

She stands, wrapping her arms around herself as she takes a tentative step closer. "You left so suddenly earlier. I was worried." Her brow furrows. "Why did you go?"

My pulse thunders in my ears. I should lie, make some excuse. But I’m stunned by her presence, and the truth spills out, raw and painful. "Seeing you with someone else—with him—would drive me crazy," I rasp. "I could't...can’t…I watch you in the arms of another man."

Her lips part in surprise and something that looks like dawning realization. She takes another step toward me, close enough now that I can see the amber flecks in her hazel eyes, smell vanilla scent.

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