Page 6 of Wishing for the Mountain Man

“So you could see yourself living in Rosewood Ridge?" he asked.

My heart skipped a beat at that question. Was he asking because he personally wondered? He had to be feeling the sparks shooting back and forth between us. They hadn’t even lessened since he moved back to his original spot.

"Absolutely," I said. "Especially if it meant dating a hot mountain man."

"Put down the fishing pole," he said.

His comment was so unexpected, at first I was sure I hadn’t heard correctly. Then, when I finally convinced myself I had, my attention went straight to the water. Was something wrong? Some sort of fish emergency he could detect, thanks to his experience fishing this particular pond?

I did exactly what he said. I set the pole on the ground and stepped away, hands up like the police were on the verge ofarresting me. He swooped down and grabbed it, spinning the wheel on the side to pull the line out of the water. Then he set it down and turned to face me.

"Do I have permission to kiss you?" he asked.

I struggled to swallow around the lump that had formed in my throat. "You don’t have to get consent for everything you do to me. Or anything. Well, within reason. I’m not into the weird stuff."

Any other guy would smile at that. Or at least lift an eyebrow or something. But this guy just continued to stare at me with that damn unreadable expression.

Whatever “the weird stuff” was, it would have to wait for later. I hadn’t done any of this yet. I needed to start with losing my virginity, and then I could work out what else we could do.

“So you want me to just take you?” he asked. “Just rip your clothes off and go at it like we’re animals?”

I sucked in air at those words. My mouth was now incredibly dry, but my entire body was on fire.

“Yes,” I somehow managed to choke out. “That’s exactly what I want you to do.”

He stared at me another long moment, then started toward me, crossing the short distance between us. When his arms went around me, my body felt like it breathed a sigh of relief.

This was what I’d waited my entire life to find. I just hadn’t realized it until now.

His tongue slipped between my lips, opening my mouth wider as he explored. Meanwhile, his hands were moving over my back, tugging the blouse from the waistband of my pants.

He moved with patience, not urgency, and it only made me want him more. I slid my hands over his shoulders, settling them behind his neck as I stood on tiptoe, pressing my body against his.

Would he sense how much of an amateur I was? Would it turn him off? Or would he like it more?

When he finally pulled away, it was to yank the blouse over my head. He tossed it to the ground, then reached for the waistband of my dress pants.

I, meanwhile, was stuck trying to figure out what I was supposed to be doing here. Did I undress him? Did I wait for him to get me completely naked? I should have asked my more experienced friends back home about these things.

As my pants fell around my ankles, he moved away from me and the warm night air hit my nearly naked body, making me instantly miss his touch.

“Meet me at the boat,” he said.

And then he walked around me, leaving me to wonder exactly what boat he meant.

4

JAX

Icouldn’t make love to this woman on the banks of the pond—or in the pond, for that matter. I debated taking her back to my cabin but decided against it. I wanted this first time with her to be exciting, adventurous…something that told her exactly the type of life she was in for if she moved to Rosewood Ridge to be with me.

I stood next to my fishing boat, which was only a couple minutes’ walk from where we’d been standing. It was directly behind my house, though, and I often came out here in the morning and hopped in to take a quick ride around.

When I turned, the woman wasn’t far behind me. My breath caught again at the sight of her wearing only her bra and panties.

She was beautiful, but it was more than that. This was the woman I was meant to spend the rest of my life with. Yes, in just under an hour, she’d somehow managed to convince me to abandon my solo life. She even had me thinking about starting a family. It made no sense, but it was exactly how I felt.

As she drew closer, her footsteps slowed. “You want me to get into that wearing just my underwear?”

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