Page 11 of Stranded with the Mountain Man

“I’ll take you back to your car,” Zane said to me in a tone that was wholly professional.

That was when the insecurities kicked in.

I’d had friends who held out on sleeping with a guy for three weeks of dating, only to be dumped as soon as they did the deed. Was this one of those cases? He’d gotten what he wanted, and now he was done with me?

But we barely made it out of the parking lot before he reached over and took my hand. “Holy hell, that was amazing. I don’t care if I get fired over it. It’s worth it.”

“If you need me to take all the blame, I can,” I said. “I’ll tell them I seduced you. You fought it every step of the way.”

He laughed. “No way they’d buy that. They’d think I was crazy for having to be coerced into having sex with someone as beautiful as you.”

Those words warmed my heart. The guy knew how to win over a lady. I just hoped it wasn’t all talk.

“You know,” I said. “I’m not the type who just sleeps around.”

Of course, he knew that. He was my first time. We’d established that.

But he said nothing until we came to a stoplight, and then he looked over at me. “This isn’t just sex. This is the real deal. I feel it, and I hope you feel it too.”

I nodded, not able to find the words. I could never have imagined a guy like this would come into my life.

“We both have work, but I’d love to take you out to dinner,” he said. “Tonight—or another night, if this is too short notice.”

“Tonight would be fine.”

A little voice in my head said I should play hard to get, but I ignored it. No, I didn’t have to play games with this guy. As he’d said, this was the real deal.

“I’ll pick you up at seven,” he said. “Let’s exchange numbers…you know, just in case.”

He gave me his phone number, and I programmed it into my phone, then texted him so he’d have mine. By the time I got into my car at the school, I felt like I was walking on a cloud.

This was the best day of my life, and it was only going to get better from here.

EPILOGUE

ELLA

Ihad to have my husband, and I couldn’t wait until we got home to do it.

That was my thought as I watched Zane pose for the Rosewood Ridge Volunteer Fire Department calendar. Proceeds were going to buy new equipment and make some upgrades to the fire hall.

Zane had been hesitant to participate, but the photographer from the newspaper was taking the pictures, and he let me sit in on the photo session. Having me there seemed to make all the difference.

“Can we take a detour?” I asked Zane as we started out of the fire hall.

I really had some work to get done before I picked up the kids from their playdate with our neighbor’s kids, but this wouldn’t take long. I could come at the side of the road within two minutes of him entering me, I was so turned on.

“Are you sure?” he asked.

But a smile was spreading over his face. Like me, he knew the value of just a few extra minutes together.

We’d been married six years—just long enough to have two beautiful children. Our sons, Toby and Sheldon, were five and three years old, and we’d just started talking about trying for baby number three.

Life was busy, though. The longtime staff reporter at the paper had finally retired, leaving the job open for me. But by then, I was already pregnant, and my boss had agreed to let me work part-time. He’d also hired another part-time reporter. We made it work.

He pulled off the main road, taking me to a popular spot for locals to look at the scenery…and other things. We’d had more than a few lunchtime quickies in that very parking lot, including on the rocks that overlooked the drop-off.

But today, he hopped out and headed straight to the back of the truck, popping the tailgate down. I met him back there, where he gestured for me to climb up.

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