Page 17 of Auctioned to the Mountain Man

“You win Christmas,” I say with a sated laugh, my eyes immediately drawn to the bulge in his jeans. “I don’t even care that you broke the rules.” I prop myself up on my elbows, still aware I’m spread wide open on the edge of the bed. If he just tugged down that zipper, he could bury that cock inside me now. “Since we’re already breaking rules, why don’t you let me return the favor?”

“Shit,” he hisses, his expression turning blank. Unreadable. I try to tamp down the panic. What the hell is going on? “I—I have to take care of something.”

“Letmetake care of it.”

“I have to go.” Fox flies out of the room, the door quickly closing behind him.

Confusion turns to anger in a heartbeat.

“Now what?” I ask to the empty room.

I didn’t peg Fox for the fuck ‘em and leave ‘em type. But it’s not like I really know this man, is it?

CHAPTER

TEN

FOX

I deserve to burn in hell.

That’s the dominant thought hammering into my brain as I hurry down the stairs and reach for the keys I left on the kitchen counter when we returned from the town’s tree lighting several hours ago.

“Going somewhere?” Grandpa Eddie’s voice in the dark kitchen startles me, making me curse under my breath. Twice in one day I’ve been oblivious of my surroundings. Either I’m slipping or Alida Kingston is scrambling my fucking brain.

“Thought I might take a drive.”

“It’s pretty late. Snow’s coming down real heavy.” Grandpa Eddie lifts his glass. “There’s plenty of eggnog in the fridge.”

Though I’m itching to get the hell out of here, to let the crisp chilly air fill my lungs so I can breathe again, the weather could pose a problem. Brett might be rolling in his grave right now, but I can’t look after either of his sisters if I wrap my truck around a tree.

What the fuck was I thinking?

The taste of Alida’s pussy lingers on my tongue. A flavor I’ll never forget as long as I live. But was that dirty Christmas wish of hers worth the price I’ll have to pay? I’d lost my fucking mind between her legs. I’d forgotten everything. Until she made that comment about breaking the rules. Something inside me snapped back to reality.

“Come, sit.”

I stare at the empty chair across from Grandpa Eddie. It’s been a long time since I’ve sat down and had a conversation with my grandpa. “I suppose one glass wouldn’t kill me.”

“It’s good stuff.”

“Why are you up so late?”

“Insomnia. Fun shit.”

“Really?”

“That and your grandma, God love her, snores like a freight train.” He passes me a metal flask when I join him at the table with my eggnog. “This helps me sleep.”

I twist off the cap and add a shot into my glass.

“She’s a good one, you know,” Grandpa Eddie says, unsolicited.

“Grandma Lola?”

“Always. But I meant your girl. Alida.”

“I know.”

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