Page 16 of Her Mountain Man Recluse

Holy fuck.

She looked so innocent with her nose in her book and all the time she was reading smut. Knowing this pretty little angel reads dirty books turns me on like crazy, and my cock is throbbing as I hand it back to her.

“Thanks,” she says, immediately hiding her face in the pages, embarrassed.

“Looks like a pretty good book to me.”

She peers at me from over the top of the cover, and I see her eyes crinkle as she smiles. “It is.”

My heart spasms and I’m overwhelmed by the urge to lift her into my arms and carry her into the bedroom. I want to claim her sweet body. Make her moan my name as she comes for me. Raw desire is burning through my veins, the bulge in my pants growing harder by the second. In a few hours, it will be time for me to share a bed with Lila again. It was impossible to control my need yesterday, but something tells me that tonight will be even harder, and I suppress a groan, running a hand over my beard.

Goddammit, this girl will be the death of me.

8

LILA

The restof the day flies by in the blink of an eye, and all my sadness about leaving is overshadowed by the tension simmering in the cabin. Ever since Ridge read the steamy passage from my romance book, something has shifted. Every look that passes between us seems to be charged with electricity, making my skin prickle with anticipation. I feel like I’m losing control of myself. My plan to avoid getting attached is dissolving, and I don’t know what to do.

Only one more night.

Just hold on for one more night.

The sun sets fast on Cherry Mountain, and Ridge makes us a homemade pizza for dinner. We finish it off with a generous slice of the best cherry pie I’ve ever tasted, and soon enough, it’s time for us to head to bed. I take a quick shower and brush my teeth, before pulling on a fresh pair of pajamas and slipping beneath the covers while Ridge takes my place in the bathroom. The sound of the shower sparks a mental image of him, his thick muscles all wet and soapy…

Oh, God.

I squeeze my thighs together, my breath hitching when I hear him leave the bathroom a few minutes later. As he steps intothe bedroom, I see his giant silhouette in the doorway—big and burly—and my heart flutters as he closes the door behind him and gets into bed beside me. The mattress sags a little beneath his weight, and he takes up so much room that I feel his arm brush against mine. The touch makes me shiver.

“What are you thinking about, Lila?”

Ridge’s voice is a deep rumble in the dark, his question catching me off guard.

“Nothing in particular,” I lie. “What about you?”

“Still thinking about your book.”

I let out a breathless laugh, but inside, my body is screaming with tension. “Yeah, you looked pretty shocked. I guess you thought I was reading Little Women or something.”

“Yeah. Something like that.”

We lapse into silence for a few moments, and I listen to Ridge’s breathing, my heart hammering against my ribs.

“There’s one thing you still haven’t told me,” he continues eventually.

“What?”

“Back in the woods, you mentioned a video.” I feel him turn on his side, facing me in the dark. “You never told me what it was.”

My throat goes dry and I squeeze my eyes shut. I knew I shouldn’t have mentioned the video. The second the words slipped out of my mouth, I wanted to take them back. But after everything that happened today, I feel safer than ever with Ridge, so I reach out and grab my phone off the nightstand.

“I’ll show you.”

The screen lights up Ridge’s face in the dark, his eyes fixed on me as I go online and open up the video. Then, turning my phone so he can see it properly, I hit play.

The video opens at an ice rink in downtown Denver. I don’t know who’s filming—some guy who was there at the same timeas me and Audrey. He’s filming his kids, cheering them on as they waddle around in their skates, their mom gripping them tight.

“Lila, I don’t?—”

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