Page 15 of The Mountain Man's Valentine Baby

“We’re going outside. Let’s get you dressed,” I say rather than answer her. Back in my bedroom, I lay out some clothes for her and even manage to find a pair of boots to protect her feet.

I leave the room before she starts getting dressed because if she gets naked around me again, I’m going to convince her to come on my tongue. Just the thought of it has my mouth watering and my cock growing hard.

While she’s changing, I trudge outside and open her rental. I grab the project bag and her purse, bringing them into the cabin for her. She mentioned needing to do something with her hands. While I can definitely think of something to put in her hands, I want her to be happy while she’s here.

By the time I’m done, my cock has started to relax. But then she breezes into the living room, looking fucking delectable in all of my clothes, and I want to forget about my whole dumb idea and rut into her instead.

She beams at me, excitement shining on her face. “What are we doing?”

“Follow me and find out,” I tell her and lead her outside with a shovel thrown over my shoulder. We traipse through the snow, hand in hand until we get to a good spot in the forest.

I spread my arms wide and gesture around me. “Pick a tree. Any tree.”

“For what?” She eyes a little thing that’s barely taller than she is.

“For a Valentine’s Day tree,” I explain. It broke my heart when she told me she’d never had a Christmas tree, not even as a kid.

In a lot of ways, we’re alike. We’ve both had difficult lives and been alone in our pain. But she’s not alone anymore. Now she has me by her side, the mountain man that’s going to spend his days trying to make her smile.

She puts a hand to her mouth, her eyes filling with tears. Fuck, I messed this all up. I shouldn’t have said that. The whole idea was dumb. I open my mouth to tell her to forget it and that I’m sorry, but then she throws herself at me.

I wrap my arms around her, catching her weight easily.

“This is the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me,” she whispers.

I hold her tightly, wishing all of the love in my heart and body could be transferred to her. I want her to know every day for the rest of her life how precious she is. What we’ve got is special, and I’ll always protect it.

Thea

Three hours later, the tree is set up in Jasper’s living room. He pulled several boxes in here from his art room, and I’m searching through them eagerly, looking for things to add to the tree.

I smile when I find a pink ribbon. “How did you say you have all this again?”

“There’s something I create called mixed media art,” he explains. “If something catches my eye—maybe I like the pattern or the color or the texture—I add it to my collection. Sometimes, Ma gives me odds and ends too. Probably where the ribbon came from.”

I drape the tree in the ribbon then stand back and admire the evergreen that’s now wrapped in pink ribbon and paper hearts. Jasper even found a strand of old twinkle lights and twined them around the tree.

He starts a playlist of jazz from the speakers as we settle in front of the newly decorated tree to enjoy truffles.

The tree is in a big planter, and when our celebration is over, he promised to take it back to the forest. He’ll plant it, so I can have the same tree every year if I want. I can’t deny that it made my stomach swoop to hear him talk about the future so casually.

“Best holiday ever,” I sigh softly, taking his hand in mine. I want a lifetime of quiet holiday moments spent with him. With the way he’s been talking, part of me wants to believe we could be a real couple.

Another part of me remembers that my dad walked out on me before I was even born. Jasper could still change his mind. He could leave me and my baby without a backward glance.

“Something is making you sad,” he says softly, interrupting my thoughts.

“How can you tell?” I reach for a coconut covered truffle and bite into it. The sweet flavor of the chocolate ganache is a perfect complement to the toasted coconut flakes. Jasper could open a sweet shop, and he’d have customers lining the block.

“You get this little crinkle right there.” He taps the space between my eyebrows. “What’s upsetting my girl?”

I take a deep breath, trying to decide if I should tell him this story. Part of me wants to hold back. But maybe if he knows, he’ll understand why I’m so hesitant to accept that we’re soulmates. “I was thinking about my dad. I was a backseat baby and well, he didn’t stick around when he found out.”

He swears under his breath. “Since the moment you told me, all I can think about is that I’m going to be a dad. It’s the coolest thing that’s ever happened to me.”

“I thought maybe he didn’t want to be around me because I was a baby. Not everyone likes babies, right? So, when I was eighteen and moved out of my mom’s house, I looked him up.” I stop there, gathering my thoughts.

Jasper wraps an arm around my shoulder. “I’m here.”

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