Page 2 of The Mountain Man's Valentine Baby

He leans forward and tugs on the hem of his dress pants, pulling up one leg to slowly reveal a prosthetic limb. His earlier limp makes sense now. Still, I don’t know what to say. I’ve never met anyone that’s missing a limb. “Wow, I’m really sorry.”

He rolls back down the leg of the pants and shrugs. “Don’t be. The shark attack is a cool story to tell my friends.”

I shudder. I’ve never been to the beach for precisely that reason. I know my odds of being the victim of a shark attack aren’t high, but the fact that it’s even a possibility makes the ocean a big no. “Is that how you lost it?”

He laughs then, a booming sound that echoes around us and fills me with an unexpected warmth. “That’s one of the more entertaining ways Icouldhave lost it.”

I laugh too, partly because I’m relieved that he’s so easygoing about this. I definitely wouldn’t have minded if he’d been the handsy one at the wedding reception. “So, you’re not going to tell me?”

“That wasn’t the deal. I showed you mine,” he says with a waggle of his eyebrows.

I can’t resist teasing him some more. “It’s much too cold to show you mine.”

He strokes his bushy beard, tugging at the strands. He has a faraway look on his face, like he’s thinking hard about something. “Should I take you somewhere warmer, then?”

I tilt my head, studying him. He’s friends with Zac, which tells me a lot. Zac is solid, the kind of man that would only let someone he trusted completely into his circle. “Where would we go?”

He flashes me a mischievous smile, showing off one crooked tooth. “I have a cabin not far from here, in the mountains of Courage County. You might know that place, since the groom is from the town.”

I frown and tap my finger against my chin. I have every intention of leaving here tonight with this big, gruff man. “I don’t know you.”

He nods. “That’s fair. Let me tell you about myself then. I rescue animals on the side of the road. I can’t carry a tune in a bucket. I like to draw sometimes. They call me the Da Vinci of stick figures, and I’ve got a hard-on for a curvy woman in a red dress.”

I fake gasp rather than dwell on how happy I am that he said he has a hard-on for me. “The Da Vinci of stick figures?”

He winks. “The Louvre hasn’t come calling yet, but they will one day.”

I chuckle. “Well, I won’t hold that against you.”

He stands, getting to his feet with an easy grace that tells me he’s had his prosthetic for a very long time. He holds out a big, scarred hand. “Come on, honey. Spend the night with a mountain man who will worship your curves.”

Chapter2

Thea

The sky is dark when I pull my rental car into a thicket of trees on a dirt path. The moon illuminates a cabin, outlining a porch strewn with throw pillows that have been knocked off the oversized wicker furniture. The front door is framed by large wooden planters filled with evergreen plants, red berries, and pinecones.

“Your place is so welcoming,” I tell Jasper as I leave the warmth of my rental car. I insisted on following him out here rather than leaving with him.

I pull his suit coat tighter around my body, delighted that his big clothes wrap around my curvy frame. As we left the wedding, he saw the goosebumps on my arm and insisted I wear it. But the possessive look on his face when I put it on had me shivering for a very different reason.

He grins, showing off that crooked tooth again. “And so am I.”

The moment I step into his cozy cabin, I have an overwhelming feeling that I’m home. I’ve heard other people talk about the comfort, safety and peace they experience when they go home at the end of a long, hard day, but I’ve never felt it. I always assumed something was wrong with me. Now I see I’ve never had a home. The thought puts a lump in my throat.

I cross the hardwood floors and toss my purse on the couch. My heels click loudly with every swift step. When I get to the wall of windows, I stop and stare. A girl could spend her whole life up in these mountains and never want to leave.

“You must love the view,” I whisper, staring out into the inky darkness where I can see the outline of trees beneath the sky dotted with shining stars. I don’t ever see the stars in Nashville. There are too many lights.

“Oh, I love it for sure,” his voice is a quiet rumble. For a moment, I have a fantasy of him pressing me against this glass and taking me right here during a snowstorm. Except that it’s not snowing.

I turn back to him, surprised to find he wasn’t looking outside at all. He was staring at me. The raw desire on his face makes me feel feminine and beautiful.

The cabin is open concept, and I saunter toward the kitchen, putting an extra sway in my hips. I feel, rather than hear, him follow me.

Bending down, I wiggle my ass and grab a couple of beers from his fridge, making sure he gets a good long look. When I straighten up, I reach for the bottle opener on his counter.

He puts his big, calloused hand over mine. He towers over me, our size difference suddenly stark. “No, honey. I want both of us stone-cold sober for this.”

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