Page 9 of The Mountain Man's Valentine Baby

When he doesn’t answer the doorbell on the first ring, I’m tempted to leave. I mean, it’s not like I didn’t try. But I remember my baby and hold onto my resolve for a moment longer. I ring the bell a second time, and that’s when I hear loud stomping.

For a moment I wonder if he’s going to be furious with me. It took the two of us to make a little life, but some guys don’t see it that way. Not that it matters. Whatever happens, my baby is growing up loved. I’ll make sure of that.

Jasper yanks open the door, and I’m instantly lost in his chocolate gaze all over again. I want to fling myself into his arms and tell him how much I’ve missed him. I want to beg him to hold me so I can finally get a good night’s sleep. But I don’t do any of that.

“Hey…” The word comes out shaky and too high.

I’ve negotiated deals for millions of dollars, given presentations to rooms filled with men who have the power to make and break industry names, but I’ve never been this nervous.

Shock flickers on his handsome face before he schools his expression. He’s hard to read and for a moment, I wish I could hear his thoughts. “Hey, beautiful.”

My cheeks warm but this is no time for me to get distracted by my crush on him. No, it’s better to tell him the truth right now so he can reject me quickly. It’ll sting less that way. “I’m pregnant.”

He looks me up and down, jaw slack. “P-Pregnant?”

“And it’s—” I rush to add. I haven’t thought of being with another man since he touched me. His are the only hands I want on my body and ever since I got pregnant, I ache for his touch again. I squeeze my thighs together even now remembering the beard burn between them from last time.

“It’s mine,” he sounds almost angry when he says the words and slams the door closed.

I deflate, closing my eyes for a brief moment. “At least that’s over.”

Now I’m going to drive back to Nashville and find the best pie in town. I’m going to eat as much of it as I can and not feel hurt about this.

“It doesn’t matter that he doesn’t want us,” I whisper to my baby.

I turn to leave the porch, but the door swings open again. Only now, Jasper is holding out a ring box to me. In his deepest growl, he says, “Marry me.”

“What?” I sputter. I can’t believe this. This isn’t the 1950s. His words are the last thing I expected after the way he slammed the door.

“We’ll be a family,” he says it so confidently, like the matter is already settled.

“Absolutely not,” I insist, thinking of my mom. I was a backseat baby that my dad didn’t stick around to help raise. My mom spent the first eighteen years of my life constantly reminding me of what a terrible burden my existence is.

His expression changes, becoming even more steely. If I thought he looked determined before, it’s nothing compared to how he looks now.

For a moment, I know how this might appear through his eyes, and I soften. “Listen, I don’t want anything from you. I thought you had the right to know. I’ll never restrict your access to the baby. You can even come to the doctor’s appointments. The first one is not until—”

“That’s not good enough. I want everything with you,” he insists.

I swallow hard. It’s the hormones that have me wanting to let him open the box and slide the ring on my finger. “We can be friends that happily co-parent. It’ll be like a road trip adventure.”

An unexpected road trip adventure that lasts for eighteen years with the hottest man I’ve ever met.

Finally, Jasper tucks the ring box into the pocket of his shirt. Who has an engagement ring lying around? How did he have such quick and easy access to one?

He seems to have accepted my suggestion that this is a road trip adventure, and I sigh in relief. Now that we’ve gotten that over with, we can both be sensible.

But what he says next changes everything, because he grabs my hand and places it over his flannel shirt, right where his heart thuds softly under my palm.. “We’re soulmates. I know you feel it too.”

I shake my head and glance away from that brown gaze that’s holding me hostage. What would it be like to accept his offer and let him slide that ring on my finger? For a second, I ache to tell him I lied, and I want the whole fairytale with him. But then I remember my mom’s words echoing from the past.You’re my burden, my curse. You’ve ruined everything.

I can’t let him say that one day, so I brace myself against the longing. It doesn’t matter if he believes we’re soulmates in this moment. One day, he’ll grow to resent me and our child. I can’t let that happen to my baby.

“I’m here to exchange phone numbers and contact information. We can discuss everything over the phone,” I answer as if I didn’t drive seven hours to see him again. Because I had to see him again. Because I wondered what his face would look like when I told him.

He squeezes my hand tighter and glances at the sky as if he’s looking for something, but I don’t know what. “I made stew, and I slid a cherry pie in the oven. Why don’t you eat something before you hit the road again?”

My stomach chooses that moment to rumble loudly, and I nod. “I’m only coming inside for pie.”

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