Page 30 of Accidentally Kidnapping the Mountain Man

“Oh, wow, Logan,” she says quietly, taking it in. Two walls are taken up entirely by windows that look out onto a pine forest, the mountains visible above the tips of the trees. Another fireplace sits between two of the windows, and my massive king-sized bed is in the middle of the room, facing the large TV mounted to the far wall. I take her hand and pull her into the ensuite, showing her the soaker tub nestled beneath a huge window, and the walk in shower with its river rock floor.

“There are two more bedrooms up here. One’s Hailey’s old room, and the other is my office. On the walk-out basement level, there’s a big games room and a movie theater.”

“There’s a movie theater?!?” she squeals, and it makes me grin that of all the finer points of the house, that might be what sells her.

“Yeah. And there’s a fire pit and a hot tub in the backyard, too. We can have a soak later, if you want.”

“I didn’t bring a swim suit,” she says, blushing, and I slide my hands around her waist.

“You don’t need one. This whole half acre is mine. No one can see my backyard. It’s completely private.”

“Hmm, well. In that case,” she says, eyebrows bouncing. I lean down to kiss her, but we’re once again interrupted by her hungry stomach.

“Come on,” I say, lacing my fingers with hers. “Let’s go find some lunch.”

We head back down to the kitchen, and I lift her up and set her on the island while I pull out some leftover Chinese from the day before. I turn on the oven—I hate using the microwave to warm things up—arrange everything on a tray, and slide it in to heat up. And then, I turn my attention to Kaylee.

“Stay here with me,” I whisper, my hands landing on either side of her hips on the island. “Just live here, with me. Wake up in my bed every morning. Please, baby,” I say, and I don’t care that I’m begging. The thought of her not living here with me is physically painful.

“I’m trying to think of a reason to say no,” she says, tilting her head. I drop my head and start kissing a path up and down her neck. She moans softly, and I suck gently on a spot beneath her ear. Maybe I’m not playing fair, but I don’t care.

“You can’t because there isn’t one,” I say, scraping my teeth over her earlobe. She shivers and clutches at my shirt.

“Maybe not,” she admits. “Just kiss me, please, Logan. I need you to kiss me.”

So I do, lowering my mouth to hers and kissing her slow and gentle. Her tongue slips against my lower lip, just like I showed her, and I let her in, letting her explore my mouth with her eager, curious tongue. She moans and I kiss her back, deepening the kiss. I lose all sense of time as I kiss my girl, slow and deep, unhurried. Kissing for the sake of kissing. Because it feels good.Because we both want to, and we can. There’s no end goal of getting her in bed here. We’re going to have lunch, maybe have a shower, and then she needs to go to the office to do whatever she needs to do with those papers I signed.

I’m so lost in Kaylee, in the sweetness of her mouth and her soft sighs as she melts in my arms, that I don’t hear the steps on the stairs coming up from the lower level. But then there’s a loud gasp, followed by the words “What the hell?” in a voice I immediately recognize.

Kaylee and I jerk apart like two teenagers caught making out in the backseat of a car, and I turn to see my daughter Hailey standing several feet away, her eyes wide and her mouth open. She’s wearing a University of Alberta sweatshirt, her laptop in her hands.

“Dad?” she says, her voice filled with disbelief. “What…what is happening right now?”

Kaylee slides off the island, her face bright red. I want to tug her to me, to make her stay, but she’s too fast.

“I’m so sorry,” she mumbles, twisting her fingers together. “I’ll, um. Give you guys some privacy. Excuse me.” She darts out of the kitchen and up the stairs, leaving me alone with my daughter.

Hailey’s gaze swings to me, her eyes narrowing. “Was that Kaylee Murphy?”

I rub a hand over the back of my neck. “Yeah. You know her?”

“Not well, but I definitely remember going tohigh schoolwith her! Dad, she’s my age. Younger than me, I think, because she was a grade behind. What are you doing?” she hisses.

“What are you doing home? Don’t you have classes?”

“They canceled them pre-emptively because of the storm, so I thought I’d surprise you with a visit for the weekend. Looks like I’m the one who got the surprise.” She shoots me a withering look.

I cross my arms and shift my weight, trying to find the right words. “It’s not what it looks like, or what you think it looks like, Hails.”

She walks into the kitchen and sets her laptop down on the counter, then crosses her arms, mirroring my stance with one eyebrow arched. “Really? Because it looked like you were making out with a girl younger than your own daughter.”

I sigh, leaning back against the counter. “Okay, maybe it is what it looks like. But I want you to know that this isn’t some…fling, or whatever. You know me. I don’t date. I don’t mess around. Kaylee’s my girlfriend, Hails. And this isn’t how I wanted you to find out, but it’s done now. Kaylee and I are dating. And I care about her. A lot.”

Hailey’s eyebrows shoot up. “You do?” she asks, skepticism dripping from her voice. “How…” She sighs and presses a hand to her forehead. “How did this happen?”

“She’s my realtor.”

Her head jerks back at that. “You’re moving? But you love this place.”

---