Page 5 of Accidentally Kidnapping the Mountain Man

“Okay. I’ll keep looking,” she says, twisting her fingers together and biting her lip. “Well, if we know this isn’t the one, let’s move on.” She starts to stride quickly for the door, catching her toes on the corner of the area rug, and she stumbles.

Acting on pure instinct, I reach out, my arms wrapping around her as I pull her against me. And instantly, I know I’ve made a terrible mistake, because now I know how fucking good Kaylee feels pressed against me and I’m not going to be able to stop thinking about it.

She inhales sharply, and I can feel her small breasts pressing into my chest. I can feel the way her softness yields to me and I think I might lose my mind.

Let’s be honest. I’ve already lost it, letting myself fall for a woman young enough to be my daughter.

Oh, fuck. I have fallen, haven’t I?

Looking down into Kaylee’s pretty face, letting myself drink in those gorgeous blue eyes, it’s as though time stops. The world around me ceases to exist. I’m hyperaware of all the places we’re pressed together, of my own pulse, of the rise and fall of her chest against mine. Her eyes meet mine, and her pupils are blown.

It would be so easy to lean down and kiss those lips I dream about. So easy to let myself taste heaven, just for a minute.

She licks her lips and curls her fingers into my shirt, her small fingers scraping against my chest, and it’s like electricity is flowing through my veins. I’ve never felt this way before. Not with my ex-wife, and not with anyone else I’ve ever dated. I’ve never wanted a woman the way I want Kaylee right now.

Which is too damn bad for me, because she’s too young. Way too young.

My brain knows this, but my body doesn’t, because I still haven’t let her go. I’m hard as fucking nails right now, and clearly my dick doesn’t give a shit about the twenty-five years between us.

“You okay?” I ask, using every ounce of willpower I have to let her go and take a step back. I instantly feel the loss of her as a physical ache in my bones.

She swallows and blinks slowly, then nods. “Uh…yep. Sorry about…about that.” She wipes her hands down the front of her skirt. “We have one more house to see today.” She shoots me a wavery smile over her shoulder as she heads for the bedroom doorway. “Maybe it’ll be the one.”

“Maybe,” I say, my voice coming out rough and gravely. It won’t be. It could be the most beautiful house I’ve ever seen. It could be absolutely perfect and I’d still reject it, because as long as I’m house hunting, I have an excuse to be around Kaylee.

And that has to be enough.

Three

Kaylee

I slide my key into my door and step into my little one-bedroom apartment in the heart of Canmore, the small town in the Alberta Rockies I’ve called home for most of my life. The door closes softly behind me and I flip the lock, setting my purse and keys down on the worn table by the front door.

The apartment itself is beautiful, and is by far the nicest place I’ve ever lived. It has big windows, a gas fireplace in the living room, stainless steel appliances and quartz countertops in the kitchen. I even have my own in-suite washer and dryer and an underground parking space.

Sounds great, right? Well, the truth is, I can barely afford it. Canmore isn’t cheap, and the rent on this place eats up nearly seventy-five percent of my meager salary. Which is why my place is so sparsely furnished, and why there are no curtains on the windows, and why everything I own is second hand, found on Facebook marketplace or at garage sales. I never turn on the gas fireplace because I don’t want to spend extra money on the gas bill. I eat a lot of pasta and canned vegetables. My car needswork, but I can’t afford it. I don’t even have Netflix because it’s too expensive on my tiny budget.

None of this is anything new. I’m used to barely getting by. I’m used to not having enough, or having to make do with two meals a day instead of three until payday.

From the day I was born, I was told I was a burden. Another hungry mouth to feed, another back to put clothes on. My mother didn’t want me. My father didn’t want me. The aunt who raised me barely tolerated me. I was an inconvenience. A leech.

I left all of that behind the second I turned eighteen. I got a job and moved out on my own.

So now, I look after myself, without anyone’s help. And yes, it’s hard and it sucks, but I’m okay. Sometimes I wish I had someone to lean on, but is that weak? I don’t know. Maybe I’m just lonely. I’ve always felt alone in the world. I’ve always felt that no one truly cared about me. It would be nice to know that someone did. That someone cared if I ate or was cold.

For once in my life, it would be nice—more than nice—to be cared for.

Is that pathetic? Maybe. But it’s the truth.

My financial situation won’t be like this forever, though. Once I pass my realtor’s exam and get my full license, things will change for the better.

If I can get Logan to just buy a freaking house already, the commission will pay my rent for months.

God, Logan.

I sink down onto my beat up couch and pull a blanket over my legs, shivering slightly. I keep the heat low to keep the bill within my budget. I tuck my legs under myself and pull the blanket up to my shoulders.

Logan.

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