Page 32 of Big Daddy Mountain Man

“Yeah. I just almost forgot. Crap!”

He watched as she hurried down the short hall, disappearing into the bathroom. She came back a few minutes later, seemingly more relaxed.

“You sure you’re okay?” he asked again, eying her as she walked toward him.

“Yeah. Sorry. That may have been kinda weird.” She sat down, this time a bit closer, and propped an elbow on the couch’s back cushion and brought her fist to her head to support it as she looked at Sawyer. “So, I have this thing where… I have to brush my teeth as soon as I eat. I’m paranoid my teeth are going to go bad and… you know… I don’t really have money to see a dentist. And I sure don’t have any kind of insurance. So… I have to keep up with them so I don’t need to worry about it. Does that make sense?”

It made perfect sense, and it broke his heart. He swallowed the lump in his throat and prayed the sorrow he felt for her harsh life wasn’t etched all over his face.

Her smile returned and in an instant, she was back to her cheery, positive self, saying, “Are you ready to watch the movie?”

“You bet,” he replied.

His mind was racing, though. Her can-do attitude masked a lot of pain, he realized. He wondered just what all she’d been through in life.

Perhaps he’d find out one day. Right now, though, she was safe, with him, and at peace.

Maybe he could make sure she stayed that way.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Butterflies fluttered in Amber’s stomach as she stepped closer to Sawyer.

The movie was over now, and it was getting late. After a day of hard work, she was exhausted and needed sleep. But she wasn’t quite ready for him to leave.

She didn’t know if she’d ever be ready for him to leave.

Their time together had been magical. There were so many times when she’d thought of inching closer to him on the couch, maybe even going so far as to lay her head on his shoulder. Yet each time she’d lost her nerve.

Now, as he was standing at the front door, telling her goodbye, she wanted nothing more than a goodnight kiss.

Did he want the same thing? It seemed that way. She couldn’t articulate it, but there seemed to be some sort of energy flowing between them. Almost like an electrical current.

“I want you to lock this door the minute I leave,” he said. “I’m going to stand on that porch and listen for it.”

“Yes, Sir,” she replied.

“And if you need anything—or you get scared—you call me. It doesn’t matter what time of night it is.”

“Thank you, but I’ll be fine,” she said. After taking a moment to read the look on his face, she added, “But I’ll call if something comes up. I promise.”

“Good girl.”

The look that flashed across his eyes for the briefest of seconds told her he regretted saying that.

She didn’t regret it. Her stomach tingled with even more excitement.

And when he leaned down to hug her—wrapping those powerful arms around her slender frame and drawing her in close for a tight embrace—she nearly lost it.

He lingered and for a moment, she thought he was going to bring his lips down and kiss hers. But it didn’t happen. Instead, he pulled away, looked into her eyes as he stepped backward a few paces, and said, “I mean it. Lock that door.”

She nodded, waved, and then watched him a few more seconds as he stepped onto the porch. “Goodnight,” she said before shutting the door and locking it.

Amber leaned against it for a moment, as if that would make her feel closer to the man who was on the other side. She pushed off of it when she heard his boots thudding across the porch and bounding down the steps. A moment later, the sound of the Bronco’s engine reached her ears and she knew he’d pulled away.

The cabin seemed lonely.

“We’re fine,” she told Honey and Jazzie. “Hey, Honey, this isn’t anything compared to sleeping in the park!”

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