Page 2 of Claimed By the Mountain Man

Only when I looked up, it wasn’t Jim’s craggy face that greeted me. Instead, I was met with the face of the most beautiful man I’d ever seen. And as the endless pools of dark chocolate that were his eyes met mine, I was temporarily struck dumb, frozen in the doorway. Speechless.Fuck me. This day just got a whole lot more interesting.

TWO

COOPER

I was pouring a whiskey on the rocks for one of our regulars when I heard the bell above the front door ding, and I looked up to see who was entering. I expected to see another of the townsfolk I’d known since childhood stepping into the bar. I’d only been back in town a few days, and it was my first shift behind the bar since returning home. But when I looked up, it wasn’t a familiar face that greeted me. It was the face of… fucking hell, the most gorgeous man I think I’d ever seen.

Our eyes collided—his the most beautiful multi-hued shade of hazel—and the moment seemed frozen in time, neither of us moving, just staring transfixed at each other. I’d honestly never experienced anything like it before. We might have stood there like that forever, but right then several things seemed to happen simultaneously. Someone coming through the door bumped into the man, jostling him and forcing his gaze away from me. And from behind me, I heard my grandfather’s raised voice just as I felt the cold splash of whiskey running over my hand.

“Cooper James Jackson! What in the blazes are you doing, boy?”

Recovering quickly, I shook the whiskey off my hand and turned to face my grandfather, who was quite literally the best man I knew. He was also just a tad dramatic. I huffed out a laugh as I answered him, “Really, Pop? My full government name? You really think the situation’s all that dire?”

“When I come out here to find you pouring my good whiskey on the floor, you’re damned right it’s dire. You just decide to treat the whole damned floor to a free drink?”

I couldn’t help but smile at him, which just seemed to infuriate him all the more. “Your good whiskey? This is hardly your good whiskey, Pop. It’s just—“ He cut me off before I could finish my sentence.

“Do these fine folks pay for that whiskey?” he asked.

I had thought it was a rhetorical question until he glared at me, clearly expecting an answer. I resisted rolling my eyes at him, but just barely. “Yes, they pay for it.”

“If they pay for it, then as far I’m concerned, it’s my good whiskey. And I sure as hell don’t need you watering the floor with it. What’s wrong with you anyway, Sunny? You froze up like you’d seen a damned ghost.”

I glanced back over at the mountain of a man still standing in front of the door, only now, he was doing his best to look anywhere but at me. My grandfather followed my line of sight before recognition hit his eyes as he noticed the man.

He spoke directly to him. “Oh, hey, Gage. Come on in, your booth’s open. Sorry about my grandson. He’s not usually so… this.” He waved his hand toward me dismissively. Then, turning back to me, he said, “Close your mouth, boy. You’re gonna catch flies with your mouth hanging wide open like that.”

I internally scoffed.Please, my mouth was not open.But, as I went to tell him just that, I realized he had been right.Fuck me. My mouth had been hanging wide open. And is that a drop of drool in the corner of my mouth? Goddamn it!Surreptitiously wiping the corner of my mouth as I closed it, I glared at my annoying-as-hell grandfather. “The only flies in here are the ones buzzing around your old carcass, Pop.”

“Nice comeback, Sunny,” he huffed at me while patting my shoulder in the most condescending way possible.

“Whatever. I have work to do.” I shook him off as I turned around and headed to the other end of the bar. There was nothing at that end of the bar for me to do, but I had wanted to put some much-needed space between me and the god-among-men still standing near the front door. As I walked away, I muttered under my breath, “And thatwasa great comeback.” Perfect. I was acting like a bratty, eight-year-old version of myself. That’s always an attractive trait in a man.

I heard my grandfather asking the newcomer if he wanted his usual. And I thought I heard the man grunt in the affirmative. He was a man of few words, apparently. Actually, I didn’t think I’d heard him use even one word.Who was this man?And what was it Pop had called him? Gage? Sexy name for a sexy man.Out of the corner of my eye, I watched him walk to the back corner booth and take a seat. The gorgeous man had to be around 6’4” and stacked with muscle, with sandy-brown hair and a well-trimmed, full beard. And he was dressed in quintessential, mountain-man chic with faded blue jeans, hiking boots, and a blue and green flannel over a matching Henley which was, of course, completely unbuttoned.

Oh, lord help me!The man was man-spreading—just sprawled out on the bench seat of the booth with his legs spread wide,his back against the wall, with one arm on the table and the other thrown up across the back of the booth. He looked like a king surveying his kingdom as he looked around. His eyes briefly met mine as they swept the bar, and I quickly looked down, becoming suddenly very interested in polishing a glass that absolutely did not need to be polished.Real smooth, Cooper. Why was this man getting to me so much? And why was I acting like a damned schoolboy with a crush? I was a man, damn it! I had motherfucking game for days! Usually.

Pop interrupted my internal spiraling by shoving a glass of whiskey into my hands. “Thanks, Pop. I could really use this,” I said as I lifted the glass to my lips for a drink. Before I could, though, Pop swiped it out of my hands, nearly spilling the precious amber liquid. I cold tell just from the smell of it that this whiskey actuallywasthe good stuff. “What the hell? Why’d you give it to me just to cruelly snatch it away? You’re evil, old man.”

He let out the most dramatic, put-upon sigh I think I’d ever heard and had the nerve to actually roll his eyes at me. “It’s not for you. It’s for Gage. Take it over to his booth.”

“Why can’t you do it?” I asked, sulky as all hell, because apparently my eight-year-old self was still driving the ship.

“Because it’s my bar, and you work for me. Now, deliver the damned drink. And introduce yourself while you’re there. I don’t want Gage thinking you’ve been raised completely without manners. You haven’t made the best impression so far, what with the slack-jawed drooling and all.” He didn’t even try to hide his smirk, which I steadfastly ignored.

Instead of acknowledging his jab, I screwed up my courage and tried to find the grown man I knew myself to be as Igrabbed up the drink and made my way to the booth. Time to be the charming devil I usually was. So what if he was beyond gorgeous? I’d pulled plenty of gorgeous men in my time. Granted, I didn’t typically have to give myself an internal pep talk to do it, but needs must and all that. I was going to saunter my fine ass over there and charm the damned very-well-fitting jeans off of him. By the time I made it to the booth, Gage had his head down staring at his phone.Wait. Did he completely miss my sexy saunter? Goddamn it!

“Uh, hey.”Seriously, that’s the best I could come up with? Uh, hey? I think my swagger might be broken. This man has broken my fucking swagger.“Pop asked me to bring over your drink and introduce myself—something about him not wanting you to think he raised me without manners.” It was then I noticed I was still holding his drink and just staring at the poor man, so I hurriedly sat it down in front of him. He barely spared me a glance as he gave me a quietly mumbled “Thank you.” So, I just barreled on, determined to get his attention. I was sure that weird moment at the door was not all me. No way it was just in my head. At the very least, I was going to force this mountain man Adonis to make eye contact with me.

“I’m Cooper, by the way. Most people call me CJ, though. It’s short for Cooper James, after my grandfather. He goes by Jim, but his actual name is James. You’re Gage, right?”Geez, ramble much? He doesn’t need your life story,I internally chided myself. Finally, he looked up at me, albeit much too briefly for my liking. But all he said was a muttered “Uh huh,” before looking back down at his phone again.

That’s it? No way that’s all I’m getting out of him.I was actually starting to get a little pissed, which was good because the anger burned right through my nerves from earlier. This manwouldtalk to me, one way or another.I bet if I just sat down in his damned lap, he’d have something to say. Mmmm. Now, didn’t that bring up some naughty thoughts? I could just imagine straddling those thick thighs of his and seating myself right over what I’m sure would be a very impressive cock. Lord, if it’s even halfway proportionate with his overall size, I would be a very happy boy indeed sitting atop it.I had apparently lost myself to my imagined fantasy, because I realized I was again just standing at his booth staring at the man when I heard my grandfather’s booming voice. I whipped my head around toward him when I realized it was directed at me.

“Sunny, what the hell are you doing? I told you to give Gage his drink and introduce yourself, not stalk the poor man. At this rate, he’s going to have to slap a restraining order on your ass before he’s even had a chance to finish his drink.”

I reddened slightly before looking at Gage, who was finally staring back at me. Although, instead of the longing I had wanted to see in his eyes, I only saw confusion. And perhaps a little amusement.Wait a minute. Was he laughing at me? Or more precisely, trying to hold in a laugh. Now, this I could work with.

“You never know, Pop. He might like being stalked by me. I’m a very attentive stalker,” I all but purred to Gage, giving him my best flirty, lopsided smile—the one that usually got me whatever I wanted from men. And this time, it was the big man who reddened. It was a little harder to tell with that full beard, but he was definitely blushing.Point, me. Finally.

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