Page 6 of The Mountain Man's Desires

She gasped, and a nervous giggle escaped her throat. It only turned me on more.

I kissed her one last time and reluctantly pulled myself off her. “I’ll pick you up tonight at seven. Wear something fancy.” I winked before I turned and left.

I walked out of the library a changed man that day.

A man who had all of his dreams come true.

CHAPTERFOUR

Lena

“Are you staying for dinner, Auntie?”Brooke, my adorable niece, asked me from the back seat of my SUV.

I made eye contact with her from my rearview mirror, only her face visible above the tall stack of books in her hands. Let’s just say Brooke loved every book she saw. If there wasn’t a limit, I was sure she’d take the entire library home with her. But I loved her interest in books. It reminded me of myself at her age; my love for reading emerged when I was young and never stopped. I either had a book in my hand or I was searching the stacks for my next binge. “I can’t tonight, sweetie. But maybe tomorrow?”

Brooke pouted, and I instantly felt bad. I would usually stay. I often took advantage of dinner at my brother Graham’s, even now with Dallas there. She only added to the fun. Plus, seeing my lovesick brother acting like a fool was a damn good time.

But tonight was special. Something I didn’t think would ever happen finally was. “I’m sorry, Brookie cookie. I have dinner plans.”

“Dinner plans? What’s that?”

“I’m meeting someone for dinner tonight.”

I glanced between her and the road, her face scrunched up as she tried to process. She was too cute. “Who?”

Oh, children and their innocence. I wasn’t sure if I should tell her, but I figured it wasn’t like Graham didn’t know. Oh my God, what was I doing? Hashing out my conversation with a five-year-old?

“You know Daddy’s best friend, Shane? You call him Uncle Shane.”

“Yah, duh, Auntie!” Brooke pretended to roll her eyes, and I had to try so hard to hold back my laugh.

“I’m going to dinner with him.”

“Oh! Okay! Are we almost home? I gotta pee!”

I chuckled. “Yes, a couple more minutes.”

Brooke jiggled in her booster seat, and the books started sliding. Sure enough, they began crashing to the floorboard, one at a time.

“Oh no, Auntie!”

“It’s okay. I’ll get them,” I said as I pulled into my brother’s driveway. After I parked and shut off the engine, I unbuckled Brooke and led her inside so she could use the bathroom. After retrieving her books, I went back inside to say hi to Graham and Dallas.

They sat at the kitchen table, heads touching, hands intertwined, whispering frantically.

“Hey,” I said from the doorway, and both of them jumped backward.

What the hell was going on?

“Hey, Sis, sorry I didn’t even hear you come in.” Graham jumped to his feet. “Where’s Brooke?”

“She’s using the bathroom.” I set her stack of books on the table. I expected Graham to lay into me about Shane since he wasn’t here now to defend us, but instead, he collapsed back in his chair, his face pale. He wiped some sweat off his brow. I looked at Dallas, and she looked just as sick, but she’d been feeling that way since she got pregnant. “What’s up? You two don’t look well. How did the doctor’s appointment go? Is something wrong?” My stomach twisted at the thought. Maybe that was why they were upset.

“Nothing’s wrong. We found out some big news, and we’re still trying to process it all.”

My eyes bounced back and forth between them. “Okay, good news, I hope…are you gonna tell me?”

Dallas covered her mouth with her hand. “Excuse me.” She bolted from the table, almost knocking into Brooke as she exited the bathroom.

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