Page 3 of Being with the Mountain Man

The gorgeous woman nodded, her bright green eyes shining. Warmth and sunshine radiated off her, and she just looked…sohappy.

My grumpy self couldn’t take it.

“I write children’s books. I’m starting a new series about a little boy who lives in an apple orchard.”

“Really,” I deadpanned even though a thousand curious questions brewed in my head. “I hope you’re not coming here thinking you can use my son to write your book.”

Her eyes went wide. “Oh no. No, of course not. I had no idea there was even a family who lived here. Like I said, I stumbled upon your orchard on a walk. While admiring your beautiful apple trees, the perfect story idea popped into my head. Seeing your adorable son was icing on the cake.”

My heart ached because I knew I was being too hard on this woman, but protecting my son and my land was my priority. Not making nice with the lady renting space down the road. A very gorgeous, voluptuous ginger I yearned to kiss.

Kiss? Get the fuck out of here with that shit.

“Da Da! Me get down! Now!” Sammy wiggled in my arms, but I held him tighter.

“In a second, buddy. We need to show the lady out of the orchard.”

“No! No lady leave!” Sammy wrapped his arms around my neck and began to cry. His reaction took me by surprise.

“Aw, Sammy, that’s so nice of you. But I’m sure the lady is busy. And you, mister, need to take a nap.”

Sammy wailed louder. “No! No nap!”

Shit, that was definitely the wrong thing to say.

“Hey, Sammy, do you think you can show me some of the apples?”

Sammy’s tears instantly stopped, and he nodded vigorously as he wiggled his way out of my grasp. I set him down gently, and he walked over to her. She offered her hand, and he took it without hesitation.

Sammy was normally a shy child, so to see him so open with this woman he met barely five minutes ago threw me for a loop.

“My name is Leighton, but you can call me L.” She beamed down at him as he looked up at her like she was the most exciting person he’d ever met. I could just imagine the look on my mother’s face as her precious grandson looked at another woman the way he always looked at her.

Leighton. Leighton. Leighton.

I repeated her name in my head. Such a pretty name for a pretty woman.

“Apparently, my son is quite smitten,” I said as I walked behind them. “Should we give her a tour, Sammy?”

Sammy cheered, “Yes!”

“I’m Cash, by the way,” I grunted, offering her my hand. I’d be nice for my son, but that was it. Then I’d happily show her the way off my orchard.

“Nice to meet you, Cash. You have a beautiful place here and an even cuter son.”

“Thanks.” I kept the conversation to a minimum while I showed her around. Sammy and Leighton laughed, and as much as I didn’t want to engage, how could I not? I might’ve been ahuge grumpy bear, but I was not around my son. He saw the best of me every day.

By the time we walked around the entire orchard, all three of us were smiling and laughing. And when we led Leighton back to where she came from, a part of me didn’t want the tour to end.

A crazy, stupid part of me wanted to invite her inside my cabin for dinner. But I needed to put the brakes on. I couldn’t let my son get caught up in a woman we might never see again.

“Okay, Sammy, say goodbye to the nice lady.”

Sammy stomped his feet and shook his head. “No! No lady leave!”

“Yes, she needs to go, and you, sir, need a nap.”

“No! No! No!” Sammy screamed and threw himself on the ground.

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