Page 5 of Assembling with the Mountain Man

“My best friend moved here, fell in love with a mountain man, and lived happily ever after. I figured, why not I try?”

He looked at me like I couldn’t be serious.

“It’s the truth. But really, I missed my best friend a lot. Plus, I landed a really cool job. Which as you can see, my first day isn’t going so well. My boss was great. She called me right away and said she’d find a tow truck. But last I heard from her, there was a three hour wait for one.”

“Doesn’t surprise me. Where are you working?”

“Hmm, should I be telling a stranger so much about me?”

“Trust me, we won’t be strangers by the end of this.” Lucian said with so much confidence, I squeezed my legs together.

“I work with Amara at her new flower shop.” My eyes flicked over to his. I wanted to run my fingers through his beard. Iwanted to kiss his lips and see if he tasted as sweet as I imagined he did.

“That’s awesome. I heard she was looking for some help after her store seemed to grow in popularity overnight.”

“I’ve always enjoyed making custom floral arrangements. And for a long time, it was hard finding a good-paying job doing what I loved. So, when this opportunity came up, I took it as a sign to finally take the leap and move here.”

“That’s admirable, Chevelle. Few people take chances. I recently took a chance myself and I still feel guilt around it.”

“Why guilt?”

“My family owns the garden center in town. The one I imagine you bought all the flowers from?” Lucian pointed at my back seat, and I nodded in response. “I’ve worked there, spent countless hours there, and it’s like a second home. But it’s not my passion. Not like my father’s anyway. I’ve always been interested in construction, so with the new construction crew in town, I jumped aboard. Luckily, the foreman took me under his wing as an apprentice. But leaving the family business…” He blew out a breath as his shoulders sagged. “I don’t want my dad disappointed. He says he’s not, but I don’t know…I wonder if he’s only saying that to spare my feelings.”

“I’m sure he wants to see you happy. And if that’s doing construction, then so be it. Sure, he’ll probably always wish you stayed with the family business, and that’s okay. Parents can expect and want for their kids, but they’re going to grow into their own person, no matter what.”

Lucian fell silent as he studied me. Did I say too much?

“I’m sorry, did I overstep? I didn’t mean to.”

He shook his head. “Not at all. I enjoyed hearing what you had to say.”

“I understand how you feel. My dad is a lawyer, retired now, but he wanted me to follow. Law was like a foreign languageto me. He got over it, but I always wondered if he thought differently on the inside. Eventually, I let the guilt go. He was happy for me, and I needed to be happy for myself. You’ll get there.”

Lucian’s eyes held mine in a locked gaze. Silence fell between us as time slowly ticked by, the rain pelting the roof as the sky lit up and crackled.

I wanted to ask him what he was thinking. Feeling. Wanting.

What I wanted was loud and clear, at least in my mind.

Kiss me.

Kiss me.

KISS ME!

Lucian leaned forward. “I think I know what might make me happy…kissing you.”

Yes!

His lips found mine in the small space of my car and the rest of the world, the wind, the rain, all of it melted away as I lost myself in his kiss.

Down, down, down, I fell for the mountain man.

And I loved every second.

CHAPTER FOUR

Lucian

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