Page 80 of Snowed In With the Mountain Man
Dahlia knew it was a mistake the second the door slammed behind her. She wasn’t even dressed for this weather. But she stepped into the snow anyway.
The wind whipped around her, but she didn’t stop. She pushed forward, pressing into the wind, shutting her eyes against the sting of snow and the slap of her hair as it flew into her face.
It was stupid to storm off, even stupider to storm off into a snowstorm with zero protection against the elements. But she wasn’t thinking.
She just had to get out of that cabin.
Away from that man.
The one she thought she knew but obviously didn’t!
Her throat swelled, and she struggled to swallow as she staggered against the win. She wouldn’t go far. She may be acting crazy, but she wasn’t totally insane, just…
Oh heck, she didn’t know what she was… other than angry.
No. It wasn’t anger, it was hurt. Disappointment. Shock.
Maybe disillusionment?
JJ had been so perfect. She’d been struggling to fault him for anything more than an overly sunny outlook on life.
Why? Why did he have to be so freaking human after all?
She shook her head and swiped at the long dark locks that were blinding her. A bitter toxic sludge seemed to be making its way through her, coiling in her belly and sliding through her veins. She wrapped her arms tightly around herself as another strong gust hit her, cutting straight through her clothes.
She had to turn back. And she would…just as soon as she calmed down. Just as soon as she could face him again.
But she couldn’t face JJ like this, not when her insides felt like he’d shredded them.
Then I left.
So simply stated like it wasn’t a big deal. Then I bought milk. Then I did the laundry. ThenI left my wife.
She gulped in air but it did nothing to cool the fire in her belly.
Why had she thought he was different?
Stupid, stupid Dahlia.
How many times would she have to learn that men did not stay? No one did. Her stomach churned even as some weak part of her mind tried to say,But that’s not fair.
Her pulse roared as loudly as the wind. Stumbling forward a few steps, she sheltered beneath a tree. It groaned under the weight of the snow, but its trunk offered some protection from the wind.
She just needed a moment. She wouldn’t stay out here for long.
But she couldn’t spend another second in that tiny little cabin with that big mountain man.
That big, gorgeous man who left his wife!
Even as she thought it, she heard JJ bellowing for her.
Her heart slammed against her rib cage. He’d come after her? Into this blizzard?
And that meant… what?
A few minutes ago, she might’ve taken it to mean something real. That he was dependable. Responsible.
But responsible, trustworthy, loyal men didn’t ditch their wives. They didn’t come across the country and hide out in a cabin in the woods when they had a family back home waiting for them.
