Page 7 of Masked Mountain Man
What if I catch it?
What if Autumn catches it and hands it to Bale?
“One.” Jessa starts the countdown.
“Two.” I wipe my suddenly clammy hands on my dress.
“Three.” Jessa tosses the bouquet over her shoulder as we all jockey for position.
The bouquet flies through the air, drifting slightly to the left before landing right into Iclyn’s hands. Iclyn’s head jerks up, her eyes wide with shock. A massive mountain man steps in front of her with a grin I can only describe as wicked. “Oh, hell no.” She slaps the bouquet against his chest and dashes off the dance floor.
“Well, that was entertaining,” Autumn wiggles her eyebrows, making everyone around her laugh except the man holding the bridal bouquet—his eyes are still on Iclyn’s retreating back.
“I think I’m going to head home and go to bed.” I step toward our table to grab my purse when a pair of strong arms grabs me and throws me over his shoulder.
“I don’t think so, unless it’s our home and our bed.” Bale runs a hand over my ass. "Now, be a good girl and let your man take care of you.”
I should be mortified by his behavior, but instead, I’m preening like a peacock as he publicly claims me at the wedding reception.
“I was wrong,” Autumn calls after us. “That was entertaining.”
seven
Bale
Instead of taking herback to my cabin like I want to, I head straight for the old hunting cabin a few yards away from the main house. It’s far enough to give us some privacy, yet close enough that if she only wants to talk and nothing more, I can take her back to the reception after we’re done.
I push open the front door, switch on the light, and walk into the living room, where I find it clean thanks to Bay’s restless nature—he keeps all the cabins on his property clean and stocked with food and supplies.
Carefully, I lower her to the ground, waiting for her to regain her balance before I let go of her. “Are you doing okay?” I place a hand back on her waist because I can’t stop touching her.
“I’m alright. I just need to sit for a moment.” She takes a seat on the leather couch, the red-brown leather matching her hair.
Fuck. I’ve really fucked this up.
“Do you want me to take you back to the party?” It’s the last thing I want to do, but if she wants to go back, I’ll take her.
“Actually, what I want to know is if I was so special to you, what took you so long to return to the garden, if you returned at all.”
“I was a fool and let the eccentricities of a lonely old lady influence my decision to stay longer than I should have after I saved Mr. Snuggles, when I should have been spending time with my girl, letting her know how much she means to me.”
“But you don’t even know me.”
“I know enough to want to spend the rest of my life loving you and our children.”
She studies my face for a few moments before taking a deep breath, “I need to show you something before you declare yourundying love for me. Once you see that I’m a fraud, you’ll want to take me back to the reception.”
The sadness in her voice guts me. I never want to see her sad again. “There’s nothing about you that would make me not want you.” I reach for her hand, but she pulls it back and stands to face me.
“You say that now…” she trails off, lifting her dress over her head and tossing it onto the couch, leaving herself standing in front of me in some strange swimsuit, or at least I think it’s a swimsuit. “It’s called shapewear.” When I don’t say anything, she continues. “Women wear it to smooth out the lumps and bumps of their bodies they don’t want anyone to see.”
I can only look at her in disbelief. Why would she want to torture herself in that tight undergarment? It looks like it’s digging into her skin—that can’t be comfortable.
“Off,” I say. “Take that damn thing off.”
“Excuse me?”
When she doesn’t move fast enough, I stomp to the kitchen, grab a pair of scissors from the drawer, then stride back to her. “I never want to see you wearing something like this again.” I slice through the fabric, cutting away at such an evil contraption. “You’re mine. If I ever see you wearing something like this again, I’m going to spank your ass until it’s bright red.” I continue to slice away at the material until she’s left wearing nothing but high heels. I set the scissors on the coffee table, then take herhands in mine and step back, admiring her in all her naked glory. “Beautiful.”
