Page 3 of Mountain Man's Autumn Angel
What was I doing? I shook my head as I got behind the wheel and considered my options. I lived a full half hour away, so I couldn’t just pop by my apartment and change. That meant I was going in the clothes I’d worn all day.
This wasn't a date, though—just a business meeting, or at least that's how we'd playfully framed it. But I had a job. Crafts were just something I did on the side. Was I going to quit my decent-paying gig as an assistant at a real estate office in my hometown and move here? No, I could help out with his crafts fair on the side, but it definitely couldn’t be a full-time venture.
Sighing, I started the engine and headed toward the diner. I was being silly about the whole thing. It wasn’t like I could date this mountain man, even if he was hotter than I’d ever imagined my online boyfriend as being. But I felt betrayed by Lumberjack47 anyway.
Yeah, I was a mess.
My heart was pounding as I entered the diner. The place was packed—no surprise, considering the market had just ended.
“It’ll be about a twenty-minute wait,” the teenage hostess told me.
“There’s not a guy waiting alone for me already, is there?” I asked, looking around.
It was a stupid question. I could see for myself there was no gorgeous mountain man just sitting at a booth by himself. No, every table was filled with families, and a familiar pang shot through me. I'd actually gotten my hopes up that I might have kids of my own someday—that I'd finally get Lumberjack47 to meet me, it would be love at first sight, and we'd be married within weeks.
But suddenly, all that felt wrong. How could it be love at first sight when what I’d felt with Luca had been so strong? Overpowering, almost.
I moved over to the side and stood awkwardly near the bathrooms while more people poured in, filling the area between the door and the counter where they served ice cream. On busy nights like this, they served full dinners to those who sat there. But there was no seat available at the counter, either. It was a shame. I liked the thought of sitting side by side with Luca, our arms occasionally brushing, the heat from his body radiating over toward me.
I stared down at my phone, checking for a message from my lumberjack. Nothing. Just a couple of notifications about orders that had been placed. I’d have to package all that up and ship it when I got home.
“Melanie?”
I turned toward the voice and there he was—Luca, weaving through the crowd toward me. He’d changed clothes, trading his festival attire for dark jeans and a flannel shirt that made his shoulders look impossibly broad.
“You made it,” he said, that slow smile spreading across his face.
“Barely. This place is crazy busy.”
“Yeah, I should have thought of that. The whole festival crowd descends on this place every night.” He glanced around, then back at me. “You know what? Forget this. I’ve got a better idea.”
“Oh?”
“My place isn’t far. I could make us dinner. Nothing fancy—just burgers on the grill, maybe some of that oat milk coffee you love so much afterward.”
The words hit me like a physical blow. I stared at him, my heart suddenly hammering for an entirely different reason.
“What did you just say?”
His face went pale. “I said…burgers on the grill?”
“No. After that. About the oat milk.”
He ran a hand through his hair, looking suddenly nervous. “I…well, I noticed you ordered it at the coffee stand earlier. At the festival.”
“I never ordered coffee at the festival today, Luca.”
The silence stretched between us, broken only by the chatter of the crowd around us. I watched as the realization dawned in his eyes—that he’d given himself away.
“You’re him,” I whispered. “You’re Lumberjack47.”
He closed his eyes briefly, then opened them and looked directly at me. “Yes.”
“The cartoon lumberjack avatar. It really did look like you.”
“I’m sorry, Melanie. I wanted to tell you so many times, but?—”
“But what? You thought it would be fun to mess with my head? Make me think I was developing feelings for two different men?”
