Page 5 of Cozy with the Mountain Man
Silence fell between us as I contemplated my options. He was a stranger. This was crazy. I needed to call Hailey and work out some sort of plan.
“Rowan, thank you. I mean it. But I don’t know you. I can’t just stay in your house after stumbling here while lost in the woods. I’ll figure something out once I get my friend on the phone.”
Rowan dropped his hands to his sides and stood abruptly, causing Louie to scramble to his feet and wag his tail. “Listen, I’m not good with this…this…this shit or whatever.” I waved my hand around as I paced the living room.
I waited for him to continue, giving him the space he needed to gather his thoughts.
“I’m not around people very often. Not since…” He swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat. “Not since the accident. So my people skills aren’t top-notch. I’m a grumpy bastard who likes to be left alone. Ask anyone in town, and they’ll tell you. But you, Jules…I don’t know what it is, but you make me feel alive again. Hopeful. Like possibilities are out there where maybe I won’t be so damn cold anymore.” Rowantugged at his hair and sat down beside me on the loveseat, his large form taking up his side and some of mine.
There was so much of him everywhere, and I loved it. I wanted to drown myself in it.In him.
He swiveled his body toward mine. “Please tell me I’m not crazy and you feel it, too.” His dark brown eyes searched mine, and I was fucking putty in his hands. No other way around it. This man, this hot-as-sin man, had some crazy power over me.
Was that what it felt like to fall hard and fast for someone?
Was that what Hailey meant when she always said, “You’ll know when it’s right, because it’ll feel like a punch to the gut?”
God, what is this man doing to me?
I was usually so sure of myself, confident in my decisions, but not around him. I couldn’t tell if it was a good thing or a bad thing.
But one thing I would not do is lie to him. He deserved the truth.
“You’re not crazy,” I whispered.
He took my hands in his, his large bear paws swallowing my small ones. As soon as our skin touched, it was electric. Magnetic.
Addicting.
“I feel it too,” I said as Rowan moved closer, his eyes falling to my lips and back up again until we were mere inches from each other, our breath mixing together.
“Can I kiss you?” he whispered so softly, I almost didn’t hear it.
I nodded, and before I could even blink, his lips were on mine, crashing together in a fury of passion and desire.
How there was so much between us I didn’t know, couldn’t understand, but didn’t care. Not when he tasted like the sweetest, ripest fruit.
Everything around me fell away, and it was only me, him, and the roaring fire. My hunger gone, my chills gone, all of it gone from his sweet kisses.
It was then that I knew my life had changed forever.
All from stumbling onto his cabin in the woods.
CHAPTER FOUR
Beckett
“Your beef stew is delicious.How did you learn to cook so well? Did you teach yourself?”
I smiled as memories flooded my mind. Good ones this time. “My grandma. Or Mee-maw, as she liked to be called. She cooked amazing food. She was always in the kitchen, fixing to make something, whether it was that night’s dinner or dessert, the next day’s breakfast, or a special treat, or hell, even just to cook. I watched her often as a little boy, sitting at the kitchen table and watching her move about the kitchen, a towel slung over her shoulder. One day, she asked me if I wanted to learn. It sort of took off from there. Let’s just say I eat well.”
“That’s so sweet, Rowan. It must’ve been so special to you. Plus, she taught you a valuable skill. I love to cook for myself. Mainly self-taught by experimenting. I also love to look up YouTube videos and try to learn new skills that way.”
“What’s your favorite dish to cook?” I tore a piece of my crusty bread and dipped it in the beef stew before popping it inmy mouth, the comforting flavors exploding on my taste buds. Mee-maw’s recipe never failed to deliver.
“I make a pretty good meatloaf.”
“I love meatloaf. You’ll have to make it for me sometime.”
