Page 22 of Christmas Hike With The Mountain Man
It was early on Christmas morning, and I didn’t want to get up. I wanted to keep her here, imprisoned with me for the rest of our lives.
This woman completed me after I’d given up on the thought of love.
I was in my mid-forties, and I’d never found the one. I’d just assumed all that talk about love was some kind of lie people told each other because they got lonely and wanted to have someone around.
But now I understood.
It was an aching pain in the chest. A heart so consumed by emotion that it couldn’t feel anything but love and loss, all intermingled together in one beating mass.
“Merry Christmas, Katie-Peach.”
She planted a soft kiss on my lips, then burrowed her face into my beard. “Merry Christmas, Boone.”
Then she sighed. “I’ve never been invited to meet any of my ex-boyfriend’s families before. It figures that I’d have a crazy one-night stand with a random mountain man and he’d invite me home for the holidays.”
That stung. “I think we’re more than a one-night stand,” I growled out.
“Right,” she said. “A one-week stand. Or maybe half a week? The full two weeks if you don’t get bored with me. Either way, I guess we’re coming to an end soon.”
Damn it. Even if it were true, I didn’t want to hear it!
I stiffened, then shrugged out of her arms and sat on the edge of the bed staring at my floor.
“What’s wrong, Boone?”
Swallowing hard, I told her, “I just don’t want to be reminded that you’re leaving. I might be taking this more seriously than you, and… I’m not used to that.”
Her eyes got wide, and she sat up in bed, her gorgeous tits on display as the quilts pooled around her hips.
“What do you mean by that?”
I let out a growl. “I just… like you, Katie. And that doesn’t happen to me often.”
It had never happened before. Not like this.
Delicate fingers wrapped around my elbow. “Are you saying that you want this to be more than just a few days together?”
It was hard to let someone in.
Hard to take a risk.
But I’d already let her in.
I’d given her the key and opened the door to my heart.
I might as well take it all the way. “Yeah. I know that’s not realistic. You don’t even live here. But… I wish you did. I wish you didn’t have to go home.”
She blinked rapidly, her nakedness completely forgotten. “Be clear with me, Boone. What are you saying? Are you saying you want me to stay?”
It was the hardest thing I’d ever had to say.
I already felt the loss of her in my bones.
But I had to try. I had to fight for a chance with her.
So I told her the complete and unvarnished truth. “I’ve never felt this way about anyone before. Yes, I’d like you to stay so we can explore this. Exploreus. My cabin has plenty of room. It might not be fancy, but it’s paid for. And I can look after your needs. Or you could work. Your choice. I’ve always wanted babies.”
At that, a laugh burst out of her mouth, and I realized I’d been rambling.
