Page 16 of A Baby for the Mountain Man

I gape at her. “You don’t think I should tell him?”

“No, of course I think you should tell him. But I don’t think you should do it by phone. This sort of thing calls for doing it in person.”

“In case you haven’t noticed, he hardly lives in the neighborhood.”

“Details, details. I have a million frequent flyer miles. You can use some of mine to get a ticket to Alaska.”

I shake my head. “But won’t he be weirded out if I just show up at his place unannounced?”

“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of those details.” She jumps to her feet and wraps her arms around me. “I can’t believe it. We’re having a baby.”

I give a little laugh then, allowing myself to feel excited and happy for the first time today.

She pulls back slightly. “I have just one question.”

“Just one? I have about a million of them.”

“Well, one for now. There are plenty of other questions we can cover later.” She looks at me closely. “You love him. Don’t you? You have for a long time. Right?”

I nod and swallow past a sudden lump in my throat. “I do. I have.”

“Good.” She gives me another squeeze. “Make not mistake, you and this baby are the best thing that has ever happened to Cliff. You’re exactly what he needs.”

EIGHT

CLIFF

I reach into my kitchen cupboard, and I’m annoyed to see that my favorite mug isn’t there. I glance over at the sink, where it’s still sitting unwashed. I glare at it and grab the other clean mug.

When you live as simply as I do, you really only have two mugs. But when the favorite is dirty, beggars can’t be choosers.

Grumbling to myself, I fill the cup with coffee, and I’m momentarily distracted by the memory of bringing Sophie a cup of coffee in bed before I had to catch my flight back.

She’d looked so beautiful there, curled up in the white sheets of the lodge’s bed. Her cheeks were flushed with embarrassment as she pulled the sheet up to cover her chest, while her long brown hair fell into waves over her shoulder.

I thought she’d looked gorgeous at the wedding, with her hair swept up and her soft skin on display over the deep cut of the dress’s top. But she looked even better like that. Naked and in my bed.

Coffee spills over the edge of the mug, burning my hand. Hissing, I mutter a few choice words and slam the pot back in place.

“What the fuck is wrong with me?”

I’ve been like this ever since I got back from Winter’s wedding.

Distracted.

Horny.

Short-tempered. Even more than usual.

You’d think I was a moonstruck kid in love for the first time, the way my thoughts keep wandering back to Sophie and the short time we had together. It was a good time. Great even.

Okay, it was nothing short of incredible.

But we both agreed it was just one night. I don’t do relationships, and Sophie… Well, she seemed to be okay with that. The fact that I haven’t heard from her since that night proves the point.

Then again, I suppose I could call her too. But what would be the point? She lives in Seattle, and I’m here.

Without thinking, I take a huge gulp of coffee and nearly spit it all out.

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