Page 4 of Mail Order Mountain Man

I reach for her hand. It’s cold.She’s cold.Cole, you fucking moron. She’s freezing. Of course, she’s freezing. I’ve been keeping her out here to talk while she stands in a dripping wet dress. “I won’t hurt you. I promise. Text a friend and let them know where you’re going.” I hand her my card. “That’s my home address. I’ll warm you up and cook you a good meal. If nothing comes of tonight, we’ll both walk the other way and pretend this never happened.”

She stares at me a moment longer, then down at the wood carving on the business card, before glancing up at me again. “Okay. I’ll give you dinner tonight, but that’s it.”

I smirk, finally understanding what it means when people say,‘when you know, you know.’Because right now, without any other data points, I know this woman is in my future, even if she doesn’t believe it yet.

Chapter Three

Junie

“I’m almost there!” I shout the words out to Maggie, who’s screaming on the other end of the line.

“Oh my God. This is so hot! He’s your forbidden romance and you’re his soaking wet love slave.”

“Gross. Stop.”

“No way! I love it. Daddy won’t let you touch him, so now you have to fuck him even harder. I’m jealous.”

“Don’t be. Besides, you read too much. It’s not like that.” I roll my eyes as I flick on my blinker, following the black pickup truck up a steep incline. “He’s actually kind of sweet. I spilled my coffee all over myself and so he spilled his, too.”

She laughs. “On you?”

“No! On himself,” I laugh.

“So, you’re both insane? Nice. What’s he look like? Construction worker sexy, with bulging muscles tearing out from behind a tight white t-shirt?”

I’m hesitant to tell her how gorgeous he is. She always makes too much out of everything. “It doesn’t matter what he looks like. It matters that we connect.”

“Right, right, right, but what does he look like?”

I sigh, thinking over how to describe how much of a goliath he is. “To start, he’s tall.”

“How tall?”

“Probably six and a half feet.”

“Okay,” she says sarcastically. “What else?”

“He’s dark featured, a great smile, and he’s got big biceps and strong shoulders. Oh, and tattoos. Loads of tattoos.”

Her voice contorts as she says, “Then why is he still single?”

“My thoughts exactly. All I can figure is he’s weird and kind of abrasive.”

“All men are abrasive. It can’t be just that.”

“Well,” I say, turning onto his stone driveway, “I’m about to find out. If I don’t call you by midnight, send help.”

She laughs. “You better do something juicy tonight. I’m living vicariously through you, remember?”

“Love you!” I put my phone back in my bag and stare out at the property Cole has taken me to. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but the night keeps getting more and more interesting.

His cabin sits on acreage that stretches for what seems like an eternity. Wide open land dotted with towering pines and glacial boulders that’ve made their way down ages ago. Pink and purple skies light up the landscape and highlight the majesty of a cabin that’s being expanded on.

“It’s not as bad as it looks.” Cole stretches down from his truck and unlocks the front door of the cabin, which looks to be custom carved with two trout and a splashing stream. It’s gorgeous. The detail of the fins and the sanding of the door brings the scene to life.

“Bad? Is this one of those times when people say something is bad because they’re fishing for compliments?”

He shakes his head, and that warm smile comes back. “Nope. I was worried all the way here that you’d turn and run once you saw the mess.”

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