Page 15 of Enemy Boss's Baby Surprise

I pull the car forward the slowest it can go. As the tires creep over the bridge, I hear it strain beneath me. My god, how can this be legal?

I want to look out the window so badly to see how high up I am, but I also know that would kill me and I’d stall out right here and now, left to live the rest of my life on this bridge. “Just…keep…going.”

Once my tires reach the lightly paved road on the other side of the bridge, I breathe the biggest sigh of relief I have ever breathed.

Maybe Ishouldhave invited Amy just so she had to do that drive instead of me. Because lord knows I’ll be dreading doing it to go get more groceries.

For now, though, I put the bridge in the rearview, literally and figuratively. The road spirals a little bit before opening up onto a plot of land with a tall log cabin erected right in the center. It’s beautiful, like something out of Architecture Digest. It’s made up of dark, cherry wood, and there are plenty of windows giving a three-sixty view of the property and the Sierra Nevada in the distance.

Yeah, this is going to be good.

I get out of the car and start to unload things bit by bit. I have all the time in the world. And being out here in the wilderness certainly lends to that feeling. Trees are never in a hurry. Neither is the grass. Mountains. The animals.

Everything out here is completely different from the hubbub of LA and California.

I’ve needed to slow down.

Suddenly, there’s a thumping sound. I look around for the source. I hear it again, this time more clearly. I shoot my gaze in the direction of the house.

Shit. Is someone here?

I shake it off.Keep calm, Kira. There are going to be lots of noises out here you won’t be able to identify, best to stay calm and –

Thumping again. Louder this time. And clearly not nothing.

It’s plenty possible some transient made camp out here. Although Amy mentioned the property was managed by some sort of company out here. It’d be strange if they didn’t notice anything.

I don’t keep weapons. But I did pick up a can of bear spray at Quentin’s.

I feel the blood rush from my face when I realize it could be a bear. What kind of bears do they have out here? Grizzlies, surely.

God, this was a horrible idea, to come out here on my own, wasn’t it?

I grab the bear spray and tiptoe toward the cabin. I climb the steps and stand in front of the door. I peek in through one of the windows. Doesn’t look like anyone is inside. I guess that would be a good sign if the alternative to a human wasn’t a fucking bear.

I hear the sloshing of water from the back. Could it be a bear playing in the hot tub? Maybe they’ll get footage on their security cameras and sell the video to America’s Funniest Home Videos or something.

Thinking about a bear playing in a hot tub certainly alleviates my worry. But only for a moment.

I tiptoe down the veranda that encircles the building, closer and closer to the noise of shifting water.

I hear a deep sigh and freeze.

That’s definitely the sigh of a person.

Don’t panic. Don’t panic. Don’t –

I’m officially panicked. I’m not going to creep around here on pins and needles any longer. I need to know what the hell I’m up against. I round the corner of the house with my bear spray held up in front of me. “Stay back!” I shout. “I have a…”

My jaw falls when I find myself staring at Orlie Wynters. And not just any version of Orlie Wynters.

A very naked version.

And instead of looking away…I just stare at him. His chest is pale and looks like it’s been sculpted by Michelangelo himself. The muscles and skin are taut, creeping down into a deep vee that frames his pelvis and then there’s his…

“Kira!”

That snaps me out of my trance.

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