AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She’d probably kill it at our poker nights.
“So you think I’m hot?” I ask, my voice low and dripping with a more flirtatious tone than I have any business delivering to the woman pregnant with my baby.
“Don’t be dense, Mountain Man,” she replies with a little scoff. “You’ve got a vibe about you that works. Don’t pretend you’re unaware of it.”
“I’m not unaware of it.” My eyes drift down and linger on the beauty mark just above her lip. “I just didn’t know you were aware of it. Didn’t think you looked at me like that.”
“Every woman within a fifty-foot radius would look at you like that. And it’s annoying because Reggie doesnotappreciate the competition for being the hottest in the barn.”
“Oh, and Millie does?” I retort, arching a challenging brow at the stunning woman before me.
“What are you talking about?” Her brows pinch together in the middle.
“You heard my mom. You’re not exactly a pain in the ass to look at.” I eye her in the bed, looking sick and depleted, knowing full well I would fuck her if she gave me the green light.God, I’m sick.
“Oh, please.” Trista huffs, cheeks flush, showing a rare sign of insecurity. Confidence isn’t something I’ve ever noticed this woman lacking, so this has me wildly fascinated.
“I’m serious.” I gesture toward the steps that lead down to the barn. “My brothers basically had to roll their tongues into their mouths when they helped move you into this space. It’s why I told them to keep their distance from you while you lived here. I don’t want them to make you feel uncomfortable.”
“Uncomfortable?” She barks out a laugh and shakes her head. “You think I can’t handle the attention of a few mountain men?”
“Do you want to handle their attention?” I ask, my jaw taut as I steel myself for her answer that I might not like.
She stares back at me, her eyes flicking back and forth between mine. “One mountain man is plenty for me, thanks.”
A rush of heat surges down to my cock at the glint in her eye. God, I was just finally starting to shake off my obsession with her. Now, she’s stoking the fucking fire, and that is not a good thing.
Inhaling slowly, I decide to get back to the subject at hand. “Since we’ve determined it’s not my face making you violently ill, maybe thatmeans we can be more than just a surrogate and intended parent.” I gesture to her and then to me. “Maybe we can be friends?”
“Friends.” She repeats the word like she’s never said it before, her eyes roving over my face for a long moment before a soft smile lights up her eyes. “I guess we can try it.”
My brows lift in satisfaction at how easy that was for her to agree to. Then again, I’m pretty sure she’s dehydrated and probably doesn’t have her normal fight in her, but I’ll take the win.
“Well, as your new friend, I have to ask…did I see a rabbit in here earlier this morning?”
Trista’s eyes widen as she presses her lips together. Timidly, she reaches under the covers and pulls out an orange-and-white rabbit. She clutches it to her chest as her fingers stroke its floppy ears. “This is Strudel.”
“Come again?” I grind out, pulling away from her and the living fuzzball in her hands.
“She’s an English lop rabbit and was turned over at the rescue facility two days ago. Earl said she couldn’t stay there because they didn’t have the space.”
“What is she doing here?” I ask, shaking my head back and forth.
Trista smiles. “I thought she could live here with me?”
“You know how I feel about pets in the apartment.”
“I thought that was just pigs,” she says, her teeth sinking into her lower lip. “But she’s too little to be down in the barn with Reginald, and she’s really well-behaved. She sleeps in a cage at night. And justfeelhow soft her fur is.”
“I do not—” My voice is cut off when Trista starts dragging the rabbit along my cheek. The warm little furball makes a weird squeaky noise as its coat catches on my beard.
“Soft, right?” Her eyes are bright and hopeful as she waits for my reaction.
“Can you please stop booping the rabbit on my nose?” I pull her arm away from my face. “I don’t want animals up here.”
She sighs heavily. “Fine, I’ll get rid of her.”
“Thank you.”
