Page 17 of Grumpy Mountain Man
Maybe it was simpler than that. She just didn’t want a relationship…or she’d come here specifically to find a mountain man and have her first time.
No, that didn’t make sense either. She was here for a baking competition.
“What is it?” Those words came out a lot gruffer than I intended, my frustration showing. I rushed to add, “Sorry.”
She shook her head. “No, I should just spit it out, right?” She took a deep breath before speaking again. “I live here in Adairsville. Have all my life. My parents’ house is in the Covington Grove neighborhood, just a couple of miles up the road from where we had dinner last night.”
She lifted her mug to her lips and sipped, watching me, waiting for my response. I knew I needed to say something to let her know I wasn’t mad that she’d held this information from me. Mad was the opposite of how I felt right now.
My mind was busy processing the information. I had to adjust my thinking from having this huge obstacle in our way to not having anything at all standing between us. We could start dating and get to know each other. Nobody would have to move.
Slowly, a smile spread over my face, and I set my coffee cup down and walked toward her. “You’re telling me you live nearby?”
She nodded. “Same house all my life. I was born at the hospital here in town. I went to Adairsville Elementary, Middle, and High School. Well, the high school is called Hawkins High School, named for some former principal, but it’s all the same.”
She was babbling again—that habit she seemed to have when she got nervous or excited. Which was it this time? Maybe she’d been so nervous about breaking the news to me that the nervousness stuck around even when it was clear I was okay with it all.
“I swore you were about to break some bad news to me,” I said.
She lowered her coffee mug to stomach level and stared at me sheepishly. “I felt bad about not telling you sooner, like I was keeping something from you. It was ridiculous. You were even telling me about the town like I’d never been here before.”
“As far as I knew, you hadn’t.”
She shrugged. “But that conversation only lasted a minute or so, and then we were on to something else. That opportunity passed, and when I thought about it, for some reason it made me feel a little better having you believe this was only temporary. I didn’t want you to think I was planning a future with you or anything.”
Those words were like a punch to my gut. I stared at her, not sure how to say what was on my mind.
“I wanted you to be planning a future,” I said after a long silence. “I still do.”
Her eyes widened, and I swore I saw a hint of a smile. Maybe that was just wishful thinking.
“You do?” she asked.
“I do.” I nodded. “I thought I made that clear last night. But if you’re not ready…”
I hesitated on the rest of that. She stared at me for the longest time, and I didn’t even breathe, waiting to see how she’d respond to that. Everything hinged on what she said next.
“I’m thinking forever,” she finally said without breaking eye contact. “I just don’t want to scare you off. I know how guys can be when a woman brings up the “m” word.
The “m” word. That made me almost laugh.
“Look, I’ve been that guy many times,” I said. “When someone pumps the brakes because of talk like that, it has more to do with the fact that…well, he’s just not that into the woman. And it goes both ways. I’m sure you’ve been on dates with guyswho would have had you running in the other direction if they’d mentioned something like that.”
Dakota laughed. “Yeah, more than once.”
“When you know, you know. But the good news is we live locally. You’re not rushing out of town. We don’t have to deal with the dilemma of one of us having to move to be with the other. We can take our time and get to know each other slowly.”
“That doesn’t mean we can’t spend a lot of time together. In fact—” She took another long sip of her drink and then set it on the counter. “—I propose we get naked and spend a little more time getting to know each other before I head down to the lodge.”
Now she was speaking my language. I moved forward, putting a hand on either side of her on the counter. Then I leaned down, pausing with my face just inches from hers.
“I think I might have created a monster,” I joked. “Now that you know what an orgasm feels like, there’ll be no satisfying you.”
“Oh, you satisfy me just fine.” She put her hands on the back of my neck and pulled me toward her. “And I’m about to rock your world again.”
Forget breakfast. This was all I needed to wake me up. I lifted her and carried her to the bedroom, wondering just how many times I could make love to her before we left for the baking competition.
EPILOGUE
