Page 9 of Knocked Up By The Mountain Man

Maybe she's looking at me from across the booth right now and sees me as one big mistake that she'd hoped to forget.

After all, she came to Wildwood and seemed to have no plans to try to find me. She was going to come to town, meet with her dad, and then leave.

Like we never happened.

It stings a little. Then again, she thought that she gave me her number. She thought I never called her. That probably stung her, too.

So much wasted time. It sucks. But it's all fixable. She’s here now. We can try again. Build something together, something new. Something I meant to build with her from the beginning.

But that reluctant look in her eyes tells me that I’m coming on too strong. Too intense for her liking.

Don’t scare her off, Jack.

I nod to my truck parked outside.

"Just let me give you a quick ride," I say, trying to force my voice to be gentle and easy. "It's too cold to walk."

She pauses for a beat.

"Okay," she agrees.

CHAPTER 5

ALYSSA

"What do you mean?" I ask frantically. "I reserved a room weeks ago. I spoke with someone on the phone!”

"Do you know who you spoke with?" asks the woman behind the counter.

She's got long white hair and delicate features, like some kind of mountain fairy.

Her face is sympathetic, although she's already told me the same thing about three times: that they lost my reservation at the inn, that all of the rooms are full, and that there's nothing that they can do.

Problem is, I'm here now. I need a place to stay now. Just a simple roof over my head while I’m in town to take care of a few things.

It's bad enough my rental car broke down, but now I don't even have a place to sleep tonight.

All I want is to go upstairs, take a hot shower, and lie in bed for a few hours. I'm so fatigued ever since getting pregnant, and the travel was hard.

I was looking forward to finally being alone and unpacking my things.

Looking forward to finally being away from Jack. I said I could collect my thoughts, since it's impossible to collect my thoughts whenever he's near.

It's impossible because whenever he's close by, all I can do is sense his presence, soaking in every detail about him like it’s hard-wired into my brain to be obsessed with the man.

His beautiful eyes. His delicious smell. The warmth that seems to radiate off of his massive body…all of it. It's overwhelming and turns off the logical side of my brain, and that's why I need to get away from him so that I can think about what I want to do next.

I had ample opportunity to tell him about the pregnancy in the diner. That's when I should have done it. It was the perfect chance, but every time I started to say it, I felt afraid.

He seemed so nice, so warm, so friendly. But would that change once he learns about my situation?

He was on a date earlier today. That means he's moved on. He didn't call me. I don't know if he's telling the truth about losing my phone number or not…but the fact is, it looks like he moved on.

I really don't want to tell him about the baby, but I know it's the right thing to do.

I just need a little time to think.

I need to sleep on this. I need to practice my speech a couple more times, figure out how to tell him that I don't expect anything from him.