Page 100 of The One With the Mountain Man

"Um, fine? I'm not ready to make holiday plans just yet." She dug her fingers into her leg out of sight of the camera.

"When are you coming home? Where are you?" her mother whined.

"I'm not coming home before October. Maybe never. I might sell the house."

"Never?" Elora shrieked. "Why?"

I held my breath because I wanted to know too.

Marley shrugged. "My house was trashed and it's not exactly safe there. Why wouldn't I sell it?"

When Marley explained what happened to her house in Tampa, I had to stop myself from going full survivalist to track that asshole down and make him disappear. But instead of being as upset as we were, her family seemed to dismiss it entirely.

"Trashed?"

"Cristobal broke in and destroyed my house. What aren't you getting? I explained all this already."

"Insurance will replace everything, honey," her father said, almost bored.

I wanted to strangle him with my bare hands for not caring about her safety more.

"I don't care about my furniture or the house. I care that if I go home, it could be invaded at any minute. I'm safe where I am, and I like it here. A lot."

"Where are you?" Elora screeched again.

"I'm not telling you. It's not necessary."

"Not necessary?" Her mother hissed. "Come stay with us until this blows over."

Marley started massaging her forehead. "It's not going to blow over. I can't live with my parents forever."

"Just write the stupid book already!" Elora sighed dramatically.

That was my cue. I strode across the deck in long, heavy strides and plucked the laptop off the desk. "Hello Tranquill family, I'm Jackson."Since you don't seem to give a fuck about your daughter and sister, I'll be taking over loving her from now on."Marley isn't feeling well so I'm going to end this call and put her to bed. It was nice to meet you." I hit the end button as they started talking over each other, asking who I was, where Marley was, and why I was there but they couldn't know her location.

Then I shut the computer down and ordered her to turn off her phone and tablet, which she did without a word or glance in my direction.

"That was overbearing, Jackson."

"Am I supposed to stand there and watch you suffer? I can't do it, Lee. I won't."

She shot to her feet, fists balled at her sides, and fucking tears in her eyes. "You can't just burst in like that. I was handling it."

The fuck she was. They were ignoring her and walking all over her.

Andfuuuuuckso was I. "Goddammit. I'm sorry. I...fucking hell. I steamrolled over you but damn, woman. I did it because I love you. Not because I'm ignoring you. Can you see the difference?"

She sniffled, batting away tears. "Yes and no. I love that you love me and don't want to see me upset, but I'm getting really tired of everyone doing and saying what they think is best for me instead of letting me handle it."

She made great points, even if I would do it all over again. I held up my hands asking if it was okay to touch her. When she nodded I took her face in my hands, massaging away the headache. "Do you want to do Thanksgiving in Florida and Christmas in the Bahamas?"

She sighed at my touch. "I don't even want to think that far ahead."

I shifted closer so her heat collided with mine. "For the record, my holidays will be spent wherever you are. If it's here, great. If it's on the moon, fine. We can also spend the holidays in bed alone together."

She smiled at that. "Will it be cold here at Christmas?"

"To you? Yes. To us? Mostly yes." It depended on the winter and the cycle of cold fronts, but generally the air was crisp and cool and wonderful. There was the possibility of snow, even if it just fell from the sky for a few hours and didn't stick. "What are you picturing?"

---