Page 35 of My Wild Mountain Man

“Right.” I nodded and scratched the back of my neck.

“Any big plans this weekend? You’ve been staring at the clock and your phone like you’re trying to will it to move faster.”

“Nothing huge.”Just going to take your sister’s virginity.I shook my head and cleared my throat. I didn’t need to think about that. And I really didn’t need to start getting hard around my best friend while thinking about his little sister. “I’ll probably just be home,” I muttered. At least that wasn’t a lie.

“Nice. Maybe do some laundry.” I chuckled and shoulder-checked him before heading back to the bar. He knew how much I hated doing laundry. I walked through the bar and saw him head towards the stage.

I loved this place.

Well, I usually did.

Yet when I got to my spot behind the bar, I started to think. I wasn’t as comfortable as I’d first been. Women smiled and batted their eyes at me, leaning over as they ordered theirespresso martinis or beer on tap so I could scope out their cleavage. Not that I looked. For the first time since we’d opened, the place felt too much.

Too loud.

Too crowded.

It was like my body craved Raven’s comfortable quiet ways. I could picture us on the couch. Her reading and me staring at her, never tiring of looking at her. Or waking her up with breakfast in bed and eating her after she ate every bit I cooked for her.

I was in deep trouble. I wanted that and more. It wasn’t just sex and lust. What I felt for Raven ran deeper than I thought possible.

Logistically, I didn’t know how I’d make it work. We had different schedules work wise. When the hell would I see her? Running the brewery took long hours, and we’d have opposing schedules. I couldn’t exactly ask her to come to the bar every single night just so I could see her, talk to her.Could I?

I wasn’t sure, but I did know one thing: I’d make it work. I had to. Because as the clock ticked away, too slowly for my taste, I knew one thing: Raven Trejo was going to be mine and only mine, and I would do my damnedest to make her happy for the rest of our lives.

raven

. . .

I stretchedmy legs and yawned. The sugar high from the Ben & Jerry’s was coming down just in time as the heroine finally admitted she loved her mountain man. She’d been a stubborn one. Fought her feelings until she couldn’t any longer. She’d been so afraid to admit it because she’d been hurt in the past. I shut my book and smiled.

I loved a great happily ever after.

It was after midnight, but I wasn’t tired. My body was too wound up. Too awake. If I shut my eyes, I could still feel Bash’s lips on mine, then on my neck. I shivered and licked my lips.

I still couldn’t believe I’d been so blunt with him. So bold. Telling him I was in, that if he wanted me, he should come to me. God, this was crazy! What if he didn’t show up? Or worse! What if he did?

I glanced around my little apartment. It was clean and tidy. Maybe with one too many piles of books set in the corner where I hadn’t had time to build a new bookshelf I had waiting in a box next to them. I’d been tempted to clean and make the place as magazine ready just in case he did come to me, but I stopped myself.

Bash was suddenly talking about more. About us maybe having a chance of being more. If that was the case, I wanted him to really know me. To see what came with me. Books and a little mess with tons of coffee and ice cream. I set my book on the coffee table and stood up.

I might not have been able to keep my heart off my sleeve, but I wasn’t going to pretend to be someone I wasn’t. Not with Bash. He’d first met me as his best friend’s nerdy, awkward, ugly baby sister, and that was okay.

I wasn’t that same girl just like I knew he wasn’t the guy I’d always crushed on.

If anything, watching him the way I had since returning home, I’d seen him in a whole new light. He was older and handsomer; that was a given. But there was maturity to him. Even if he was still wild in his own ways.

My wild mountain man, I thought to myself and shook my head. The image of his bare back, his body on display by the waterfall that day a little over a week ago popped up in my head, and just like that, I felt warm. I glanced down at myself. His love mark was still there. He’d marked me. And like a weirdo, I freaking loved it. God, I was a hopeless romantic. Not to mention the blind date with a book he’d picked up for me.

I stood, and just as I stretched my arms up in the air, my tank rode up my stomach. I glanced at the reflection of myself and dropped my arms. White fitted tank top that didn’t hide my hard nipples and short-short pink satin sleep shorts with black lace trim. My hair was loose and in waves. Messy and rumpled and cute. I was never going to be the kind of woman who was a knockout bombshell. Not like Cora and Olive were.

A soft knock sounded at the door. The skin on my arms turned into gooseflesh at the sound. It had to be one of my sisters. It wasn’t out of the norm that one of them stopped by after midnight. The reminder made my shoulders slump.Another knock sounded, this time a little louder than before. I could imagine Scarlett, Coral, and Olive on the other side, drunk off their butts, swaying from side to side. They’d probably decided to head to karaoke night after all and knew I wouldn’t want to go. I hadn’t had time to go to a new bookstore in town, much less some much-needed reading time. When another knock sounded, I rolled my eyes with disappointment in my belly it more than likely wasn’t the man of my dreams showing up unexpected.

“I’m coming!” I shouted. Hurrying to the door, I turned the front porch light on. Without checking the peephole, I opened the door. “Geez, you guys—“ I didn’t say another word.

How could I when there he was?

His hand on the frame, he leaned in like the hero always did in one of my books. He was so tall, and I was barefoot as I stood at the door, staring up at him. We didn’t say a word for a moment. How long, I couldn’t tell you. I wasn’t capable of it.

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