Page 23 of Christmas Hike With The Mountain Man
“Is that why you keep having sex with me without protection? Are you trying to knock me up so I can’t leave?” She said that with a wide smile on her face, and I knew she was joking. But there was a little truth mingled in there. We’d been taking risks together.Lotsof them.
I could already see what each of our defense mechanisms were. When I got nervous, I clammed up and refused to talk. When she got nervous, she hid behind her jokes.
“Be honest with me, Katie. How do you feel about this? About us? I know I’m older than you, but that doesn’t bother me. Are we just a vacation fling? Or do you see something more with me?”
Her eyes took on that scared look again, but then she crawled closer and slid her arms around me.
“Boone, you’re scaring me with this talk. You wouldn’t play with a woman’s heart, would you? You’re not the type of man to do that, right?”
And I realized in that moment that Katie felt just as strongly about me as I did about her.
I grinned, then I tipped her chin up until our lips met, and gave her my answer with a kiss.
I decided right then and there that I needed to text my grandma and tell her to pull out the big guns. This was the woman I wanted to catch, and it might take all of her special tricks to make it happen.
As soon as Katie left the room for a second, I pulled out my phone.
Me:Will you pull out the engagement ring, Grandma? I’ve got someone I want you to meet.
It was going to be a Christmas to remember.
Epilogue
Katie
Three years later.
All my friends thought I was crazy when I moved to the Ozarks to chase a love affair with a horny mountain man.
But my parents had quietly applauded me.
They’d known I’d finally foundit. That spark that made life worth living.
Not that I needed a man in my life. But I sure did want one if it was going to be Boone Richards.
I wasn’t Katie Hill anymore. I was Katie Richards now. Or Katie-Peach, as Boone liked to call me when he was feeling frisky.
Which happened to bemostdays.
But it was harder to find time for that now.
“Katie-Peach,” a deep voice rumbled behind me.
That voice only belongedto oneman. Mine.
I turned around from where I’d been chopping parsnips and held out my arms.
“Come here, Little Snowflake.”
Boone held our son out to me, and I took him and hugged him close.
“I’m going to miss you,” I told him as I kissed him all over.
But our baby was ready to leave the nest! He shook his head and said, “No!Cookies with Maw-Maw.”
Boone started laughing and took him back from me.
We both knew that meant our little boy, Chris, wanted to stay here and bake cookies with Great-Grandma.
