Page 13 of My Santa Mountain Man
My cabin was snug, which meant I didn’t need to pace far.
Unfortunately, it meant she didn’t need to pace far either. She followed right behind me, and I could feel her presence like a soft, enveloping glow.
There was too muchwomanin my cabin right now.
And it was making my dick throw a party against my wishes. I kept telling it to stand down, but it was refusing to cooperate.
It seemed to think there’d be a different outcome tonight. Especially since I only had one bedroom.
Chapter 9
Poppy
My lips quirked up while I watched Corbin’s face contort.
He was trying to come up with an excuse. I could tell.
He put the turkeys down on the counter and sighed. Then he side-stepped by changing the subject completely. He wasn’t going to tell me why his dog had two names.
Instead he said, “I don’t know what to do about the turkeys.”
This was the first sign of something other than mountain toughness I’d seen in him.
“Where were you taking them?” I asked as I joined him in the kitchen.
There were three turkeys sitting on the counter.
“Ah, well, you know the Jenkins? One was for them. And another for the Chaswells, they lost their dad this year. And one for Millie Campbell.”
The old widow?
I furrowed my brow. “You were bringing a turkey to Millie?”
He growled out, “Don’t make it athing.”
Hmmm, his bad-boy act was disappearing fast.
Corbin Wallace was closer to being a Boy Scout than an asshole. Everyone was wrong about him.
But I wouldn’t press the point. He was obviously one of those people who liked to do nice things for others without getting any attention over it. “Well, that sounds nice of you. What do you think the problem is with the turkeys? Can’t they go back in the fridge?”
“Yeah,” he rumbled, “but then tomorrow I’m going to have to axe that tree down and… my chainsaw’s at the damn shop getting a tune-up because I don’t normally need it this time of year. And I’m not sure how long it’s going to take to axe my way through a whole damn oak. And it’s not just cutting it in half, then I’ve got to drag the trunk out of the driveway with my truck. The whole thing could take all day. Then when I finally get out to deliver the turkeys, I’ll be bringing raw birds after dinnertime. Christmas will suck for them.”
“Maybe we should cook them tonight,” I told him cheerily.
His cabin was nice and toasty warm. I actually felt warmer than I had since I’d moved into my new house. And the warmth was cheering up my outlook fast.
“Cook three turkeys? That would take all night!”
I grinned at him. “Well, what else are we going to do? You already told me you don’t want to talk. This will keep us busy, so it’s a win.”
Corbin frowned while he considered my words. I was starting to realize that was his thinking face. It made him look like he was in a bad mood, but I got the feeling he was just concentrating on his thoughts.
“Yeah,” he grunted. “We can at least cook the first two.”
With two turkeys in the oven, a cozy fire roaring, and the cutest dog lounging on my lap, it almost felt like Christmas Eve again.
I’d learned a lot about this man in a short amount of time. Even if we were currently sitting in silence listening to the storm blow outside.
