Mountain Man's Secret Baby

by Lauren Wood

  Charlie pinched the bridge of his nose. The man sounded drunk or hung over. “But no one knows where I live, Jackson. You gave them my address. You called the guard to let them in. Why the hell would you do that?”

  “I planned the biggest party of the year for you, and you didn’t even attend,” Jackson snarled nastily. “I had to get something out of it.”

  “For me?” Charlie snorted. “You didn’t do it for me. I didn’t even know half the people there. You did it for you, and you didn’t once ask me what I wanted. You’ve risen to the top of your company on my back, and you couldn’t even give me one night of peace and quiet? You’re fired, Jackson.”

  “What?”

  “Fired. And I’ll be sure to let your boss know what kind of stunt you pulled!” He hung up on Jackson’s protests and leaned against the wall. He felt a fist close around his heart, but it had nothing to do with Jackson or the press.

  He’d been so quick to judge her, and now he regretted it more than anything else in his life. For some reason, his one night with Gemma meant more to him than anything else.

  He had to fix it. And it would take more than just an apology.

  * * *

  Harkers Recants Story. Says He and Model Gemma Darling Never Had Affair. Gemma nearly dropped the magazine as she read the story. “What?” Photographer Stephan Harkers admits that Gemma Darlings was an unwitting accomplice in scheme to make his wife jealous. “I made a horrible mistake that has ruined the life of a friend. I let my own feelings get in the way of logic, and I never meant to hurt anyone.” Stephan goes on to explain that after finding his own wife having an affair, he set a plot to publicly humiliate her. Only it was America’s Sweetheart Gemma Darlings that suffered the consequences. Darlings could not be reached for comment.

  “That explains why my phone was blowing up yesterday,” Gemma said as she dropped the paper down on the counter. “I can’t believe Stephan would admit the truth. After all this time, that’s just so bizarre.”

  “Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth. Every company that fired you is going to look like assholes now. They’ll be beating down your door to have you come back,” Lizzie said as she yawned. “Coffee?”

  Gemma shuffled across the tile to make her friend a pot of coffee. “I wouldn’t have even seen this had you not brought it over. Since when do you read these kinds of magazines anyways?”

  “Since months went by before I knew that my friend was in trouble,” Lizzie said as she wrinkled her nose. “I get so wrapped up in work that I sometimes forget other things are happening in the real world.”

  “I know exactly how you feel.”

  “So Charlie Connor called me and told me that there was a problem with his processed payment. Apparently he wanted to tip more for the extra service that was provided,” Lizzie said casually as she watched the coffee. “Exactly what service did you provide for him?”

  Gemma’s ears burned with embarrassment. Four days had passed since her night with Charlie. She certainly didn’t want to talk about it now. “He mentioned that the delivery included extra service. Tableside service. Since I’m not sure of your operations, I didn’t want to get you in trouble. So I plated the food, and I cleaned up when we were done.”

  “Uh-huh.” Lizzie’s eyes sparkled with amusement. “Gemma, that’s not included. All you had to do was drop it and leave. And Mr. Connor was well aware of that.”

  Asshole. That was one more thing she would add to his list of sins. “Well, too late now.”

  “Right. And when you said that we were done, you meant what exactly?”

  Oops. She’d walked right in that one. “He mentioned that it was his birthday, and that he didn’t want to spend it alone. He insisted that I join him for dinner,” she muttered as she ducked his head.

  Lizzie abandoned her post at the coffee machine and grabbed her purse. “So that would explain this headline?”

  A streak of panic went through Gemma as she reached over and snagged the article. Gemma Darlings Spends Night with Charlie Connor.

  “Shit,” she moaned. The picture showed her with tousled hair and bedroom eyes. “From the frying pan and into the fire.”

  “Catering deliveries also don’t include over night stays,” Lizzie said as she poured herself a cup of coffee. “What happened?”

  “Sex happened.” Gemma tossed the magazine to the floor and sighed. “We had a few beers, and we were talking. He seemed lonely. I was upset. And suddenly we were naked and making out like teenagers.”

  “My god. You slept with Charlie Connors. Tell me it was good.”

  “It was more than good,” Gemma admitted. “It was better than anything that I’d ever had. But it doesn’t matter because it’s never going to happen again. I’m such an idiot that I actually felt like we’d connected that night. But when the press showed up, I accused him of calling them, and then he accused me of calling them. Things got dirty quick. He’s one of the biggest jerks I’ve ever met.”

  “Oh, I wouldn’t say that just yet,” Lizzie said. Gemma watched in disbelief as she pulled yet another magazine out of her purse.

  “What else do you have in there?” she demanded.

  “This is the last one. I swear,” her friend laughed.

  “It better be,” Gemma grumbled. Unrolling it, she realized that it was a reputable women’s magazine. This type of magazine did more than just troll celebrities.

  The hook was right there on the first page. Charlie Connors Reveals All. Apparently, he’d written a letter to the editor. Her legs shaky, she sat down as she began to read.

  Recently there have been rumors circulating my involvement with model Gemma Darling. Because she has already been scrutinized enough by the public, I thought I would come clean with our so-called relationship. Ms. Darlings, wanting to help out her friend Elizabeth Towney, arrived at my doorstep with my order from Towney Catering. Amazing food, by the way. I was hiding from a birthday party that wasn’t really meant for me, and she was hiding behind a public judgment that had been unfairly cast on her. She and I had more in common than I could ever even being to imagine. The only difference is that she is one hundred times better than me. My label as a scoundrel is well deserved, but she lost everything trying to rise above a ridiculously humiliating situation. There is a pureness in her that I can’t even dream of ever achieving, and I have to admit of being attracted to that. More than attracted.

  I’ve upset people in the past, and those ghosts have come back not only to haunt me but also to haunt Gemma as well. One night with her, and the public has already written her off as a harlot. She’s anything but.

  My time spent with her meant more to me than I could ever imagine. And I very much hope that perhaps she’ll want to award me with even one more moment of her time.

  So before you take a look at the picture that’s circulating and start to whisper, keep in mind that I’m the scoundrel in all of this. And this scoundrel may have just finally met the person who could make him better.

  Gemma’s lips trembled as she finished reading the letter. “They’re calling it the sweetest love letter every written,” Lizzie said gently. “Of course, you’d know that if you’d turn on the television.”

  “Do you think it’s just a PR stunt?”

  Lizzie came over and took the magazine from her hands. “I think Charlie Connors is very powerful. I think he’s powerful enough to get Stephan to tell the truth. And I think he’s powerful enough not to give a damn about one picture floating around. He didn’t do this for him, Gemma. He did it for you. You said you thought there was a connection? Well here is your proof.”

  “What do I do now?” Lizzie said as she looked up.

  “Ball’s in your court. If you want to turn that spark into a flame, then I suggest you let him know.”

  Lizzie didn’t need any more prompting. She didn’t bother with her usual disguise. She didn’t even bother changing out of her pajamas or throwing on make-up. She raced across the room and flung open the do
or.

  And ran straight into a hard body.

  “Whoa.” Charlie’s hands shot out to steady her. “Are you okay?”

  “You’re here,” she stuttered as she looked up. He was clearly dressed for work. His dark grey suit was cut close to his figure, and she wanted nothing more than to slide her fingers between the buttons of his crisp white shirt.

  “I am here,” he said awkwardly. “I did this thing yesterday, and I thought you might get in touch with me. And when you didn’t, I thought you might be mad at me. So I came over so you could yell at me.”

  “You came over so I could yell at you?” she repeated stupidly. She was getting lost in those blue eyes.

  “Yes. Are you going to yell at me?”

  “What?” She shook her head as she tried to regain her composure. “No. I’m not going to yell at you. I just got the article. Literally. I tend to avoid everything these days. Lizzie brought it over.”

  “Thanks for the exposure,” Lizzie called from inside the apartment.

  His shoulders straightened, and he smiled. “Well, you don’t want to yell at me. So what do you want to do?” he murmured.

  “Did you mean it? What you said? Or were you just trying to be nice?”

  “I meant every word.”

  Gemma took a deep breath. “I felt something that night, Charlie. And I’d like to see where it goes. But I don’t think it’s going to be easy. We both attract way too much attention.”

  “I don’t need it to be easy, Gemma,” he said softly. “I just need you to be on board with me.”

  “I’m on board,” she said as she smiled. She thought her heart would burst from excitement. He bent down to kiss her, and it felt right. As she wrapped her arms around him, she knew that this was only the beginning. They could forge something truly beautiful together.

  She’d started the week broke, depressed, and in the arms of the most notorious rake in the city. And now she was about to give him her heart, and she knew that she’d never look back.

  THE END

  BLOODTHIRSTY ALINE MASTER

  Chapter 1

  Melissa listens to her favorite band on her headphones, hearing the melody and immersing herself into each and every word. She feels her long blond hair flowing in the wind, as she bicycles hard towards a job that she really doesn’t want in the first place. She’s one of their best barista’s in this coffee shop that is known for quite an eclectic clientele.

  “I wonder if I can keep a straight face when I see Jennifer. If anybody is going to be able to see through my false smile, it’s going to be her.”

  She contemplates calling in sick, but she’s already been on vacation for the past two weeks. The breakup between her and Andrew was like world war three. There was a lot of screaming and breaking of glass, but she still can’t understand why he was the one that was getting angry. Melissa had found his emails to other girls, including some very racy photos that really should’ve been kept between boyfriend and girlfriend.

  “Just because we’ve been best friends since high school, doesn’t mean that I can’t keep a straight face. I really don’t want to get into this with her, because Jennifer can be quite smug when she knows that she was right. I thought that I could prove her wrong about Andrew, but it would appear that her assumption about his single life was right on the mark.”

  Melissa has hit her stride by the time she reached one block away from her final destination. She’d already gone past the wall and was able to feel that second wind coming over her. Her legs were fatigued, but she liked the fact that she could work out and didn’t have to worry about insurance for a car. That was an expense that she didn’t need or want.

  She gets to the coffee shop and she can smell the caffeine in the air. From the moment that she steps through the door, she knows that she’s trapped in a dead end job that wasn’t going anywhere. Her white and blue uniform with the short black skirt is a carbon copy of the one that Jennifer is wearing. Melissa sees her by the counter, chewing gum and twirling her dark hair around her fingers.

  There hasn’t been a day since she went on vacation, two weeks ago that Jennifer didn’t call her and tell her about a certain client that had just started to come in at exactly the same time every day. Jennifer told her several times on the phone that she should come in and get a look at him herself, but she was still nursing a broken heart.

  “I’m glad that you’re here, Melissa and we’ve been slammed from the moment that Jerry introduced the breakfast special.” Melissa jumped right into it, using her considerable charm and curvaceous frame of 5’2 and 120 pounds to her advantage. When she swung her hips, people noticed and it was her openness to talk just about anybody’s ear off that made her one of the best employees that Jerry had ever hired.

  “I can honestly say that I haven’t missed this place, but the people are a different story.” They had regulars and most were police officers, firemen or those that had early mornings in the city. “This is not what I want to do for the rest of my life, Jennifer. There has to be something better and I’ve always believed that I was destined for something bigger.”

  “I don’t know what you’re complaining about and we get exercise by staying on our feet and to be honest, there have been a select few men that make it worth my while to come in every day. Ooooh…I told you about one and according to my watch he should be here in less than 5 minutes.”

  Melissa thought about what she said about the young man in question, but she really didn’t hold any hope that he was anything to write home about “I don’t know what she’s getting so fired up about. She usually has a flavor of the month. This guy can’t be all that special and I believe that she may be a exaggerating slightly.”

  “I know how you can be, Jennifer and let’s just say that I’m not convinced. Even if it was true, then I have to wonder why you haven’t made a play for him yourself.”

  The fresh blueberries cooking in various forms from muffins to bagels were now wafting from the kitchen. You wouldn’t know it to look at Jerry, but he was a consummate baker. Just because he had a gruff exterior, a beard that would’ve made any lumberjack proud, didn’t mean that he didn’t have a softer side.

  Melissa had to stand there and look around and wonder how her life had gotten, so off track. She wanted to be an architect, but losing her folks when she was only 16 was a shock to her system. That was 10 years ago and she had run away from her aunt at the age of 18. She was domineering and opinionated and had no problem using corporal punishment to get her point across.

  The bell rang over the door and Jennifer was now pointing towards the man that had come through the threshold. Through the sun streaking through the window of the door, she saw a handsome brooding dark haired man that seemed to have this way about him. Just looking in his direction, she noticed the two different colored eyes. He was built like a linebacker, wearing a black pair of pants and a black pullover Henley, not to mention his hair was coifed just so.

  “I’m going to do you a favor, Melissa. For your first day back, I’m going to serve him to you on a silver platter. He doesn’t seem to be interested in me and you know how that seems almost an impossibility.” Jennifer had always been quite the eye candy and she had no problem using what god blessed her with to make the big tips. “Don’t ever say that I didn’t do anything for you. If he’s not interested in me, then maybe he’s looking for something a little less abrasive.”

  For some reason, Melissa felt her hands shaking and her palms were literally sweating. There was a flush along the top of her chest and she had to hold herself up by using the counter, before her legs gave out from underneath her. She stayed herself and took a deep breath, before approaching the man.

  “Oh my, you’re new and you have this sense about you that surrounds you.”

  Melissa thought with her heart in her mouth “You have no idea what I’ve been through and I am not sure you want somebody this damaged. That’s not to say that I wouldn’t be more than happy to take a shot at
you.”

  “Ahem, do you want to order, or do you need a few more minutes?” She had never been nervous before, but this guy was certainly shaking her up and making her feel like a giddy little schoolgirl back in the day. “We have some fresh made blueberry muffins.” At the sound of those words, he grimaced and it wasn’t lost on Melissa that blueberries were not exactly his cup of tea.

  “I think that I’ll stick with my usual. Ask your friend and I’m sure that she’ll be able to inform you.” She noticed that he was shifting back and forth in his seat and just couldn’t seem to sit still for very long. There was a bead of sweat along his brow and he was constantly licking his lips.

  Melissa turned her back on him, when she felt his hand grab hers in a vise like grip. “I’m going to need that back.” The way that his fingers dug into her skin made her almost afraid, but also made her feel like her entire body was alive for the first time in her life. She had never felt this kind of sensation with any other guy and maybe she had just found her soul mate and didn’t even know it.

  “I apologize for my abrupt behavior, but I would really like to spend more time with you. You might be exactly what I’m looking for.” This was a bit out of the blue and she thought for a moment that she was dreaming or maybe she was in some kind of accident and was now in a coma in the hospital.

  Melissa thought “This really can’t be happening and something like this doesn’t happen to me. He has to have something wrong with him. It’s the only explanation that I can come up with for the reason why he would even be remotely attracted to me. This is the kind of guy that could have anybody.”

  “I’m not exactly sure what you’re proposing, but I’m pretty much open for anything.” She didn’t even believe that the words were coming out of her mouth and that she was, so easily turned around that she would even consider something after breaking up with Andrew.

  “For now, I would like to just talk to you and would it be possible for you to take a break for 10 minutes.” That one green eye was shining and she thought for a moment that he could see what she was thinking. “There just has to be something wrong with him and he’s just too good to be true. I know Jennifer wouldn’t steer me wrong, but he’s just too perfect.”