Take a Mountain Man Home for Christmas: A Mountain Man Romance Christmas Collection

by Crowne, K. C.

Cassie

  I dreaded entering the house. I knew what I would find before I even opened the door. I stood on the porch, contemplating getting in my car and driving back to Philadelphia. I still had my apartment, and I could probably tell my landlord I was going to keep it after all. But how would I pay for it? Since I took the semester off from law school, my fellowship was gone. I’d have to get a job, which I could do, sure, but the baby was due soon. I wouldn’t have a job for long if I found one. I was stuck.

  With a sigh, I opened the front door and walked into the house. My parents were in the living room, as I expected. My dad hopped up from the couch with my mother behind him. Isabelle came out of the kitchen just as my father shouted, “What was that about?”

  “Nothing,” I said, walking toward the stairs. I hoped I could get up to my childhood room and lock the door behind me, closing my parents out.

  But my dad stepped in the way, blocking my exit. He crossed his arms in front of him and glared at me with a disappointment I’d seen so many times growing up. But I was no longer a child; he didn’t have the same power over me that he did back then. He couldn’t make me feel small and insignificant.

  “As long as you’re under my roof, you follow my rules,” he ordered. “I have never wanted you associating with the Wileys.”

  “Dad—” Isabelle tried to butt in. He shot her a look that would have made most grown men shrink away, but Isabelle didn’t waver. She’d grown a lot over the last few years, like me. She walked to my side in a show of support. “Dad,” she started again. “You’re being ridiculous. Cassie is a grown woman about to have a baby. You can’t keep treating her like a child.”

  “She’s in my house. If she doesn’t like the rules, she can leave.”

  “Charles,” my mother interjected, putting a hand on his arm. “She’s having a baby. You can’t just kick her out on the street.”

  My father’s face softened, but only for a moment. He pulled his arm away from my mom and lurched forward, pointing a finger in my face. I backed up, and thankfully he didn’t come any closer. I was already up against the wall.

  “And that’s another thing. The fact that you were so irresponsible that you got pregnant just months before finishing your law degree. I expected better of you, Cassandra.”

  I stiffened, kicking my chin out. “You know what? I came back because you were sick, Dad. But if you’re gonna treat me like this, maybe I need to go back to Philadelphia.”

  “Yeah, maybe you should. Finish that expensive degree I’ve been paying for,” he snarled.

  Tears welled in my eyes. All my life, I’d wanted my father to be proud of me. He was a lawyer, and he had inspired me to follow in his footsteps. But no matter what I did, I always fell short. He wasn’t happy with my choice in specialization, telling me there was more money in this field or that one. I’d decided to become a child advocate, to work with troubled youth, and those who didn’t have a voice.

  Kids like Jack and Madison.

  It wasn’t enough that I went to law school, got good grades, and never got into trouble. No, he always wanted more from me. I realized I’d never live up to his expectations, and I no longer cared.

  “Fine, I’ll leave tomorrow,” I said, wiping my eyes. I pushed past him, headed for the stairs. “First thing in the morning.”

  “Good. At least in Philly, you won’t be hanging around with Jack Wiley.”

  I was halfway up the stairs when I stopped in place. The words spilled out of my mouth before I could take them back. “Well, Dad, I got some news for you,” I said, staring down at him. “You’ll never rid of Jack because he’s the father of my baby.”

  The look on my dad’s face was priceless. For a moment, I relished in the emotions that spread across his face. All my life, I’d worried about disappointing him. Now, I couldn’t get any lower than this.

  And I didn’t fucking care.

  I remembered Jack’s words and said, “No one can know.”

  “Of course no one can know,” my dad growled. “Because that low life will have nothing to do with my grandchild. What a fucking disgrace.”

  “Whether you like it or not, Dad, my son will know his father,” I retorted hotly.

  I didn’t bother to wait for a response. I continued up the stairs to my room, the first door on the right. I went inside and slammed the door behind me, locking it as I pressed myself against it.

  I was finally alone, and I let the tears fall. And boy, did they fall. I sobbed into the door frame, my hands punching the wood as I cursed to myself under my breath.

  Why did it have to be so hard? I didn’t regret my child. Nothing in the world would have made me regret getting pregnant. It wasn’t easy, but I was ecstatic when I found out I was pregnant. Even though it wasn’t planned, I had always wanted to be a mother. I just imagined it would happen someday. But now at this point in my life, and certainly not with Jack.

  Not with a man who couldn’t be a father even if he wanted to.

  I pushed myself away from the door and fell onto my bed, exhausted.

  My room looked the same as it had in high school. My bedding was the same – a cosmic galaxy print bedding set on a twin bed. I was too big for the bed and had outgrown pretty much all the clothes still in the closet. My parents hadn’t touched my room after I left, and sometimes, it felt like they never wanted me to grow up.

  They wanted me to be the good girl who focused on school first. Who preferred reading over parties and boys. Bookshelves took up most of the room, two full walls, and part of the third. Harry Potter mixed in with the Complete Works of Shakespeare and Dante’s Inferno. If it was in book form, I’d read it.

  Mostly because when I was young, I had yearned to be someone else. Someone different. Someone more carefree like Madison. I’d always been too afraid to take risks, which was why I’d been a virgin when I’d slept with Jack.

  Not that he knew it at the time; otherwise, he might have had second thoughts.

  I rolled over onto my side, curled up in a fetal position. My mind drifted to the night we conceived our child. It was the only time I’d ever been with a man. I wasn’t on the pill because I wasn’t intending on having sex. It had just happened.

  I closed my eyes and remembered the way he’d looked at me when I’d knocked on his door. When he’d opened the door, there was an annoyance on his face, but that quickly washed away when he saw me. His eyes moved over my body, taking in every inch of me. No man had ever looked at me the way he did that night.

  My tears had all but dried up. Thinking about Jack and that night made my heart swell, and a warmth grow down below. Biting my lip, I let my hand move down my body, over my swollen, extra-large breasts. My nipples were so sensitive I let out a gasp as my fingers brushed over them through the fabric of my dress and the bra beneath it.

  I grabbed a pillow from the bed and placed it between my legs, rubbing against it as I touched other parts of my body, remembering the way Jack had touched me.

  I’d gone over to help him clear his name and improve his reputation in town. But one beer led to another, which led to him being unable to keep his hands off me. We didn’t even make it to the bed. He’d pressed me up against the wall of his living room, kissing me passionately. His mouth moved over my neck, my chest, and to lower regions.

  I groaned, thinking about the way his tongue had flicked at my clit. I had an orgasm just from him going down on me; he was that good. My legs almost gave out, yet he held me against the wall, drawing out the pleasure until I couldn’t take it anymore.

  He’d picked me up and carried me to the couch. I straddled his lap and felt his manhood against me. I rubbed against him like I was rubbing on the pillow now, dry humping him and nearly climaxing again from just the teasing alone.

  And when he slid into me, it hurt for only a second. My body adjusted to his thick cock, stretching around him until he was sheathed deep inside. Never having sex before, I merely did what felt good at the time - I rocked back and forth, grind
ing against him as his cock filled me.

  Jack grabbed my ass and slowly began moving me up and down. I rose and then slid back down. Faster and harder, my movements became more desperate as Jack kissed me deeply.

  I came, screaming into his mouth. His hands held me in place, keeping the rhythm when my own body failed me.

  As soon as that orgasm subsided, we switched positions. He had me every way possible - bent over the arm of the sofa, my ass in the air as he fucked me from behind, then finally, on top of me, staring deep into my eyes as we came together. His throbbing cock took me by surprise, and I came harder than I had ever come in my life, my pussy milking him of every last drop.

  Just thinking about that orgasm pushed me over the edge again. I tried not to cry out too loudly, but the pleasure ripped through my body, leaving me a shuddering mess on the bed.

  I relaxed back into the mattress, my legs shaking from the aftershocks.

  It was good, yes, but nothing would compare to the night our son was conceived.

  Nothing I did would ever come close to feeling as good as when Jack was fucking me.

  My eyes grew heavy; I was very relaxed. The argument with my dad and all the drama with Jack was out of my mind as I drifted off to sleep.

  I dreamt of Jack, imagining I was curled up beside him like that night at his place.

  Jack

  The Liberty Municipal Library was the oldest building in Liberty, and it hadn’t seen much in the way of remodeling since the 1980s. It was desperately in need of repairs, and as luck would have it, I was in need of work. It didn’t pay much, which was why I got the job in the first place.

  No one in Liberty would hire me. I’d done some odd jobs outside of the town, where people didn’t know my name. But this was the first job in the city limits. I hoped it would bring in more work, prove to the locals I wasn’t like my dad.

  Except, of course, I had my own secrets.

  Marcy Christopher, head librarian, was eating her lunch outside. She scowled at me often over her sandwich, keeping an eye on me. She was in her mid-50’s, friends with Cassie’s folks, and like many people in their circle, thought I was a low life. It was clear she wasn’t the person in charge of hiring me.

  “Someone came in asking about you,” she announced.

  I believe those were the first words she’d ever said to me. I looked around to be sure she wasn’t talking to someone else. “Me?”

  “Yes, you,” she said snidely. “Who else would I be talking to?”

  I shrugged. “What did they say?”

  “Not much. Just asked if Jack Wiley worked here, and I told them no.” She looked at me through narrowed eyes. “You don’t officially work here. You’re just an independent contractor.”

  “Did they leave a name?”

  “Afraid not,” she said, taking another bite.

  I walked over to the fence and began painting it, turning my back on Marcy. I was facing Smothered in Love, the local diner, across the street. Something caught my eye in the window. Three men were sitting in a booth, all looking at me.

  Normally I’d just brush it off. People in Liberty tended to stare when I was around. They’d whisper under their breath as I walked by. That was normal for me these days.

  Except these men weren’t locals.

  In a town the size of Liberty, everyone knows everybody. I’d never seen these men, at least not until recently. And I’d been seeing them around a lot lately. Not all at once, usually just one or two here and there.

  They were big guys, all of them with darker hair and beards that concealed most of their jaws. They looked similar enough to be related, and I wondered if they worked together. If they were part of the “family,” so to speak. I had half a mind to walk over there and ask them what they wanted.

  But before I could do that, my burner phone buzzed in my pocket. I stepped further away from Marcy, moving to the back of the building, where the parking lot was empty.

  I answered before it went to voicemail. The man on the other end didn’t even bother to say hello. His voice was concealed, scratchy.

  “I have a job for you.”

  “Alright, send me the details.”

  “You’re not gonna ask me what it is? You’re just gonna agree to it?”

  “Would you tell me even if I asked?”

  “Probably not,” the man said, chuckling dryly. The sound sent a shiver down my spine. “But most people ask.”

  “I’m not most people.”

  “And that’s why I like you, Jackie-boy.”

  I cringed at the name, the same name my father used to call me when he wanted something.

  “I’ll send over the details,” he said.

  I thought about the men at the diner. “I actually do have one question.”

  “Shoot.”

  “Why are you having me followed?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Jack.”

  “Yeah, right,” I muttered. I ran a hand over my beard. I didn’t know why I thought he’d be straight with me.

  Hank Gillespie wasn’t straight with anyone. He only ever spoke lies, and he was damn good at it too. Good enough to become a Utah state representative.

  Not that I was supposed to know any of this. As far as Hank was aware, his identity was still a secret. Very few people knew who he was, only those high up in the organization. Like my dad, who couldn’t keep his mouth shut once he got some whiskey in him.

  Hank hung up without saying goodbye. He wasn’t a man for formalities, not when it came to this part of his life. When he was on the debate stage, it was a different story. He could woo just about anyone with his charm and smarmy grin.

  Few people got to see this side of him. And usually, those that did ended up dead like my father.

  I put my phone away and went back to the fence. I only had a few more spots to finish up, and I glanced back at the diner.

  The men were gone.

  I finished my work on the fence and decided to cut out early. Hank had sent over the meeting location and told me exactly what I needed to pick up. $540,000. An odd number, but I didn’t ask questions. I just needed to make sure it was all there and deliver it to the next person in the chain of command.

  Easy peasy, I thought to myself as I walked over to Smothered in Love.

  I knew the men were gone already, but I still checked every booth in the place, hoping maybe I’d catch one of them alone. No such luck. I slid into the same booth I saw them in earlier. Felicity James, the owner of the diner, waltzed over to my table, a smile on her face.

  “Hey, Jack. There were some guys in here looking for you,” she said, her smile wavering a bit. She placed a glass of water in front of me along with a menu. “They looked a bit rough. Is everything okay?”

  My stomach dropped, but only because Hank was getting others involved in his little game. Felicity had always been kind to me, and I didn’t want to see her brought into this shit.

  “Yeah, just some old friends,” I lied easily. “I ran into them, said they stopped by.”

  “Oh, okay,” she said, seeming to feel a bit better. “Do you need a minute to look over the menu, or do you know what you want?”

  I handed the menu back to her. “I’d like the chicken fried steak and eggs platter, please.”

  “Anything to drink?”

  “Just a Coke, please.”

  “Coming right up, darling,” she said with a sweet smile and headed toward the back.

  I stared out the window and groaned inwardly when I saw a familiar face walking toward the door. Cassie’s mom, Jeanie, walked in, Tammy Henderson, my high school history teacher, and her best friend, at her side. I dropped my head and hoped they didn’t see me, but the clacking of heels grew louder until Jeanie Lorenzo was standing right beside my table. She cleared her throat, and I looked up at her.

  “Jack, I just wanted to say I’m sorry about what happened at our house the other day.”

  I leaned back in the booth, cocking an e
yebrow. That wasn’t what I expected to hear from her. I stared at her, in shock, unable to find the words to acknowledge her apology fast enough.

  “I know, it comes as a shock,” she smirked.

  No shit, I thought to myself.

  She took a deep breath, then let it out. “Since you’re the father of my grandbaby and all—”

  “What did you say?”

  “Cassie told us. You’re the father of her child,” she said, speaking louder.

  Dammit. I closed my eyes and let out a low whistle, feeling my insides tighten into knots. I opened my eyes and glanced around the diner. It felt like all eyes were on us. Maybe I was imagining it, but it sure as hell felt like everyone was listening in now.

  I did the only thing I could think of at that moment. Deny it.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, staring blankly at the two women. “I was never involved with Cassie.”

  Jeanie stared at me, her mouth open wide, but no sound came out. Tammy grabbed her friend’s arm and pulled her to another booth, one on the other side of the restaurant.

  Felicity came by with my drink.

  “I’m sorry, but do you think I could get my meal to-go instead?”

  “Of course, darling,” she said. “Just give me one second, alright?”

  “Thanks, Felicity.”

  Jeanie Lorenzo stared daggers at me from across the restaurant. Maybe she knew I was lying. But Lord, help me, please let everyone else believe it’s true. At the very least, it would give the impression I didn’t care about her and the baby.

  Which couldn’t be further from the truth.

  Cassie

  “Cassie, please reconsider leaving,” Isabelle said. She heaved my large suitcase into the trunk of my car. She was helping me pack for my return trip to Philly as she simultaneously begged me to stay.

  “Dad made it perfectly clear that if I stay, I have to abide by his rules,” I said. “I’m a goddamn adult, and I’m not denying the father of my child an opportunity to know his son.”