Followed By The Mountain Man (The Mountain Men of Linesworth Book 8)

by Frankie Love

  What do they have to do with this moment?

  Benji reaches for a tarp that covers a large vehicle — that I am guessing is his food truck. He tugs it off to reveal his completely remodeled truck.

  “Wait, what happened to the Smoke Haus?” I ask, looking at the side of the truck that is covered with butcher paper. I can tell the truck is his — it’s the same make and model.

  “I like sausage and all, but it turns out I got a buyer for the brand. I am selling my sausage to a meat company. They’re going national with it.”

  “What, you sold your business, like complete ownership?” I ask, shock in my voice.

  He grins. “I made a pretty penny, and you know the best part? They now own my Chatter feed. So I’m off the app. Look, I even deleted it.”

  “Why would you do this?” I ask. “You love your food truck.”

  “I love you more.” He looks over his shoulder at our families and friends. They all know what is coming. He pulls off the butcher paper, revealing a brand-new logo for Tillie’s Chicken and Waffles.

  “Wait, what is this?” I ask, confused.

  “We can change the name if you don’t like it.”

  “You think people would eat my chicken and waffles?”

  Benji grins. “They’re the best thing I’ve ever had. And you said yourself you’d make them every day if you had people who would eat them. I asked our friends and everyone agreed that they would.”

  I laugh. “You guys, you think this will work?”

  “There is no competition,” Windsor says, speaking up.

  “And it’s unique,” my mom adds.

  “But why would you do this for me?” I ask Benji. “It could wind up as another failed attempt on my part.”

  “Or it could turn out to be something great,” he says.

  “You really believe in me? In this?”

  “The real question is,” Benji says, “do you believe in yourself?”

  I swallow, knowing he is right. “I’m scared of failing again,” I admit, turning to my family and friends. “I don’t want to let anyone down.”

  My dad walks over and gives me a hug. “Oh, Matilda, not striking gold with a food truck won’t let us down, but maybe not following your heart will. What is your heart telling you right now?”

  I look at Benji. “It’s telling me that you’re not what I thought. I’m sorry, Benji, for assuming the worst when you did nothing but believe the best of me.” I step toward him. “I’m sorry.”

  He pulls me into his strong arms and gives me a deep kiss. Heat rushes to my cheeks and I can’t help but grin. When we step back, I ask if anyone is hungry. “I can test his truck out, if you want.”

  But to my surprise, everyone shakes their heads and declines my offer. “Um, okay,” I say nervously. “This isn’t exactly giving me a boost of confidence in this new business endeavor.”

  “Trust us,” Kensie says. “We know what we’re doing.”

  They all scoot off the property quickly, my parents telling me they can’t wait to visit the new truck when I open it, and I say my goodbyes, annoyed that everyone is ditching me so quickly.

  Once they are gone and it’s just Benji and me, I frown. “That was awkward.”

  He smiles though. “No, it was part of the plan.”

  “What do you mean?” I ask as he wraps his arm around my waist and leads me to his cabin.

  “Before you’d consider a future with me, you said you needed a viable business.” He looks over his shoulder at the food truck. “Which we can now check off the list. But you also said you needed to move out of your parents’ place.”

  “Right, and how am I going to do that?”

  Benji pushes open the door to his bachelor pad. “I was hoping you might move in with me.”

  My eyes widen as we walk into his house. A few weeks ago, this place had cardboard boxes and a futon… and now? Now it is my dream house. Big, dark grey velvet couches flank the fireplace. There are throw pillows and curtains, candles and cozy blankets.

  The kitchen is stocked with a pink coffee pot and toaster, with a pink KitchenAid mixer and gorgeous stainless steel appliances. The bathroom has plush cream towels and mats, a shower curtain that is ruffly and fit for a princess… and with tear-filled eyes, I realize it is fit for me.

  “You did all this for me?”

  Benji gives me a soft smile. “For us.”

  “Why, why do you think we are such a good idea?”

  Benji pulls me to him. “Because, Tillie, before you, I never felt so damn awake. Like I could see the world for the first time. You make me forget to be an asshole. You remind me that happy endings are real.”

  “Benji, you really think moving in together… when we just… I mean, is it a little soon?”

  He kisses my forehead. “We can go as slow as you like, Tillie. But believe me, I am going to fight for our love story.”

  “When did you become such a hopeless romantic?” I ask.

  “When I met you.”

  My whole heart swells with desire. “You sold your entire brand for me?”

  He cups my cheek. “If those followers were getting in the way of us being together, they weren’t worth it.”

  “I think I made some assumptions about you, about your dating life—”

  He cuts me off. “And I didn’t do anything to correct you. I wanted you to think I was a catch, I wanted you to want me.” He runs a hand over his sexy beard. “But not at the cost of losing you. None of it is worth it if I don’t have you. I love you, Matilda. And I know it’s fast and I know it’s crazy, but I do.”

  “Oh Benji,” I sigh. “I love you.”

  His face breaks out in a huge smile. “Good, because I still have the bedroom to show you.”

  He leads me down the hall to the master bedroom that looks like my bedroom if it married him and had a love child that ate a pound of pink glitter.

  It’s basically amazing.

  Soft pinks and golds surround us, a massive bed, tulle netting around it, with white carpet and fuzzy blankets and a gorgeous chandelier. “The Sausage King can live in a room like this?”

  Benji laughs. “I’m a mountain man — I think I can handle a little bit of pink.” He pulls me to him, his arms wrapping around my waist, his eyes making promises I know he intends to keep.

  “I can’t believe you sold a million followers for me,” I tell him, our noses brushing as we move close enough to kiss.

  “There’s only one person I care to follow — and that is you, Matilda. Truth is, I’d follow you to the end of the earth.”

  “Thankfully you don’t have to go that far,” I tell him. “I’m staying put in Linesworth.”

  Benji kisses me softly. “And I’m staying right here too, with you in my arms.”

  Epilogue 1

  Benji

  Three months later…

  When you know, you know — and I knew the moment I tasted Tillie’s waffles that my girl was onto something. And now everyone else knows it too.

  The line wraps around the farmer’s market, everyone wanting in on the goodness she dishes up.

  And I am right here by her side, wearing an apron and a goddamn smile. Because my woman is finally finding her groove. Finding where she belongs.

  We work all afternoon, through the evening, and when the dinner rush is over, Tillie and I both pause for the first time in hours, laughing with exhaustion.

  “That’s the busiest we’ve ever been,” she says, washing her hands before untying her apron.

  “And you were worried that the Lumberjack Smoke Haus coming to town would hurt your business.”

  “Is it weird, your entire menu in a real restaurant on Main Street?” she asks as we close up her truck for the night.

  I shake my head. Truth is, there are ten more set to open on the West Coast over the next year. “No, is it weird to see me in all the advertising?”

  Tillie laughs. “No, I’m over being jealous. But that’s because I know that at t
he end of the day, it’s my bed you climb into.”

  I pull my girl close, kissing her hard. Her lips part and I run my hands up the hem of her dress, squeezing her ass. “God, I want you,” I tell her.

  “Good,” she says with a coy smile. “Because I want you too.”

  We lock up the truck and get in her car, heading to the cabin. We talked about building something new after I got the check for selling my business, but we decided we weren’t in a rush. And in some ways, she is right. But three months into life with her, there are some things I can’t wait any longer for.

  Once home, Tillie begins to undress, and I watch her, loving the way she looks naked. Her curves so damn sexy, her hair long down her back. I discreetly send a message on my phone and wait for her phone to beep.

  She reaches for it on the bedside table, frowning. “I need to turn this off.”

  “Uh, what does it say, though?”

  “It’s just a Chatter notification,” she says.

  “Maybe you should check it?” We started an account for her new food truck, and it has been awesome to see her audience grow as we share photos of her delicious food.

  She sighs but looks up at me with a laugh. “You could at least get naked while I do this.”

  Chuckling, I do as my bossy girl says, my heart pounding as she checks her message.

  “It’s just some new accounts following me,” she says.

  “Which ones?”

  She twists her lips. “Weird, it’s a wedding venue. And an engagement ring shop. And a local caterer.”

  She looks at me, finding me on my knees. “Oh, Benji!”

  I hold out a black velvet box that holds a glittering diamond ring. “I know we said we weren’t in a rush to buy a new house, but girl, I don’t want to wait to make this forever with you. Marry me, be my wife. Let’s make Linesworth our home, together.”

  She covers her mouth in shock, then gets on her knees in front of me. “Of course I will marry you, Benji. You’re my whole heart.”

  I slip the ring on her finger, and tears spill down her cheeks. “It’s perfect,” I say.

  “Just like our love story. Perfect because it’s ours.”

  “God, I love you,” I say, picking her up and carrying her to the bed. She’s naked and mine. All mine. A goddamn gorgeous gift I sure as hell don’t deserve, but plan to enjoy every day of my life.

  “I need you,” she moans as I spread her knees, kneeling before my bride-to-be. Her sweet pussy is nice and juicy, wet just for me, and I run my tongue over her folds, her creamy release filling my mouth in a way that has my cock rock hard and ready. Fucking her is my favorite thing in the whole world and she knows it.

  She pushes her ass to the edge of the bed, wanting me to suck her clit and make her drip even more. She braces herself on the bed as I go to town making her come nice and hard, the way she needs.

  “Oh Ben, oh…” She moans as I get her off, my fingers entering her and fingering her nice and slow, so slow she is reaching for my hand to make me go faster and bring her out of her agony.

  I lift my eyes to hers. “I like to tease you, baby,” I say, pushing her hand away and moving my thumb over her tight nub until she is gripping the sheets, begging me to let her come. “You’ll come when I want you to, love,” I tell her, and then I set her soft hand on my thick cock. She strokes me like I need, pumping my cock so I’m good and ready for her tight hole.

  I stand, lifting her legs over my shoulders, and I sink my cock where it belongs. With her, the love of my life. The woman who will be my wife, who already is my whole world.

  Epilogue 2

  Tillie

  Ten years later…

  When I met Benji, I thought he was the star of the show… but now, all these years later, it’s me in the spotlight with him.

  “It went better than I imagined,” I say in the dressing room. Benji and I have been here all day, filming the pilot episode of our television show.

  In the Kitchen with B&T is a cooking show that teaches couples how to make simple and delicious meals together. After working side by side in the food truck for years, we’ve learned a few tricks to keeps things hot both in and out of the kitchen. But we won’t be discussing that on camera… not everything needs to be shared with the whole wide world.

  “You were amazing,” Benji tells me, pulling me into a kiss.

  “So were you.” I lick my lips, running my fingers through his sexy ass beard.

  We’ve been in LA for the last few weeks, and will be here for another month filming the show. Then our little family of four can return to life in Linesworth. Our twin boys are excited because they miss their cousins. And I miss my girlfriends too! But it’s worth this time away because this is truly a wonderful opportunity Benji and I never imagined when we started filming ourselves cooking on ChatterLive all those years ago.

  But it turns out Benji really is good at gaining followers because soon enough, we had amassed more than three million.

  Chatter did more than bring us together — it gave us more opportunities than we ever imagined.

  “I was thinking,” I say. “The kids are with the nanny for another hour… we don’t have to rush back to the house.”

  “I like the sound of that,” he says. “But before I get you out of these clothes, let’s take a photo — for Chatter.”

  I smile, wrapping my arms around my husband’s waist. He pulls out his phone and snaps a selfie of us for our joint account. “Caption it with this,” I tell him. “I will follow him anywhere.”

  He types the words, then adds #LoveOfMyLife.

  “Look at you, such a romantic,” I tease, locking the dressing room door. Stepping toward him, I unbutton his shirt.

  “And you thought I was nothing but a Sausage King.”

  “Oh, you still are my Sausage King,” I say, pushing down his pants and stroking his thick cock, looking up at him, my whole body eager to satisfy the man who made me his wife. “Thank you for following me, all those years ago, when I was still struggling to sell my lattes and muffins.” I kiss his ear, loving the way he smells, the way he makes me feel. He pulls me close, runs his hands through my hair. “I’m glad you followed your heart.”

  “Me too,” he whispers. “Because I couldn’t imagine a life that didn’t lead me to you.”

  About the Author

  Frankie Love writes filthy-sweet stories about bad boys and mountain men.

  As a thirty-something mom who is ridiculously in love with her own bearded hottie, she believes in love-at-first-sight and happily-ever-afters.

  She also believes in the power of a quickie.

  Find Frankie here:

  www.frankielove.net