Man Find (Bergen Brothers Book 3)

by Krista Sandor

  She’d stood next to Elle during the wedding ceremony. It was a beautiful sunset service on the lodge’s outdoor terrace. And while she’d done her best to focus on her dear friend at the altar, her gaze had wandered from the beautiful couple reciting their vows to the man—her fiancé—standing on the other side of the happy couple next to Jasper.

  He’d caught her watching him and had winked. A quick, silent admission that he was thinking the same thing she was.

  The happy couple at the altar would soon be them.

  She looked up at him. “I think Bodhi would love to have a sibling.”

  He took her hand, and they continued down a long corridor. “Or two or maybe three?”

  She shook her head and chuckled. “You never saw me pregnant, Cam.”

  “I’m sure you were beautiful.”

  “If beautiful is swelled feet and power eating saltines twenty-four seven, then yes, I was the epitome of beauty.”

  “As long as you don’t start writing crime novels then stake out the local bakery after they’re out of your favorite chocolate chip muffin because you assume there’s a mafia connection to their lack of your preferred pastry, I’m all good.”

  Cadence giggled. “And that was just last week. God, I love Elle.”

  They passed through the kitchen and then down a dim forgotten hall.

  She glanced around the desolate place. “Okay, now this is getting a little crazy. Where are you taking me?”

  “Here,” he said and pointed to the wall.

  “How much have you had to drink?” she asked.

  He frowned. “Not a drop.”

  “Did you hit your head?”

  “No.”

  She crossed her arms. “You led me through the lodge down the creepiest hallway ever to show me a wall?”

  He grinned like a kid in a candy store. “This part of the lodge is the original cabin. My grandparents purchased Bergen Mountain in the late sixties, and this smaller structure was the only thing here at the time. They built the Bergen Lodge around it.”

  “That’s fascinating, Cam, but why did you need to show me this now?”

  “This cabin was a pretty hopping spot during Prohibition back in the twenties,” he added as if that gave her anymore to go on.

  She stared at the wood paneling. “Do you think Mr. Cuddles is off somewhere drinking moonshine?”

  “He could be. He’s one elusive bear.”

  He wasn’t wrong.

  “It’s honestly a miracle we haven’t lost him yet. Bodhi’s left him all over Denver.”

  “Then it wouldn’t hurt to look for him in here.” Cam lifted a strip of wood, and with a click, the panel opened.

  She tried to look past him. “What’s in there?”

  “Nothing, now. But it used to be where the bootleggers would hide their jugs of moonshine.”

  “How do you know about it?”

  “My gram and grandad showed it to me years ago. They told me that we were the only ones who knew about it.”

  “Wow!” she said, gazing into the dark space. “What are we supposed to do in there?”

  His gaze grew carnal. “Do you know what it’s like to look at something so beautiful all day and not be able to have it?”

  She mirrored his naughty disposition. “I have a little idea.”

  “This entire day has been about me on one side with my brothers and you on the other with Elle and Abby.”

  She trailed her fingertips down the plunging V-neck collar of her dress. “I guess it’s just the price we have to pay for being part of the wedding party.”

  He licked his lips. “Do you know how hard it was, watching you during the wedding ceremony and not being able to touch you, to tell you all the vows and promises I want to make to you?”

  Butterflies erupted in her belly as her pulse kicked up.

  This man.

  She cupped his cheek in her hand and brushed her thumb across his sexy stubble. “You have officially de-bobble-headed yourself, Camden Bergen.”

  He kissed her palm. “Want to go inside?”

  “In there?” she asked, imagining they were about to disrupt about six thousand spiders from whatever spiders do in the dark—something she had no desire to discover.

  “Yeah, I always thought it was the greatest space, and it’s kind of been a fantasy of mine to bring a girl here.”

  She chewed her lip. “Just to make this all crystal clear, you want to make out with me in a dusty old hidden room that used to store bathtub gin and bootlegged hooch and is most likely now the home to many, many creepy crawly things?”

  “Yes,” he answered without a hint of hesitation.

  “Hmm,” she answered, trying to figure out a new plan. They were in a giant lodge that his family owned with hundreds of beds. A scary hidden booze room couldn’t be their best option.

  But when he leaned in and captured her lips in a heated kiss, spiders vanished from her thoughts. She sighed as he deepened the kiss, and she melted into his touch. His hands slid past her shoulders, down the length of her back and settled on her ass. In the space of a breath, he lifted her into his arms and had her back pressed to the wall.

  She wrapped her arms around his neck and swiveled her hips. His hard length pressed between her thighs, and she really needed to thank Abby for choosing a loose, flowing bridesmaid dress. This would not have been an easy maneuver in a mermaid-style gown.

  She ached to feel him inside her, her body growing greedy, desperate for sweet release, as his thick cock stroked her most sensitive place and she gasped as the heat between them blazed.

  “I’m okay with the spider room,” she breathed, tilting her head back as he dropped a trail of kisses down her neck.

  “You didn’t mention anything about spiders, Jas!”

  Cadence stilled, and Cam stopped mid-kiss at the sound of Elle’s voice. They looked down the hall, turning their heads in unison, to find Jasper and Elle coming toward them.

  “Do you guys bring all the girls here?”

  But Cam looked just as surprised as she was.

  His brows knit together as Jasper and Elle got closer.

  He stared at his brother. “I thought I was the only one who knew about this place. Gram and Grandad showed it to me years ago.”

  Jasper frowned. “They told me about it years ago and said we were the only three who knew about it.”

  A bubbly giggle rang out, and Brennen and Abby came into view. They stopped at the end of the hall, her white dress billowing around her.

  “What are you all doing back here?” Brennen asked.

  Jasper pinched the bridge of his nose. “Let me guess. Gram and Grandad showed you this secret spot.”

  “Yeah, I’m the only brother who knows about it,” he answered.

  “Wait! Is this some weird Bergen brother thing?” Elle asked, eyeing her husband.

  “No, I’ve never brought anyone back here.”

  “Me neither,” Brennen echoed.

  Cadence leaned in. “You should probably put me down,” she whispered into Cam’s ear.

  He blinked as if he couldn’t believe anyone had found them. “Yeah, right.”

  “What’s so special about this place?” she asked, smoothing out her dress.

  “Seriously! What’s up with the Scooby-Doo scary hallway? I feel like I need to make sure my tetanus shot is up to date,” Elle added, batting at a spider web.

  Abby lifted her dress so it wouldn’t brush against the gritty floor. “Bren, we just snuck out of our wedding reception. You said we were going to a secret spot.”

  “I thought this was a secret spot,” he answered.

  Cam shook his head. “Gram and Grandad showed me this place on my tenth birthday. They shared the history of the lodge and then opened the secret door.”

  “Yep, that’s how it went for me too,” Jas answered.

  “Ah flip! That’s exactly what they said to me,” Brennen echoed.

  “Well, I call dibs. Cadence and I got h
ere first,” Cam said with a resolute nod.

  Jasper shook his head. “I learned about the secret room when I was ten, so I knew about this place before either of you. So, I call dibs.”

  “No flipping way! It’s my wedding day. I call dibs,” Brennen shot back.

  Elle glanced between the brothers. “Your family owns nineteen resorts worldwide. Why are we fighting over a musty old hidden room?”

  “Because it’s cool,” Jasper answered with a twinkle in his eye.

  “It’s a secret room! It doesn’t get any better than that,” Brennen said as Abby pulled her dress in closer to her body.

  Cadence chuckled.

  “What is it?” Cam asked.

  “The entire wedding party snuck out of the reception to come here,” she answered.

  “It did seem a little more impressive when I was a kid,” he answered as his brothers nodded.

  “Yeah, when Gram and Grandad showed it to me, it was like finding a hidden treasure,” Brennen said.

  “Just for the record. Nobody’s going in there, right?” Elle asked and rubbed her pregnant belly when quick footsteps coming down the hall caught their attention.

  “Wow! This is awesome!” Bodhi said, skipping down the corridor with Ray and Harriet Bergen following close behind.

  The little boy stopped and stared at the couples. “Did you guys find the secret door to the secret room?”

  The Bergens took in the scene as Harriet turned to her husband.

  “I think we’ve been found out.”

  “Grandad, Gram, this was supposed to be our secret place,” Brennen said.

  “Yeah, I spent the last twenty years thinking I was the only brother who knew about it,” Jasper added.

  Ray sighed. “You boys shared everything. We thought it would be fun for you each to think you were the only one who knew about the old moonshine room—like a secret hideout.”

  “Now I get to see it!” Bodhi said with an excited whoop, but Cadence noticed his eyes were red and dried tears trailed down his cheeks.

  She knelt down. “Are you okay, B?”

  “Bodhi was missing Mr. Cuddles. We thought that showing him the secret door might cheer him up and get his mind off his missing Teddy bear,” Harriet replied.

  Bodhi gasped. “Mommy! Cam! I just remembered where I left Mr. Cuddles!”

  “Where, sweetheart?”

  “Remember when I woke up on our drive to Bergen Mountain and I had to go pee?”

  “Yes.”

  “I left him at that coffee shop.”

  “Are you sure?”

  Cam nodded. “That’s right! Now I remember. We set Mr. Cuddles on the counter.”

  “Can we go get him, Mom?”

  “I could call and have one of the Bergen Mountain staff go?” Jasper offered.

  “No, don’t trouble anyone. We can go get him,” Cam said, patting Bodhi’s shoulder.

  “Bodhi, do you want to stay here at the lodge? We could go back to the party and hit the dance floor again,” Harriet offered.

  But Bodhi shook his head. “No, thank you. Mr. Cuddles needs me.”

  Cam lifted Bodhi into his arms. “Let’s go track down a bear.”

  “Be careful with those bears,” Elle said, sharing a glance with Jasper.

  “And we should get back to our wedding reception,” Abby added. “I hope nobody’s missed us!”

  “Very true, darling,” Harriet said with a chuckle.

  “Hey, why are you guys all down here?” Bodhi asked.

  Nobody said a word—not even the spiders made a sound.

  “I’ll let you know in about twenty years,” Cam answered, patting the boy’s back.

  Cadence walked next to Cam as the wedding party proceeded down the hallway and back toward the ballroom with the three of them parting ways with the group and heading out to their car.

  “Sorry, Mommy,” Bodhi said with a yawn, his head resting on Camden’s shoulder.

  “It’s all right, B. Everyone knows how important Mr. Cuddles is to you.”

  “Can I do the ‘Chicken Dance’ again when we get back?” Bodhi asked, followed by another yawn.

  Cam chuckled as Bodhi’s little body went limp in his arms. “I think our little guy is chicken danced out.”

  Our little guy.

  It almost seemed too good to be true. A chill passed through her, remembering when she’d felt this way before—those few years ago when she’d thought she’d be starting a new life in Denver. When she’d kissed Aaron goodbye then watched his image disappear behind them in the rearview mirror.

  Cam shifted Bodhi to one arm and wrapped the other around her. “Are you cold?”

  She swallowed past the lump in her throat and nodded, pushing the painful memory away. “I forgot how chilly it could get up in the mountains at night, even in the summertime.”

  “Hold on,” he said, opening the door to the Range Rover then settling a sleeping Bodhi into his booster seat.

  Cam had made little tweaks in his life this past month. Baby steps toward life as a billionaire Bergen brother. A car. Some new clothes. He’d tried to get her to accept rent money, but she’d waved him off. It seemed silly now that they were engaged.

  He hadn’t leapt into the life of extreme wealth he’d left a decade ago, and she was grateful he was taking it slow. She’d lived paycheck to paycheck for years, cutting coupons and budgeting her salary to the last penny. It was hard to believe that wasn’t going to be her life anymore. She couldn’t lie—there was a sense of relief in not having to worry about paying the mortgage or wondering what they’d do if the truck broke down—but she’d never be the type to throw money around. She’d been raised to work hard and help others. Rich or poor, that’s the example she’d set for her son.

  “Here,” Cam said, shrugging out of his suit jacket and wrapping it around her shoulders.

  She inhaled his scent, that clean, outdoor fragrance she’d breathed in every night before drifting off to sleep in his arms. He opened her car door and helped her in. Out of habit, she glanced back at Bodhi in the rearview mirror, sleeping peacefully, his head resting against the edge of the seat as Cam got in and started the car.

  The dash lit his features, and she watched him as he put the car in reverse.

  “Do you want to tell me what’s on your mind?” he asked, easing the car out of the lodge’s parking lot and onto the road that led to the highway.

  She touched his cheek. “I’m just remembering what you looked like the first day we met.”

  “I think you went all Harry Potter and called me a Hagrid.”

  “And don’t forget, a D-canoe.”

  He chuckled and shook his head. “I could never forget that.”

  She sighed as the oncoming traffic cast shadows on his face. “I’m really happy, Cam.”

  He glanced over and rested his hand on her knee. “Me too. Happier than I ever imagined possible.”

  They drove in silence as if they needed to let whatever new life was to come, sink in. Brennen and Abby’s wedding served as a preview and with Jasper and Elle expecting, that too could be on their horizon.

  Cam slowed the car as flashing lights loomed in the distance.

  He leaned forward. “Looks like they’ve got the westbound lanes closed for road work. We should be fine going east.”

  “What about getting back to Bergen Mountain?” she asked.

  He squeezed her knee. “Did you forget who you’re engaged to? I could hike from here and find my way back.”

  “That’s right. I may have shaved off the mountain man beard, but you can take the man off the mountain, but you can’t take the mountain out of the man.”

  “I like that,” he said then flicked on the blinker as the coffee shop came into view.

  He pulled up in front and shifted the car into park. “I’ll run in,” he said, leaning over and pressing a kiss to her cheek.

  Cam got out of the car, and she sat back and pulled his jacket around her. The gentle hum of
the engine purred, and she watched him speak to the man at the counter who nodded and pulled Mr. Cuddles out from beneath the register.

  She glanced back at her sleeping son. “We found Mr. Cuddles, baby.”

  Bodhi mumbled softly, and she envied his ability to fall into a deep sleep at the drop of a hat—or in their case—loss of a bear.

  “We’ve got our cuddle bandit back,” Cam whispered, handing her the Teddy bear then settling himself in the driver’s seat.

  She turned and tucked the bear under Bodhi’s arm.

  “He’ll be glad to wake up with Mr. Cuddles,” she said, patting the little boy’s leg.

  “You know what I’ll be glad to wake up next to?” Cam asked with a naughty bend to his words.

  “I sure hope the answer’s not Mr. Cuddles.”

  “I can promise you, it’s not,” he replied, taking them out of the parking lot and passing the westbound ramp to get back on the highway.

  He turned onto a narrow road that snaked into the mountains, and they drove in the inky darkness as the drone of the engine and the whirl of the breeze created a cocoon of serene sound.

  She glanced at the clock on the dash. It had only taken them fifteen minutes to get to the coffee shop. But the drive back was proving to be much longer.

  “Are you sure you know the way?” she asked.

  He turned to her. “Cadence, I told you, I—”

  Movement flickered in the corner of her eye, and she gasped.

  “Cam! Stop!” she yelled and pressed her hands to the dashboard reflexively as the eyes of a mature bull elk flashed in the headlights.

  Cam hit the brakes, and her body heaved forward, the car screeching to a stop in front of the majestic animal. The elk didn’t move. Its canopy of antlers and massive body stood stock still. She’d never been this close to one before, and the sheer size of its body, with smooth fur, pulled taut over thick, muscled limbs, left her in a state of shock.

  The elk stared at them, unblinking, his dark eyes glinting midnight blue in the beams of light.

  Cadence took one breath and then another before the animal tossed its head, like a warning, then sauntered off the road into the darkness. And with the animal’s exit, she regained her senses. She flipped around in her seat and breathed a sigh of relief.