Page 3 of Cozy with the Mountain Man (Fall for a Mountain Man #10)

CHAPTER THREE

Emilia

Rowan might’ve been frigid on the outside, yet it didn’t turn me away. If anything, it turned me the hell on.

I wanted to crack him open and dig deep inside to find out what he was all about.

Why did he live all alone in this big, remote cabin? Or did he live alone? Was there a wife or girlfriend around? Perhaps his mom or dad lived here? So many questions swirled in my head.

The biggest one?

Why did I want to know so much about him? Why him?

The want, the need, the urge was there. I needed to figure out why.

Thankfully, Louie worked his cuteness magic and got us inside. Never in my life before had I been so thankful to feel the warmth from the roaring fire.

The icy chill melted from my bones as I watched Rowan and Louie bonding. He loved belly rubs and attention, both of which Rowan was giving him plenty of.

Okay, focus, Jules. You need to get home.

I sat back down on the plush loveseat and tapped the screen on my phone. I brought up Hailey’s phone number on the call app, my finger hovering above the numbers.

“Are you hungry? I have beef stew in the crock pot. I bet Louie wouldn’t mind a piece of beef.”

His deep voice startled me, and I dropped my phone. I grabbed it quickly, my cheeks growing hot.

Can he cook?

Is this a dream right now?

A man as hot as he can cook?!

Okay, that sounded rude. But I loved to cook and always hoped to meet a man who enjoyed it, too. Not that Rowan was the guy I was looking for or anything. I had stopped looking, basically, when dating became a chore and focused more on myself and my career as a writer.

“But I thought you said five minutes?” I asked when, really, I wanted to say please feed me some of your beef stew and then lick my naked body all night long.

Rowan scratched behind Louie’s ears. “I can’t send you guys back out into that storm. It’ll be dark soon. No one’s going anywhere until tomorrow. I doubt they’d even send a tow this far up.”

I squirmed in my seat, the heat from his gaze burning right through me. “Shit. I screwed up.”

“It’s okay. It happens to the best of us.” His mouth lifted in a half smile, but it was more than I’d seen from him all night. I’d happily take it.

“Are you sure? You didn’t seem like you wanted company,” I asked with hesitation in my voice. “I’m sure my friend will meet me with her boyfriend and—”

“No. It’s too dangerous. For you, your friend, whoever. You can spend the night here. You can take my bed, and I’ll sleep on the couch, or I can make up the guest bed. I’ll set up some blankets for Louie, too.”

“But this is too much. A few minutes ago, you didn’t want us in here longer than five minutes.”

“Forget what I said five minutes ago. There’s no way I’m sending you out there or asking someone to risk their life coming here. The weather forecast wasn’t right. This is a lot more snow than they predicted.”

The roughness in his voice sent desire coursing through me, my skin tingling, my core aching, my thoughts wild with what sex with him would be like. I imagined he could easily throw me around despite my full figure.

Silence fell between us as I contemplated my options. He was a stranger. This was crazy. I needed to call Hailey and work out some sort of plan.

“Rowan, thank you. I mean it. But I don’t know you. I can’t just stay in your house after stumbling here while lost in the woods. I’ll figure something out once I get my friend on the phone.”

Rowan dropped his hands to his sides and stood abruptly, causing Louie to scramble to his feet and wag his tail. “Listen, I’m not good with this…this…this shit or whatever.” I waved my hand around as I paced the living room.

I waited for him to continue, giving him the space he needed to gather his thoughts.

“I’m not around people very often. Not since…

” He swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat.

“Not since the accident. So my people skills aren’t top-notch.

I’m a grumpy bastard who likes to be left alone.

Ask anyone in town, and they’ll tell you.

But you, Jules…I don’t know what it is, but you make me feel alive again.

Hopeful. Like possibilities are out there where maybe I won’t be so damn cold anymore.

” Rowan tugged at his hair and sat down beside me on the loveseat, his large form taking up his side and some of mine.

There was so much of him everywhere, and I loved it. I wanted to drown myself in it. In him.

He swiveled his body toward mine. “Please tell me I’m not crazy and you feel it, too.” His dark brown eyes searched mine, and I was fucking putty in his hands. No other way around it. This man, this hot-as-sin man, had some crazy power over me.

Was that what it felt like to fall hard and fast for someone?

Was that what Hailey meant when she always said, “You’ll know when it’s right, because it’ll feel like a punch to the gut?”

God, what is this man doing to me?

I was usually so sure of myself, confident in my decisions, but not around him. I couldn’t tell if it was a good thing or a bad thing.

But one thing I would not do is lie to him. He deserved the truth.

“You’re not crazy,” I whispered.

He took my hands in his, his large bear paws swallowing my small ones. As soon as our skin touched, it was electric. Magnetic.

Addicting.

“I feel it too,” I said as Rowan moved closer, his eyes falling to my lips and back up again until we were mere inches from each other, our breath mixing together.

“Can I kiss you?” he whispered so softly, I almost didn’t hear it.

I nodded, and before I could even blink, his lips were on mine, crashing together in a fury of passion and desire.

How there was so much between us I didn’t know, couldn’t understand, but didn’t care. Not when he tasted like the sweetest, ripest fruit.

Everything around me fell away, and it was only me, him, and the roaring fire. My hunger gone, my chills gone, all of it gone from his sweet kisses.

It was then that I knew my life had changed forever.

All from stumbling onto his cabin in the woods.