Page 3 of Fall Wedding With the Mountain Man (Ozark Mountain Men Falling For Love #2)

Elizabeth

Frankie was playing with one of the pound dogs while I studied Hudson.

He was jaw-jacking with one of the shelter staff while he held a gray kitten in his hands, stroking it lightly behind the ear. The kitten was soaking up the attention.

Hudson had brought in seven loads of donations from his truck, and the shelter staff seemed overjoyed to see both him and the stuff.

They knew him by name, and it was obvious he was a regular here.

“You want to hold a kitten?” he asked as he handed it to me.

“Oh, uh, yeah?”

I didn’t know what to do with the squirming ball of fur, but the kitten figured it out for me. It climbed onto my shoulder and started batting at my hair while I tried to keep a grip on it.

My dad had been allergic to cats and dogs, so I’d grown up without them.

I’d never understood the draw until this moment.

The tiny gray tabby started purring and licking my neck. And I felt like my heart melted on the spot.

The last twenty minutes of my life had been a complete departure from everything I knew. Somehow I’d been whisked into a fantasy world where hot, burly men played with kittens and saved plus-size princesses like me.

This would never have happened in New York City.

It was too big. Too fast. Everyone was a stranger there.

But I could already tell the Ozarks were different. And Hudson was different, too.

I stared up at him while he finished talking to the shelter staff. His hair stuck out in every direction, but it was his beard that made him look feral. It was thick and full of curls, framing his gorgeous lips perfectly.

He looked like he could be in an ad for outdoor living. Every woman I knew would sign up for whatever he was selling.

What’s his story?

He hadn’t said much about his life. Just that he was from somewhere called Red Oak Mountain. I didn’t know anything about him other than the fact that he had a cute, oversized dog named Frankie, and a giant black pickup truck.

The kitten meowed and nestled on my chest, and something shifted inside me.

Up until this moment, I’d been laser-focused on getting to the wedding and trying to repair my relationship with Shelby. I’d been on a mission.

And when that mission was done, my next mission would start. Just like always.

I was a list-driven human. I liked to have my life planned out on paper so I always knew what was coming next. No surprises.

After the wedding, I’d drive myself to the nearest airport and take the next flight back home. Then I’d prepare a microwave dinner for myself, do my laundry, and prepare to go back to work. My job as a lawyer didn’t leave much room for frivolous details like living a life.

It definitely didn’t include meeting hot, country men or holding furry fluff balls.

Hudson rumbled, “I think she likes you.”

The kitten had gone to sleep, somehow still purring, the vibration doing something strange to my heart.

“I think I might be in love,” I whispered.

He laughed. “You want a kitten? I hear they’re having a sale today. This one can be yours for the low price of free .”

“Oh. I couldn’t. I mean, I shouldn’t . What would I do with a kitten? I don’t even know how to take care of one.”

“Kittens are simple. They want love. A warm spot in the sun. And more love. They also benefit from food and water. Done.”

Hudson made things feel possible, even though I knew they weren’t.

It would be too easy to fall under his spell.

I got the feeling he was the kind of man that a woman would throw her whole life away for.

Kind of like what Shelby did. She’d been on the fast-track to partner.

Only five more years between her and the inevitable conclusion when her life had taken a U-turn.

She’d quit the prestigious firm of Williams, Phelps and Harmon, taken an internship with an old retiring lawyer in Deer Springs, and then announced that she was moving there permanently after she met the “supposed” love of her life.

That’s what had caused our falling out.

I’d claimed she was having a youthful mid-life crisis, if you can have one of those in your twenties. She’d accused me of selling my life in exchange for work and told me she was hopping out of the rat race to live a real life, whatever the hell that meant.

But looking at Hudson while a kitten slept on my chest, I could almost see what she’d been talking about. It would be easy to fall for the glamor of a sexy mountain man.

His lips quirked. “No kitten today? That’s all right. Someone will come along and give her a home. Isn’t that right, Leona?”

“Who’s Leona?” I asked.

“The kitten. The shelter hasn’t named her yet, so I chose a name for her. It has a nice ring, don’t you think?” he said as he started to pry the sleeping kitten off my chest.

A reckless impulse overtook me, and I grabbed the kitten, holding her close. “Wait!”

“Maybe you do want a kitten.”

I did. But that was the twelve-year-old girl part of me. The one who used to like purple unicorns and dream of having a pet.

That girl had disappeared a long time ago, trading in pipe dreams for pencil skirts and matching suit jackets, cutthroat deals, and eighty-hour work weeks.

Unlike Shelby, I was still on track to be a partner.

“I can’t. A cat doesn’t fit in my life. I work… a lot.”

“Cats are very self-sufficient. They don’t mind having some quiet time. Do you travel for work?”

“No.”

“So you’re home most nights?”

Every night. My love life was nonexistent, and I didn’t go out on the town much. I was too tired to enjoy the benefits of city living after working such long hours.

“Yeah.”

He shrugged. “Sounds like a cat would work. If she got lonely, you could get her a friend.”

“Two cats! You’re a dangerous man to be around. You’re trying to turn me into the quintessential crazy cat lady.”

He laughed, his eyes sparkling. “It would take more than two cats to get that designation. Anyway, if you want to make it to the wedding, you either have to hand over the kitten or adopt her. Those are the rules.”

The woman working at the shelter today—a slim, pretty brunette who obviously had eyes for Hudson—piped up, “Actually, we’re overrun right now.

And this one’s older. She’s the last of her litter and never got adopted.

Now we have a dozen younger kittens that will get adopted out before her.

You know how it goes. If you wanted to foster her, Hudson, that would help us out, even if it’s just for a few days. ”

Hudson glanced at me. “What do you think, Elizabeth? Should we foster Leona for a few days?”

The way he said that made it seem like we were a couple, making one of those couple decisions together.

I knew he didn’t mean to, but the man could charm the skirt off any lady he ran across.

And he probably has too.

Something that felt like liquid fire rolled through me, electrifying my entire system. It had been way too long since I’d been with a man.

Weighing the decision about the cat, not the man, I asked, “I can bring the kitten back?”

The shelter employee nodded. “Yep. That’s how fostering works. It helps take a load off our resources.”

For the first in more than a decade, I did something impulsive. I said, “Okay. Let’s borrow the kitten. Will Frankie be okay with her?”

“Yup. He’s a fool for kitties. He likes it when they sleep on his head.”

I started laughing, holding Leona tightly to my chest.

My trip to the Ozarks was already turning into an adventure. And I had a sneaking suspicion I was going to sleep with this man. As long as he was willing.