Page 6 of Her Mountain Man Giant (Crave County: Mountain Men Love Curves #5)
TANNER
I grab my toolkit from my cabin before heading to Wyatt’s.
I lent him an adjustable wrench a few days back, and I’m going to need it to fix Violet’s faucet.
Clouds are swirling overhead, casting a gray film over the sky as I walk through the trees.
My mind is replaying breakfast with Violet, remembering every detail, every word she said, and I feel a stab of guilt when I think back to how I acted when she mentioned the accident.
I wasn’t expecting it. As soon as she asked about it, I instinctively shut her down and changed the subject.
Eighteen years later and I still can’t talk about it.
What does that say about me?
Hell, surely nothing good.
My mind is so full of Violet that I almost walk straight past Wyatt’s cabin, and I mentally pull myself together before knocking on his door, hoping he’s at home and not out in the woods. I hear his dog barking from inside, and a moment later Wyatt opens the door with a mug of coffee in his hand.
“Morning,” I say.
“Tanner.” He nods in greeting. “What can I do for you?”
“You got that wrench handy?”
“Sure.” He disappears into his cabin before reemerging with the tool in his hand. “You need anything else? Extra storm supplies? There’s a big one coming tonight.”
I frown. We get storms up here almost daily this time of year. If Wyatt thinks tonight’s storm is worth mentioning, it must be bad.
“How big we talking?”
“Huge,” Wyatt grunts. “Gonna be a doozy.”
“Damn. Well, I’ve got all the supplies I need. Thanks, though.”
His words follow me all the way back to Violet’s cabin.
Gonna be a doozy.
I hate the idea of Violet being alone out here in the middle of a huge storm.
I’m sure she’s already seen her fair share of summer storms out here, but the big ones are different.
She’s probably never experienced anything like it.
When a storm out here is bad, it feels like the whole damn world is about to explode, and it’s hard to be prepared unless you know what you’re up against. I’d rather she stayed with me.
I have a backup generator, storm shutters, and enough canned food to last a year. I can keep her safe.
When I get back to her cabin, Violet is sitting at the table with her laptop open.
The cute pajamas she was wearing earlier have been replaced by denim shorts and a pale pink tank top, those gorgeous curves filling out every inch of fabric.
Her wavy hair falls down her back, nearly reaching the seat of her chair.
She smiles when she sees me, her pretty red lips curving upward, eyes sparkling.
My cock throbs, desire flooding through me, hot and heavy.
Fuck, she’s so beautiful.
It hits me again every time I look at her. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to it. She has no idea what she’s doing to me.
“Got the tools,” I say gruffly, forcing my gaze away from her.
“Awesome. Thanks for this, Tanner. I really appreciate it.”
I shrug off her thanks and set my toolkit on the table, looking down at her. “Heard there’s going to be a big storm tonight. Worse than usual.”
She frowns. “Shoot. Really?”
“Yeah.” I pause, swallowing hard. “I think you should stay at my cabin tonight.”
Violet blinks, her eyebrows rising. “Your cabin?”
“It’s more equipped to handle serious storms. There’s backup power, shutters, a storm shelter if things get too bad.”
She’s quiet for a moment. I’m expecting her to refuse, but to my surprise, she smiles. “I’d like that. It would be great to see your cabin.”
I nod, my heart racing with anticipation at the thought of having this angel in my home.
But I want more…
I want her in my bed.
It’s not a thought I should be having about a girl half my age, but fuck, I can’t help it. Violet ignites something inside me—something desperate and primal. I think back to the sex scene in her book, the dirty words she wrote.
Fuck, I’d give her something to write about.
But it’s not just her beauty that’s driving me wild.
It’s deeper than that. I can’t explain it.
From the moment I set eyes on her in the woods, I was under her spell.
There’s something so damn innocent about her, sweet and gentle.
But there’s strength too, an undercurrent of determination.
She’s a girl with a dream who will do whatever it takes to make it happen, and I admire the hell out of that.
It reminds me of my younger days, back when basketball was all I cared about.
I had that same drive, the same ambition, and I hope she never loses it like I did.
“Tanner?” Violet’s soft voice pulls me from my thoughts. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” With a deep inhale, I wrench my focus back to my toolkit, opening it up. “Better get started on this.”
“Do you want anything first?” she asks. “A drink?”
“I’m good. Don’t let me disturb your work.”
“Well, if you change your mind, help yourself to anything you want.”
I thank her and head into the kitchen, inspecting the faucet.
It doesn’t take long to fix—there are a few loose parts causing the leak, so I tighten them up.
Then I head back into the living room to fix the floorboard and replace the loose screws.
I crouch down, fighting against the pain in my knee as I work.
Behind me, I can hear Violet tapping on her keyboard, the only sound in the quiet cabin.
I can’t help wondering what she’s writing.
I think back to her notebook—the notes she made about me.
Is she really going to write me into one of her books?
The thought makes me smile to myself, and suddenly the knee pain is forgotten, warmth buzzing through my chest. I made myself numb a long time ago, shutting out the past, the bad memories…
but Violet is making me feel things again.
It’s like she’s waking me up, breathing life into my withered old heart, and it scares me how fast I’m falling for her.
There’s no way a girl like her would want me.
She might think I sound like a romance hero on paper, but the reality is very different.
I’m damaged goods. A sullen and reclusive middle-aged man.
And hell, even if by some miracle she did want me, there are a million ways I could lose her—a million ways I could get my heart broken.
But I can’t help how I feel.
I can’t stop myself from wanting her.
With a deep sigh, I try to refocus on what I’m doing, pulling up the screws from the floorboard.
But curiosity nags at me as I listen to Violet’s fingers move across the keys.
Her back is to me, and I straighten up slightly, peering over her shoulder.
I glimpse a few words, “bulging biceps”, “giant mountain man”, before Violet catches my reflection in her screen.
She hurriedly minimizes the tab and whips around.
“Hey! No peeking.” She tries to look serious, but she’s fighting back a smile.
“Working on your book?” I ask.
“Maybe.”
“What’s it about?”
Her cheeks pinken, and she squirms in her seat.
“I’m still figuring it out,” she says eventually.
“You’ll have to let me read it sometime.”
She blushes even harder, her eyes dancing as we look at each other.
“Maybe one day.”
Our gaze holds for the space of several heartbeats, and all I want to do is kiss her—close the space between us and claim that pretty mouth.
My eyes flicker to her lips, strawberry red and begging to be kissed.
I want to taste her. Tangle my hands in her soft hair.
But all too soon, Violet turns back around to face her screen.
She’s breathing hard, her shoulders rising and falling fast. The air is thicker than molasses, and the cabin suddenly feels too small, pressing in from every side.
I run a hand over my beard, trying to ignore the furious thumping of my pulse, the bulge in my jeans straining against my boxers.
Violet doesn’t look back around, but she doesn’t need to. I can feel her. I’m hyperaware of every breath, every movement. Something just shifted between us, and I know there’s no going back.
This girl is mine.
The thought hits me hard, setting fire to my veins.
I’ve been hanging on by a thread since we met, clinging to my self-control, but I’m done trying to fight it.
I need to claim her. I’ve felt it deep down since the moment we met—the inevitability.
Like meeting her was written in the stars.
Hell, I’m not sure I believe in fate, but I believe in choices.
The power of choosing your own destiny. Violet might not know it yet, but I’ve made my choice.
And I choose her.