Page 6 of Mountain Man Tempted (Hard Timber Mountain Men #2)

CALLA

I wasn’t sure what pulled me out of my deep sleep… the smell of coffee or the sound of a deep laugh. It took a few seconds to remember where I was. The night before came rushing back. Lane’s nightmare, the storm, Holt insisting I stay in the guest bedroom.

The small clock on the nightstand showed I’d overslept.

I reached for my phone and realized I must have set my alarm for six at night, not six in the morning.

Groaning, I pulled the covers up to my chin and tried making a wish that I could magically transport myself straight into my bedroom at my grandparents’ place.

When the stacked log walls didn’t immediately change into the painted sage drywall of their spare bedroom, I gave up.

My plan had been to be gone before Lane even knew I’d stayed the night.

But I’d screwed that up. Knowing it was going to be awkward when I entered the family room, I didn’t want to leave the bed.

Rain continued to fall, softer and slower than the night before. The down comforter smelled like dryer sheets mixed with something outdoorsy. It smelled like Holt. I wanted to burrow in and pretend he was holding me in his arms, tight against his broad chest where nothing bad could ever happen.

Footsteps stopped outside the door. “Can I wake her up, Dad?”

Ugh. Lane already knew I was here. Of course he did.

That kid was sensitive enough to know something in his environment was off…

something like a nanny who shouldn’t have stayed over, sleeping in the guest bedroom, inhaling the scent of his dad from a borrowed t-shirt like a woman who could survive on the smell of pine and cedar alone.

“Let her sleep, bud. She’ll get up when she’s ready.” Holt’s heavier footsteps approached. “Let’s go finish the pancakes. I bet she’ll be hungry.”

They both walked away, leaving me to try to figure out the most unawkward way out.

I got up, pulled on my clothes from the night before, and took one last whiff of Holt’s t-shirt before folding it and setting his clothes back on the freshly made bed.

I’d strip it and wash the sheets when I came back on Monday.

That way it would be ready for the next woman who stayed over to avoid a storm.

My stomach knotted at the thought. Rumor had it Holt hadn’t shown interest in anyone since his ex left a few years ago.

I hadn’t gotten the whole story, and I wasn’t about to ask.

It wasn’t my place. I was just the summer nanny, and summer would be coming to a close too soon.

Lane would be back at school in mid-August, and I needed to find something permanent by then.

I pushed all thoughts of Holt out of my head and pulled the bedroom door open. Forcing a calm smile that didn’t give any indication of the nervous pit opening in the bottom of my stomach, I walked into the living room and made a beeline for the front door.

“Calla!” Lane ran up and threw his arms around my waist. “We made dinosaur pancakes. Will you sit by me?”

Holt didn’t look up, but I could see the hint of a smile from all the way across the house. “I made plenty. Can’t send you home on an empty stomach. Or without coffee.”

It was the promise of coffee that did it. I leaned over to return Lane’s hug, then picked him up to head toward the kitchen. “Yes to coffee, please.”

Holt handed me a steaming mug. “Sleep okay?”

His gaze met mine for a moment. I’d set Lane down on the counter, but I almost dropped the mug when Holt smiled at me.

The easy grin hit me with a rush of heat low in my belly.

The man was attractive when he was frowning, but when he smiled…

it was like watching the sun peek out from behind a storm cloud.

That sounded cheesy as hell, but it was true.

My mind went blank as he looked at me like he was waiting for something. He’d asked me a question. I couldn’t remember what it was. I stalled by taking a sip of coffee. Coffee so hot that it burned my tongue, but I swallowed it while I racked my brain.

“Calla?”

“Mmm. Everything’s great.” I nodded, overemphasizing my point. Evidently, he was satisfied with my answer since he turned his attention back to the griddle.

“Come sit by me.” Lane hopped off the counter and dragged me toward the table. “After breakfast, can we make a fort?”

“We’ll see. I need to get home so I can change, though.” I sank onto the chair next to him while Holt piled a platter high with dinosaur-shaped pancakes then set it down in the middle of the table.

“Here’s a T-Rex for you.” He slid a pancake onto Lane’s plate, then picked another one off the stack and gave it to me. “And a brontosaurus for you.”

“Thanks. This smells so good.” And it tasted even better than it smelled. Holt might not say a lot, but the man sure could make melt-in-my-mouth pancakes.

He sat down at the head of the table, his knee bumping against mine when he scooted his chair toward the table.

We’d eaten together before, but this felt different.

Sharing breakfast together after sleeping under the same roof was too intimate.

Especially when I could still smell his scent on my skin from sleeping in his shirt.

Lane didn’t notice anything unusual. He was in a great mood for someone who’d woken up screaming and had to be eased back to sleep.

But Holt seemed to recognize the undercurrent between us.

His fingers brushed mine as he handed me the syrup.

My cheeks heated, and when I glanced over at him to say “thank you,” he didn’t look away.

Something had definitely shifted, and I wasn’t sure how to shift it back. I wasn’t sure I wanted to.

After we’d put a big dent in the stack of pancakes, Holt got up to start on the dishes. I cleared the table while Lane went in search of blankets for the fort he wanted to build.

“I should probably get going.” Part of me wanted to run while I still could, to put some distance between us so my head could catch up with my heart before it got carried away.

Holt reached out to take the stack of plates from me. His hand covered mine, and there was no way it could have been an accident. “Stay. Lane will be crushed if you leave before we make a fort.”

We stood there, eyes locked, the air between us charged. My heart raced while I tried to come up with an excuse, but my mind went blank.

“Please, Calla?” His attention shifted to my lips. Shivers raced up and down my spine and goosebumps popped on my arms.

“Ready?” Lane poked his head around the corner, disrupting the moment. “Calla, will you help me?”

I jerked my hands away and followed him. “I’ll stay until it’s done. Then I need to get home and shower.”

“She can take a shower here, right Dad?” Lane called out.

Sleeping in the spare room was much different than getting naked in the shower of the man I couldn’t get out of my head.

“That’s okay. I promised my grandma I’d help her in the garden today.

Let’s get this fort done. Are we going for small and cozy, or do you want it to stretch over the whole room? ”

“Small. I want a reading nook like you said you had when you were little.” He held out a thick handmade quilt. The stitchwork was beautiful.

“Are you sure we should use this? It looks like someone spent a lot of time making it.”

Holt joined us. “My mom did that one. Let’s get a different blanket for the fort, bud.”

Lane ran back to his bedroom, leaving Holt and I alone. I traced a finger over the intricate pattern. “She’s very talented.”

“Was.” Holt took it from me and set it on the back of the couch. “She passed when I was in middle school. Dad kind of fell apart after that.”

Saying I was sorry didn’t seem like enough. Not when I could hear the pain in his voice. “It must have been hard to grow up without a mom.”

“Yeah. That’s why I wanted to do better by Lane.” One shoulder lifted in a slight shrug. “Now I’m just trying to make the best of the hand I’ve been dealt.”

“You’re doing a great job. Not that you need me to tell you that.” Awkward silence settled over the room while we both waited for Lane to come back.

“It’s nice to hear.” He kept his gaze trained on the floor and didn’t look up, not even when I turned toward him, surprised at how much he was opening up. “Thanks, Calla.”

Stunned into silence, I wasn’t sure what to say next.

Thankfully, Lane bounded into the room, saving me from having to respond.

He handed a blanket to me and another to his dad, then started barking out orders about where we should begin.

After fifteen minutes and a few rocky starts, we ended up with a small space tucked into the corner behind a recliner.

Holt lined it with pillows and Lane outfitted his new fort with a flashlight, King Chomper, and a handful of fruit snacks in case we got hungry.

While the rain fell outside, Holt and I took turns reading him library books from the stack Lane and I had picked out the week before.

Holt even loosened up enough to do the voices.

That only made Lane beg me to join in, and the two of us performed several picture books.

I lost track of time and let myself enjoy the experience of the three of us pressed close together inside the dark fort.

After we finished reading the last book, I looked down to see Lane had zonked out on a pillow.

He looked so peaceful in his sleep, and I wished I could figure out a way to keep his nightmares away.

Holt climbed out from underneath the blankets and held out a hand to help me up.

I slid my palm into his and almost dropped it when the contact sent a zap of heat up my arm.

“You okay?” He wrapped his other hand around my arm to steady me. Concern creased his forehead, and the look he gave me told me he was struggling against the same building need that had been growing inside me.

“I should go. I really did promise my grandma I’d help her in the garden today.”

“You should go then.” He agreed with me, but his hands still held me in place.

I lifted my chin, forcing myself to look him in the eye even though I was nervous about what I might see.

Want, need, and desperation stared back at me, drawing me in like some magnetic force, like I didn’t have a choice.

My palms flattened against his chest. His heart beat out an erratic rhythm underneath my hands.

He didn’t move, just drew in a deep breath while I tried to talk myself into walking away.

But I couldn’t.

I bit down on my lip, not sure what should happen next. Leaving was the right choice. But being this close to him was absolutely intoxicating. I didn’t want the moment to end.

“Calla.” My name came out half plea, half warning. He sounded like a man who’d endured way too much pain.

I turned, pressing my cheek against his chest. His arms pulled me in closer, wrapping around me and securing me against him like I was his to protect.

I didn’t have a ton of experience with guys, but I knew enough to tell he was into me.

The thick ridge along the front of his gray sweats proved that. I stepped even closer, and he groaned.

“If you don’t leave now, I’m not going to be able to stop myself.”

“Stop yourself from doing what?” I wanted to see what would happen, how far he’d let himself go. This thing between us was bigger than both of us put together. I couldn’t walk away, not now.

He brought his hand up to glide along my neck, his thumb grazing the spot where my pulse fluttered out of control. His lips parted and he leaned down, cupping the back of my head and tipping my chin up to slant his mouth over mine.

My knees shook, threatening to buckle. I fisted my hands in the front of his shirt and held on for dear life as he took the kiss deeper.

It was too much. My senses heightened. The feel of his shirt, the rough scrape of his whiskers on my cheek, the scent of fresh laundry and pine that I’d come to associate with him…

the combination made me feel like I’d downed a gallon of whiskey even though I hadn’t had a drop.

His tongue slipped past my lips, and he took his time exploring my mouth while my nipples pebbled and my blood turned to molten lava. I’d never been kissed like that before. Hell, I probably never would be again. All I wanted was to stay in the moment until the end of time.

He pulled away first, his heart pounding under my hand. “We shouldn’t.”

“Right.” Of course he was right. He was my employer, for crying out loud.

My hot boss who up until recently, I wasn’t even sure knew how to smile.

I let go of his shirt and smoothed my hand over my top.

What was the proper way to react to being kissed senseless by my boss after spending the freaking night at his house?

His thumb swiped over my bottom lip. “I’m sorry, Calla. I shouldn’t have done that.”

“Um, let me grab my purse.” Even though we’d crossed the line, it still felt like rejection. I whirled around and searched for anything that belonged to me. Seeing my keys on the table, I headed that direction and shoved my feet into a pair of shoes by the door. “Tell Lane I said goodbye.”

Holt hadn’t moved except to bow his head and prop his hand against the wall. Regret seemed to float out of every pore. It had been a mistake. One that left me not even knowing my own name, and one he clearly would never make again.

I fled to the safety of my car, stumbling along the way since I’d accidentally shoved my feet into his boots instead of my sneakers. I’d bring them back on Monday, assuming he even wanted me to return. There was no way I was going back in there now.

As I started to back down the drive, took one last look at the house. My heart squeezed tight, already missing a home that didn’t belong to me, that never would.