Page 16 of The Mountain Man's Mail-Order Mafia Princess

An engine climbed the road outside.

I set down my glass.

The sound was too rough to belong to a delivery truck and too familiar to ignore. Cade’s pickup came through the trees, dust rolling behind it.

I was out the door before he stopped.

Cade parked beside my truck and climbed down. His work shirt was wrinkled, and grease streaked two of his fingers. He had a manila folder tucked beneath one arm.

He glanced at me, then toward the open cabin door.

“She’s here, isn’t she?”

Every muscle across my shoulders tightened.

“Cade, what did you do?”

Talia stepped onto the porch behind me. She’d put on her stilettos. My shirt still covered most of her leopard-print top, but the black skirt, diamonds, and expression made it clear she wasn’t hiding from anything.

Cade’s face lost what little color it had.

“Oh, hell.”

“That isn’t an answer,” I said.

He rubbed a hand over his mouth. “I made the Mountain Mates profile.”

For a second, the words made no sense.

Then they did.

“You used my name?”

“Yes.”

“My pictures?”

“Yes.”

“My address?”

Cade swallowed. “Yes.”

Talia came down the step carefully and stopped beside me. “Did you accept my placement?”

Cade looked at her. “I accepted a request for Talia R.”

Her chin lifted. “You accepted me while pretending to be him.”

“Yes.”

I took one step toward Cade. “Why?”

“It was supposed to be a prank.”

“You sent a woman to my cabin as a prank?”

“No. I didn’t think anyone would come here.” His words rushed together. “I used my email and my number. I thoughtyou’d get matched, there’d be some awkward messages, and then I’d tell you before it went anywhere.”