Page 41 of The CEO and the Mountain Man

Beau: Don’t tell anyone, tho. If Jake finds out, he’ll never let me live it down.

Me: Grumpy Jake?

Beau:

Beau: OMG. I’m going to call him that from now on.

Me: Don’t get me in trouble with Jake now.

Beau: I would never.

Me: What are you doing tonight?

Before he could answer, someone knocked on my cabin door. Worried that maybe River decided he couldn’t go through with the date, I pocketed my phone and opened the door.

“Hey.”

Beau stood there, freshly washed up and handsome in his nice Wranglers and sharp button-down.

“Hi.”

I stood there like a nerd for a solid five seconds longer than I should’ve, then opened the door. “Sorry. You look nice. Come in.”

Beau made his way past me and stood in the living room, much as he did last night. Only this time, he wasn’t the calming presence that had helped my son talk through his trauma. In fact, he seemed kinda nervous.

“Is something wrong? You look?—”

I stopped talking because he’d grabbed my hand. I held on.

He licked his lips. “Look. Maybe I’m misreading things, but?—”

“You’re not,” I said, talking over him.

His brows shot up, and I’m pretty sure mine did too.

What the fuck was I saying?

“I can’t believe I said that.”

He licked his lips again. “Do you wanna take it back?”

I shook my head.

“Because I really wanna kiss you.”

I inhaled sharply while nodding.

His hand went to my face, tilting it up. Our noses would be touching if he weren’t such a sequoia.

“Clark,” he breathed, then leaned in and touched his lips to mine.

A zing of something both new and familiar raced up my spine. I groaned and went up on my tiptoes, deepening the kiss, needing more than what he was giving me. He wrapped his arms around me, and I was instantly enveloped in his strength. His aftershave. The depth of those fucking kisses.

Before I could process the shift, we were walking backward, and my calves hit the overstuffed couch. My mind startedpanicking over logistics and what he wanted to do next. Before I could overthink it, though, he pushed me down until I was sprawled on the couch, panting for him.

“This okay?”

I nodded, and he lowered himself over me.