Page 31 of Maple Kissed by the Mountain Man

“Get some sleep.”

“Are you kicking me out of the bag?”

“No.”

“Off your mountain?”

“Not while the creek is flooding.”

“That wasn’t what I asked, Ford.”

I stared up at the lantern hanging from the center loop, my chest rising and falling beneath her.

Maggie lifted her head, her dark eyes searching my face. The shy, quiet uncertainty was back in her expression. She was asking if what just happened had changed the rules—if she was still just a nuisance I was ushering off my land.

It had changed everything. It had ruined me for anyone else.

“At first light, when the rain stops, I’m taking you back to the grove,” I said softly.

“You are?”

“You still haven’t gotten your photograph.”

“Does that mean you’re giving me another forty-five minutes?”

“No.”

Her dark brows drew together in confusion.

“You can stay in the grove as long as the light holds,” I told her. “As long as you want.”

A slow, gorgeous smile bloomed across her face, lighting up the dark tent.

She leaned up and kissed me.

It wasn’t a desperate, hungry kiss like before. It was soft, sweet, and warm—a gentle promise that settled deep into my chest.

Maggie rested her head back over my heart, closed her eyes, and let her weight melt into me.

Outside, the heavy thunder began to fade, turning into a gentle, steady drizzle.

I held her tight against my chest as she drifted off to sleep, staring into the dark, terrified of what was going to happen when the sun came up and she no longer had a reason to stay.

Chapter Six

Maggie

I woke with my cheek pressed against Ford’s bare chest and his huge, warm hand cupping the full curve of my bare bottom.

For several hazy, heavy seconds, I had no idea where I was.

Soft rain tapped against the nylon roof of the tent. A heavy down sleeping bag covered my naked back, and one of his thick, muscled thighs was wedged firmly between mine.

Then Ford shifted beneath me.

Every inch of my body flared to life.

Remembering.