Page 7 of Mountain Man's Mail Order Mix-Up
“I didn’t even ask if you wanted another seltzer,” he said.
“I have plenty left.”
I lifted the can, finding it nearly as full as when he handed it to me. I’d been inhaling my food and totally forgotten to drink. That wasn’t like me.
“You know what?” He set his bottle down and glancing at the door. “If you don’t want to marry that guy, you shouldn’t do it. We’ll work through some options.”
I blinked. “You’d help me with that?”
He nodded. “Of course. I have to admit, I’d rather you ditch him and marry me so we could see where this goes. But if you’re not into it, I understand. I still want to help you.”
I frowned at him. Was he saying…?
“I told you I want to stay here and get to know you,” I said.
He nodded and looked down at his now-empty basket. He’d cleared his plate. I hadn’t.
“When you said you’d stay with my sister, I just assumed maybe you changed your mind,” he said. “But I guess that doesn’t make sense. You might want to get to know me without living under the same roof.”
I shook my head and picked up my seltzer, taking a long sip. There wasn’t much alcohol in it, but it was enough to give me the courage to say what I said next.
“I’ve been thinking about kissing you since we sat down here,” I admitted. “Maybe before. So yeah…I probably shouldn’t marry another guy, even if you’re not?—”
“I’m definitely into you,” he interrupted. “And I’ve been thinking about doing a whole hell of a lot more than kissing you.”
He punctuated that with another generous chug of his beer.
I couldn’t move. I was completely frozen.
“I’ve never had a kiss,” I said.
Oh, shit. Had I just admitted that? It was something I should be embarrassed about. But for some reason, I felt like I could be open with him.
“You’ve never been kissed?” he asked.
“Or anything. I’m a virgin.”
4
WEST
This woman—this beautiful, smart, sexy woman—had just told me she was a virgin.
The things I’d been thinking of doing to Mackenzie felt shameful now as I put them in the context of what I’d just learned. She’d never done any of this before, and I was over here thinking about bending her over this table and doing her from behind. I should be ashamed. I deserved an ass whooping for that.
But I didn’t want to run, not like I normally would when a woman told me she was a virgin. In fact, I felt like the luckiest bastard alive that I even had a shot. Some primal part of me enjoyed the fact that no man had ever touched her. Not in that way.
“It’s not like I’m waiting for marriage or anything,” she said. “It wasn’t even a deliberate choice. Time just got away from me. I guess you can probably guess I haven’t led the best life. I had to start working when I was fourteen. Babysitting jobs, cleaning friends’ parents’ houses. I even mowed some yards and pulled some weeds. Dating was out of the question. My dad couldn’t keep a job, and my mom was more into drinking than working,so my focus wasn’t exactly on dating or hanging out with friends.”
That made me angry on her behalf. She deserved a childhood. Everyone did, but especially this angel seated in front of me. I wanted to go back and give her everything she’d missed. But it was too late for that, so I’d just take what I could get. I’d make every day moving forward perfect for her, if she let me.
“I’ve been wondering what it would be like to kiss someone like you,” she said.
My eyebrows shot up. “Someone like me?”
Was that a good or bad thing? I really had no clue.
“You know, a guy with experience.” She shrugged. “Someone who could show me what I’ve been missing.”
