My Mountain Man Valentine (Wild Heart Mountain: Mountain Heroes #7)

11. Lucy

11

LUCY

I wake in the predawn light with my body pressed against Ethan’s and his arm draped over me, his hand resting possessively on my hip.

He breathes heavily in a deep sleep, no doubt worn out from last night’s activities. A warm feeling surges through me as I think about last night. I had no idea sex would feel so good, and I had no idea it would make me feel connected to Ethan, a complete stranger. The thought of crawling out of bed and putting an end to our night makes me shiver.

But I’m not going to be the clingy one night stand. He made it very clear this was a one-time thing. That he would help me out with what I needed, but that was it.

He told me he doesn’t do relationships. He’s been married before, and whatever happened has him sworn off women.

I’m not going to be a fool and think this was anything more than a one night thing. We had a contract. He fulfilled his end. My end of the bargain was not to want anything more than what he gave me.

I’m not going to be the naive girl who falls for a guy because we were intimate. This is what I wanted, to lose my virginity. Now I need to keep my emotions out of it.

Carefully I lift Ethan’s arm and slide out of bed. He stirs, then rolls over and goes back to sleep. I’m not the only one exhausted from the night’s activities.

My ankle doesn’t hurt as much as it did yesterday, and I manage to hobble around the hut to find my clothes. I snap my bra on, but my panties are in shreds. Last night Ethan produced a trash bag from his backpack for our garbage and I bury the remnants of my underwear deep in the bag.

My leggings are dry, and I pull them on and button my shirt up to the collar.

I find a hair tie in the pocket of my coat and pull my hair back into a tight bun. My glasses are on the table where I left them last night, and I polish the lenses on my shirt and then put them on.

I take a calming breath and look around the hut.

There’s no evidence of what he did here last night. I smooth my shirt down and take a slow breath. I’m back to being plain Lucy the sensible schoolteacher.

Whoever I was last night fades with the dawn light. I got what I wanted. Then why does it feel hollow?

Ethan sleeps soundly, and I watch him for a while. His weathered features are peaceful with sleep. Stubble coats his chin and I squeeze my thighs together, remembering the burn on my thighs.

A lock of his hair falls over his forehead and I long to put it back into place, to run my fingers over his face. But any claim I had on Ethan fades with the approaching day. He was mine for the night. One night only. That’s all I asked for, and that’s all he was prepared to give.

I didn’t know a one night stand would feel this painful, naive girl that I am.

I long for him to wake up, to take me in his arms and tell me he wants more. But that’s a silly girl’s fantasy.

He doesn’t want more. He told me himself. He’s been married once already; he doesn’t want to do it again. Besides, he’s ten years older than me. Why would he want to be with someone young and inexperienced? And we live in different towns. Ethan lives in Hope at the base of Wild Heart Mountain. I live in Winter Town, an hour’s drive away.

It’s not an impossible distance, my heart whispers.

I stand up abruptly. This line of thinking will lead to heartache. It doesn’t matter what I think or what I want. I’m not going to be here when he wakes up, mooning over him like a lovesick girl. I knew what I was getting myself into. I need to take it like a grown-ass woman.

With one last look at the sleeping Ethan, I hobble to the door and pull it open. The fresh morning air sends a shiver down my spine, and I hobble out of the hut.

The place where we had our Valentine’s picnic has been cleared away. There’s no signs of where we lay on the ground, where he gave me my first orgasm.

I hop over to the rocky outcrop and ease myself onto a boulder. A breeze whips cold morning air around me, and I hug my arms around my body and shiver. The sky is an angry purple smudge as the sun tries to break through the lingering clouds.

The air is fresh, but I won’t go back inside. I don’t want to be there when Ethan wakes up. I want to show him that I’m woman enough to handle the morning after. That I’m not a lovesick naive girl.

So I sit in the cold and watch the sunrise alone.