Sneak Peek of “Forever with the Mountain Man”
CHAPTER ONE
FIERCE
Who am I fooling? Felicity James will never stop ghosting me. Beyond a one- or two-word response, I have yet to converse with her. It’s starting to give me a complex.
Scrolling through her profile for the umpteenth time, images of the sexy, curvy girl steal the breath from my chest… again.
Always .
She’s the kind of beautiful that hurts to look at. The kind of beautiful I can’t look away from, either. Which means giving it another shot…
ME
Salut
How are you?
I’m on the direct messaging app for Mountain Mates Dating Site. Like Instagram or Facebook, it allows me to send messages. If the other person’s online, we can also text without exchanging phone numbers.
Even when I catch Felicity online, she never responds to me in real time. But then I see this:
FELICITY
…
Finally!
My throat tightens in anticipation, and I remind myself all this means is she’s typing. It could be to anyone. I feel like I have heartburn as I think about the possibility of her conversing with other guys. It’s irrational. After all, why else is she on this app?
Suddenly, a text bubble pops up and then another. My heart races as I painstakingly read her responses.
FELICITY
Who seriously names their kid Fierce?
That has to be a military or mafia handle, right?
ME
You don’t want to know my real name
Congratulations!
Why?
You, sir, just clinched the record for the fastest dead-end conversation I’ve ever had with a guy on Mountain Mates
For God’s sake! Is she ending the conversation already? Play it cool, Fierce. Whatever you do, don’t act jealous or butt hurt. Just keep the conversation flowing.
ME
Really?
Aren’t most conversations on here grunting and groaning?
Shit! That came out wrong. I clamor to add:
ME
Since mountain men are semi-evolved cavemen
FELICITY
Semi-evolved cavemen? Is that how you would describe yourself?
Do you want the answer I give to impress girls or the truth?
Clearly, you’re not trying to impress me. So, the truth
I kind of like you
Talk about the understatement of the year. But I don’t want to scare her off, and I also don’t want to admit how much she’s been on my mind over the past few weeks. It would make me sound desperate. Besides, how do you quantify falling in love with photos online?
FELICITY
3 weeks of non-stop messaging me is “kind of”?
If so, I don’t want to see your idea of full-on liking
ME
So, you are ignoring me
Maybe
Why?
You don’t want to get tangled up with a girl like me. Trust me
You speak your mind, and you’re sassy
Why not?
Thank you so very much for the validation I wasn’t looking for
You didn’t answer my question.
Trust me. What don’t you understand about that?
A lot
Well, you have yet to answer my question
What question? I look back through our exchange, my pulse pounding. The letters are all out of place, my eyes straining to process her words. It doesn’t help that I’m nervous on top of everything. Never have I cared so much about keeping a text conversation going. It’s weird.
ME
Semi-evolved caveman pretty much describes me
FELICITY
Don’t go all out selling yourself
I’m no salesman
What are you then?
A sheepherder and ranch foreman…and mountain man, of course
Is what they say about lonely shepherds and their sheep true?
The sip of whiskey I just took sprays across the screen of my cell phone, and I have to use the sleeve of my flannel shirt to wipe it away. What a firebrand! No girl ever talks to me this way.
Looking at the ceiling of my rough-hewn cabin for a moment, I try to come back with something good. Something that lets her know I can dish out as well as she can.
But I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed. Never have been. As Mom or Ama would say, “If you don’t have a good head, then you better have good legs.” Legs won’t help me now, though. Instead, I go for sarcasm.
ME
Yeah, but I’m looking for something more fulfilling
The pillow talk is baaaaa-d
FELICITY
Bwahaha! You have a sense of humor
I’ve been accused of that before
Are these your real photos?
Do you like what you see?
Do you want the answer I give when I’m trying to impress a guy or the truth?
Touché
What, are you into fencing or something?
If mending fences counts
It would be a good skill to have with someone like me because I’m awful with relationships. I mean, duh, why else am I on here?
My heart pounds against my ribs as I flip through her profile pictures again.
She has long brown hair with dark blond highlights that fall to her middle back and the most voluptuous figure I’ve seen in a while.
Big tits, large hips, and an ass and thighs that make my mouth water. If these are, indeed, her photos.