8. Thea
Chapter 8
Thea
T he soft rumble of Jasper’s voice calls me from sleep. I close my eyes and try to stay in the dream where I’m in his bedroom, cozy and cared for. In the dream, he’s putting his massive hand on my bare stomach.
When he speaks, my heart stutters. “Hi, it’s Dad. You haven’t met me yet, but I want you to know I’m going to take care of you your whole life. Anything you need, you can always come to me. Promise.”
That’s when the events of the last few days come back to me. It really is Jasper, not another one of my desperate dreams where he’s so close yet out of reach.
I open my eyes to see him staring down at my stomach with a look of pure adoration on his face. His expression is filled with so much tenderness that it makes my heart ache. I don’t think anyone has ever cared about me as much as he cares about this tiny baby I’m carrying. His baby.
I’m carrying the hot mountain man’s baby. It still seems crazy to me that I went from being a virgin to being pregnant in less than two months.
Reaching out, I cup his face in my hand, feeling his thick beard tickle my palm. “Our baby is lucky to have you.”
Hope flickers across his expression. “Do we know yet if we’re having a son or a daughter?”
“We won’t know for a few more weeks,” I explain. After almost a week of keeping this news to myself, it’s kind of nice to talk to someone else about it. “I think around thirteen weeks the ultrasound will be able to tell us for sure. Why? Are you hoping for a boy or a girl?”
He makes a soft humming sound, leaning into my hand. “I think I’d like six of each.”
I chuckle, surprised by his unexpected answer. “Then you’d better find yourself a good broodmare.”
He reaches for a strand of my hair, tucking it gently behind my ear. “I hope our baby looks like you.”
I think that’s the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me, and I blink back tears. I can’t do this right now. I can’t lie here and fall in love with Jasper. No, I need to get on the road and put some distance between the two of us. It’s the only way that he won’t completely shatter my heart.
I pull away from him and sit up. Frowning, I glance around. I don’t remember changing my clothes. The last thing I remember was feeling his strong hands gently massaging my feet as I drifted to sleep with a full belly. I hadn’t felt that safe or warm since the last time I was here.
Maybe I’ll keep this shirt too. I wonder how often I’d have to visit before I’d have a closet full of his clothes. Would he notice if I kept taking his things until my entire apartment smelled like his earthy, pine scent?
Jasper stands. “I’ll go make some breakfast…if your stomach is feeling up to it.”
I nod my agreement and when he leaves, I pad into the bathroom to take care of business. After I’m done, I go back to his bedroom to find my clothes.
Something dings, and I reach for the phone on the nightstand before I realize it’s Jasper’s. The device is unlocked, so I look around as if he could see me snooping. I tap through his text messages to find that the only person he really texts is Zac. Their text exchanges are quick check-ins with each other.
I flick through his photos and find that mainly, he takes pictures of the forest outside his cabin. Sometimes, there are occasional pictures of sketches he’s working on.
“It looks like you live a quiet, cozy life here,” I whisper to myself before tapping his calendar. It’s blank with endless white space stretched on for days. I wonder what it would be like not to have days filled with meeting big executives who want to fight me on every decision.
A small icon catches my eye on Valentine’s Day, and I open it, wondering if he has a hot date for tomorrow night. The thought makes my stomach hurt. But there’s no date listed on Valentine’s. Instead, it’s a birthday icon. His birthday.
“Huh, you were born on Valentine’s,” I murmur before closing the device and putting it down so he can’t see that I was messing with it.
Still in his shirt but with my dress tucked under my arm, I head toward the kitchen. I fully intend to tell Jasper I need to take a rain check on breakfast so I can get on the road. It seems like the safest option. But I’m stopped in my tracks when I enter the living room.
Where there used to be a beautiful view of acres of untamed forest, there’s now a wall of white. It has to be at least three feet deep out there and even more snowflakes are swirling in the air.
The drive up the mountain yesterday was nerve-wracking enough without being able to follow Jasper’s truck around every hairpin turn. I can’t possibly navigate those roads now even if my car rental had come with snow tires.
I drop my dress on the floor, scowling at the weather. I’m not sure if I should laugh or cry at this turn of events. Part of me wants desperately to go back to Nashville right now because the longer I stay around Jasper, the more I want to reconsider that ring he offered me.
But another part—the bigger part of my heart—is thrilled to have a few more stolen hours with the big, burly mountain man.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Jasper chirps behind me.
I didn’t even hear him come close. I sigh and turn to see he’s holding a saucer with two big blueberry muffins. “It delays my plans.”
A furious, possessive expression crosses his face. “Did you have Valentine’s Day plans with someone?”
Jasper is jealous. My thighs squeeze together involuntarily, my body liking that idea a little too much. “Just with my vibrator and a steamy book.”
“Well, don’t let the snowstorm keep you from them,” he answers with a wink that makes my panties damp. He gestures for me to have a seat on the sofa. When I do, he passes me the still-warm-from-the-oven blueberry muffins.
I shake my head. “Mr. Vibe isn’t even packed in my car.”
He strokes his beard for a moment. “If only we knew someone who was very good with his tongue…”
I roll my eyes. I am not letting this man give me more orgasms. As it is, I already turn to a puddle of goo every time he looks at me. “How about you? Did you have Valentine’s Day plans that I’m interrupting?”
He disappears from the room. He returns a moment later with a big glass of milk. “You need calcium for the baby.”
I take a sip of the cold milk to wash down the blueberry muffin. A girl could want to marry the mountain man for the incredible orgasms and delicious baking. Not to mention the way he takes care of me.
He sits beside me on the couch, and I tuck my feet under me. No more foot massages.
“No plans. But I love all the holidays. Very important to me.” He nods as if he’s recalled an important speech he memorized.
I still remember the shame of being asked by the other kids at school what I’d gotten for Christmas or my birthday. I’d make up these elaborate stories about all the fun things I’d done with my mom and the cool gifts she’d gotten me.
“I’m not much for them. My mom never celebrated any holidays. She wouldn’t let me have a Christmas tree. Said it was just another day of the year. There’s nothing special about any of them.” I try to ignore the pain that still lingers. She’s gone now. It shouldn’t matter that she never cared to make anything special for me.
Jasper reaches for my hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. “Lately, I’ve been thinking miracles happen every day.”
I look down to where our hands are joined, his work roughened one against my soft palm. He’s so rugged and manly. Being touched by him always reminds me of how small and feminine I am. “I try to work through them now. It doesn’t matter if it’s Valentine’s or any other holiday. Maybe…maybe it’s different when you’re with people you care about. But I’m alone.”
“We could celebrate Valentine’s while you’re here,” he says softly.
I gesture between the two of us, needing to keep the boundaries clear. If we blur the lines between co-parents, I’ll fall in love with him. “But we’re not romantically involved.”
Something flickers across his face, the same expression he had when he was looking up at the sky yesterday before the snowstorm, like he knows something I don’t. “So, it’ll be a platonic Valentine’s Day celebration. Two friends who happen to like making truffles will have a great time on a snowy day.”
I smile at his description. It’s not the long, sweaty day that my libido is crying out for. But making chocolates is a good way to spend a day stranded with a mountain man.