Mountain Grump Boss (Mountain Grumps #2)

Chapter 1

Chapter One

Luke

The mountain cabin is way too damn cheerful as I pull into the gravel drive.

Patio lights have been strung from the timber porch beams, warm light glows from inside, and I already know, before I even set foot through the doors, that there will be soft music playing and, no doubt, some sort of scented candle or something burning inside.

Holt’s been my buddy—my brother—most of my life, and if someone told me even a year ago that I’d be about to knock on his door for a dinner party of all things, I would have laughed in their face and then punched them in the face.

Holt and I served together. We had each other’s backs in life-or-death situations.

We’ve seen some things. Some dark fucking things.

Things that forced us, along with our other brothers, to retreat to the wild solitude of Iron Peak.

Where we could live our lives alone, only seeing each other when it was strictly necessary.

We don’t have dinner parties.

Only, apparently, now, that’s exactly what we do.

With a sigh and a grunt, I slam the truck door and make my way to the porch of the cabin that shares a lot of similarities to my own, further up the road. And the other three scattered around the mountain.

Holt, Sawyer, Cal, Beck, and I all built them at the same time. Although Sawyer’s has sat mostly empty ever since. I can’t help but wonder if Cal and Beck have been wrangled into this dinner party, too. But I already know the answer.

As a rule, we didn’t bother each other unless it was an emergency.

Like the time I needed Holt to save my daughter from the way too rough for my girl, bar, The Rusty Nail in town, because I was out of town and not expecting a visit from Tessa, who was supposed to be finishing her last semester of college.

“Yeah,” I mutter, scrubbing a hand over my face. “And look how that turned out.” I lift my fist and bang on the front door of Holt—and Tessa’s—cabin.

I’m still not used to the fact that my baby girl fell in love with a man who is like a brother to me, almost twice her age and much rougher around the edges than I would have wanted for my daughter.

It’s been over six months now, and while it’s still strange to see them together, I can’t deny how happy they make each other.

They’re very much in love. Which means, how I feel about it doesn’t matter. Because that’s all I want from the people I love.

What I don’t want are these damn dinner parties.

“Dad!” The door opens, and my daughter pulls me in for a hug.

Okay, maybe I don’t mind them so much since it means I get to see Tessa a lot more often.

After her mother and I broke up when she was little, I moved up to the mountain to give everyone space.

I know it was the right thing to do at the time, but it meant I didn’t get to see Tessa nearly as often as I would have liked.

We were making up for lost time now.

“You look…good, Tessa,” I grunt. Compliments have never come easy for me, but I’m trying. “Really good.”

If she notices my fumbling attempts, she doesn’t say so. “Thanks, Dad. It’s the mountain air. I swear, it’s amazing up here.”

I follow her into the cabin, and instantly I’m hit with the scent of vanilla and cinnamon. I knew it. A scented candle.

I shake my head a little as I take in the other feminine details that Tessa’s added to the space. I have to admit, the blanket over the back of the couch and the area rug make the space look more like a home. Still, it’s jarring.

Almost as jarring as it is to see my army buddy standing in the kitchen with an apron tied around his waist.

“What on?—”

“It’s called cooking,” Holt cuts me off. “We’re having roasted potatoes, steak, and salad.”

“Sounds good to me,” I reply honestly. All of us guys learned to cook in the military; some of us were better than others. I had a few skills—not that I used them often—but Holt had always been the best cook in our unit.

“Trust me, Dad,” Tessa says with a laugh. “You don’t want me in the kitchen.” She wraps her arms around Holt’s waist while she speaks. “He’s definitely the chef in this relationship.”

I groan and look away when my buddy turns to kiss her. “Can you guys not do that in front of me? I’m happy for you and all. But still…”

“Sorry.” My daughter’s laughter rings out, but at least when I turn around, she’s on the other side of the room, pouring two glasses of wine. She hands one to Holt before bringing me the other one.

I raise a brow at her, but before I have a chance to ask her why she’s not partaking, she rejoins Holt, and he wraps his arm around her shoulder.

“We have something to tell you, Dad.”

I look between them both, my buddy’s smile wider than I’ve ever seen. And then I notice it…the way Tessa’s hand is resting on her stomach.

“Wait,” I say. “Are you?—”

“You’re going to be a grandpa,” Holt interrupts me.

All at once, a million thoughts and feelings flash through me. A grandfather? Me?

Holy shit.

“Wow.”

Tessa laughs. “Is that all you can say?”

“Yeah.” I run a hand over my face and tug at my beard. “I think that’s all I can say.”

And then I’m laughing, too, and shaking my head. “Wow,” I say again. “That’s…that’s incredible,” I say honestly, the reality finally registering. “A baby? Wow.”

I give up on finding suitable words and pull my daughter in for a hug. “Congratulations, Tessa,” I say. “You’re going to be an amazing mother.”

“Thank you, Dad.”

When I turn to Holt, he’s watching me with a question in his eyes, like he’s unsure how I might react to the news that he’s knocked up my daughter. “And you…” He nods once. “Congratulations, man,” I say with a chuckle and give him a man hug, too.

“Thanks, Luke,” Holt says. “It’s not exactly how we planned it, but then again, we weren’t exactly planning not?—”

“I don’t want details.” I shake my head. “Dammit.”

It’s Holt’s turn to laugh. “What I was going to say was, we planned on getting married first. But?—”

“We’re engaged!” Tessa thrusts her left hand between us and wiggles the ring on her finger.

“Aren’t you supposed to ask my permission for this kind of thing?” I glare at my friend. I might have come to peace with their relationship, but that doesn’t mean I’m not still her father, and I expect the respect that the role comes with.

Holt shrugs his apology. “Things happened a little fast.”

I swallow back my retort, because it doesn’t matter anyway, and take a deep drink of my wine. “If there’s no other big news you’re keeping from me, maybe we could eat. I’m starving.”

Lilly

As long as I could remember, saving myself for marriage had always been important to me.

Three days before my wedding, I learn that I was the only one it was important to. Not only has my fiancé not been saving himself for marriage, but he clearly never thought I was worth waiting for.

The key to our shared apartment that I moved into only three days earlier in preparation to share our life together is still in my hand when I hear the noises coming from the bedroom.

Noises that even with my next to zero experience with sex, I recognize for what they are.

I follow the trail of clothing to the bedroom, and that’s where I see them. My fiancé, Barrett, on his back on top of the comforter I just bought, with his long-time friend, Sarah, straddling him.

His eyes are closed, so he doesn’t see me right away.

A wild riot of feelings flashes through me, seeing them locked in their passion.

Anger. Shock. Disgust. Relief.

Logically, I know I shouldn’t be relieved to catch my fiancé in a compromising position, but I can’t deny that the overwhelming reaction I’m having is that I’m free.

Especially considering I’ve just spent the last six hours psyching myself up to tell Barrett that I didn’t think I was ready to get married and that the closer the wedding date got, the more convinced I’ve become that we want different things.

For example, I want to pursue a career in finance instead of becoming an executive’s wife. And Barrett obviously wants to sleep with other people.

“Oh shit! Lilly!”

My thoughts snap back to the moment and the scene I’ve just walked into, as Barrett notices my presence for the first time.

He tosses Sarah, somewhat unceremoniously, to the side, where she lands completely naked on my brand new comforter.

Damn. I really liked that comforter, too.

“It’s not what you think.” Barrett jumps from the bed, fully naked, his dick standing awkwardly at attention between us. “Sarah just came over to?—”

I cut him off with a sharp look. There is literally nothing he can say that can get him out of this situation. Another wave of relief washes through me.

This is my out.

No one will be able to question me for calling off the wedding after this.

“We can talk about this, Lilly,” Barrett continues. “It doesn’t have to mean anything. It doesn’t mean anything. Sarah and I are just friends.”

“Really, Lilly,” Sarah joins in from her place on the bed. She hasn’t even bothered to cover her very lean, very perfect naked body. “It doesn’t mean anything. We just do this sometimes when one of us is stressed out. It’s not a big deal.”

I don’t know if it’s her choice of words or the ridiculous way she’s delivering them to me, but in the moment, they strike me as hilarious, and I start laughing.

“It’s not a big deal?” I manage to say after a moment.

“You both just do this?” I look between them.

Sarah nods, and Barrett shrugs like it’s no big deal.

I’m not sure who or what is crazier. But it’s certainly not me.

“Well, you can both continue doing this,” I tell them.

“But I’m out of here.” I slide the big diamond off my finger and drop it on the carpet at my feet.

“I’ll be back for my things. I don’t think I need to say it, but…

” I look my fiancé dead in the eyes, surprising myself with how little hurt I feel.

Maybe it’ll come later. But for now, an odd calmness fills me as I say, “The wedding’s off. ”