that’s only because of you.”
“One night, huh?”
“Maybe,” I say.
He releases me, taking a step back and forcing my hand from falling away from his neck. “Bitch, you don’t know me. One night of having my cock inside of you don’t mean shit to a man like me. You’re livin’ here because I ain’t decided what I’m gonna do with you yet. When I do decide, believe me, you probably won’t fuckin’ like it.”
Mountain turns his back to me and walks away from me. If I had a heart right now, it would be broken. My feelings, true deep-down emotional feelings, those were eradicated years ago. About the first time I saw the girls my father brought into the house and one of his little friends had his way with me in my own bedroom.
If Mountain thinks that he’s going to hurt me by fucking me and tossing me to the side, he truly has zero clue the kind of woman I am. He’ll get what he wants from me and I’ll willingly give it to him, getting what I need in return. Then, we’ll part separate ways and I won’t ever think about him again.
Even thinking the words, I know I’m lying to myself. This man has already done something to me. I don’t know if I will ever forget him, ever get over him, but I’ll be damned if he knows that—the ass.
Gathering myself together, I inhale a deep breath and follow in his retreating direction. I find him in the kitchen, his back to me as he moves around, opening and closing cupboards.
“My brother left all the dishes and kitchen shit here,” he announces. “Bad news is, it’s dusty as fuck.”
“I can clean the dishes, bedding, and stuff today,” I offer.
“Sounds good, babe. Go ahead and just empty out the master bedroom. I got a new mattress and bed coming today. No way in fuck am I sleeping anywhere my brother dropped a load.”
I wrinkle my nose at the thought myself. Nodding, I make my way toward the bags of groceries and start to take items out. There isn’t much, some pastries and bananas, eggs, bread, and peanut butter.
“Didn’t know what you liked, wanted to get you enough for breakfast. We’ll do a grocery run after the bed and shit is delivered.”
“Okay,” I whisper.
He doesn’t mention what he said in the doorway to me, and I don’t bring it up again. Instead, we go about our morning, avoiding all of it. When I finish eating, I make my way into the bathroom to shower and dress for the day. By the time I’m ready, there are furniture delivery men bringing in a bed, a mattress, a dresser, sofa, love seat, and a small dining room table with matching chairs.
They aren’t expensive pieces, but they’re better than I’ve had the past five years. They’re neutral in color and oddly, it all looks really comfortable. They’re all perfect for a bachelor. Solid pieces, plain and manly.
MOUNTAIN
Leighton isn’t acting as if I’ve hurt her feelings, but I know that I have. I fucked up. I shouldn’t have said what I did, but shit, I don’t want her to feel too comfortable here. Or maybe the reality is that I don’t want to feel too comfortable having her here.
That’s probably more of the truth than anything else.
She watches as the delivery guys drop off the furniture that I bought. I didn’t spend a lot of money, but I thought she’d like all the pieces. I had to go with what they had in stock, so the options were pretty fucking slim pickings.
Once the guys leave, I turn to her. I can’t help but wonder how she’s going to fix it all up to be her own. I don’t care what she does, but she seems like a woman who would want throw pillows and to paint walls different colors, make this place a real home.
“I’ll help you clean out the master. I’m sure it’s a mix of my parents’ shit and my brother’s.”
“Okay,” she says softly.
I hate it. I want her to talk to me, tell me I’m being a dick. She doesn’t. Instead, she follows behind me, carrying several trash bags in her hand. It’s the first time that I’ve opened the door to this room since I left home decades ago.
The smell is musty, dusty, and the air is stagnant when I push the door open. Looking around, I’m not surprised to see that it’s a fucking wreck. The brand-new