Mountain Man_A Single Dad, Older Man Younger Woman Romance Read online

  Table of Contents

  Copyright

  A Man Who Knows What He Wants Series

  Mountain Man

  Trinity

  Elijah

  Ellie

  SEAL’s Justice

  MOUNTAIN MAN

  A SINGLE DAD, OLDER MAN YOUNGER WOMAN ROMANCE

  _______________________

  A MAN WHO KNOWS WHAT HE WANTS, 36

  FLORA FERRARI

  CONTENTS

  Copyright

  A Man Who Knows What He Wants Series

  Mountain Man

  1. Trinity

  2. Elijah

  3. Ellie

  4. Elijah

  5. Trinity

  6. Trinity

  7. Trinity

  8. Trinity

  9. Trinity

  10. Trinity

  11. Trinity

  Epilogue. Trinity

  Extended Epilogue. Elijah

  Extended Epilogue. Trinity

  SEAL’s Justice

  COPYRIGHT

  Copyright © 2018 by Flora Ferrari.

  All Rights Reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  The following story contains mature themes, strong language and sexual situations. It is intended for mature readers.

  A MAN WHO KNOWS WHAT HE WANTS

  Book 1: Baby Lust

  Book 2: Veteran

  Book 3: Built

  Book 4: Bambino

  Book 5: Rescued

  Book 6: Leader

  Book 7: Professor

  Book 8: Burned

  Book 9: Worldly

  Book 10: Pistol

  Book 11: Policed

  Book 12: Driven

  Book 13: Lucky 13

  Book 14: Lumberjacked

  Book 15: Protector

  Book 16: Carpenter

  Book 17: Italian Stallion

  Book 18: Gardener

  Book 19: Budapest Billionaire’s Virgin

  Book 20: Billionaire’s Babysitter

  Book 21: Cocky CFO

  Book 22: Fireman’s Filthy 4th

  Book 23: Mechanic

  Book 24: SEAL’s Secret

  Book 25: Police, Pooch, and Smooch

  Book 26: Fireman’s Fake Fiancée

  Book 27: Billionaire’s Virgin Ballerina

  Book 28: Bitcoin Billionaire’s Babysitter

  Book 29: Veterans Day Daddy

  Book 30: Cowboy’s Christmas Carol

  Book 31: Police Officer’s Princess

  Book 32: Statham

  Book 33: Bodyguard

  Book 34: Greek God

  Book 35: Billionaire Single Dad’s Babysitter

  Book 36: Mountain Man

  Book 37: SEAL’s Justice

  MOUNTAIN MAN

  The world’s a messed up place these days.

  That’s why I live up here. Just me and my daughter.

  And then Trinity literally fell right into my lap.

  She reminds me what it’s like to feel again. To trust. To be whole.

  That part of me had been locked away in a permanent hibernation until she came around with her sunshine and made me new again.

  And when she tells me she’s as pure as the Rocky Mountain air and as pristine as the streams that run through these parts I know I’ve found the perfect woman for me and my little girl.

  I struck gold when I found her, but now someone from her past is trying to put in a claim on her heart.

  But not up here he’s not. I’m as territorial as the wolves that frequent this wilderness I call home. Nobody’s coming onto the land I made my own and trying to take something that’s mine.

  This other fella has no idea who he’s messing with and the lengths I’ll go to keep my girls safe.

  I’m going to do whatever it takes to protect Trinity and the surprise blessing she’s carrying inside of her.

  *Mountain Man is an insta-everything standalone romance with an HEA, no cheating, and no cliffhanger.

  CHAPTER 1

  Trinity

  I take a deep breath and I brace myself as the chairlift approaches the drop off point at the top of Breckenridge Mountain.

  My left hand white knuckle grips the metal arm rest and my right holds on to the edge of the bench for dear life.

  The two snowboarders right of me on the chairlift are kids no older than twelve. They’re laughing and joking and seem oblivious as we approach. I saw the little buggers in line. I may be almost twice their age but they look a million times less nervous than I do about the coming dismount.

  Three…two…one.

  The chair pauses at the top and I push off from the seat.

  For a split second I see the kids effortlessly slide forward in front of me and then everything turns white as I faceplant into the snow.

  “I’m okay!” I yell, as I raise my head off the cold patch of ice feeling my cheeks tear away from its cold grasp.

  Thud!

  The cold, metal chairlift carries forward plunking me on the back of my head sending my face right back into the ice.

  I do some sort of shuffle slide combination sideways to make sure the next chair, and the group of riders on it, don’t land square on my back. I look like Bruno Mars doing some kind of strange dance…just on my face and in the snow.

  “Are you okay?”

  I look up and see the chairlift operator. Her nametag says Hi I’m Paula, from Rio de Janeiro Brazil. Just wonderful. This beautiful, tanned girl about my same age managed to come all the way to my own home state and figure out how to snowboard so well that they gave her a job. I’ve lived in Denver my entire twenty-one years and I haven’t even managed to dismount a chairlift. Epic fail.

  “Yeah, I’m fine. I think my…my…shoelace got caught,” I say.

  “Oh. I can help you,” she says.

  I go to stand up as quickly as I can forgetting there’s a board under my feet. I do some kind of a weird roll and feel Paula’s arms come up under my armpits as she tries to get me in a respectable sitting position.

  “Yeah, I’m getting it.”

  I look up and see two different little boys standing about ten feet in front of me. Is he filming this? That little brat.

  I pack up a snowball as quickly as I can and toss it at him. It lands way short and only causes him and his little buddy to laugh even harder.

  “Don’t worry about them,” Paula says. “They’re out here every day causing trouble.”

  Every day? Who can afford to be out here every day? And who has that kind of time?

  Well, at least I have goggles on so if this winds up on YouTube I won’t be recognizable.

  The boys let out a cackle that’s way too loud and obnoxious and then take off down the hill.

  Paula helps me to my feet.

  “I can help you get going if you like?” she says.

  “I’m okay,” I say. “Really.”

  But the truth is I feel like Bambi trying to take his first steps. My balance is nonexistent. My knees are shaky. I’m so wobbly I could topple over at any second.

  I feel Paula’s hands on my waist and before I can ask her what she’s doing we’re gliding down the mountain.

/>   Oh my god! This is scary, but kind of fun at the same time.

  “You’ve got it! Awesome!” she says.

  And she’s right. This is awesome!

  “Lean to your left,” she says.

  “Now to your right,” she says. “You’re carving. Great!”

  We straighten back out and slowly make our way down the hill at very wide angles so we don’t gather too much speed. That’s absolutely the last thing I need right now.

  “Okay. I have to branch off here and go back to the chairlift. My partner will be waiting on me.”

  “Okay,” I say. I feel Paula’s hands release and hear her board move over to the side as I continue down hill. I don’t dare look back knowing it will surely throw off my balance and I’ll be right back on my face. This time with a lot more speed and a bigger crash at the end of my launch through the air. I’ll look like Superman, minus the landing part.

  But I’ll worry about stopping later. This feels incredible. Suddenly I’m really glad I decided to come up here today. My anxiety level was through the roof all morning, but maybe this isn’t so bad. Maybe this is fun.

  I notice that I’m getting closer to the trees on my right so I prepare to carve back to my left.

  Suddenly I notice a body standing in the middle of the trees. It’s in all black, but I recognize the face anywhere.

  It’s him!

  My body freezes but my snowboard doesn’t. I ride out of bounds and into the trees right towards him.

  Your body goes where your eyes go. I remember them saying and look back down hill. The board turns just as I see him slide a pair of goggles over his eyes and take off running towards me.

  Oh my god!

  I focus ahead and see the trees in front of me. I look to the left and maneuver right past it. Then another! I look to the right and maneuver past it.

  The go where your eyes go trick is working but I’m also picking up speed. A lot of speed.

  “Trinity! Come back here you fucking bitch! I’m gonna kill you!”

  Speed is just what I need right now, but I need to get back in bounds.

  I look left and don’t even see the main run anymore. Where am I?

  I continue down the hill but now I’m flying and I have no way to stop.

  Oh no!

  Suddenly the trees clear away and the slope starts to level out. Hopefully I’ll start to lose sp—

  I feel my board hit a slick spot and my entire body lifts. Then suddenly I’m tossed and turned about like I’m inside a dryer on the spin cycle.

  I feel my shoulder pound into the snow. Then my board catches an edge and my legs twist into positions that Mother Nature never intended. I feel the back of my head hit and then suddenly I’m floating.

  I look down and see I’m airborne over a gully! And there’s a rocky stream below!

  As I continue to spin I look forward and realize I’ll never make it across.

  My entire body tenses and I close my eyes bracing for impact.

  This could be the end.

  I feel a thud and everything goes black.

  CHAPTER 2

  Elijah

  It’s my daughter Ellie’s fifth birthday today and I promised I’d bring her back a surprise.

  I know how much she likes trout and I’ve managed to catch a whole mess of them in just under an hour.

  It’s gonna be a nice change from all the elk and berries we’ve been eating lately. It sure is tasty, but it’s nice to mix in some fish once in awhile.

  What we don’t eat tonight for her birthday dinner we’ll just freeze and enjoy on those days when it’s just too cold to go out looking for food. We’re not about to go hungry though. We had a good harvest last fall and managed to can more green beans and tomatoes and just about every other vegetable under the sun. And we’ve got plenty of dried meat and fish, but nothing beats a fresh catch.

  And speaking of catch I catch something out of the top of my eye and look up just in time to see something flying right at me.

  My instincts kick in. I brace my knees and raise my hands to catch it. It impacts me right in the chest knocking me back into the stream. I feel my head go underwater as my ass hits the rocks along the shore. I tighten my abs and lift my torso from under the cold stream. I’m dazed, but luckily I didn’t hit my head and get knocked out.

  But I did catch another kind of knock out.

  What in the world?

  I look down at the young woman in my arms trying to figure out what in the heck just happened.

  I look up at the side of the stream and try to put the pieces together. Is she from Breckenridge Resorts? She must have been riding way out of bounds and wound up over here. Rode right off the edge I guess.

  I shake my head side to side still trying to loosen the cobwebs. I’m a bit dazed still. Part of it’s from the shock and suddenness of it and part of it’s her beauty.

  Damn. She just fell out of the sky and right into my arms? Did this really just happen?

  I feel the cold on my face and reach up with one hand and tug on my beard. Yep. Ice is already forming. I have to get back home before my cold wet head starts to freeze and hypothermia sets in.

  But what about this girl?

  I remove her goggles and look at her face.

  Damn is she ever beautiful. I could see she was beautiful with her goggles on, but with them off it’s only amplified even more.

  I check her head for bruises and find a few.

  I look down at her legs and see they’re twisted up because of that board. She’s still got one foot strapped in, but the other boot came out of her bindings during the fall…I guess at least.

  Somebody’s probably looking for her. It’s a long ways back to the resort and not too far to my cabin. If I risk trying to haul her up the hill I might freeze and that’s not going to do either one of us any good.

  I need to get her inside. Get her warm. Get a look at her to make sure she’s okay.

  I can’t risk taking her up the hill right now, or even to the base of the runs. It’s too far.

  I go to pat her on the cheeks to see if I can wake her but something in myself prevents me from giving her a few gentle slaps. Instead my gloved fingers rest on her cheek. I move them across her cheekbone marveling at their shape.

  Damn, this woman is the perfect creation. She looks completely natural like she belongs out here in the woods. Maybe she’s not from the resort.

  Maybe she fell right into my lap for a reason.

  But first I’ve got to help her.

  Somebody sent her here to me and she’s mine now. She’s my responsibility and mine to see to good health and protect.

  And then once she’s back on her feet? Well, we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.

  CHAPTER 3

  Ellie

  “Pa!” I say.

  The door comes flying open and my pa stands there in the entryway. He’s got a body over one shoulder and he’s carrying a snowboard and a stringer of trout under the other.

  He tosses the trout and snowboard to the side and steps inside the house.

  “Boil some water, Ellie. We’ve got company.”

  Pa gently lowers the body from his shoulder and sets it on the table. It’s a woman!

  She’s breathing but her eyes are closed.

  Pa slides a pillow under her head and starts taking off her thick clothes until she’s just in her jeans and a long sleeved T-shirt.

  “How’s the water coming?”

  “Good, pa. We don’t have enough for a bath yet.”

  “We can’t put her in the bath. We don’t want to be moving her. Just get her down and get some blankets on her.”

  I watch as my pa lights a few lamps and brings them to the table. He rolls up the sleeves on her T-shirt and inspects her body for bumps and bruises. When he’s finished he moves her hair around and checks her head.

  “Is she okay, pa?”

  “She took a bad fall. She’s breathing normally. She might be in shock. Her
body may have shut down so it can start fixing her.”

  “Are we gonna get somebody to come take her?”

  “No. She’s better off here with us. We can fix her better than a doctor can. We’ll use nature. She’ll heal faster that way anyways.”

  “Can you put some of the herbs from the small pot into the kettle?”

  “Yes, pa.”

  I do as he asks and my pa continues checking for injuries. When he’s finished he lifts her up being careful to support her head and moves her to his bed.

  He comes back into the kitchen and pours the hot water with the herbs into a small bowl. He takes a rag and soaks it in the herbs before wringing most of it out. A few seconds later he’s back by her side placing the rag on her forehead. He comes back for a few more which he places on other parts of her body.

  She looks so peaceful sleeping over there. If it wasn’t for her chest rising and falling I wouldn’t even know if she was alive.

  When my pa’s finished he just stops and stands over her, watching her. I don’t know what he’s looking at but he doesn’t take his eyes off of her.

  It kind of reminds me when he’s by my bedside at night and I catch a glimpse of him watching me read a story. It’s a deep look that he gets just before he runs his hands through my hair and blows out the candle for bedtime.

  It’s his quiet way of telling me how much he loves me. My pa is a man of few words and he doesn’t need any words now to say how he feels. I may be young and I may not know much, but I know the way my pa looks at that woman. He feels something special for her.

  I hope when she wakes up she feels it to. My pa needs that.

  CHAPTER 4

  Elijah

  I hear the woman cough and I jump up from my place on the floor.

  “Where am I?”