Mountain Man's Accidental Baby Daughter (A Mountain Man's Baby Romance)

by Lia Lee

  And that had always heightened her pleasure. It made her feel vulnerable and small, and she liked being that sometimes. It was a break from the independent, strong woman she’d always been expected to be. Most of the time, she’d enjoyed being that. But it got exhausting, and the last break she had from it was when she’d been in bed with Gerard.

  Her eyes cascaded over his toned torso as he swam. He was built more heavily now. The last four years had been good on him. His tanned body gleamed in all the right places, accentuating his muscled physique. Her heart was still racing in aftermath of touching his leg. Her hands smelled of him, and she clutched her throat with it in perverted indulgence.

  Realizing that what she was doing was completely unacceptable, she yanked her thoughts away forcefully. It had only been four days, and she was already rethinking all that she believed about herself.

  She wasn’t this crazy, sex-starved weakling. She didn’t lust after any man. She had dated several men since she left Gerard behind, and when she finally forced herself to sleep with one of them, it had been a disaster. She’d hated every minute of foreplay, been disgusted by things that should’ve been arousing, and had ended up leaving before anything really happened. At the time, she’d believed that she simply wasn’t ready to sleep with anyone just yet, but it had been four years. Surely that was enough time to recover from one man and crave sex. Yet, one look at Gerard and he had her pulse racing.

  “Mommy, look at this.”

  She turned around abruptly to find Trent playing with his little cars. Kneeling on the ground, she spent the next twenty minutes playing with her son. But she didn’t forget about the half-naked man just on the other side of the window. He was the reason Trent existed, and even though she despised herself for feeling this way, she wanted Gerard badly. She also knew she would never indulge. These two months in Seattle were going to be harder than she had anticipated.

  When she finally peeked out the window again, she told herself it was her job to observe all his physical activities. After all, it was her job to have his knee as good as new by the end of the summer. But her heart sank when it appeared Gerard was no longer in sight. Pulling away from the window almost reluctantly, she retrieved her laptop from her bedroom and checked on Trent.

  Part of her summer duties also comprised of some online collaborations with other physio therapists, who were now taking over her patients back in Baltimore. Too much work was piling up. She took her laptop to the dining room, hearing the group of buffoons in the living room again.

  She went to work, on the phone and on the laptop, getting up frequently to check on Trent. He was watching a movie, and Hartford felt a pang of regret for assuming this summer in Seattle was a good idea. No doubt she had managed to spend quite a lot of time with Trent during the last four days, but she also had to work, and she couldn’t count on the housekeeper to watch Trent all the time. That wasn’t Mrs. Berry’s job. Yet, she was polite enough to reassure Hartford that she didn’t mind.

  Hartford knew that being with Gerard’s parents in Maryland would’ve been far better for Trent at this rate. At least he constantly had family around.

  Family—strange word to describe Trent’s paternal grandparents, when Trent’s own father refused to acknowledge hm. She didn’t really want him to, but it was dreadful, knowing that Gerard simply did not care.

  ***

  The next morning, she awoke early to get some of her office work done before Trent got up. Lucky for her, Trent decided to wake up even earlier than usual, foiling her plans. She ended up spending the morning playing with him.

  After two hours of fun and games, though, she was wiped out. And it was only eight in the morning. Her frustration continued to grow as the clock seemed to speed up. When it was time for Gerard’s physio session, she was exhausted.

  “How’s the pain on a scale of one to ten?” she asked without looking up at him.

  “Five.”

  Her eyes shot up. “When did you feel it get worse?”

  “I was in the shower and I almost slipped.” Hartford watched him, her mind choosing that moment to conjure up an image of the high-jet showers in his house hitting his tanned body. She looked away instantly. “Now I can’t really keep an eye on you in the shower.”

  “Of course not,” he mumbled.

  Hartford bit her tongue. What was she doing? She was sleep deprived and foggy. “I see that you swim in the afternoons.”

  “Not every afternoon. I’ve recently just started to enjoy it more. It’s therapeutic.”

  Hartford thought she heard a hint of amusement in his voice. “Therapeutic how?”

  He looked away guiltily. “Just… therapeutic.”

  Her brows furrowed. She didn’t understand this man. “Make sure you don’t exert yourself too much, but exercise is important.”

  “Where’s Trent?”

  Hartford froze, her fingers going still on his leg at the sudden unexpected query. “He’s in the back room.”

  “Why doesn’t he play here, in the living room?”

  Hartford’s throat was dry. Of all the things she’d expected him to talk about, Trent didn’t make the list. “Umm, there are several reasons.”

  “Such as?”

  “Such as…” She sighed, avoiding his gaze because she didn’t trust herself to meet his eye and give away her feelings while she had her hands on his naked muscled leg. “That group of buffoons that entertain you swears too much,” she said tactlessly.

  Gerard chuckled, and her heart fluttered wildly at the sound. She fought back a grin.

  “Secondly, I have to catch up with work, back at the hospital. I need some private time here to deal with that.”

  “Oh, I have a study on the first floor you could use.”

  When she looked up at him, sure his cordiality was a joke, his expression changed.

  “I can’t use it.”

  “You can. You can use anything I have here.”

  Hartford shook her head. “I have to watch Trent. It’s not your housekeeper’s job.”

  “It’s her job to make you comfortable. From now on, it’s her job to watch Trent when you work.”

  Hartford squirmed away from the vehemence of his tone. As if he cared. She’d been fooled once. “We’ll see.”

  “What’s the third reason?”

  She sat back and released his leg, too exhausted to continue. “Why do you think there’s a third reason?”

  “Just instinct.”

  “It’s just that the pool is too close from here. And it’s not safe from him to go back there. He’s only little.”

  Gerard spun around to regard the wide doors leading out to the massive pool. “You’re right. I wonder why I didn’t think of that.”

  “You’re not a parent. I don’t blame you.”

  Gerard froze, and her heart hammered as her eyes shot to his. She didn’t mean it that way. She was glad when he seemed to recover instantly and looked down at his leg.

  He felt like he’d achieved something great. She was wearing a green sleeveless top with a modest neckline, but it was loose fitting and her breasts swayed lightly when she shifted to massage his knee.

  But he couldn’t help but feel mortified by the word parent. Of course he wasn’t a parent. He couldn’t be. He wasn’t capable of being one. He didn’t identify as one.

  “Do we have another session tonight?”

  Hartford was glad for the escape and swiftly collected her supplies. “I don’t think I’ll be able to do another one tonight.” She stiffened when he grabbed her wrist as she stood up.

  “Why?”

  Hartford spun around slowly, eyeing his large hand on her wrist. “I feel a little under the weather today.”

  Gerard let go of her hand and nodded briefly. “Sure. Don’t worry about it.”

  ***

  Once again, Hartford watched him from the window as he swam. It had become routine for him, a swim after every physio session. She ogled the gracefulness of his body, and
how the water gleamed on his skin, and how his shoulders bulged when he clasped the edge to pull himself up as exercise. His biceps bulged and his shoulders were pumped, and she drew in a harsh breath, belatedly realizing she’d been holding it as she stared at him.

  That same chest had shifted and moved above her body. Those same hips had been underneath the heels of her feet as he pumped his body inside hers. She recalled his shaft that had been too wide and too long, and it had filled her deep. It hurt every time, agonized her, made her shiver in delight.

  The night she’d conceived Trent, the sex had been sensual and slow and unhurried. Gerard had licked the crevice between her legs, held her gaze, twined his fingers through hers, and clutched them tighter when she came in his mouth.

  She recalled how his hands had looked on her body.

  Gerard’s body floated on the water, and she bit her lip, telling herself it didn’t matter that she was being an utter Gerard-junkie as long as Gerard never found out. This was becoming her favorite part of the day. His abs were tight, hard squares that led to the waistband of his swimming trunks. They hung low, revealing thick sparse hair that led to a place she’d known all too well. Once upon a time, everything she was now secretly ogling had been hers. She’d taken pride in calling it her own—taken it for granted too. But she’d believed with all her heart that he was going nowhere, and then everything had fallen apart. She’d lost her naiveté. She’d gotten to know him better.

  She pushed away from the window and took Trent to the west wing for a nap. Before she knew it, she’d fallen asleep with him.

  ***

  Mrs. Berry handed her a coffee, completely surprising Hartford. “Oh, thanks. That’s so sweet of you. I never nap, and I feel completely wiped out instead of feeling any better.”

  “You take some time to yourself and work if you’d like. I’ll take Trent out to the lawns to play.”

  Hartford winced guiltily. “You don’t have to do that. I’m sure you have something else to do.”

  “No.” She smiled widely. “One of the other part-time housekeepers has come in full-time, and I’ve been assigned to care for Trent.”

  Hartford was still reeling from that piece of information. She gaped at the kindly housekeeper’s back as she picked up a bat and two balls and led Trent outside the house. Hartford didn’t know if she appreciated Gerard’s considerate move or despised it. She didn’t want to be indebted to him. She didn’t want anything from him that would benefit her in any way. It was almost as if he were crossing a boundary.

  But he’s only trying to help. She didn’t want his help. Even the too-generous child support check he sent every month was deposited in a bank account for Trent’s future. She didn’t use a penny. It was all Trent’s to use when he went to college.

  Feeling like a witch, she sipped her coffee in silence, though she did admit she felt a lot better. Afterward, she abruptly grabbed her laptop and made her way upstairs. She found the study Gerard had asked her to use and dug into her work.

  It was seven p.m. by the time she looked up again. “Shit.” It had been four hours since she’d started working. It was time for Trent to go to bed. She slammed her laptop shut, then hesitated as she went to pick it up. She could just come here to work. She hated the fact that Gerard had cared enough to hire another housekeeper only so Trent could have someone to take care of him, but she didn’t want to be ungrateful.

  The fact remained, she was used to working. And she couldn’t survive without it. She left her laptop right where it was, intending to use the study again. It was a productive space. As she made her way downstairs, loud music and loud voices from the back of the house made her stride toward it in curiosity.

  The voices grew as she reached a window that overlooked the pool. Fifteen girls lounged around the pool, and the buffoon group had expanded to add a few more. She turned away from the commotion and found Trent making his way up the stairs with Mrs. Berry.

  Two hours later, she lay with her arm resting over her forehead, clenching her teeth. So it turned out that it was a fucking party. It’s his house. He can do as he wishes. But did it have to be so loud?

  She didn’t remember the last time she’d actually gone to a party and enjoyed it. She was a bit of a bore now, she knew. She worked too much and slept too early whenever she got the chance.

  At ten p.m. Trent was still toying with his fingers, and she was at breaking point.

  “Why aren’t you sleeping, Trent?” She tried to keep the frustration out of her voice.

  “I’m not sleepy.”

  “Of course you are, sweetie. It’s been a long day. You must be tired.”

  “It’s noisy.”

  “That it is,” she said as the music blared louder, as if to torture her some more. “Wait right here. I’ll be right back.”

  She threw the covers off her body and stepped out onto the balcony. The sight of almost a hundred people swarming the massive pool, dancing, some of the girls swimming topless, made Hartford freeze in her tracks. Her eyes wide, she leaned over the railing, spotting something long and bright and wide that ran meters toward the well-tended lawns that spanned acres at the back of the house.

  “What in the world…”

  She stormed off the balcony and across the bedroom. Her bare feet were fast on the carpet as she made her way down the stairs, not caring that it wasn’t her place to object. She was a guest—not even that. She was a doctor. She was merely employed by Gerard, or his sponsors. But she didn’t care. She needed her sleep, and she needed her son to sleep, and she hadn’t expected it to be this bad when she decided to move in with an immature bachelor that would make her life hell.

  “Gerard!” She stepped out the doors that led to the pool and almost slipped on the wet deck. Several of the seminaked guests turned around to glance at her. She didn’t spot Gerard, and she didn’t care that some of the girls snickered at her. Hartford’s gray sweatpants and red tank top were out of the place at the party, which was clearly following the theme birthday suit.

  “Where’s Gerard?” she said to one of the buffoons she recognized.

  His face fell. “He must be…”

  Hartford thought he looked a little nervous that she’d crashed the party and was looking for Gerard. She was glad she made him nervous, because he was getting on her nerves.

  “I’ll look for him.” He scurried off, and Hartford turned, impatiently looking around, her temper ready to burst out of her. She had to step back abruptly as she came face-to-face with a tall, muscular African American guy, who she recognized as Gerard’s teammate. Jackson Brass. He was expressionless, but his dark eyes were hot as his gaze slid down her neck to her breasts, then her toes, before casually making its way up again.

  “I don’t think this is the fancy-dress party you were trying to get to.”

  Hartford crossed her arms over her chest, raising her brows and eyeing him with such distaste that he looked a little mortified. Then he stepped back, chuckling to cover up his embarrassment.

  “Didn’t mean to offend you.”

  Hartford smiled coldly. “You didn’t. I’m simply amazed that you’re such a boneheaded idiot in real life.”

  A few of the girls within earshot chuckled, and the man’s eyes narrowed. “Excuse me?”

  Gerard appeared by her side, but she ignored him for the time being. She had another target for her outburst at the moment. Gerard could get in line. “I said, you’re quite the bonehead, aren’t you?”

  “Whoa, whoa.” Gerard hauled her back, his fingers biting into her arm.

  “Who’s this chick, man?” Jackson called, his eyes bulging out of their sockets as he stepped toward Hartford almost threateningly. “What’s wrong with her?”

  “Stay back, Jackson. She’s a friend of mine.” He then hauled Hartford by the arm into the house. “What did he say to you?”

  Hartford was taken aback. Her fury lay confused midway, wondering what to do next. She hadn’t expected him to act so freaking posses
sive about her. “Nothing.”

  “I’m sure you had a reason for calling him a bonehead.”

  He wasn’t accusing her. He knew Jackson would’ve done something to deserve it. “It doesn’t matter. What matters is…”

  “It matters. No one treats you wrong on my watch—”

  “Stop it!” she cried. “Stop being like this.”

  “Stop being like what? Tell me what he said.”

  “Nothing! But he was checking me out like I was on sale at the window of his favorite store.”

  Gerard’s eyes dropped to her body, to her tank top stretched taut over her breasts. She wasn’t wearing a bra, and when his eyes flamed in anger, her anger returned. “Oh, wow, so now you’ll judge me for dressing like this, when half the women out there are naked from the waist up.”

  “You can walk around wearing anything you damn well please. How dare that fucker…”

  Hartford stood stock-still as he reached for the glass doors. She reacted instinctively and grabbed his arm. “Wait, what are you doing?”

  “I’m going to break his face.”

  Hartford gaped at Gerard. “What has gotten into you?” She clutched his forearm as if her life depended on it. “I’m your doctor. Nothing else. Stop pretending I mean anything to you.”

  Gerard was panting, furious at Jackson and appalled by her outburst. “Of course you mean something to me.”

  Hartford scoffed, screaming to be heard over the music penetrating the glass doors and making them rattle. She yanked the glass doors shut again, but it barely made a difference. They were in full view of his guests. “Stop pretending, Gerard. It doesn’t matter. I don’t expect you to give a shit.”

  “What in the world are you on about? I’m trying to have your back and you’re going off at me for what reason exactly?”

  “Don’t want you to ‘have my back,’” she said stiffly. “Just don’t. I don’t need you. I don’t need anyone. I don’t need your support. You know what I do need, though?”