Neanderthal Next Door: Enemies to Lovers, Mountain Man Next-Door, Halloween Romance

by K. C. Crowne

  We fell right into our usual easy conversation after sitting down and ordering.

  “Never stops being nice seeing you small talk,” Hugh said after the waitress left the table. “Reminds me of the old Hunter I knew back in LA .”

  “Same Hunter,” he said with a smile. “Just took me a while to find him. And some help.”

  He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me close, planting a kiss on my head.

  I opened my mouth to speak, but before I could get out a word, my stomach tensed, pain shooting through me.

  And then my water broke.

  The looks on the faces of everyone at the table let me know it was visible how I was doing.

  “What’s wrong?” Lizzie asked.

  “Um, Hunter, Hugh? You know how you guys like this booth because it’s where you always sat when Hunter first came to town?”

  “Yeah…” said Hunter.

  “Well, it’s about to be special for another reason.”

  They got what I meant right away.

  We barreled out of the diner, the four of us climbing into Hunter’s truck and flying toward the hospital.

  “I called Parker’s school,” Lizzie said. “We’ll pick him up on the way to the hospital.”

  I nodded before letting out another moan of pain as the next contraction hit. Hunter held my hand as he drove, and minutes later we were in front of the hospital.

  What happened next was a blur. The doctors helped me into a wheelchair, the group forming up around me as we hurried to the delivery room.

  There was pain, there was screaming, there was a wild flurry of doctors around me.

  But there was also Hunter. Through it all, he was there.

  Just like he’d always been.

  When my baby girl’s cries filled the air, the relief and joy and happiness was just the same as when my Parker was born.

  And after they cleaned her up and put her in my arms, Hunter standing over me with a tear in his eye that only lasted a moment before he wiped it away, I knew my life had changed forever.

  I kissed my baby girl, holding her close before handing her to Hunter.

  “God,” he said, the tiny, swaddled baby close to his chest looking so small and precious next to him. “She’s about the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

  “You’re a daddy now,” I said. “You ready?”

  He smiled. “Not a doubt in my mind. I love you.”

  “And I love you.”

  He carefully passed her back to me.

  “Mary,” I said. “After my mom. She gave me the cabin, the whole reason I met you. Only seems right.”

  “I’m just fine with that.”

  He leaned down and kissed Mary on her perfect, round cheek, the little girl already calm.

  A knock sounded at the door.

  “You guys mind if we come in?” Hugh asked. “Because we got someone here who’s really eager to meet his kid sister.”

  “You ready to get this life of ours started?” I asked.

  “Let’s do it.”

  He opened the door and Parker and Hugh and Lizzie rushed inside.

  And at that moment, I was so, so damn clear that I had about as perfect a life as they came.

  Baby for the Mountain Man (Preview)

  As I watch the single daddy with his baby...

  I decide I don't care about the dark rumors of his past.

  And when this small mountain town reveals it's own hairy secrets...

  I wonder if Kellen will be the one to save it from destitution.

  Now a limited time promotional discount rate. Download your copy, and enjoy this book today!

  People say he's rude and barbaric.

  But I see a tortured man, broken and compassionate.

  He's hurting - and I'm all too familiar with that feeling.

  I know there's much more to him than meets the eye.

  But can I ever melt the ice around his broken heart?

  Baby for the Mountain Man is a steamy standalone mountain man suspense thriller romance, and part of the Mountain Men of Liberty series. Each book can be read as a standalone. Transport yourself into charming and magical small town of Liberty, Utah as we follow four bad boy, rugged and possessive mountain daddies in their quests to find lasting love on the mountains.

  Prologue

  Leah

  “Come on, follow me.”

  He followed me into my office. There was a bell at the front if anyone came in, but I wasn’t expecting anyone. As soon as we were in my office, I locked the door behind me.

  Immediately, his hands were on my lower back and started to move down to my ass.

  Neither one of us spoke; we let out hands and kisses do the talking.

  His mouth moved from mine, down to my neck as he pushed me backward toward my desk.

  Lifting me up, then he gently moved me down on top of the desk.

  This was the perfect height to wrap my legs around him.

  His erection pressed into me, causing me to gasp at the size.

  But we weren’t going straight to fucking.

  He had other plans.

  He dropped to his knees in front of me, placing my legs over his shoulders. I was wearing a skirt.

  He pushed the skirt up and slipped my panties down my thighs.

  Trembling, all I could think about was how badly I needed to feel him.

  His head dove between my legs as he muttered, “God, I need to taste you.”

  I grabbed his head, my eyes widening as his tongue found my most sensitive parts. He circled my clit, just as I’d imagined. His scruffy beard rubbed against my thighs, reminding me this wasn’t a fantasy - it was reality.

  Pleasure coursed through my body as he devoured my pussy, sucking and licking as if it was the most delicious dessert he’d ever had the luxury of eating.

  And he was so fucking good at it.

  My legs tightened around him, and I pressed him down into me without even thinking about it. It just felt so damn good. He slipped a finger inside me. Then another.

  I was trying to be quiet, afraid that someone might overhear us, but that all went out the window as the first wave of my orgasm washed over me.

  I cried out, taken by surprise at how fast it came on. He never stopped, keeping the perfect rhythm with his tongue on my clit.

  “Oh God,” I whimpered, my body tensing. “Yes, yes!”

  He seemed to savor it.

  He devoured my pussy, sucking and licking my juices as he brought me closer and closer to the edge.

  “I’m going to cum,” I whimpered, writhing underneath him.

  He held my hips down on the bed, stilling me as he continued working me over with his magical tongue. I gripped the back of his head, and without meaning to, pressed him into me as I cried out in pleasure.

  God, I needed him so badly.

  My hands fumbled with his pant and I felt his erection in my hand.

  I could only get a sense of how big he was, but my eyes widened at what I felt. He was so thick.

  “Please. I need you inside me.”

  Chapter 1

  Kellen

  Ring. Ring.

  I rubbed my eyes and looked at the clock on my night stand.

  Six in the morning.

  “Just like clockwork. How’d you sleep Alice?”

  “Like shit. You?”

  “I’d rather be in your position.”

  “Doubt that. If it isn’t the nightmares, it’s the baby kicking me,” she said softly. “Everything hurts these days.”

  “Just a couple weeks until the big day. Then the little devil can serenade you with cries all night.”

  “Thanks for words of encouragement, friend,” Alice chuckled.

  I was pulling her leg, when in truth, I felt for her.

  Being a single mother to a newborn on the way couldn’t be easy.

  I’d insisted she move closer, but she couldn’t leave the first house she and Henry bought together.

&nb
sp; And me… I couldn’t step foot in it.

  People handled grief in in different ways.

  Though, it was much more than grief for me.

  “I got the check in the mail,” Alice said. “We talked about this. You shouldn’t have.”

  “It’s not much,” I said. “Buy Matilda something nice.”

  Money was the least I could do.

  If I could live that horrible day again I’d put myself in his shoes, a thousand times over. I was the only one responsible for Henry’s death.

  Alice knew I was there for her, and I’d jump on a flight in a heartbeat whenever she needed. I owed it to Henry and Alice to make sure she was taken care of.

  Henry was my best friend.

  And after what I let happen to him, Alice became a widow at a young age.

  While my name was cleared, I was the one to blame. I never once gave a damn what others thought about me. I blamed myself enough. Every single fucking day.

  My nightmares were there to never let me forget.

  Alice didn’t blame me.

  She didn’t need to. I could see it in her eyes every time she looked at me - why Henry instead of me. I didn’t blame her for those thoughts. After all, my best friend had a wife and a kid on the way. I had no one.

  And when it came to me helping her financially, we went through the same song and dance every month. I always found some way to send her money. She hadn’t been able to work for a few months; her doctors had ordered her on bed rest.

  Besides, it’s what Henry would have done had the situation been reversed. Not that I’d ever have a kid, but that was beside the point. If I’d died and left a family behind, Henry would have taken care of them. That’s just who he is.

  Was.

  That’s who he was.

  Fuck.

  “You still shouldn’t have,” Alice repeated. “I mean it, Kellen. Henry died in the line of duty. He worked in a dangerous profession, and the fire department is taking care of us.”

  It wasn’t enough.

  It would never be enough.

  Henry had been a good man, one of the best I knew. His wife was one hell of a woman too. She didn’t deserve this.

  “You know I’m doing okay,” I said. “I’ve stashed away a lot of money over the years, and God knows, I have more than I’ll ever need in a lifetime.”

  Alice groaned on the other end of the line.

  “Alice?”

  “Yeah, sorry, I—”

  My heart raced.

  “I think Matilda might be ready to make an appearance,” Alice said, breathing heavily.

  The baby was coming.

  Jesus fucking Christ, the baby was coming.

  Not being there made my skin crawl.

  I needed no further convincing to get my ass to the airport.

  Finally, I stated the obvious.

  “Get off the phone and call an ambulance.”

  “Yeah, probably a good idea,” she said. “I think this is the real deal.”

  She cried out in pain as we said our goodbyes.

  “I’ll book the first flight out to see you,” I promised before hanging up the phone.

  She was alone.

  Her parents were dead. No siblings.

  And her husband dead too.

  I couldn’t let Alice deliver her baby alone.

  Her pregnancy hadn’t been easy. She’d struggled with high blood pressure, probably from the stress of becoming a widow while she was pregnant. I wasn’t a doctor, but I’d bet my life on that being the cause. She had other issues, things I didn’t understand, and been confined to bed rest for the last few weeks.

  But now, it was time.

  ***

  After the phone call, I’d looked up flights to Washington and booked one for that afternoon. Being in the middle of nowhere meant it would take me awhile to get to the nearest major airport.

  I had my reasons for living in the mountains. But living the life of isolation became a huge pain in the ass in times like these

  I had some quick business to attend to before leaving town and I had no time to spare.

  Taking a heavy breath, I grabbed my phone and dialed my only actual friend in town, Grant.

  “Hello Kellen. Bit early, even for you,” he grumbled on the other end of the line. “Everything okay?”

  “Sorry to wake you man. I need to head out of town for a few days,” I said. “Family emergency.”

  “Oh? I didn’t know you had any family,” Grant muttered.

  I didn’t talk to anyone about my family much these days. Not even Grant.

  Alice may not have been my blood but I considered her family. And alongside her, I had my biological sister to call family.

  “It’s fine Kellen. Take all the time you need. I’m guessing you need me to fill in for you while you’re away?”

  “That would be great. I was building some cabinets for the diner,” I said. “They just need some sanding and finishing up, and then they’re ready to be delivered.”

  “Got it. No problem, man. Do whatever you need to,” he agreed. “I’ll take care of everything else.”

  Both Grant and I shared an unusual love for woodworking, and while we weren’t officially in business together, we’d talked about it and referred clients to each other when our plates were full.

  I didn’t need the work, or the money, but it was good to stay busy. Woodworking kept my hands and mind busy on nights the nightmares got too much to handle.

  “I’ll stop by and let Felicity know what’s going on before I leave,” I said.

  “Sounds like a plan.”

  I hung up the phone and threw some shit together in a duffel bag. I had no idea how long I’d be gone. It would depend on how things went. I didn’t know the first thing about taking care of a baby, but I could throw dinner on the grill and make sure Alice at least ate well.

  I hopped in my truck and drove down the curvy, mountain road into town.

  Liberty wasn’t exactly a tourist mecca, not like some of the other mountain towns in Utah, but that’s why I picked it. I wanted to get away from people - not be bothered by them.

  Problem was, a town as small as Liberty meant everyone knew everyone else.

  Except for me. I was new to town and kept to myself. I didn’t come to make friends. I came to be alone. Which was why I was hesitant to open up to Grant, one of the few who seemed to understand me. Being an ex-Army Ranger, he’d experienced loss too. He knew what it was like.

  Not that we talked about our past, but he had the familiar look of pain in his eyes.

  A look I knew all too well.

  I pulled into the tiny parking lot of Smothered in Love, a little diner run by a local chef. The place was packed for breakfast, as usual. I’d have come back later in the day if I could, but the clock was ticking. With so few parking spots in the tiny lot, it was hard to get my massive truck into any of them.

  When I climbed down, a Prius pulled up behind me. I noticed there were no more parking spots left, and my truck took up more than one. Scratching my beard, I thought long and hard about what I was going to do, but before I could figure out a solution, a petite brunette stepped out of the car.

  Wow.

  Where did she come from?

  She was a sexy little thing.

  No taller than five-three.

  Her hands were on her curvy hips, and her full, luscious lips were pursed in annoyance as she glared at me with big, chocolate brown eyes.

  Her toned legs were in a wide, challenging stance and her large, pert breasts heaved as she huffed a breath in my direction.

  She had to be careful because the sheer sight of her could stop traffic.

  “Excuse me but you can’t park like that,” she said, pointing to my truck.

  When she moved her head, her long, brown ponytail bobbed around her head. She was shaking her head, clearly frustrated.

  It was wrong, but I found it sexy as hell.

  “I’m going to be a second,” I said. �
��Then you can have both spots.”

  If she could wait just two minutes, enough time for me to talk to the owner of the diner, she’d be able to get on with her day. The parking lot didn’t accommodate large trucks, which was crazy in a mountain town, but the place didn’t have that much space to begin with.

  “I don’t need both spots, I just need one,” she argued. “But your truck is taking up half the parking lot.”

  “That’s a pretty gross exaggeration,” I scoffed, stifling my laughter as I continued toward the entrance of the diner. I turned to find her scowling at me and held up two fingers as I mouthed the words, “Two minutes.”

  She crossed her arms in front of her chest and shook her head. “Because obviously your time is more valuable than everyone else here.”

  I let that comment slide. Maybe she was also in a hurry to get to some big life event, like a friend of hers having a baby.

  How the hell was I supposed to know?

  I seemed to doubt it. And in this case, yes, my time was more valuable. I needed to get to Alice, and my flight would leave without me if I didn’t get there in time.

  If it were a different day, I’d gladly give her my parking spot.

  But hell, not today.

  I opened the door to the diner, and right away, I knew it would be longer than two minutes. I felt bad for lying to the girl, but I couldn’t help it. The place was packed, and the owner - Felicity - was running around like a chicken with her head cut off. Sweat ran down her face as she ran from the cash register to the people sitting at the counter and then back to the kitchen. She saw me and offered a friendly, but tired, smile.

  “Short staffed today?” I asked.

  “You bet we are. Our hostess and one of our waitresses called out sick,” she groaned, rushing past me to the counter. She dropped off three plates of pancakes and eggs to a few older patrons, and then ran back to the kitchen again.