by Frankie Love
I kiss her then, knowing soon it will no longer be just her and me. Our lives are changing today.
“I love you, Laila. Now let’s go do the damn thing.”
She laughs through her tears, and I’m glad. Heaven knows there will be enough screaming soon enough. Giving birth to four babies is no easy feat. We know there will be two boys and two girls. We spent the last several months choosing their names.
We decided on names that all mean blessing or miracle. After all, we are living in the valley of Miracle Mountain. The girls are Beatrix and Dorothy (nicknamed Dottie) and the boys are Asher and Bennett. I cannot wait to see them, hold them, inhale their new baby smell. God, I’ve become a sap--but how could I not? I’m a father now, and the luckiest man this mountain has ever seen.
“You are gonna look so sexy wearing your babies in a sling, you know that, don’t you Colton? The press is gonna die,” Laila says as the helicopter lands on our private pad. A photo shoot is scheduled in two weeks at the house with People magazine getting the exclusive.
The hospital bag is on the porch and my wife’s hands are in mine. We are ready as the medics run toward us.
She may be a small town girl, but we are still very much in the limelight. It’s an honor to be an actor, to have the job that I do, and it isn’t something I take lightly. I went on a road trip searching for a way out, but I found my way home. I didn’t need to leave acting, I just needed to leave Hollywood.
Now, I’m committed to bringing more stories of love and redemption to the big screen. After I won an Oscar for the role I played as Luke in the movie I filmed in Linesworth, Heartbreak Mountain, and Laila was my date for the ceremony, we became America’s sweetheart couple.
At that moment, Laila and I agreed that we would invite the public to see parts of our lives because the world can use more love stories. There is no such thing as too many happily ever afters.
And this one?
It’s just about perfect.
There is nothing quite as good as coming home sweet home.
I hope you loved your trip to Miracle Mountain!
It’s my favorite place to travel and I’m so happy that so many readers have found a place for themselves here, too.
I am just finishing up the next book in the series and I am sooo excited for it.
It’s about a mountain man widower with six kids … Let’s hope he finds what he is looking for on this mountain!
It’s gonna be a tear-jerker!
Coming Late 2018:
RAISED: The Mountain Man’s Babies Book 9
Preview
Claimed By The Mountain Man
PROLOGUE
EVERLY
Grabbing the Prosecco from the fridge, Everly finds three mason jars, pops the cork, and divvies up the bubbly. The goal tonight is to forget the reality of the situation she and her two best friends have found themselves in.
Homeless. Jobless. Boy-less.
Champagne will certainly help the cause.
“Is that the last bottle?” Delta asks, as Everly balances all three glasses in her hands and walks back into the living room.
Everly moans as she delivers the drinks. She’s wearing her hair in a messy bun and her nerd-girl glasses contribute to her low-key appearance. But tonight she isn’t acting low-key. Tonight she is dramatic and drunk.
A dangerous pairing for any twenty-two-year-old woman.
“The state of my checking account was so depressing I was like, eff it, and bought two more bottles,” she says.
“That’s what I love about you, Everly,” Delta snorts. “You’re just so damn responsible.” She takes the glass from Everly’s hand and sets it on the coffee table before screwing the cap back on a bottle of eco-friendly nail polish. She’s just painted daisies on her big toes, as if declaring herself the ultimate flower child. Her long hair and boho dress complete the look. She’s a vegan, through and through, and living in Portland, Oregon makes her lifestyle easy.
Clinking the rims of their glasses, Everly takes a long sip. “I know, it’s hard to be such a put-together adult, but somebody has to do it.” She smirks, knowing she’s anything but put-together.
“No, but like, for reals, what are we going to do?” Amelia, who is braiding her hair, asks. She’s in ratty sweats and a tank top, but she gets a pass considering Derrick, her boyfriend of four years, just broke up with her. “I mean, all of us were legit counting on staying at Derrick’s summer house for the next three months. Now we’re going to get kicked out of here in a week. Then what?”
“Calm down. It’s all going to work out,” Everly tells her, not believing the words herself, but knowing Amelia needs the affirmation—considering she’s the one recovering from an unexpected break-up.
Everly falls onto the couch, squeezing between her two best friends. They all take drinks of the bubbly, each lamenting their own personal hell.
They aren’t exactly on top of the world. And they feel deceived. The entire universe led them to believe that if they went to college they would be grown-ups. But here they are, all three of them a week out of Oregon State College, with no job prospects, no boyfriends, and—apparently—no housing.
“This sucks,” Amelia says, her head falling on Everly’s shoulder. “Why didn’t a career counselor ever mention the fact that a Fine Arts degree wouldn’t help me? All it did was teach me that I’m more of a hobbyist in terms of creating visual masterpieces. Like, I can legit scrapbook, but that isn’t a job.”
“Um, sweetie,” Delta says, “my degree is in Hospitality. There are literally no jobs for me.”
“You can be a hotel desk clerk,” Everly suggests.
“Yeah, except I didn’t need a degree for that, and it won’t offer me health insurance or pay my student loans. It’s not realistic.”
“I know,” Everly says. “Even if I sold a story to some magazine, I’d make what—fifty bucks if I was lucky? And I can’t afford to sit here and write the next great American novel. That won’t pay any of the bills.”
Everly thought a degree in English Literature would help her become a writer, but so far she’s only completed a few short stories about her life as a college student. Not exactly inspiring.
“At this point I would do anything to stop feeling so out of control. I just want a plan,” Amelia says. “I feel desperate.”
“I’m not desperate, I’m just horny as hell. I haven’t been with someone in like, three months,” Delta moans. “I want a husband, someone to keep me warm at night and fuck me all day long.”
“Then we should have gotten MRS degrees, not BAs,” Everly says, sighing into her champagne. “Not that I’m exactly ready for marriage.”
Delta and Amelia both look at Everly, giving her puppy dog eyes. It’s no secret that she’s a virgin, and if anyone needs a man, it’s her.
“What?” Everly shrugs. “I’m not holding out for Mr. Right. The problem is, I’m just never going to meet a guy who is okay with taking it slow.”
“You don’t need to take it slow,” Amelia says. “You need a man who isn’t going to take no for an answer.”
“I don’t need to take it slow, either,” Delta says. “I just want to take it, if you know what I mean.”
Amelia shoves a pillow in Delta’s face. “Yes, we get it. You want to get laid. But on a more serious note, maybe there are new apartments on Craigslist?” Amelia suggests. “You know, since we’re getting evicted.”
“Not evicted,” Everly reminds her. “It’s just we’re in campus housing. We have to go.”
“Like, in a week.” Delta sighs. “This is dumb. Let’s do something bananas. Like, move to a commune. Or become Amish.”
Noticing the now-empty glasses, Everly returns to the kitchen and brings back some more champagne. “I just want a nice house and a normal life. Nothing crazy, just something regular.”
“With good sex,” Delta adds, winking. “And on that note, let’s look in the Help Wanted section with an open mind.” She opens her
laptop. “At this point we don’t have many requirements.”
“I just want to get out of this college town,” Amelia says. Forgoing a glass, she grabs the bottle from Everly’s hand and takes a swig. “I can’t handle it here,” she says, wiping her mouth. “There are way too many memories of Derrick and me in this town, and I need to move on. Stat.”
Delta scrolls through the housing pages, and it’s more of what they’ve already seen. Tiny studios or massive houses requiring three months’ security deposit.
“Hmmm.” Delta keeps clicking, but there are no new listings. Eventually she takes the bottle from Amelia and drinks before passing it to Everly.
Everly follows suit, then sits between them once again, starting to feel more than a little tipsy.
“There’s nothing,” Amelia moans.
“Even if there were,” Everly adds, “it doesn’t matter. None of us have jobs. That’s priority number one.”
“Tell me again why none of us have parents who can help out?”
The three of them were roommates freshman year, and instantly bonded over the fact they’d all been raised by their grandparents. It was such a coincidence—it felt like destiny, and they had to stick together.
And they always did, through thick and thin, for four years. They put Delta’s grandpa in assisted living, attended the funeral for Everly’s grandma and grandpa, and were there when Amelia’s grandma moved in with her older sister.
They have family that love them, but not family that can support them, or even house them.
It’s time they figure this out on their own.
“Okay, go to the want ads,” Everly says, pointing at the tab on the screen.
“Let’s see, here.” Delta takes another sip as the page loads.
The three of them read the job descriptions, not one of them remotely appealing.
Dog walker, ten hours a week.
Editor, must be proficient in Dutch.
Smoothie stand, pasties the required uniform.
“Well, we could do that,” Delta says, laughing. “We all have decent racks.”
“More than decent, but that doesn’t mean I could do it,” Everly says, frowning, knowing her looks have never been her problem.
The problem is, she’s never had a real boyfriend because she always gets so nervous and shy around guys.
“We’re all cute enough so the tips would be good,” Amelia says, considering the smoothie stand position. “But, it just seems so cold.” She covers her chest with her hands, cracking up.
Okay, so they are definitely buzzed.
“This is stupid.” Everly hovers her fingers over Delta’s keyboard. “Let’s try something totally different.”
In the search bar, she types: pretty girls, college degrees, open-minded, need jobs.
The first hit causes all three girls to tilt their heads to the side, and reach for the champagne, simultaneously.
Huh.
WANTED:
MODERN MAIL ORDER BRIDES
FOR ALASKAN MOUNTAIN MEN.
More Modern-Mail Order Brides:
CLAIMED BY THE MOUNTAIN MAN
ORDERED BY THE MOUNTAIN MAN
WIFED BY THE MOUNTAIN MAN
EXPLORED BY THE MOUNTAIN MAN
Also by Frankie Love
THE ENTIRE FRANKIE LOVE COLLECTION
New Releases:
His Old Fashioned
The Sailor’s Secret Baby
Dirty Cute
The Mountain Man’s Muse
The Mountain Man’s Cure
Hashtagged By The Mountain Man
The Mountain Man’s Babies:
TIMBER
BUCKED
WILDER
HONORED
CHERISHED
BUILT
CHISELED
MOUNTAIN MEN OF LINESWORTH:
MOUNTAIN MAN CANDY
MOUNTAIN MAN CAKE
MOUNTAIN MAN BUN
Stand-Alone Romance:
B.I.L.F.
BEAUTY AND THE MOUNTAIN MAN
HIS Everything
HIS BILLION DOLLAR SECRET BABY
UNTAMED
RUGGED
HIS MAKE BELIEVE BRIDE
HIS KINKY VIRGIN
WILD AND TRUE
BIG BAD WOLF
MISTLETOE MOUNTAIN: A MOUNTAIN MAN’S CHRISTMAS
Our Virgin:
Protecting Our Virgin
Craving Our Virgin
Forever Our Virgin
F*ck Club:
A-List F*ck Club
Small Town F*ck Club
The Modern-Mail Order Brides:
CLAIMED BY THE MOUNTAIN MAN
ORDERED BY THE MOUNTAIN MAN
WIFED BY THE MOUNTAIN MAN
EXPLORED BY THE MOUNTAIN MAN
CROWN ME:
COURTED BY THE MOUNTAIN PRINCE
CHARMED BY THE MOUNTAIN PRINCE
CROWNED BY THE MOUNTAIN PRINCE
CROWN ME, PRINCE: The Complete Collection
Las Vegas Bad Boys:
ACE
KING
MCQUEEN
JACK
Los Angeles Bad Boys:
COLD HARD CASH
HOLLYWOOD HOLDEN
SAINT JUDE
THE COMPLETE COLLECTION
❤️❤️❤️
The Charlie Hart Collection
(Frankie's pseudonym)
Our Virgin:
Protecting Our Virgin
Craving Our Virgin
Forever Our Virgin
Daughters of Olympus:
Their Siren
Their Mate
Their Phoenix
Their Shade
Their Goddess
Six Men of Alaska:
The Wife Lottery The Wife Protectors
The Wife Gamble
The Wife Code
The Wife Pact
The Wife Legacy
About the Author
Frankie Love writes sexy stories about bad boys and mountain men.
As a thirty-something mom who is ridiculously in love with her own bearded hottie, she believes in love-at-first-sight and happily-ever-afters.
She also believes in the power of a quickie.
Find Frankie here:
www.frankielove.net
[email protected]
