Mountain Man's Baby: A Best Friend's Brother Romance Read online

  “Nathan, what are you still doing here?” Sara asked.

  “What? I can’t come over and say hey to my sister?” he asked.

  “Not when you were supposed to check out this morning,” she said.

  “Well, shit happens,” he said.

  The three of them stared down one another for a long time before Sara’s voice hit my ears.

  “Jenny? Amber?” she asked.

  My eyes fell down Nathan’s body once before I grinned.

  “What’s up?” I asked.

  “Yeah?” Amber asked.

  “You guys ready to do some tubing? Because I’m ready to do some tubing,” Sara said.

  She turned and made her way for the slopes as Nathan started running his mouth. I knew Sara was ignoring him, so I tried to as well. We followed beside her, even though Luke called out her name as well. I looked back and saw the two men looking after us, and my eyes took one last look at Nathan.

  Damn, that boy was hot.

  We flashed our bands and IDs for the ski lift, then away we were whisked.

  “Your brother’s hot,” I said, grinning.

  “Yeah, well. He’s as dumb as a box of rocks. And sneaky. I wouldn’t trust him as far as you could throw him,” Sara said.

  “What if I couldn’t throw him out of my bed?” I asked.

  “Come on, Jenny. Seriously?” Amber asked.

  I giggled as I gazed out over the slopes. As we rose higher and higher off the ground, I closed my eyes and drew in the cool, fresh air. The wind whipped past us as we climbed to the precipice of the mountain, preparing ourselves for some tubing while Amber jabbered on about how she couldn’t wait to try out some of the larger slopes with her skis, like she’d been skiing her whole life or something.

  “Geronimo!” I exclaimed.

  After I got my tube, I couldn’t be held back. I took a running start and belly-flopped onto it, basking in the speed I picked up. I banked deep on all the turns, and not once did I flip over. I was the first one down the mountain, with Amber and Sara quickly trailing behind.

  I beamed in the sunlight as I came to a stop, relishing the feel of it against my skin.

  I stood up from the tube and brushed snow off my coat. I heard Amber calling out for Sara, then I turned around and began laughing. Sara was tumbling and sliding on her stomach down the mountain like a penguin about to fly into the ocean. A movement caught the corner of my eye and I whipped my head over, watching as Sara’s newfound friend started walking toward her.

  Sara stopped sliding right at Luke’s feet, and I couldn’t contain myself.

  Come to think of it, Luke’s pretty hot, too.

  I shook the thoughts from my head as Sara pulled herself off the ground. Amber came and stood by me, watching as the two of them interacted. I knew the boys were off-limits for our little trip. Not to mention, a relationship could derail all my hard work. I was about to be one of the only people graduating from the University of Denver who had garnered all A’s throughout their entire college career.

  I’d find time for a guy after I’d gotten a nice job. And a nice home for myself. And a nice savings built up.

  Besides, what were the chances that Sara’s hot-ass brother would—

  “You looked nice, coming down those slopes. Perfect tubing form.”

  Amber quirked an eyebrow at me before she shook her head and walked off. Nathan’s voice graced my ear, and I put on my best smile before I turned to face him.

  “You think so?” I asked.

  “I’ve seen a lot of people come down those slopes. And you looked the best doing it,” he said, smiling.

  “Well, I appreciate the compliment,” I said, grinning.

  “I’m Nathan. Sara’s brother.”

  “I know who you are. I’m Jenny,” I said.

  “Jenny. That’s right. It was hard for me to place your name, what with your stunning eyes wiping my mind blank.”

  He held his hand out for me to shake, and I slipped my hand out of my glove to take it. His skin was warm, his grip firm. I quirked an eyebrow at his compliment as a flush overtook my body.

  Nathan was flirting with me.

  Oh, yes.

  “Well, I have to admit, your eyes aren’t as captivating,” I said.

  “Oh? I don’t usually get that. The hazel eyes are usually my selling point,” Nathan said.

  “Nope. It was your arms.”

  “My arms?”

  “Mhm. I like a nice strong set of arms on men I can sink my teeth into,” I said, winking.

  “And where do you expect to sink those teeth, Beautiful Jenny?”

  “I suppose that’s a secret you’ll just have to ponder about on your own,” I said as I dropped his hand.

  And the smirk that settled against his lips made my gut flutter with excitement.

  Chapter 3

  Nathan

  Damn, she’s sexy.

  As Jenny dropped my hand, her warmth lingered against my skin. My sister had been slow coming down those slopes. Hell, she almost killed herself on them. And had Luke not been there to check on her, I probably would have rushed to her side and told her to fucking cool it on those slopes until she could take some lessons. But Luke had her, just like he promised he would. Which gave me some time to stare into Jenny’s beautiful eyes.

  She had come down those slopes in that tube like a natural athlete. Hell, she looked almost bored up there, waiting for Sara and that other girl to come down and beat her. That only made her more attractive to me. I bet she had a toned body underneath the bulky snowsuit she wore.

  Toned curves. Holy fuck.

  My mouth was already salivating.

  “What would I have to do to learn your secrets, Beautiful Jenny?” I asked.

  “If I gave you the keys to the kingdom up front, what would be the point in my defense system?” she asked.

  “Defense system? Trying to keep out all the bad boys?”

  “Just the ones that don’t know how to handle a girl like me.”

  “And tell me, what’s a girl like you going to do if I penetrate your defense systems?” I asked.

  She took a step toward me and pressed her lips against my ear.

  “Why don't you try and find out?” she asked.

  Oh, this girl had a charm of her own that curled my toes in my damn boots. She stepped away from me, and my eyes cased her, taking in her beautiful body. Her thick, brunette hair was braided back, and her dazzling blue eyes reflected the color of the sky. She had the most innocent smile that held such a mischievous hairpin curl. Even underneath that bulky snowsuit, I saw she had curves that any man would trip over himself to touch. And while the thinner women usually caught my eye, there was something different about her that hooked my gut.

  Pulled me toward her.

  Kept me rooted to my place as her eyes cased my body, too.

  “You know, your form isn’t so bad either,” Jenny said coyly.

  I smiled. “I wasn’t up on the slopes.”

  “I know.”

  Her eyes fluttered up to mine, and I had to hold back a growl that wanted to burst forth.

  “Well, why don’t we find a time to compare forms? Maybe we could learn a little bit from one another,” I said.

  “You mean on the slopes? Or with a few less pieces of clothing between us?”

  My jaw dropped open in shock. Never had I encountered a woman who was as bold and brazen as I was with my flirting. Honestly, it was how I weeded out the girls who had no intentions of crawling into bed with me. I was a wild animal, with salacious wants that couldn’t be tamed. My overt flirting was a way of making sure I didn’t sink my talons into a woman who only wanted to lie on her back and be serviced.

  But Jenny?

  Holy fuck, she was something else.

  Before I could reply, Sara blew past us. She reached out for Jenny’s arm and pulled her along, and I wanted to reach back out for her. I wanted to pull Jenny closer to me and keep talking with her and learning about her
.

  I always got the last word in. Never the woman.

  Until now.

  I watched as the other girl—Amber, I think her name was—joined them. Sara exhorted her want for hot chocolate, and I saw them heading straight for the side entrance that led into the cafe. I looked back at Luke and found him stone-faced, as usual. Sara probably gave him a pretty decent tongue-lashing before touting the fact that she was a “grown woman” or whatever else bullshit she thought.

  She wouldn’t be grown until she was paying her own damn bills with her own damn job, in my eyes.

  I grabbed Luke and we followed the girls into the cafe. I heard him grumbling next to me, but I didn’t pay him any mind. We walked in just as the girls settled at a table with their drinks, and soon Jenny got up and disappeared.

  Which meant I promptly took a seat behind my sister.

  “So, who’s the brunette?” I whispered into her ear.

  “Jenny. My roommate,” Sara bit out.

  “She’s hot,” I said.

  Sara whipped her head around and locked her eyes with mine.

  “She’s a good girl, Nathan. A nice girl. You stay away from her. You hear me?” she asked.

  “I’m hurt, Sara. I’m a nice guy. Thought you could put in a good word for me,” I said.

  “No, you’re not. You’re an overbearing man who tries to ruin his sister’s girl time by spying on her, and you chew women up and spit them out onto the street.”

  I laughed, and my sister smacked me on my arm.

  “What the hell, Sara?” I asked.

  She glowered. “Stay away from her. Or you’ll regret it.”

  Then, her eyes migrated over to the corner. And when I followed her gaze, I found Luke standing in the corner, his eyes hot on the girls.

  Fuck. Now Sara definitely knew the two of us were watching over them.

  “Leave us alone, or we’ll check out, take our money, and get a hotel somewhere else,” she said as her eyes turned back to mine.

  “No refunds,” I said.

  “That’s not the lodge’s policy. I looked them up already. We’d get fifty percent back of the entire purchase. Enough to get us a hotel in Colorado Springs somewhere for a couple nights.”

  I bristled. “You wouldn’t.”

  “Leave. Us. Alone.”

  I glared at my sister before I slammed out of the chair just as Jenny approached the scene again. I cursed to myself as I walked over to Luke, leaving the three of them at that fucking table. That didn’t go at all how I had planned it would. And the fact that my sister had something to hold over my head didn’t make matters better.

  I’d have to back off even further, which meant Luke would have to take more of the reins on watching them.

  “I have a meeting with the head of the ski patrol,” Luke said.

  I went and stood beside him as the three girls began chatting with one another at the table.

  “You mean we do,” I murmured.

  “Not really, since you’re on vacation,” he said.

  “I need something to take my mind off this shit.”

  “You’re looming too much. What the hell did you expect to happen?”

  My eyes locked onto Jenny one last time before I snapped out of it. I knew what I was thinking. I knew why I felt so bold and off-kilter. I wasn’t thinking about protecting my sister. I was thinking of getting my hands on that beautiful brunette this weekend.

  Damn it. I didn’t know what the fuck to do.

  “Come on. Let’s get to the meeting,” I said.

  I patted Luke on his shoulder, and we headed to the ski patrol headquarters. It was at the base of the biggest slope we had on the property, and I knew Hunter was shocked to see me. I hung back while him and Luke discussed some shit, and I watched how Luke interacted with him. How they negotiated schedules and found things to laugh about. Every time I tried to interject, Luke reminded me that I was on vacation, then went back to what he was doing.

  I was proud of my friend for the way he had stepped up.

  Luke used to be much more carefree than this. Much more laid-back. But once his parents died, he became more serious. It was understandable, but I worried that he’d never fully come back from it. At least, I didn’t believe that until he started pouring his heart and soul into this place, managing this luxury lodge with the kind of skill and finesse I hadn’t seen him have in years.

  There was a time in my life when I would have wondered if I could have been half the man Luke had turned into. And even though I worked as the general manager, I still wondered it.

  I wondered why I still felt as if I was drifting through life instead of planting myself into something, like Luke had.

  I mean, I had other passions that kept me busy. Like the passion I wanted to show the sexy Jenny. I grinned as I thought about her. My mind filled with thoughts of all the things I’d do to her. I knew it was wrong, pursuing my sister’s best friend and dorm roommate. I knew Sara would be pissed as hell if I hooked up with her.

  Well, if she didn’t want me hooking up with her friends, then she needed to find ugly friends.

  Jenny was hard to resist. Especially with that flirty banter of hers. I hadn’t found a woman yet that could keep up with it. They simply giggled and sloshed down the drinks I bought them. But not Jenny. She stood on her own two feet. I liked that, her snarky attitude. I liked the fact that she didn’t fully throw herself at my feet.

  Yet.

  “My weekend just got a whole lot more interesting,” I murmured.

  “What was that?” Hunter asked.

  I held up my hand. “Nothing. Just running some things down in my head. Continue.”

  “You’re running nothing. You’re on—,” Luke started to say.

  “Yeah, yeah. I know, Luke. Vacation. I got it,” I said.

  “So, start acting like it,” Hunter said.

  And when he showed me the exit door of the headquarters and opened it, I figured he was right.

  It was about damn time I started acting like I was on vacation myself.

  Chapter 4

  Jenny

  I watched Nathan as he got out of his seat. It slammed against the table, and Sara turned around in her chair, huffing to herself. I watched her brother walk back to Luke in the corner, then took my place back in the chair. It had taken me forever to pee with all the layers I had to strip off just to put my bare ass on the seat.

  I stole one last glance at Sara’s sexy-ass brother before I turned my eyes to her.

  “You okay?” Amber asked.

  “I’m fine,” Sara murmured.

  “I’m back. Sorry. Getting in and out of this gear to pee takes forever. What did I miss?” I asked.

  “Nothing,” Sara said.

  “Yeah. We should leave it at ‘nothing’ for now,” Amber said.

  “Oh, juicy gossip over more champagne tonight?” I asked.

  “That sounds like a great idea,” Sara said, sighing.

  I watched Sara struggle in her seat. She looked back behind her one last time, off to where the guys were standing. But they had already left, and Sara let out a massive sigh before she picked up her hot chocolate.

  “Are you sure this isn’t something we should talk about right now? You look very flushed,” I said.

  Sara cleared her throat. “I’m just perturbed that my brother is apparently staying to keep an eye on us.”

  I giggled. “I wouldn’t mind Nathan keeping an eye on me. He’s hot. Sorry if you don’t like my opinion of the situation, but you’ve got a good-looking brother. Doesn’t she, Amber?”

  “Not really my type,” Amber said softly.

  “Just keep away from him. If you knew the amount of women that had slapped him across his face for calling them a different woman’s name, you wouldn’t like him so much,” Sara said.

  But all I did was grin. Perfect. A man who obviously had eyes for me that didn’t want to be tied down to anything. I could enjoy a bit of sweetness on this vacation, then go
back to living my life until I was ready to find a man who wasn’t a player.

  Just what the doctor ordered.

  “It’s nice that your brother cares about you, though. Not everyone in this world is so lucky,” Amber said.

  Sara smiled softly. “You’ve got a point there.”

  “I’d kill to have a sibling that gives a damn about me. My two older sisters don’t give a shit about what happens to me,” I said.

  “And my parents aren’t the most understanding of people sometimes,” Amber said.

  “I think that’s the first time I’ve ever heard you mention your parents,” Sara said.

  She wasn’t wrong.

  Amber shrugged. “I don’t like talking about them. That’s all.”

  I studied Amber and watched her wiggle around in her seat. Come to think of it, Amber had never mentioned her family. Or her upbringing. Or anything that wasn’t related to boy problems, work, or school.

  Huh.

  “You guys want to try skiing tomorrow?” Sara asked.

  Her voice pulled me from my trance, and I turned to look at my best friend.

  “Oh, yes. I’ve been dying to try out some new moves I’ve learned,” Amber said.

  I wrinkled my nose. “New moves? You really are a weird one, aren’t you?”

  “It’s why you love me, though,” Amber said, smiling.

  “Then, it’s settled. Champagne tonight, skiing tomorrow,” Sara said.

  That was definitely a plan I could get behind.

  The three of us rose our hot chocolates into the air and clinked them together. I was excited to get on a pair of skis again. We chugged back our lukewarm hot chocolates, then slammed the glasses onto the table, like we were a trio of men chugging back pints of beer or some shit.

  Then, I felt that stirring feeling in my gut again.

  “I gotta go again, guys. I’ll be right back,” I said.

  “I swear, you need to see a doctor about that,” Amber said.

  “What? I don’t like the sensation of having to pee. Sorry if I don’t hold it in like all you weirdos,” I said.

  “So, you’ll be gone for another fifteen minutes?” Sara asked, grinning.