Stranded in Montana Read online

  Then there was his height. Jacob was—without a doubt—the tallest man I’d ever met. While his sheer size scared me at first, the reaction my body had to it now as I watched him fussing over me was totally different, not to mention totally new.

  I hadn’t dated since high school. While I was never a great student, I’d been ambitious for as long as I could remember. Mark broke up with me before we made it to junior prom because I spent more time taking pictures and building my online presence in the hopes of making it into a career by the time I graduated.

  I succeeded. I wasn’t raking in the big bucks or anything like that, but I earned more than enough live on thanks to the loyal online following I’d built over the years. My life turned out even better than I imagined and I never once felt like I was missing out on anything by avoiding dating.

  At least not until I watched Jacob making a fuss over me in his kitchen. It called attention to an empty spot inside of me—a spot I didn’t even realize existed.

  I felt totally at ease in his home. It was… odd. I was a pretty outgoing person by nature, yet I couldn’t recall ever feeling quite as comfortable in the presence of a total stranger. Especially not a male stranger.

  Logically, I knew it was just a combination of gratitude and exhaustion. If he hadn’t let me into his house, I would still be walking through the pitch-black Montana night. That was a terrifying thought—even more terrifying to me than spending a night in a stranger’s home.

  Of course, he didn’t have to be a stranger. I talked to people I didn’t know nearly every day. The circumstances we met under were a little weirder than I was used to, but I could still get to know him. I just had to find some common ground.

  “So… What do you do for a living out here?”

  “I’m retired.”

  “Wow. You’re pretty young to be retired. What did—”

  My question was cut off by a bark of laughter so loud it startled me. He turned back to me with a grin so sexy it made me blush. God, did he have any idea how attractive he was?

  “Honey, I’m not the young one here. Are you even old enough to be out on your own?”

  I folded my arms across my chest and frowned. “Yes. I’m twenty, thank you very much.”

  Jacob muttered something under his breath and shook his head before turning back to the stove. The mood changed and I wasn’t sure why, but before I could question it, he twisted the knob on the stove and announced that dinner was ready. He placed a large bowl of stew on the table in front of me and settled down on the seat across the table, watching as I dug in.

  It was way too hot to eat but I couldn’t stop myself. I took a large spoonful of the heavenly-smelling stew and blew on it over and over again until I felt brave enough to risk it. As soon as it hit my tongue, I let out a moan of pleasure that bordered on obscene.

  “Oh my God, this is so good.” As I took another spoonful, I realized he was staring at me with rapt attention. I swallowed the food in my mouth and asked, “Aren’t you going to eat?”

  “I ate two hours ago,” he replied, his eyes remaining glued to my face as his head cocked to the side. “Am I bothering you?”

  “N-No, it’s just…. I just feel a little awkward. I’m not used to having people watch me eat.”

  Jacob grunted. “You never eat in restaurants?”

  “Well, yeah, but—”

  “Trust me, sweetheart. Someone will always be watching you. Take a look around next time. I guarantee you’ll have the attention of most of the men in the place.”

  I shoveled another spoonful of stew into my mouth just to keep myself from responding with something that’d undoubtedly be embarrassing. While he continued to watch me, I wondered if it was possible for my face to feel any hotter.

  There was no way Jacob missed the blush, but he was kind enough not to say anything about it. He cleared his throat and dragged his eyes away, staring at the wall as he asked, “What about you? What do you do for a living?”

  “I’m a freelance writer and photographer. I run a pretty popular travel Instagram and blog,” I said with a small smile. It wasn’t that I liked to brag, but I was pretty damn proud of my success. However, when Jacob just stared at me with a blank expression, I realized he had no idea what I was talking about. My smile faltered a little as I added, “I travel and take photos of the places I go, write reviews for the places I stay—things like that. I also have a side blog for fitness and makeup, but that one is just starting to pick up steam.”

  “And you make money doing that?” he asked with a raised brow and quite a hefty dose of skepticism.

  “Yeah. I also get a lot of free clothes and hotel stays and stuff like that. Since I have a lot of followers, it’s kind of like an advertisement, you know?”

  He nodded slowly, but the way his brows furrowed together told me that he still didn’t get it. With a sigh, I reached for my backpack, thanking him when he stood to grab it for me. After I dug out my phone, I groaned when I tried to open the Instagram app and failed to connect.

  “Do you have Wi-Fi here?”

  “What do you think?” he asked with a grunt.

  “Okay, hold on... Here.” I opened my photo gallery, sliding my thumb down to find some of the photos I posted recently. He leaned over me and I forced myself to remain steady when I caught his scent. “See, I post pictures online and people engage with them. Sometimes I partner with different brands—like a hotel or clothing brand—and I take a photo of the place or shirt or whatever and they pay me to advertise for them. Does that make sense?”

  Without a word, Jacob reached out to take my phone. I allowed him to do so, using the opportunity to eat more of the delicious stew. Jacob sat beside me, scrolling through the photos with a frown.

  “So you’re like a model,” he finally said, chuckling a little at the end. “Not surprised.”

  “No. No, I’m a—”

  “You’re in almost every picture.” He held the phone up, showing me a picture of myself just after a run on the beach in a sports bra and a tiny pair of gym shorts. “You put this on the internet?”

  “What’s wrong with it?” I asked as I reached out to snatch the phone back, huffing when he jerked it away. His eyebrows raised in a silent question. “Yes, I did. Now tell me what’s wrong with it.”

  “Nothing. But I’m betting you got a lot of men following you who ain’t there for what you’re trying to sell—unless you offer cam time or some shit.”

  I bristled. I had never done anything like that—nor would I—but I couldn’t deny that I was regularly asked for nude photos. And those requests were on the tame side. Sometimes, I got messages that were incredibly detailed descriptions of what men wanted to do to me, and it rubbed me wrong every time I had to delete yet another one.

  “Even if I was fully dressed in all my pictures, there’d still be perverts out there,” I said as he handed me the phone.

  “True enough.”

  Without another word, Jacob rose from the table, allowing me to eat in silence. He mulled around aimlessly, but I swore I felt his eyes watching me as I finished my dinner. It should have been unnerving. Logically, I knew that.

  However, sitting at that table under the watchful eye of a giant stranger, I never felt safer.

  Four

  Jacob

  “I’m gonna carry you.”

  “That’s really not necessary. I can walk.”

  “It’ll hurt your feet.”

  Ivy bristled, folding her arms over her chest and jutting out her chin like she thought she could win an argument with me.

  Cute.

  “So? They’re going to take a few days to heal no matter what. Are you going to carry me around the entire time?”

  I grunted and she rolled her eyes. It made me smile, which only seemed to agitate her more. Once again, the word ‘cute’ popped into my head. I downright grinned when I reached down and lifted her in my arms like a ragdoll and she let out an adorable little squeal of surprise.

&nb
sp; That was a noise I definitely wanted to hear again. Preferably in my bed.

  “If I have to,” I answered as I stalked to the steps, tightening my grip when she started to squirm. With a grunt, I growled, “For fuck’s sake. Are you always this stubborn? Be still.”

  She obeyed immediately and I climbed the stairs with ease. Well, for the most part. It was hard not to look down into her wide doe eyes as she stared up at me like I was some sort of white knight.

  If she knew what that look was doing to me, she might have kept struggling to get away. I cleared my throat and lifted her higher, hoping to avoid her discovering my cock’s reaction to having her so close. Didn’t need to scare the poor girl.

  “I’ll run you a bath. Let you relax and clean up your feet.”

  “That sounds… nice. Thank you,” she said quietly, with a small smile.

  Christ. My hard-on was going to burst through my pants if she kept giving me those sweet looks. I couldn’t believe the luck that she ended up wandering to my house of all places. Kind of felt like fate.

  It got worse when we got to my bedroom—to the only bedroom—and she glanced over at my bed. At the bed she’d be sleeping in, not that she knew it yet. Her cheeks turned red again and I ground my teeth together, trying and failing to fight off the mental image of throwing her on the bed and pounding into her until she screamed my name.

  If I slept beside her, would I be able to stop myself?

  When we entered the bathroom, she gasped. Thank fuck I opted to have the garden tub put in when I built the house. I didn’t think I’d ever use it—and I hadn’t—but there was room for it in the bathroom, so I figured I might as well add it. Ivy seemed delighted by the sight of it. She even protested when I sat her on the edge of the sink.

  “Let me get it started then it’s all yours,” I said with a chuckle when she pouted.

  I let the water run until it was warm and plugged the tub to let it fill. After that, I walked into my shower to take stock of what I could offer her in terms of soap. Grabbing what I had, I stepped out of the stall and handed them to her.

  “Wish I could give you something better, but this is all I’ve got.”

  She popped open the bottle of body wash and raised an eyebrow.

  “Hmm. It’s definitely more masculine than my usual scent. Think I can pull off the rugged, mountain man thing?”

  “A little thing like you? Probably not.”

  She closed the bottle and tested the shampoo next. She pulled a face and I wondered if she didn’t like the smell at all or if she just didn’t want it on her. Hopefully the latter.

  “Any chance you might have leftovers from old girlfriends hiding under your sink?”

  “Don’t have girlfriends.”

  She hesitated for a moment before asking, “Boyfriends?”

  “Not what I was getting at,” I growled. “Just meant I haven’t dated anyone since I moved out here.”

  “And how long ago was that?”

  “A while.”

  “Are you always so concise?”

  “Pretty much.”

  She handed the bottles back to me and gestured at the tub, so I placed them on the edge for her while I dug out a washcloth and a clean towel. I wasn’t at all prepared to have a female guest, but I could at least provide her those.

  “I wasn’t trying to be picky, by the way. I’m really grateful you let me in at all—never mind fed me and offered me a bath. I just figured it wouldn’t hurt to ask.”

  “It’s cool. I get it.”

  There was one more thing I wanted to give her, but I didn’t want to freak her out. She seemed to notice I was contemplating something, raising her eyebrows in a silent question.

  “Give me a second.”

  I left the bathroom and went to my dresser, grabbing a plain t-shirt from the drawer. When I returned and held it up to her, she narrowed her eyes and regarded the fabric warily.

  “I have a change of clothes in my bag,” she said even as she gingerly reached out and accepted the shirt.

  “Figured you might want to save those for tomorrow. If you want to wear your own stuff, I can grab your clothes for you and wash what you’re wearing now.”

  “No, no. This will be fine.” She held the shirt up to herself and laughed. “It’ll be like a dress on me. Add a belt and some cute shoes and I could probably wear it out.”

  I waited by the bathtub silently, stopping the water once it was full enough. Though I wanted to stay and help her more than anything, I knew she could take care of this herself. She wasn’t that bad off.

  “Be careful with your feet. After you’re done in the tub, I’ll clean them up and bandage them for the night. Should help.”

  “Thanks,” she said as she eased herself off the edge of the counter. She hesitated there, licking her lips as she cast me a nervous look. “You’re not staying, are you?”

  “Not unless you ask nicely,” I joked, smirking when her eyes went wide. “No, I’ll give you some privacy. Just yell if you need anything. I’ll hear you.”

  “Okay. Thanks again.”

  I left her alone, closing the door and heading downstairs to check if I still had that old air mattress stashed away in the basement. I found it right where I remembered leaving it, but it wasn’t in good shape. I spent some time trying to inflate it, but it was a lost cause. There were multiple spots where the material had aged and cracked. It was garbage.

  “Fuck,” I muttered as I ran my hand through my hair.

  I wasn’t going to let her sleep on the couch, and I couldn’t even fit on the couch myself. It was either share the bed or I’d have to floor it, the latter being the safer option for Ivy. I honestly didn’t know if I’d be able to resist. In my mind, the best-case scenario still ended up with me grinding against her in my sleep. It’d been way too long since I had a woman.

  And I’d never had one like Ivy. I wanted her. Badly.

  Just as I was considering rubbing one out in the downstairs bathroom to alleviate some of my tension, I heard her calling my name. I groaned and cursed my luck, heading upstairs to help her clean her feet.

  “How are they feeling?”

  “Better. A lot better, thank you.”

  I grunted and repacked the ointment and bandages into the first aid kit before shoving it back under the sink. When I turned back, she was still sitting on the edge of the tub, thighs clenched together tight. Just seeing her sitting like that made me unable to think about anything other than the fact that she wasn’t wearing underwear.

  The cute little pink pair she had been wearing was wadded up in the pile of dirty clothes she had sitting beside the tub. I knew that because they came tumbling out when I picked up the pile and I had to fight to suppress a groan while picking them up. Ivy had flushed and tried to get up to retrieve them, but I stopped her with a stern look. Her face stayed red the entire time I cleaned and bandaged her feet.

  Now that I was finished with that, I couldn’t help but wonder how she was going to react to the next part. There was really only one way to find out.

  I put my arm beneath her knees before she could react and swept her up off the tub. Surprisingly, she didn’t gasp or squeal. I was a little disappointed by that. Though having her arms wrap around my neck more than made up for it.

  She did start to protest when I sat her on my bed. I shot her another look that made her mouth snap shut and her brows furrow. It was completely silent as I folded the blankets back and help her slide into them, covering her body while making sure her feet would be able to get free easily in case the bandages rubbing against the cotton started to irritate her.

  Her patience ran out eventually, as I expected. With a huff, she sat herself up against the pillows and fixed me with an incredulous look as she asked, “Are you seriously tucking me in right now? Is that what’s happening?”

  “Seems like it.”

  “I’m not a child.”

  “Never said you were.”

  “You—Ugh! You are so fru
strating!”

  I met her petulant eyes and shrugged.

  “I’ve heard worse.”

  At that, she sighed and let whatever response she had cooked up die on her tongue. She side-eyed me as I went to my dresser to pull out a fresh pair of boxers. I glanced back, smiling when I saw her clutching the covers and settling herself in just a little.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Gonna grab a shower.”

  “And after that?”

  “Sleep.”

  “Where are you sleeping?”

  “Floor,” I replied, jerking my chin to the other side of the bed where I had a stack of extra blankets. The look on her face was nothing short of horrified, so I added, “I’ll go down to the living room if you want. I understand if you don’t want me in here.”

  But Ivy started shaking her head, blinking slowly as she asked, “You don’t have another bedroom?”

  I shrugged again. “Only needed one.”

  “But the couch—”

  “You think I’d fit on that couch?”

  “Then I’ll take the couch.”

  “No chance in hell. I’d rather sleep on the floor than make you sleep on the couch.”

  “It’s no big deal, really. I sleep in my van all the time.”

  “You’re sleeping in the bed,” I growled, holding up a finger when I saw her lips part. “Don’t argue with me on this. You’re not gonna win.”

  Her eyes narrowed and she jutted her chin up defiantly, giving me another glance of that bratty side of her that I was starting to really like. It was fucked up, I knew, but it really turned me on.

  “Fine. I’ll take the bed.”

  “Good.”

  I thought I won, but when I started walking into my bathroom, she spoke again.

  “But only if you sleep here, too.”

  I spun around with wide eyes, clenching my jaw when I saw her victorious smirk.

  “I will be here. On the floor.”

  “If you sleep on the floor, so will I.”

  “No, you won’t.”