Jasper: Men of Diesel Mountain: (A steamy, curvy girl, mountain man romance) by Khloe Summers

Author:Khloe Summers [Summers, Khloe]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Summer to Winter Publishing
Published: 2020-11-25T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

Erin

I’ve known Jasper less than forty-eight hours, so telling him my secrets should be no big deal, right? He’s a stranger, no one—just a guy up on a mountain. Except in the last few hours, he wasn’t. Suddenly, he was my friend, my lover, a man I wanted more of, a reason to sort my life out.

I watch as he whisks milk and cinnamon into eggs, his eyes shifting between the bowl, and my face. I can see he’s trying to stay calm—patiently waiting for me to spill the truth that I’ve held too long—breakfast his way of easing tension as I conjure up the facts.

I pull in a deep breath and let it out slowly, closing my eyes for a moment as the air releases grip on my lungs. I’ve been through this moment a handful of times in the last two months. First, it was my parents that needed to know—their expectations of a life for me scorned—the disappointment in their eyes apparent. Then, my friends—who offered to help, but seemed shocked and lost, as though they didn’t know what to say. Finally, my boyfriend, Mark. I’ll admit, by the time I got to him, I was overly emotional. Besides, we’d really only been dating for six months, so I shouldn’t have expected he would stick around, but in the back of my head, I hoped he would be one of the guys that did.

I shake my head, and come back to reality, Jasper now laying egg-soaked slices of bread on the hot skillet.

“I lost you there for a minute,” he says, “You okay?”

I swallow hard and stare back at him. I’m anything but okay.

Air cycles through my lungs with speed and sweat begins to bead on my head. I’m getting air, but I need more. I stand from the chair trying to regulate my breathing, but nothing is helping. My eyes get wider and my head becomes dizzy. I reach for the edge of the countertop, trying to steady myself.

Jasper switches off the stove and moves to my side. “Erin, you’re okay. You’re panicking.” he says, his big warm arm now around me as he walks me towards the cabin door, opening it just enough for me to suck in the cold wind. Keno rounds my side, brushing his fur against my leg as cold air shocks my nerves back to reality.

Jasper rubs my back. “Let’s eat. I’m sure that will help.”

I look at Jasper, his eyes narrowed, his lips pressed together in a patient, caring smile. I don’t want this to end. I want the snow to fall forever, I want to stay safe in his arms, I want every night to feel as good as the last. Yet, I know the moment I tell him what’s going on, he’s going to leave. He’s going to disengage because it’s human. People don’t want to hurt. They don’t want to get involved with someone who’s only going to cause them pain.

Jasper guides me back into the kitchen and settles two plates of French toast on the island.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.