Wifed By The Mountain Man: A Modern Mail-Order Bride Romance by Frankie Love Page A

situation, I realize I don’t need him.
    Locating the keys, I grab my purse from my room, stuff a diaper bag with necessities for Amelia and head to the garage.
    I want Reed—yes, badly—but Hope is in my arms, and right now I’m holding hope in my heart, too. If he wants me, he can have me.
    But if he doesn’t?
    I’m going to be all right.

Chapter Nineteen
    Reed
    I ’ve done a lot of messed-up shit in my life. But as I’m out on this chartered fishing boat, running from my motherfucking problems, I know I’ve hit an all-time low.
    Yeah, I grew up on my own, fought for every damn thing I have. I worked my way through college and made a business for myself. I sold it; I was smart. I knew I didn’t care about being the best. I just wanted to be my own man.
    And look where that got me.
    I’m my own man all right, miles off the coast with a bunch of dumbass men fishing for food I don’t really need, when I’ve got a woman with a perfect pussy and perfect tits, a smile that could melt an ice cap, and a fucking heart of gold waiting for me at home with my daughter.
    I need to get the fuck off this boat.
    “I need to go back, now,” I tell the captain, knowing I was a fucking fool for ever walking away from my house this morning.
    The captain shakes his head, looking at me like I’m a goddamned idiot, but the truth is, I need to go and I’m not asking permission. It’s time for me to take what I’ve been given and not ever let go.
    “Call in a boat. I need out of here.”
    “There’s no one to call, not now. We’ve been underway for the better part of the day,” he tells me. “And a bad storm is rolling in soon. You can’t go back now. We’re gonna ride it out.”
    I draw in a deep breath. I’m not one to pick fights or lay down the law, but I’m also not used to having anything to fight for.
    Now I do.
    “I’ll make the call. I just need a boat to go back to shore.”
    I’m one of four anglers on this long-range overnight fishing charter. The captain has just dropped anchor for the night at one of his secret spots, and he’s getting ready to clean all the fish we’ve caught tonight before grilling us dinner. I like to fish this way, because I learned quickly that money doesn't buy happiness. I save a hell of a lot of time hiring a boat and captain so I can focus on the fishing, but I’ve clearly changed my tune in the span of a day.
    Never again am I gonna let any man other than me take the reins of my life, or the life of my woman and child.
    I grab the radio, call in to the main office, and ask for a floatplane to come to where we are. I need out of here, and I can’t wait another goddamned minute to get home.
    I know the captain thinks I’m showboating, tossing money around, but he can think whatever he likes.
    He’s never had his cock sucked by Amelia; he doesn’t know the pleasure I know, and he never will.
    I don’t need to explain anything to him.
    The floatplane lands and I get one of the anglers I’ve been fishing with today to take the small boat that’s tied to the charter, and get me on the plane.
    I need to get the fuck home.

    * * *
    T he storm is fierce . More than once, the pilot swears about the turbulence, and the clouds above us are making chaos in the sky.
    We’re safe to land, though, and thank God. When the plane comes to a stop over the crashing surface of my lake, I’ve never been so damn grateful to step on a dock in my life.
    “You good flying back?” I ask the pilot. Wind is swirling around, but honestly it looks like the worst of it has passed us already.
    “The storms are always worse down here, by the trees,” he tells me. “I’ll be fine. The worst of this storm is over.”
    I make my way down the dock, heading to the house. By now it’s past nine at night, and I realize it’s been a hell of a long day. I hardly slept at all last night, because Amelia and I spent the majority of it memorizing one another’s bodies.
    And then—like a fucking