Reading Online Novel

The Mountain Man's Secret Twins(18)





As she sat in silence, she felt the tug of New Hampshire. She knew she had to be back at work, that her bills were piling up and her bank account was dwindling—especially now that Austin wasn’t going to help her with the rent. She tipped her head back, knocking it against the wooden headboard.



“Shit,” she whispered. Her soul felt stretched thin, exhausted. She couldn’t imagine facing the office, not after she’d experienced such magic, tucked away in the Vermont mountains.



Suddenly, she smelled bacon sizzling in the kitchen. She lifted her legs and flung them over the side of the bed, gazing down at her naked toes. She knew if she stayed for breakfast, she wouldn’t be able to resist staying with Bryce another day. And then another. Eventually, he would grow tired of her, as Austin had. It was best that she just leave immediately.



Her clothes were flung all over the room from their raucous lovemaking. She grinned at the memory as she stood, bringing her underwear over her thin legs. She shivered, searching for her pants. She snapped them into place, grateful her food baby from the wine and massive dinner had disappeared. Clinging to her sweater, she hunted for her bra, her breasts bouncing lightly as she walked.



Where had he flung it? Kenzie hunkered down onto her knees and peered under the bed, blinking several times to grow accustomed to the darkness. She ran her arm beneath it, hunting for a bra strap. Instead, her fingers traced a firm binder with what felt like photo pages inside. An album?



Suddenly alert, Kenzie put both hands beneath the bed and drew the album out into the light, her heart beating rapidly. Out in the kitchen, she heard Bryce place several dishes in the sink with a clatter. The moment she heard his footsteps come toward her, she’d have time to shove the album back under the bed, unnoticed.



Just a quick peek, then.



She opened the photo album gingerly, knowing she was opening a kind of Pandora’s box. This was Bryce’s past, which he so desperately hid. Yet he kept a vessel of his past directly under where he slept.



The first photo felt like a slap. She stared at it, feeling as if she were seeing a ghost. The photo was of a family, snuggled close together beneath a colorful tree in New England. There was a man, a woman, and a baby. The baby was giggling, his eyes scrunched together in surprise from the flash of the camera.



The woman, who held the baby, was extremely beautiful, with long, wavy blond hair, reddened cheeks from the autumn wind, and a chunky scarf wrapped loosely at her neck. The man beside her looked incredibly like Bryce, only without a beard.



Kenzie stared at the man, incredulous, placing her finger delicately over the plastic cover. It was him. It had to be. He was a bit younger, perhaps 24 years old, and didn’t yet have the muscles or staunch masculinity of his current 30 years. But his smile was firm, confident, showing the joy and love he held for his family, for his wife.#p#分页标题#e#



Kenzie shivered, snapping the photo album shut. Her mind sizzled with questions. Did Bryce have a wife and child he was hiding from her? Where did they live? Had he left them, just as her father had left her? If Bryce had been 24 in the photo, that meant the child was around six or seven, and had probably long forgotten his father.



Had they lived in this very cabin? Had there once been a cradle in the corner of the room, a baby inside? Had Bryce once woken up early to make his wife breakfast and coffee, working dutifully with love?



Kenzie slipped the photo album beneath the bed, forgetting all about her bra. As she sat upon her knees, she heard Bryce’s footsteps behind the door. Immediately, she leaped up and dove beneath the sheets, her pants on and her shirt off. She feigned sleep, wanting to make Bryce think she hadn’t been leafing around his room. Her cheeks were red, showing her lie.



Bryce didn’t notice. He peeked in, smiling at her the moment he saw her head lifting up from the pillow.



“Morning, sunshine,” he said.



“Hey,” Kenzie whispered, her voice cracking. She couldn’t help it; her heart leaped the moment she saw him. Their bodies were still linked from the night before. “You been awake a while?”



“Only about three hours.” Bryce laughed, rubbing at his bearded jawline. “I can’t help it. I rise with the sun.”



“You are a mountain man. I suppose that’s your way,” Kenzie said, sitting up and keeping her breasts covered. She stared at his face, at the contentment displayed there, and wondered about the monster lying beneath. Who was his wife? When had he left her? Why had she left him? What was lurking in his past?