6 Mountain Brothers for Christmas

I nodded and stuffed my hands in my pockets, fighting the strange urge to take this woman into my arms and protect her from whoever had given her those ugly bruises. “Yeah, that would be great. Why don’t you give me your number and we can set something up?”

We exchanged numbers and she went to wait on her tables. I went out to my truck and sat for another minute, watching her through the glass. She bent over to clear a table and my dick twitched in my pants. Who in their right mind would ever mistreat a woman? Especially a woman as beautiful as Dream.

I shook my head and started the truck, heading to pick up a few groceries before picking Star up from school. As I waited in the pickup line, I saw her standing with her classmates. Her eyes were cast downward and her shoulders were rounded forward. She was clearly upset and my heart ached for her.

I helped her into the truck and buckled her into her booster seat. “How was your day today, kiddo?” I asked as I pulled out of the line and onto the main street.

She shrugged and stared out the window.

“Come on, Star. You know you can tell me anything. What’s up?” I gently coaxed her.

Finally, she looked at me in the rearview mirror as I drove. “We were reading in class and I’m… I’m not very good,” she said quietly.

My heart ached for her. “It’s going to be okay kiddo,” I reassured her.

“How about I make us some spaghetti for dinner?” I asked, knowing it was her favorite.

She nodded but didn’t smile as I’d expected her to. As soon we got home, I got out my phone and dialed Dream’s number.

CHAPTER FOUR - DREAM

I had been given the lunch shift that day, which was fine with me. I hadn’t slept well the night before; nightmares of Nick had kept me awake half the night. By the time I’d been exhausted enough to fall to sleep, dawn had been on the horizon. The later start time had allowed me to get at least a few hours of rest.

/> As I was tying my apron, Liza approached with a smug smile on her face. “You’ve apparently made quite an impression on someone,” she said, pointing to a booth in the back where Chance sat alone.

My stomach flipped at the sight of him and I subconsciously smoothed my hair back from my face. “Um, we’re the only diner in town. Plus, he is just here to talk over the tutoring job he offered me.”

“Hmm, too bad. I thought maybe he was here to throw you over his shoulder and give you a good roll in the hay,” she said, waggling her eyebrows at me.

I laughed and smacked her with my order pad, shaking my head as I approached Chance’s booth.

“Hey there. Can I get you something?” I asked.

He looked up at me and his blue eyes pinned me to where I stood. “How about a slice of pie and some coffee?” he asked.

Oh, I’ve got a slice of pie for you, I thought to myself naughtily. Jesus, what was wrong with me? Here I was, barely out of an abusive relationship, and this complete stranger had me thinking all kinds of dirty thoughts. I cleared my throat and smiled.

“Let me grab that for you, and I’ll be right back.” I hurried into the kitchen and cut a slice of pie. I poured him a fresh cup of coffee and put it on the tray and returned to the table.

I leaned up against the booth and waited until he’d tasted the pie. Even the way he chewed was sexy. “So when do want me to start?” I asked, needing to speak before I started imagining what else his mouth would look good doing.

“I guess as soon as possible. She’s having difficulty reading. She’s gone through some significant trauma and doesn’t talk a lot. Her teacher and counselor think she needs some special attention and I’m hoping it will give her confidence as well. Maybe bring her out of her shell.”

“I think we’ll get along great. From what I saw, she seemed to be a sweet girl.”

“Yeah, she opened up to you about her doll the other day. I haven’t seen her do that with anyone, so you must have the special touch.” He looked me up and down, as he said the words and I wondered what his touch would be like.

I blinked a few times and pushed away the thoughts. I had to be professional working with his daughter, and she was a special case having been through trauma. I didn’t need to complicate things with thoughts of sex; not for the little girl, or for myself.

“Did you and your wife divorce?” The question seemed to confuse him a bit, but then he shook his head.

“Star’s not my daughter, she’s my niece. My brother passed away, and then her mother grieved herself into an unfit situation. I took her in about three months ago, so this is a new situation for her. She was in the system awhile since I was away, so I’m not sure what’s she’s been through because she doesn’t share much, but it was enough to make her stop talking, and she doesn’t trust people easily.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry. It sounds like she’s really had a hard time. I am trained to deal with children in delicate situations though, so I think we’ll be fine.”

“Yeah, I wish I’d just hired you on the spot yesterday, but I thought I better think about it a while. I can’t be too careful with her, it seems. I feel like she’s a little China doll that’s going to break.”

“Well, you seemed like an old pro the other day.”