Lumberjack's Baby: A Single Daddy Romance Read online

  Lumberjack’s Baby

  A Single Daddy Romance

  K.C. Crowne

  Contents

  Also by K.C. Crowne

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Epilogue

  Mountain Man's Lucky Charm (Preview)

  About the Author

  Also by K.C. Crowne

  K.C. Crowne is an Amazon Top 10 bestseller.

  All books are FREE on Kindle Unlimited and can be read as standalones.

  Lumberjacks of Grizzly Falls Series (This series)

  Lumberjacked | Lumberjack’s Baby

  Mountain Men of Liberty Series

  Baby for the Mountain Man| Junior for the Mountain Man| Knocked Up by the Mountain Man| Baby For Daddy's Friend | Triplets for the Mountain Man | Taken by the Mountain Man| Secret Baby for the Mountain Man | Mountain Man’s Accidental Surprise | Quadruplets for the Mountain Man | Delivering His Gifts| Mountain Daddy’s Fate | Mountain Man’s Treasure

  Doctors of Denver Series

  Doctor’s Secret | Doctor’s Surprise Delivery | Irish Doctor’s Secret Babies | Millionaire’s Surprise Triplets

  Rainbow Canyons Cowboy Series

  Taboo Cowboy |Cowboy’s Baby|Her Cowboy Daddies | Southern Charm| Cowboy’s Bride

  Big Bad Daddies Series

  Big Bad Doctor | Big Bad Daddy| Big Bad Taboo Daddy | Big Bad Prince|Big Bad Mountain Man| Big Bad SEAL| Big Bad Boss| Big Bad Sugar Daddy| Big Bad Mountain Brothers

  Bearded Brothers Mountain Man Series

  Her Mountain Daddy| Beauty and the Beard| Bride and the Beard| Built and Bearded |

  Firemen of Manhattan Series

  Big Bad Fireman’s Baby| Big Bad Firefighter| Big Bad Fire Daddy|

  Spenser Sisters Reverse Harem Series

  Men on a Mission| Christmas with Four Firemen| Dirty Cowboys

  Checkout KC’s full Amazon Catalog

  All books are FREE on Kindle Unlimited and can be read as standalones.

  Description

  "Once you go Lumberjack, you never go back."

  My heart belongs to a lumberjack.

  Single daddy. Dark. Rebel.

  Some see a hard criminal, incapable of love.

  But my instincts tell me there's much more to Axel than meets the eye.

  He saved my life.

  And the way I feel around the ruggedly handsome woodsman is indescribable.

  His 'take charge' attitude makes me wonder what he's like behind closed doors.

  Got wood?

  This won’t be easy.

  And every cell in my body is telling me to walk away.

  But if the baby in my belly is going to have a father...

  I can’t imagine anyone more worthy.

  Prologue

  Axel

  A banging on my front door woke me, mirroring the pounding in my head. Glancing over my shoulder, I squinted at the red glowing numbers on my bedside clock.

  Who the hell would be at my door at this hour?

  I waited for them to go away, but the repetitive, brassy drumming didn’t stop… an image of heavy knuckles rapping on the metal screen door crept into my mind.

  The annoying sound echoed throughout my apartment. Go away, I wished. It stopped long enough for me to think they were gone, and I sighed, relieved, and I rolled over, pulling my blanket tightly around myself. My relief, however, was short lived. Just as I closed my eyes, the rapping started again, a quick, palpitating, knuckle knock, softer but rapid ─ and double annoying for my hungover head.

  A quick memory of drinking too many shots of Jäger and playing pool at the clubhouse with my riding buddies until four in the morning flooded my mind. Fuck.

  I took my anger out on my down comforter, rudely whipping it off my bulky frame. I moaned as I watched it float onto the floor on the opposite side of the bed.

  I pulled myself up to a sitting position and rubbed my temples. The annoying knocking continued and was joined by a man’s muffled voice.

  “Hello? Hello? I know you’re in there. There’s a motorcycle in your front yard.”

  In the front yard? Groaning, I looked around the dimly lit bedroom for my jeans. Nowhere in sight. I pulled myself up to my full 6’1” height and decided to forget the pants. Screw it. I stomped out of my bedroom in black boxers and down the short hallway to the steps.

  I was half-aware of the way I looked ─ half-naked, my wild, long blonde hair mostly pulled from the ponytail I’d had it in last night. Too fuckin’ bad. I wasn’t expecting or wanting company.

  The sound of my feet hitting each stair matched the nonstop pounding on my front door, and my head throbbed more with each step I took.

  I reached the door, put my hand on the knob, but didn’t open it right away. My door didn’t have a window or a peephole, so I could only imagine the man with the irritating voice on the other side.

  “I can hear you. Open up!”

  The man’s urgent voice brought me back to my mission… destroying whoever was on the other side of this door.

  Who the hell would be at my door at this time of the morning? Shit, all my friends would be as hungover as I was. Maybe even more so, I thought, as I remembered my best friend, Mike Franton, slamming more shots than I had.

  “Who is it?” I half croaked.

  “My name is Alan Madison,” the man hollered, arrogant and mature. I imagined a man with silver hair.

  I cleared my throat. “Who?” I asked. “I don’t know an Alan Madison.”

  A baby started to cry, the sound muffled through the door, but I knew the sound of a crying baby. Intrigued, I opened the heavy door. Through the screen, I saw a grey-suited man with dark sunglasses gazing at me. I could tell he was angry from his slightly downturned lips. My eyes wandered to his side. A man dressed like him should be holding a nice leather briefcase, but he had a diaper bag draped across his shoulder. Beside him was a baby in one of those fold-up strollers.

  I was confused and certain it showed on my face. Alan Madison took advantage of my disposition and, without hesitation, in a fluent, planned motion, whipped the screen door open and abruptly strolled into my house with the baby.

  “What the hell?” I growled at the man who was now standing in my living room. I was astonished; he didn’t seem the least bit afraid of me. I hovered over him, my broad shoulders three times wider than his, my powerful legs and arms covered in tattoos, not to mention the ones on my chest and neck illustrating my MC’s logo… a large skull with red flames radiating from its ears.

  The baby whimpered, and my gaze shifted down to her teary eyes. The baby’s blue eyes looked into mine, and for a moment, I thought I was looking into my own. My heart broke for her. Her cries were hard to hear.

  “What do you want with me?” I asked the man. I broke eye contact with the blonde-haired, blue-eyed
baby and glared at the man ─ my rude, persistent gaze demanding an answer.

  The man removed his sunglasses. His eyes, the same clear blue hue as the baby’s, gazed steadily into my own. “I’m Tabitha Madison’s father,” the man announced steadily.

  “Okay,” I replied, confused. Tabitha Madison? I tried to remember, but my mind was murky from all the drinking the night before. I looked at Alan Madison for help.

  “Tabitha died in a car accident last week. This is her child, Abby,” he informed me, glancing down at the baby. His awkward glance at her made me nervous. A loving grandfather wouldn’t look at his granddaughter with such a strange expression.

  I waited, growing really nervous now. I scowled at Mr. Madison, but his gaze was unwavering. This is serious, I thought. I didn’t want to hear what was coming next, but I had to ask. I couldn’t take much more of the intense silence.

  “What are you trying to say, Mr. Madison?” I asked.

  “Tabitha confided in me while she was pregnant. She told me the father of this child was Axel Summers. You,” he stated matter-of-factly, pointing a finger at my bare chest.

  I was stunned. In a state of shock so rare to me, I didn’t know how to react. My normal confident, tough demeanor went right out the window.

  I denied it instantly. “No way.” My voice didn’t sound like my own. Could it be true? But how…I racked my brain. Mr. Madison remained quiet while I processed what he was saying. Tabitha Madison. Tabitha Madison.

  An abrupt image of a skinny, blonde girl wearing too much makeup, huge tits bursting out of her halter top... After that night, I never saw her again. No fault of my own. She never showed up again. Honestly, I thought she’d wanted the one-night stand and nothing to do with me. I removed the image of those luscious breasts from my mind and peered at the baby. No, I thought, shaking my head.

  “Yes, Abby is yours,” the man said sternly. “My wife passed a few years back. Tabby’s gone. They brought this baby to me since I’m Tabitha’s only living relative. I told the social worker to find you. The rightful owner of this baby. But they had no DNA proof, only my word, that you’re the father. So I’ve been stuck with her. She never stops crying. I can’t take care of a baby.”

  The rightful owner of this baby? I frowned as I stared at him. A baby isn’t a possession.

  Still in denial, I asked. “How did you find me? How do you know I’m really the father? Tabitha never reached out to me.”

  The man glared at me for questioning him. “Tabby wouldn’t lie to me. She didn’t want you to be a part of this baby’s life. Seeing you now ─ I mean, look at you ─ can’t say that I blame her,” he said, eyeing my tattooed body. “I hired a private investigator to find you.”

  My body shook with anger. Look at me? I’m Axel Summers, a well-known ‘One Percenter’ in the Overtakers, my MC.

  It took everything I had not to lunge at him, to take him by that scrawny neck and beat his ass. My heart was beating fast, adrenaline flowing. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw an innocent baby and couldn’t do it in front of her. I tightened my fists, body shaking, and closed my eyes. My mind was clouded with anger.

  Before I could speak, the man threw the diaper bag at me and ran out the front door. The bag bounced off my muscular chest, surprising me. I opened my eyes and rushed after him, but he had a head start and was astonishingly quick for an older man. His sedan was parked along the curb at the end of my short walkway, and as I bounded over the small porch and down the six steps to the sidewalk, I watched as he slipped into the driver’s seat and hit the gas.

  Damn, he had his car running the entire time, I thought, as the tires burned rubber until they finally found traction on the he black asphalt and sped away. I took a few more steps in vain, but he was gone. In my haste to catch up, I didn’t even think to get the license plate.

  I stood in front of my house silently, watching the empty street. My gaze wandered to my motorcycle, practically parked in the small flower bed below my porch. I grunted to myself. I didn’t even remember driving home last night.

  Not good. Not good at all.

  A crying baby jerked my head up, and I stared at my open front door.

  What the hell am I going to do with a fucking baby? I looked at my wrist and turned my upside-down watch to the correct position to peer at it. Almost seven. Shit, three hours of sleep. Not even. No wonder I felt like total shit. And work started in two hours. I closed my eyes and tried to drown out the crying baby in my living room. What the fuck? I thought again.

  I went back inside and walked right past the baby to the bathroom. In the medicine cabinet, I found Advil and quickly swallowed four of them. The baby was really wailing now. I couldn’t just ignore her. I had to figure out where to take her… who to call. Leave her at the fire station?

  I quickly brushed my teeth and sloppily redid my ponytail. I glanced at my reflection; I looked like a crazy person. Bloodshot, puffy eyes. Unkempt hair. My mid-length, blonde beard was scraggly and probably could use a trim.

  Nobody would ever let someone like me take care of a baby, I thought. That idea brought an ounce of relief. I’d just take her to the local police department and tell them I found her. They wouldn’t even question if I could be the father. Would they?

  I went back to the living room to inspect the contents of the diaper bag. Maybe she was hungry. The least I could do was feed the kid. I wasn’t a total monster, after all.

  I purposely didn’t look at the crying baby, as if she would magically disappear if I just didn’t look. I rummaged through the bag. Diapers, wipes, some clothes…bingo. Formula and a plastic baby bottle. I took the formula and bottle and headed to the kitchen.

  I squinted to read the tiny, printed instructions on the can. I followed them to the best of my hungover ability, added some water, shook, and warmed it in the microwave. I remembered seeing on TV that I should make sure it wasn’t too hot, so I squirted some formula on my wrist. Perfect. I’m a fucking natural, I thought to myself and smiled. If I didn’t make light of the situation, I’d go fucking insane.

  I carried the bottle to the baby. Now for the hard part. I didn’t know how old the baby was and I’d never actually fed a baby before. Did I just hand her the bottle? Did I have to hold her? Sighing, I stared at her.

  Our eyes met. Her watery blue gaze was the same hue as mine, a clear, sky-blue. I took in her features and felt as if I was looking into a mirror. Fuck, I thought. There wasn’t too much question when I really looked at the baby.

  She actually could be mine.

  She was perfectly angelic and beautiful. No longer crying, her gaze didn’t waver from mine, as if she instinctively knew me.

  I picked her up and cuddled her against my broad chest, amazed by how tiny she was, nuzzled into the crook of my arm. She was so small and delicate. I gave her the bottle and settled down on the couch.

  While drinking, she looked into my eyes. Her tiny little hand squeezed my finger as I held the bottle to her softly nursing lips. At that moment, a moment I would never forget, I fell in love.

  And there was no turning back.

  Chapter 1

  Axel

  Two and a half years later…

  Seven a.m. Time to wake up Abby, just like every weekday morning. My schedule had become monotonous, but I was at peace with that. If you would have asked me years ago, I would have laughed in your face at the suggestion of leading such a simple life.

  I was a father. A father.

  And I was damn good at it.

  I looked down at my sleeping beauty. Memories flooded into my brain. I remembered the first time I saw her and a small chuckle escaped my lips. I had been a fucking mess back then. Though I would never have admitted it or even realized it.

  The last two and a half years had been the hardest of my life. I’d had it easy before Abby came along - hanging out with the Overtakers every night at our Club and riding on the weekends. Basically, my life had consisted of getting drunk off my ass, fucking any wom
an who looked half good to me, and fighting any bastard who crossed me. I’d worked at the motorcycle garage during the day but made most of my money in unscrupulous activities in the evenings. I’d gone to jail countless times. I’d had no regard for others. Only cared about me, myself, and I.

  The real challenge began when Abby showed up. At first, I contemplated whether I even had the right to keep her. A moral right. With the lifestyle I’d led and not too honorable of a past, I shouldn’t have been allowed anywhere near an impressionable child.

  But after spending just a few hours with her, I’d felt a deep connection. I wasn’t questioning whether she was mine or not anymore. I’d done the math and determined the timing was perfect ─ and thanks to Mr. Madison packing Abby’s birth certificate in the diaper bag, I knew her birthdate. It made perfect sense.

  I had decided to keep her. I couldn’t imagine dropping this precious child off at a fire station or hospital. She would go directly into the system with no other relatives. She might have ended up in a good home, but I’d heard some foster care horror stories. So I decided I would give her the life she deserved.