His Big Axe: Deepwood Mountain

By Lexi Hayes

He's a brawny lumberjack as masterfully cut as the wood under his axe.

And he's my best friend's dad.

 

I've had a crush on Logan Everett ever since Blair brought me home to Deepwood Mountain for Spring Break of our freshman year. 

The man is ridiculously tall, chiseled, and the posterboy for the strong silent type. And I want to climb him like a big Montana pine.

I'm here for the summer, but it's not like anything will happen. Besides being totally off limits, Logan's nearly twice my age and way out of my freckles and frizzy-haired league. 

If only I could convince my lovesick heart we're not meant to be.

Timber. It's hopeless. I'm falling fast and hard.

 

Welcome to Deepwood Mountain, Montana, a small town where six best friends with big dreams went from blue-collar bad boys to big shot millionaires. But you know what they say about success… it's lonely at the top. All these men need is a woman to claim, protect, and treat like a queen. Are you ready for the mountain men of Deepwood?

 

His Big Axe is a short, steamy, instalove romance with a not so innocent heroine, a giant cinnamon roll hero, and a well-deserved happily ever after.

• Language: English
• Publisher: No Regerts Press, LLC
• Release date: Aug 29, 2023
• ISBN: 9781957933023

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

MADDIE

There’s nothing like the Montana mountains in the summertime.

Fresh pine and sweet wildflowers float in on the breeze. And as I ease out of my car I soak up those familiar and comforting aromas along with the warm afternoon sun.

I’m originally from the East Coast, where summers can be muggy and downright miserable, so I consider myself lucky to have escaped to Montana for college. UM is where I met Blair Everett—my dorm roommate and instant best friend. Four years ago, she brought me here to her dad’s Deepwood Mountain cabin, and the place is now etched into my soul.

Yet calling the Everett house atop the mountain a cabin is like calling the Taj Mahal a cottage. Blair’s dad is the former owner of Everett Logging; the largest logging company in Montana. He sold the company a while back for millions. With three stories, soaring gables, floor to ceiling picture windows, and an array of wood and stone—the house may have some rustic charm—but referring to it as a cabin just seems silly.

Making my way over to the railing of the multi-leveled wrap-around deck, the real scenic view has nothing to do with the majestic Montana landscape.

Bare-chested and gleaming with sweat, Logan Everett’s thick muscles work in a methodical rhythm as he splits logs down in the side yard. His sun-bleached hair is tousled, falling into his eyes, his attention focused intently on the wood beneath his big axe.

If anyone thinks that because Logan used to own the company, he never worked a day in his life felling trees, sawing wood, or operating any of the heavy machinery his employees had on a daily basis, they’d be dead wrong. He’d been working with wood since he was a kid—his father hiring him on as a lumberjack as soon as he graduated from high school. Since then, he’d done every labor-intensive job at the company until the day he sold it.

And it shows.

I’m mesmerized by each swing of that heavy axe, heat pooling between my legs at the sheer masculinity of it. I can’t help it. Since the first time Blair invited me to spend Spring Break with her and her dad during our freshman year, I’ve had a secret crush on Logan. It’s impossible not to drool over him. He’s tall, strong as an ox, ruggedly handsome, and the most down to earth, gentle man I’d ever met. And now, watching him in his element, his body thrumming with primal energy, my heart pounds harder in my chest.

Logan's axe lands on the block with a final thud, breaking the log before him cleanly in two. He straightens, wiping his brow with his forearm, and turns to look up at the house. His gaze lands on me, and a smile tugs at the corners of his mouth.

Maddie, he calls huskily, resting his axe against the woodpile. You're early.

There’s a familiar flutter in my belly as he says my name. Logan, I reply, my voice sounding a bit too breathy. Traffic was lighter than I expected.

He nods. Blair still on her way?

Guess so, I say with a shrug. She had a late start, but should be here soon.

He rolls his eyes. She takes after her mother in that regard.

I smile. Logan and I both liked to give Blair a hard time about her tendency to be late. It became a kind of inside joke between us, and that felt intimate in a way it probably shouldn’t have.

There’s a loud, deep bark from somewhere nearby, and a flurry of black, white, and rust-colored fur barrels toward me. Hank! I exclaim, as Logan's massive Bernese Mountain Dog knocks me down onto the deck. I’m overcome by aggressive licks and wet nose rubs. He dances on excited paws, tail wagging furiously, his entire body shaking with joy as I hug and pet him. Hello, my boy. I missed you!

I glance down at the yard, but Logan is gone, and in moments, I hear the sliding glass door. You okay? Logan asks, suddenly next to me, pulling Hank away. Don’t be so damn rough, Hank.

I just laugh as Hank nudges his head under my palm, demanding pets. I’m fine.

Logan offers me a hand and I take it, an electric current zooming through my arm at his touch. He pulls me up with more force than I expect and I bump into his rock hard body. Oh, I sigh and move away, until my back hits the