Page 6

Brittany

Six Months Later…

I woke up to the smell of bacon and the sound of Elias moving around the kitchen, humming something under his breath.

Humming. The man who barely spoke when I first met him was humming while he cooked breakfast.

Six months of mornings like this, and I still got a little thrill watching him in his natural habitat—shirtless, barefoot, completely at ease in a way he never was around other people.

I stretched lazily in our bed. I couldn’t believe it had been six months since I gotten lost—and found. Found my mountain man who wasn’t so broken anymore.

“You getting up, or am I eating your share too?” His voice carried from the kitchen, warm with amusement.

“Depends. Did you make coffee?”

“When don’t I make coffee?”

Fair point. The man had figured out pretty quickly that I was barely human before my first cup. And I had discovered that his one vice was his taste in expensive coffee. The more we were together, the more I realized how much we had in common.

And not just the hot mountain man sex.

Even though that was a big bonus.

I padded to the kitchen wearing nothing but his T-shirt.

He stood by the kitchen table he’d bought from one of his neighbors—another mountain man seemingly hiding in the woods, nursing his wounds.

Elias was plating eggs and bacon like he was presenting a five-course meal.

I still got a kick out of how domestic this mountain man could be.

“Good morning, beautiful.” He wrapped his arms around me from behind, pressing a kiss to my neck that made me melt against him.

“Morning.” I tilted my head to give him better access, sighing when his teeth grazed that spot he’d discovered drove me crazy. “What’s the occasion?”

“Do I need an occasion to cook for my woman?”

My woman. I knew no matter how many times he called me that, I would still get all warm and fuzzy inside.

“No, but you usually just make oatmeal and call it good.”

He smiled. Something I still wasn’t quite used to seeing. “I give you brown sugar, don’t I?”

“Usually. Sometimes you make me beg for it.”

I yelped as he slapped my ass. “Sit down and eat. I’ve got a big day planned for us.”

I did as he ordered. Something else he knew turned me on. I grabbed two pieces of toast and buttered one for each of us. I slathered mine with some homemade strawberry jam we’d picked up at the farmer’s market last weekend.

“So what’s on the agenda today? Teach me how to light a fire?

Catch a fish with my bare hands?” It was the weekend and I didn’t have to work.

When I’d emailed my boss telling him I wasn’t coming back, he’d begged me to come back.

When I continued to refuse, he’d pitched the idea of me working remotely.

After some thought and discussion with Elias, I’d agreed.

I realized I didn’t hate my job so much as I hated the beige cubicle.

Now, I could watch a family of squirrels out my window or see a bird fly toward her nest.

And of course, I could watch Elias chop wood shirtless.

“You seem fidgety today.” As we ate, I noticed the little restless movements that usually indicated he needed some alone time. We respected each other that way.

“Just thinking about some things.”

“What kind of things?”

He was quiet for a long moment, staring at the large windows behind me he’d installed a few months ago. The idea was to make a large deck—after he added a couple more rooms to the cabin.

“About us,” he said finally. “About what this is. What we are.”

Something in his tone made my stomach flutter. “What do you mean?”

“I mean... I’ve never done this before. This whole relationship thing.” He ran a hand through his hair, looking uncomfortable. “Before you… I didn’t want anyone, didn’t need anyone.”

“And now?”

“Now I can’t imagine waking up without you here. Can’t imagine living here, by myself.” His eyes met mine, intense and serious. “You’ve changed everything for me, Brittany.”

My heart started hammering against my ribs.

“I know we haven’t been together that long. I know this might seem fast, but—” He stood up abruptly, disappearing down the hallway.

“Elias? Where are you going?”

He came back carrying a small velvet box that made my heart stop.

“Oh my God.”

“Let me get this out before I lose my nerve.” He dropped to one knee beside my chair, and I couldn’t breathe. “Six months ago, you stumbled into my woods and turned my whole world upside down.”

Tears pricked my eyes.

“You made me remember what it felt like to be alive. Made me want things I thought I’d lost forever.” His hands were shaking as he opened the box, revealing a simple, perfect diamond ring. “I love you, Brittany. More than I thought I was capable of loving anyone.”

“Elias...”

“I want to wake up next to you every morning for the rest of my life. I want to grow old with you in this cabin, in these mountains.” His voice cracked. “Will you marry me?”

The tears were falling freely now. “Yes. Absolutely, yes.”

His smile was brighter than the sunrise as he slipped the ring onto my finger. It fit perfectly, like everything else about this life we’d built together. Were building together.

When he kissed me, I tasted relief and joy and promises of forever.

“I love you too,” I whispered against his mouth. “So much it scares me sometimes.”

“Good scared or bad scared?”

“Good scared. The kind that means it matters.”

He kissed the palm of my hand. “I was terrified you’d say no.”

“Never. I’d be crazy to say no to this. To you. To us.”

I looked at the ring sparkling on my finger, then at the man who’d given me everything I’d never known I wanted. “So when do you want to have this mountain wedding?”

“Tomorrow? Next week?” He grinned, looking younger than I’d ever seen him. “I don’t care as long as you’re mine. Now, how about we celebrate our engagement properly?”

Heat flared in his eyes, and I felt that familiar pull low in my belly.

“What did you have in mind?”

Instead of answering, he carried me toward our bedroom, and I marveled at how perfect my life had become.

I had work I enjoyed, a home I loved, and a man who’d chosen me above everything else.

And now I had a future with him that stretched out like the mountains around us—endless and beautiful and full of possibility.

What more could a girl ask for?