Page 18 of Hitched to my Boss (Viva Las… Oh, Sh!t #2)

NATALIA

SIX MONTHS LATER

" M rs. Wallace, your nine o'clock is here."

I look up from my laptop, where I've been finalizing the crisis management strategy for a pharmaceutical company dealing with supply chain issues, to find Jason standing in the doorway of my home office.

He's wearing his work clothes and a grin that still makes my pulse quicken after all these months.

"My nine o'clock?"

"Marcus Hartwell. He's here for the quarterly review meeting." Jason leans against the doorframe, clearly enjoying my confusion. "Don't tell me you forgot about your biggest client."

"Hartwell isn't my client, he's yours." I save my work and close the laptop, standing to stretch muscles that have been hunched over spreadsheets for too long.

"Actually, he's ours now. Didn't you read the contract addendum he sent over?"

I stare at my husband, noting the satisfaction in his green eyes. "What contract addendum?"

"The one where he officially hires Wallace Wildlife Solutions as his primary contractor for all Nevada ranch properties, with Natalia Wallace Communications as the required public relations partner.

" Jason's grin widens. "Seems he's been so impressed with how we've handled his wolf situation that he wants us to manage wildlife issues across his entire operation. "

"Jason." I move around my desk to study his face. "Are you telling me we just landed a contract that could set us up for years?"

"I'm telling you that your husband is apparently much better at business development when he has a brilliant wife handling the people side of things.

" He pulls me into his arms, careful of the ribs that still ache sometimes when the weather changes.

"We're officially the most successful wildlife management team in the Southwest."

"We're a team now?"

"We've been a team since Vegas. We're just finally getting paid like one."

I laugh, the sound echoing through the office I'd built in what used to be Jason's storage room.

Floor-to-ceiling windows overlook the mountains, built-in bookshelves hold my professional library, and a video conferencing setup allows me to work with clients anywhere in the world.

It's exactly the kind of space I'd dreamed of but never thought I could have outside a major city.

"So what does this contract mean for us practically?"

"It means you'll need to travel to various ranch locations about once a month for site visits and stakeholder meetings.

It means I'll be spending more time in the field but always within driving distance of home.

" Jason traces patterns on my back, the gesture unconsciously possessive.

"And it means we can finally afford to expand the cabin. "

"Expand it how?"

"Well, I was thinking we might need a nursery at some point."

The casual comment makes me freeze in his arms. "A nursery?"

"I mean, not immediately. But eventually. When we're ready." His voice carries the same careful uncertainty it had when he'd first suggested I move in permanently. "If that's something you want."

"Jason Wallace, are you asking if I want to have babies with you?"

"I'm asking if the idea of tiny humans running around our mountain sanctuary terrifies you as much as it should."

I pull back to look at him properly, seeing vulnerability beneath his attempted humor.

We've talked about everything else concerning our future, but having children has been the one topic we've both avoided.

Too big, too permanent, too much like counting on forever when we're still figuring out today.

"It should terrify me," I say honestly. "Six months ago, I didn't even want a husband, let alone kids. But the idea of little versions of you running around these mountains, learning to track wildlife and build things with their hands? That doesn't scare me at all."

Relief transforms his expression. "Really?"

"Really. Though I reserve the right to change my mind if they inherit your complete inability to function in social situations."

"They'll have you to teach them how to handle people. I'll teach them how to handle everything else."

The division of labor sounds perfect, like everything else we've figured out by trial and error over the past months.

Jason handles the technical aspects of our joint business while I manage client relations and strategic planning.

I cook breakfast, he makes coffee strong enough to resurrect the dead.

He handles home maintenance and repairs while I organize our schedules and handle the financial side of things.

It works because we both contribute what we're good at instead of trying to force ourselves into roles that don't fit.

"Speaking of handling people," I say, glancing at the clock, "shouldn't we go greet our client? Marcus is probably wondering why we're keeping him waiting."

"Marcus is sitting on the front porch with his own cup of coffee, enjoying the view and catching up with Mrs. Toombs." Jason doesn't release me from his arms. "He can wait another few minutes."

"What's so important that it can't wait until after our business meeting?"

"This." He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small, wrapped package. "I know it's not our official anniversary yet, but I wanted to give you something to commemorate our first major joint contract."

I unwrap the package to find a delicate silver necklace with a small pendant in the shape of a mountain peak. It's simple, elegant, and absolutely perfect for someone who's made the mountains her home.

"Jason, it's beautiful."

"Look at the back."

I flip the pendant over and find an engraving in Jason's careful handwriting: "Home is wherever you are. - J"

The words blur as tears fill my eyes. Not sad tears, but the kind that come when someone sees exactly who you are and loves you for it.

"Do you like it?"

"I love it." I turn so he can fasten the clasp, then face him again. "But I love you more."

"Good thing, since you're stuck with me for the next sixty years or so."

"Only sixty?"

"I'm being conservative. I might live longer out of pure stubbornness."

I laugh, rising on tiptoes to kiss him properly.

It starts soft, grateful, but quickly develops the heat that's been a constant between us since our first night together.

Jason's hands tighten on my waist, pulling me closer, and I'm just starting to consider whether we have time to properly celebrate our business success when a voice from the front porch breaks the spell.

"If you two are done being newlyweds, I've got a ranch to run and contracts to sign!"

"Marcus Hartwell," I mutter against Jason's lips. "Worst timing in the history of business relationships."

"We'll continue this later," Jason promises, his voice rough with unfulfilled desire. "After we've secured our financial future."

"Is that a promise, Mr. Wallace?"

"That's a guarantee, Mrs. Wallace."

An hour later, after Marcus has signed the contract that officially makes us the Southwest's premier wildlife management team, I stand on our front porch watching his truck disappear down the mountain road. Jason's arms come around me from behind, and I lean back against his solid warmth.

"So," he says, his breath warm against my ear. "How does it feel to be a successful mountain businesswoman?"

"It feels like coming home," I answer honestly. "Like everything I went through to get here was worth it because it led me to this life with you."

"Even the parts where you thought I was an antisocial hermit who'd never commit to anything?"

"Especially those parts. They made me appreciate what we have now."

We stand in comfortable silence, watching the sun set behind the mountains that have become our shared sanctuary.

Six months ago, I was a city consultant with a five-year plan and complete control over my professional trajectory.

Now I'm a mountain wife with a business partnership that defies every career strategy I'd ever learned.

And I've never been happier.

"Natalia?"

"Hmm?"

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For seeing potential in a hermit with questionable social skills and a cabin full of wildlife management equipment." His arms tighten around me. "For taking a chance on an accidental marriage and making it into something real."

"Thank you for giving me a reason to stay when every logical instinct told me to run." I cover his hands with mine, noting how my wedding ring catches the last light of day. "For making me brave enough to choose love over fear."

"No regrets?"

"None." I turn in his arms to face him properly. "Well, maybe one small regret."

"What's that?"

"I regret that we can't remember our actual wedding ceremony. I would have liked to remember promising to love you forever."

"We can fix that," Jason says, surprising me. "We could have another ceremony. Here, with the mountains as witnesses. Something we'll both remember this time."

"You want to get married again?"

"I want to marry you properly this time. With vows we write ourselves and rings we choose together and family who can witness us promising to build a life that makes us both happy."

The idea sends warmth through my chest. A real wedding, planned instead of accidental, celebrating what we've built instead of hoping for what we might become.

"I think that's the most romantic thing you've ever said to me."

"Just wait until you hear the vows I'm planning to write."

As the first stars appear in the Nevada sky, I realize that everything I'd feared about losing myself in a relationship was wrong.

Jason isn't someone who diminishes me or asks me to be less than I am.

He's someone who sees all of me, the ambitious professional, the woman who craves independence, the person who needs both love and purpose—and loves every part.

He didn't ask me to choose between my career and our relationship. He helped me build a life where I could have both.

"I love you, Jason," I tell him as we head inside to our cabin, our home, our shared life. "Accidentally and on purpose and forever."

"I love you too, Natalia. And I'm going to spend the rest of our lives proving that some accidents are actually destiny in disguise."

Forever and always, no matter how it started.