Page 18 of My Wild Mountain Man (Summer in the Pines #15)

Raven

Bash walked me to my door and took the keys from my hands. His body caged me against the doorway of my apartment, and my hands moved up to his chest, holding on to the soft thermal material of the blue, long-sleeved henley he wore.

We had been together for a little over four months, and there hadn’t been a day we’d spent apart.

We’d just come home from Thanksgiving dinner at my parents’ house.

Who, surprisingly enough, unlike my brother, had taken a moment to adjust to the idea of their youngest child dating their son’s older best friend.

Not that they hadn’t come around.

They’d known Bash for years and knew what kind of man her was.

When they saw how he treated me, how his number one priority was me, they’d fallen in love with him in a whole other way just like they had with my sisters’ guys.

Even tonight, my dad and Bash had been thick as thieves outside, deep frying a turkey with Onyx.

“You okay?” he asked, and I nodded.

“Yeah,” I whispered. “You wanna come in?” I asked, giving him a little wink.

“I always wanna go in,” he growled. His lips touched the shell of my ear. “But I think we need to talk first.” He pulled back, taking me slightly off guard.

“Talk?” I smiled, but when he didn’t, it died on my face.

“Uh-oh.” I tried to keep my tone light as worry crept up my neck, “Sounds serious. What’s up?

” I noticed how he not only pulled away, but he shoved his hands into the front pockets of his cargo pants.

“Bash?” I called out. My voice trembled.

When we were together, there was never a moment he wasn’t touching me in one way or another.

“I wanted to do this a whole other way,” he blurted, and I frowned, my brows narrowed.

“A whole other way?” I repeated quietly, my mind spinning with what he could possibly be talking about.

“I love you, Raven. You know how much I love you.” I didn’t say a word because I was so scared he was about to say something like I love you but…

“The last four months, hands down, have been the best four months of my life, pretty girl. Today, I just… I feel so fucking grateful for you.”

“Grateful,” I repeated. “Okay,” I said slowly, not sure where this conversation was going. His hand slipped out of his pocket, my keys in hand before he moved to unlock the door.

“Go in.”

“Bash, you just said we need to talk—“ I turned, and when the lights inside my apartment caught my attention, I froze.

My brain couldn’t catch up with the scene in front of me.

My apartment was still dark, but what looked like a million warm twinkle lights lit the living room beautifully. Pink and red rose petals littered the floor. My hand moved to cover my mouth as I slowly walked into the space.

“Bash…” I turned around, and tears hit my eyes. He was down on one knee, holding a ring box in his hands. “Ohmygod!” I blurted. His hand reached for mine, and I looked at him.

“I love you. I’m so grateful for you. Every day you’ve given me feels like a blessing.

I don’t want another day to go by when you don’t know exactly where I want this to go.

I want you to marry me. I want us to be our own family.

Whether we have kids or not. You’re young and you have a career you want?—“

“Yes!” I blurted, cutting him off mid spiel. “Yes!” I jumped. “I want everything with you.” My voice trembled as I fell to my own knees. He held both my hands.

“Yes?” he asked, as if needing me to confirm.

“Yes,” I answered confidently. It was the easiest question I had ever been asked to answer.

The last four months had been amazing. Both of us learning what we liked and what we didn’t. Turned out he had nothing to worry about because I liked almost everything he was into.

And we’d tried a lot.

Lucky for me, my mountain man was creative.

“Fuck.” He slipped the ring on my finger, and I laughed. Suddenly, we were both standing up, and then I was being carried through my place, straight to my bedroom.

“We didn’t close the front door.” I giggled.

“I don’t fucking care,” he growled. My laughter rang around us. I knew that tone. It was possessive and dominating, and I knew he was in a mood to play.

And play we did.

All weekend long.

It wasn’t until Sunday that I called my family to share the news they already knew. It turned out that when my dad and Bash had been talking, he’d asked for my dad’s blessing. My dad, having five daughters and a wife who liked to talk, knew there was no way he could hold on to that kind of secret.

That’s when my sister Scarlet and her guy snuck out, allegedly to go for ice, but in reality had headed to help set up the surprise in my living room.

My wild mountain man said I’d tamed him, but I didn’t agree with him. I felt like he showed me that with him by my side, I could be wild and free while still being myself.

Ready for Olive’s story with sexy Sheriff Luke?

Sheriff’s Dirty Secret is coming October 2nd!