Page 12 of Summer with the Mountain Man (Mountain Man Summer #16)

Luca

I drop the Vegemite on toast onto a plate, grab some strawberries from where they’re rinsing in a colander, and make my way from the kitchen to the room at the back of the house.

Indy, the largest mutt the rescue shelter had, pads along beside me, tail wagging.

On the way, I toss a look at the large bioactive vivarium in the living room.

Empty. Riley must have Irwin with her.

“Snacks,” I announce, stepping into the study that looks more like a high-tech computer lab.

As soon as the Australian government approved Riley’s work visa, she landed a job.

It turns out my girl is phenomenal at what she does.

And what she does allows her to work from home. Which is also phenomenal.

Swiveling her chair, Riley grins up at me. “Just in time,” she says, reaching up to give Irwin—perched across the length of her shoulders—a scratch under his scaly neck. “Someone was getting hungry.”

“Someone, eh?” I cock an eyebrow at the water dragon. Not the one from Whitmores’ place, it’s illegal to make a wild animal a pet, but one Riley picked as a baby to celebrate her visa.

Now eighteen months old, Irwin rules the house. Well, as much as a lizard can. I wonder how is he going to handle the changes coming in six months.

Placing the plate in front of Riley, I bend down and brush a kiss over her rosy lips, brushing my hand over the swell of her belly. “I love you,” I say, not for the first time today. I’ve told her every day since I met her. And I still can’t tell her enough.

She smiles into my words, tangles one hand in my hair, and kisses me back. “I love you too.” Shifting on her seat, she plucks a strawberry from the plate, takes a bite, and then offers the rest to Irwin. Who regards it with utter disdain before biting it from her fingers.

“So,” I say, perching my butt on the edge of her desk and crossing my ankles. “We’ve got the house in the mountains, we’ve got the babies on the way—” twins “—we’ve got the best pets in the world—thank you, Indy and Irwin. What do you think we should do next?”

Smiling up at me, Riley shrugs. “I don’t know. Fly to Mars?”

I grin. “Or we could do this?” I say and lean over to remove one of the triangles of Vegemite toast I know she will never eat or touch.

On the plate sits a two-carat solitary diamond engagement ring.

Riley grows still. Stares at it. Stares at me. Stares at it again.

“What do you reckon?” I ask, sinking down onto one knee beside her. Indy sits beside me, tail thumping against my ankle. “Will you marry me, Riley Diaz?”

Teeth catching her bottom lip, she picks the ring up, looks back at me, and slips it onto her left ring finger, Irwin watching the whole time. “Absolute?—”

I kiss her.

Because that’s how you start the next new stage of your life.

Without fear.

Thanks for reading Summer with the Mountain Man .