Page 185 of The Lumberjack and the City Slicker

But with the shrewd assessment that earned him his reputation in the boardroom.

“Well, son, are you conning my daughter? Planning to get to her assets? Her money?” he asks bluntly.

Greyson doesn’t flinch.

“No, sir,” he says evenly. “I’m in love with her. And the only thing I’m planning is to ask her to marry me as soon as this show is over.”

The simplicity of it steals the air from my lungs.

My father studies him for a long moment.

Then he looks at me.

“Clara,” he says carefully, “are you in love with him? Do you want to marry him?”

That’s two questions.

And I only have one answer.

My throat tightens.

“Yes,” I say honestly. “I love him. And when he asks, I’m going to marry him, Daddy.”

“You mean that, Trouble?” Greyson asks me this time, his dark eyes glittering with hope and something more.

“Yes, I mean it. I choose you.”

His eyes go molten.

My mother’s face softens.

“Oh, Clara, really? You love him?” she asks gently.

“Yes, Mom, I love him.”

Geoffrey scoffs. “She’s funding his entire operation. You don’t even know who he is?—”

“I know exactly who he is and I love him more every minute,” I reply.

But before Geoffrey can keep digging his own grave, Greyson steps forward and introduces himself properly to my parents.

“Sorry, the name is Greyson Cole, and I am happy to send you whatever information you need for a background check, but first, I need to take care of this,” he says.

And then the punch happens.

Fast.

Clean.

Shocking, but deserved.

Gasps ripple.

Security appears. Quiet, unobtrusive.

Geoffrey is escorted out still mumbling about misunderstandings and reputations and how this isn’t over.

And then—it’s just us.