And we move.
The mountain air outside is crisp and clean, scented with pine and earth and distant woodsmoke.The sky over Woodhaven is that soft late-afternoon blue that always makes the ridgeline look painted on.
As we drive up the winding road toward his house, I watch the trees blur past and feel something settle deep in my chest.
This land.These mountains.The mill.
They are mine as much as they’ve ever been.
Mike didn’t take them.
He couldn’t.
J.T.doesn’t even try.He respects them—andme—too much for that.But he protects what matters to me.
And in doing that, he gave me back something I didn’t even realize I’d lost.
Peace.
So, when we pull into his driveway, he doesn’t hesitate.He rounds the truck, opens my door, and lifts me up like I weigh nothing.
J.T.just tosses me over his shoulder with easy strength, one big hand clamped between my legs as he moves with surety.
“J.T.!”I gasp, half laughing, half breathless.
He grunts and his hand slides higher up my thighs until they’re skimming my core, steady and sure.
“Almost there, Honey,” he rumbles.
The house rises ahead of us—glass and iron and timber blending into the mountain like it belongs there.
And maybe I do, too.Maybe I belong to this mountain, this home, this man—at least, I really fucking hope I do.
J.T.reaches for the door pad to punch in his security code and I jiggle a little on his shoulder.
“Ooh!”
“I got you.Just hold on to me,” he says.
And I do.I wrap my arms around him without hesitation.
And this time, I don’t feel like I’m being carried away from my life.
I feel like I’m being carried deeper into it.
Chapter32
J.T
I’m overwhelmed.
But it’s not a bad thing.
Thing is, it doesn’t happen very often.Not to me.
I’ve spent most of my life being the man who walks into a room and takes control of it.Business deals, construction sites, negotiations with men who think they can out muscle or out talk me—none of that rattles me.
But right now?
