Not yet.
Not until she agrees.
Kelly lifts her wineglass, fingers steady even if I can see the tension in her shoulders.
She takes a slow sip, buying herself time.Then she turns those crystalline cobalt eyes on me.
“I—I need to think about it, J.T.”
The words don’t surprise me.
They steady me.
I dip my chin once.This is good.It makes sense.And it is just so Kelly.
And I agree because I want her to think about this.About me.My offer.
I need her to think about this very seriously because this isn’t some casual arrangement she can back out of when it gets inconvenient.
Once she says yes to being mine—and she will say yes—there’s no turning back.
Not for me.And not for my little Sawmill Jill.
I’ve already crossed that line in my head a hundred times over.Once I set my sights on something, that’s it.Done.Finished.
The world can argue all it wants, but it doesn’t change the outcome.
Kelly McCrae is mine.
Jesus Christ, the first time I really noticed her flashes through my mind clear as a bell.
She came striding into the mill office like a little bolt of sunlight—tight jeans, worn boots, some faded T-shirt with sawdust on the hem, her blonde hair yanked back in a ponytail that swung when she walked.
Bright as a new damn penny.
And if that wasn’t enough to get my attention, she walked right into the middle of a heated argument between me and her old man like she owned the place.
Which, to be fair, she kinda did.
I remember standing there with my fists braced on the desk while her father and I went at it about a timber contract.Voices raised.Tempers flaring.
The whole damn sawmill probably heard us.
Then she just appeared.
Didn’t storm in.
Didn’t yell.
She walked in carrying two coffees and a paper bag like she was strolling through a Sunday market.
Those hips of hers swaying just enough to make a grown man forget what he was mad about.
“I believe you gentlemen might be able to take it down a decibel or two if you caffeinate,”she said, setting the cups down between us like she was settling a bar fight.
Then she pulled a couple of fresh rolls out of the bag and slid them across the desk.
“Here’s some breakfast,”she added sweetly.“Now eat something and talk like civilized people.”
