Page 21 of Tempted By the Mountain man

“The words you spoke didn’t matter.” I reach for her elbows, and her arms fall immediately. “You could’ve told me you went to school on Mars, and all I would’ve heard was how much I needed to meet you.”

“How? How could you know?”

I shrug. “I can’t explain it, Jade. But one thing I learned in the military was how to trust my gut. And my gut said you were The One. I didn’t question it. Not once. I knew I loved you before I stepped out of the truck your first night in town.”

“You love me?”

“Isn’t that obvious? Natasha said it was.”

“She would say that,” Jade says, laughing.

“I don’t want you to stay if you think you won’t be happy here. But if this past week has shown you anything, I hope it’s that you belong here. Not just with me—but in Wildwood. There’s a teaching position open. High school⁠—”

“—history teacher. Yep, already applied.”

“What?”

“I was trying to figure out how to tell you I lied. I’m sorry, by the way. I had a bad experience back in Indiana, and this whole discovery sort of triggered me. It wasn’t fair that I blew up on you. I needed some time to separate what happened then from what happened here.”

“No, what’s not fair is that bastard got away with assaulting you.”

She looks away, but I cup her cheek and tilt her chin up until she looks at me. “If I have anything to say about that, he’ll be canned before the Homecoming game.”

Such gratitude sparkles in her eyes. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“I will do everything in my power to protect the woman I love. And make no mistake, Jade Sweeny. I love you fully and completely.”

“You know what?” she says, her watery eyes sparkling.

“What?”

“I love you too.”

I scoop her into my arms and kiss her until we’re both lacking oxygen and Marty starts barking enthusiastically.

“Right, Marty loves you too. But I think you knew that already.” I kiss her again as the front door opens. Natasha and Josh burst into my living room.

“Oh good. We’re staying, right?” Natasha asks. “Because I have three more books to write in this series. So please tell me we’re staying?”

“Yes,” Jade says, refusing to tear her gaze from mine. “We’re staying.”

“You can all consider your plane tickets canceled,” I say. “I’m not letting this woman out of my sight.”

EPILOGUE

JADE

About one year later…

I head up the driveway to the cabin perched on top of the steepest hill in Wildwood, Oregon, still amazed that this is my life. Marty stands on the front porch, two seconds shy of losing his mind. The second I push open the driver’s side door, he’ll be running circles around my legs.

Natasha waves from the patio beside the guest cabin. The temporary stay she and Josh planned got extended once, then twice. By the third time, River hooked up a trailer to his truck and headed back to Indiana to officially move my bestie and her hubby to Wildwood, too.

Even Grandma Charlotte moved to town, though she much prefers a condo that overlooks the cutest little downtown in existence. This weekend, we’ll go antique shopping at thrift stores and estate sales together. Turns out, I have a knack for it. It’s been a fun side gig. But despite her insistence that I do it full time, I just can’t give up teaching.

Though I miss my students back in Indiana, I found equally great ones right here in Wildwood.

Funny enough, less than a month after I decided to stay in Oregon, Skeezy Seymour was arrested on multiple charges involving not only teachers, but students. His now ex-wife refused to bail him out, so he’s been sitting behind bars awaiting trial. They also offered me my old job back, but it was too late.