Page 56 of Cooped Up for Christmas

When the staff started leaving, I nearly started crying. They took off in fits and starts, and with each departure, I felt a swell of genuine love for each and every one of them. We had developed such a bond. How had that happened so quickly?

I actually teared up when Wren and Olivia hugged me goodbye.

When Coop’s team left, Mungo took Mason, because Coop would be coming with me to LA for a week and Mason didn’t like to fly—not even in private planes.

I did another check on the house and staff lodge, making sure everything was ready for whatever came next at Mistletoe Lodge, then Coop and I grabbed our luggage and loaded my rental car. It was such a domestic thing to do, it sent a shiver through me. Was I really ready for this kind of domesticity? Was I really ready to settle with one man?

And then, I had to laugh, because it wasn’t settling. It wasn’t settling at all.

As we stood by the car and stared at the beautiful lodge, all noble and silent and bathed in a sprinkling of snow, he put his arms around me and held me, and I realized what this really was.

It was my fairy tale.

And it had come true.

Would we make it this time?

If I had to guess, I’d say, damn straight we would.

Damn fricking straight.

Epilogue

Two Weeks Later

Coop woke me up with a big sloppy kiss on Sunday morning. After a couple weeks at my place, I’d come up to visit him in Seattle. I loved his big comfy bed and flannel sheets. Mostly, I liked the way he warmed them.

I knew by now to expect him to wake up early and bring me coffee when he got tired of being alone, so the big sloppy kiss was kind of a surprise, but it was nice.

Except his breath. His breath was terrible.

I was about to tell him to go and brush, when, from the doorway, he bellowed, “Mason, stop that.”

I opened my eyes to see a gaping maw right before my eyes. Big teeth. Lolling tongue. Really bad breath.

Egads.

“Get off the bed.” Coop hauled the great beast to the floor and sat down beside me with my coffee. I took it and sipped. Moaned. It was good.

And then, once my brain kicked in, “I can’t believe your dog just French kissed me.”

He grinned. “At least he likes you.”

I sighed and studied the Rottie. “I think he misses Lola.”

“Maybe I should get a Chihuahua.”

I made a face. “Not if I’m going to live here!” During the past week I’d pitched my ideas for expanded staff training to the Grimm brothers, the owners of Eden Inc., and they’d loved the idea. Since the trainings could take place anywhere, I suggested we set up headquarters in Seattle. They’d agreed.

So, yeah. I was moving.

To Seattle.

And I had a new job!

Before this, the thought would have horrified me. Leaving my home? My job? My world? No way. I was, to be frank, in one hell of a rut. I hadn’t been unhappy, but I sure as hell hadn’t been happy. I’d been with someone, but always felt alone. I’d been marking time, and that’s no way to live a life.

But now I had a reason to make a change.