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Damn, that was fun. And this time it wasn’t even my fault… I just put my hair in pigtails, grabbed that lollipop, and—
“OMG, you’re still thinking about it!” Isabelle whisper-shouted. “Sage Meridian, seriously…” She glanced over to make sure Mary Sue was still occupied at the stove, then leaned in closer, eyes sparkling. “So… was it good? I want details.”
Sage looked around nervously, cheeks burning. “Okay, well, Cal had just finished his morning workout and I surprised him by wearing just my fishnet stockings he loves and these Hello Kitty—”
Isabelle’s eyes went huge. She quickly cut her off, voice suddenly loud and bright as Mary Sue walked past with a wooden spoon. “Ooooookay, next — flowers! Hallie wants all wildflowers from the ridge, but I think we need structure. Maybe peonies as the anchor and then—”
Nice save, sis, Sage thought, biting her lip to keep from laughing out loud.
The back door banged open.
Cal stepped in with an armload of freshly split logs, snow melting in his dark beard and dusting his bare shoulders. Sage forgot every word Isabelle had just said.
He’d been out there for over an hour. Shirt off — because of course it was, even in the biting cold — bunched in one fist along with his coat. His powerful chest and shoulders were still faintly steaming in the warm kitchen air, muscles shifting under sweat-slick skin. Damp hair clung to his temples. A smear of pine sap streaked one thick forearm.
He looked at her.
That slow, crooked, grin spread across his face — the one she hadn’t seen until two months ago and now got most days.
“Princess.”
“Husband.”
Isabelle made a strangled noise. “I can’t even with you two.”
Cal crossed the kitchen, dropped the logs into the woodbin with a heavy thud, and leaned down to press a lingering kiss to the top of Sage’s head. He smelled like cold mountain air, fresh pine, clean sweat, and him. Sage closed her eyes for one second and let it sink straight into her bones.
“You want lunch, sweetheart?” Mary Sue asked over her shoulder.
“In a bit, Mama. Gonna finish the cord first. Brutus is supervising.”
“Is he?”
“Well…” Cal said as he looked outside at the grizzly, “... he’s eating snow and chasing the chickens”
“Mmm-hmm.”
Cal kissed the top of Sage’s head again because apparently he was physically incapable of walking past her without doing it now, and ducked back out into the white. The door banged shut behind him.
Isabelle stared after him for a long beat, then turned slowly to Sage, eyes wide.
“Sage.”
“Yeah.”
“Are you serious?”
“About what.”
“That.” Isabelle jabbed her pen toward the back door. “That cannot be legal. That should be a federal crime. Are you telling me he just… does that? Out there? Shirtless? With the — with the forearms? And the steam? And the shoulders?”
Sage took a slow, smug sip of her coffee, letting the warmth bloom low in her belly at the memory of exactly what those shoulders could do. “Yeah. I know.”
“Sage.”
“I know.”
“You’re insufferable.”
