Page 141 of The Very Naughty List

“What’s wrong?” Nick’s brows pinch together.

“Once we decided to date for real, I was thinking I would stay in Chestnut Hill. But if I sign with Sky Talent, what if I end up having to travel for singing gigs or whatnot? What if they want me to move back to LA? Won’t that derail things between all of us? I don’t want to ruin what we have.”

Reid’s hand settles on my lower back, warm and soothing. “Nothing will come between us, shortcake. We’ll go wherever you are.” He catches my chin between his thumb and finger, tipping my head up to meet his gaze as he smiles softly. “After all, home is where the people you love are, not a physical place on a map.”

EPILOGUE

HAILEY

One Year Later

“Hey,Pippa, can you cover for me? I want to duck out a bit early.”

My sister peeks her head through the doors leading from the kitchen to the main room of the diner, raising an eyebrow at me. “How come? Do you have a hot date or something?” she teases before laughing. “Of course I will. Tell the guys I said hi.”

I thank her, then grab my bag to slip into the restroom to change.

I can’t believe it’s almost Christmas again. And I really can’t believe that it’s been almost a year since my life was turned upside down in the best way.

Over the past several months, I’ve been splitting my time between helping out at my family’s diner and pursuing my music career. The Griddle House has been recently expanded and is doing really well. I think it’s surpassed my parents’ expectations, and they both seem to have a bounce in their step these days that I love to see. Now that the Montgomerys’ threats are no longerhanging over our heads, we can focus on other things.Betterthings.

And just like the men promised, the development of my singing career hasn’t come between us at all. Fortunately, I’ve been able to remain based in Chestnut Hill, even though I travel for gigs sometimes. When I do, the guys come with me, and we make a whole fun trip out of it.

My heart races at the thought of the Cooper brothers as I lock the bathroom door and open my bag, pulling out the sexy lingerie that I bought the other day.

Moving quickly, I tug off my work clothes and slip into the lingerie set. Rather than putting my clothes back on over the skimpy, lacy items, I just wrap my coat around myself, then check the mirror to make sure that no one will be able to tell.

Fortunately, my coat is long enough that it ends just above my boots, so it’s almost impossible to tell that I’m not fully dressed beneath the outer layer.

My hands shake with excitement as I tie the belt on my coat, then I shove everything else into my bag and head out.

“Bye, Pippa!” I wave at my sister as I leave the diner, the bell over the door chiming.

Anticipation flutters in my stomach as I drive home. I’m still living with the Cooper brothers, and Bruno leaps up to give me an exuberant greeting as soon as he sees me, but other than that, the house is empty.

I frown, glancing around.

“Where’d they go, boy?” I ask as I rub Bruno’s head.

As my ever constant and faithful buddy, he pads over to the back door and snuffles loudly as he digs at the crack between the door and the floorboard.

Ah. The guys must be outside.

“Thanks, bud,” I tell him, giving him another pet as I glance out the window.

In the large open area behind their house, the guys have been working on building a music studio for me. It’s something so special and also so practical, and I adore them for putting all this effort into making it. It will allow me to rehearse and record music right here at home, and between all of their craftsmanship skills and ingenuity, it’s going to be decked out with everything that I need.

I head outside, and my boots sink into the snow as I pull my coat tighter around me. It’s cold out today, and I love the way it makes my bare skin feel against the inside of my warm coat. It feels as if every inch of me is alive.

As I walk toward the small building in the backyard, I can’t help grinning at the sight.

Reid took the lead in designing it, and they’ve all been putting in lots of hours to build it. Sebastian has been engineering all the sound system mechanics, and Nick has been running the electrical wiring and lighting—up to fire code, of course.

It’s all basically done.

I open the door to step inside, and all three of them look up when they see me come in. It looks like they were deep into working on something, but all it takes is one glance for me to have their full attention.

“You’re home early.” Nick smiles as he stands up.

---