Page 22 of Kept By The Mountain Man

“You are,” she admits softly. “You always were. I just… I didn’t think that you saw me that way.”

“It would be impossible for me not to see you that way.”

She smiles, her cheeks turning bright pink, and something in me settles.

“I love you, Evie. I always have.”

“I love you too,” she says, and in the next instant, I’m on her.

I close the distance between us, wrapping one arm around her waist and pulling her tight against me. The kiss is slow at first, hesitant even. Her lips are soft beneath mine, a contrast to the tension that had been filling the air just moments before. But then, as her hands slide up my chest and around my neck, everything changes.

I deepen the kiss, pouring every ounce of frustration, fear, and love I’ve been holding inside into it. Evie responds immediately, her body molding to mine, her fingers curling into the hair at the nape of my neck as if she’s afraid to let me go.

I press her back against the door, my hands moving down to grip her hips. I want her closer; I need her closer. Her breath hitches against my lips, and that small sound undoes me. I kiss her harder, with more urgency, as if I’m trying to make up for all the time we wasted pretending this wasn’t real.

Her hands tug at my shirt, her fingers slipping beneath the fabric, and the heat of her touch against my skin makes my heart race. I groan into her mouth, my hands sliding up to cup her face, framing it as I pull back slightly, just enough to look at her. Her eyes are dark, her lips swollen from the kiss, and there’s something so raw, so real in her gaze that I can barely breathe.

“I’ve got you,” I whisper against her lips. “I’ll always have you.”

Evie smiles softly, her lips brushing mine again, and in that moment, it feels like everything in the world has fallen into place.

“I’m still not moving in with you,” she whispers, and I nip at her bottom lip.

“I’ll change your mind,” I tell her, and she laughs.

“I’m sure that you will,” she says as her arms wrap around my neck.

“Shut up!” the neighbors next door scream, banging on the wall again, and I growl, tearing myself away from Evie long enough to glare at the wall.

“You need to move,” I tell her, and she laughs breathlessly.

“I know. I am. I’m going back to Wolf Valley… or I was. I…”

“I’ll move with you. I’m not tied to this place. Just to you. I’ll follow you wherever you want to go.”

She smiles up at me, and I kiss her again. This time the kiss is softer, slower, and full of promises and certainty.

“Well, right now, I want to go back to your place,” she whispers against my lips, and I grin.

“Let’s go.”

She laughs as I grab her hand and drag her after me, leading her out of her terrible apartment and back to where she belongs.

In our bed.

ELEVEN

Evie

Five Years Later…

“We got another new client,”I tell my husband, leaning against the doorframe of his office. “At this rate, we’re going to need to hire some more help around here.”

Hendrix grunts, finishing his typing before shutting the laptop with a click. He stands, stretching out his back, and makes his way toward me. Even after all this time, the sight of him moving toward me still sends a warm thrill through my body, the same kind I felt the first time we kissed.

“We can probably just stop taking on new clients. We’ve got enough,” he says, matter-of-fact as always.

I smile up at him, knowing he’s right. We’ve built something incredible together—a business that started with just us but has grown into something bigger than either of us expected. It’s more than enough—enough work, enough money, enough love. More than enough of everything, really.

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