Page 13 of Her Silver Fox Mountain Men

“Yes, thank you. Gosh, I can never repay you guys enough.”

“There’s nothing to repay anybody for,” I say. “We’re just being neighborly. Maybe building something more in the meantime, you never know.”

And just like that the seed is planted. Elise looks at each of us with a shimmer of excitement in her soft blue eyes. She nods slowly, then gets up and rinses the mug in the sink before giving us one last smile. “I’ll see you all later, then.”

“Bye, Elise!” Tricia calls out.

“Don’t forget we’re painting later!” Ainsley reminds her with a broad grin before she’s sucked back into the videos.

“You won’t let me forget,” Elise laughs as she walks out the door. A moment later, she’s gone.

The girls are done eating and almost ready for kindergarten. It’s my turn to drive them. Roman looks through his emails while James gets to work on his own plate, occasionally stealing a glance at his daughters.

“Are we going to address the elephant in the room?” I ask, smirking as I finish my breakfast. “Or are we going to pretend that there’s nothing going on here?”

“Do you mean Elise?” James asks tentatively.

“Obviously.”

“We like her,” Ainsley says.

“Why don’t you two go and brush your teeth?” I suggest. “You’re done eating anyway.”

Tricia shoots me a cool grin. “We ate all the strawberries, too.”

“You’re not getting an award for that,” Roman replies.

Tricia rolls her eyes dramatically. “Fine. Come on, Ains.”

“But the video…”

“We can watch it later.”

“Elise and I had a moment.” James sighs deeply once the girls have gone upstairs and he’s certain they are out of earshot. “I don’t know where it will lead, though.”

“Somewhere good,” I say. “It’s just a feeling I have.”

“Or it’s the hope that we get our wish granted,” he counters. “I’m honestly surprised, given what happened with Shauna.”

“Elise is different.”

“She’s not indifferent to us, that much is obvious,” Roman cuts in, setting his phone aside. “That’s rare.”

James gives him a curious look. “So it’s not just my impression.”

“No, I see it, too,” I tell him.

The fleeting glances. The lustful expression on her face, her lips parting ever so slowly whenever any of us get just a little too close. The way in which her voice softens when she speaks to us. The twirling of fingers in her long, honey-colored hair. And the fact that she’s already had first contact with James only serves to reinforce my suspicions.

“I don’t think it’ll be a Shauna do-over, though,” I say. “That woman’s a mess. Way too fixated on you, James.”

“Through no fault of my own,” he defends.

“We know that,” Roman chuckles. “Let this be the least of our trouble.”

James gives him a long look. “Don’t you miss some excitement in your life? You loved the Ranger era if I remember correctly. Dodging bullets, fighting the enemy, stepping carefully across a minefield… you once said that was a favorable time in your life.”

“Yeah, in apreviouslife. I’m looking for peace and quiet now,” Roman admits, a smile testing his lips. “Elise might work out. We’re not going to know until we try.”

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