Page 16 of Untamed Mountain Man

“You were second runner-up,” he said.

I looked at it that I’d come in third, but when he said it like that, it sounded a little better. Still, the more I thought about it, the less it made sense that winning would have givenme anything more than fifty-thousand dollars and some expert advice. I surely could figure out a way to do that on my own.

“Maybe you could talk the woman who won into putting her winnings into the business and get a loan for the rest,” he said.

I thought about it. The woman who won hadn’t really been hanging out with us that first day, but I wasn’t with everyone last night. That meant I was way out of the loop.

“It’s worth a try,” I said. “I’m definitely going to see if I can get some roomies out of the deal.”

“Roomies?” he asked.

I took a long sip from my soda as I thought through how to explain it to him. Finally, I returned my drink to the cup holder, took a deep breath, and blurted it out.

“I’m moving here. I’ve already decided. I figured some of the girls and I could get a rental. I know there’s not much up in the mountains, and we couldn’t afford it even if there was, but maybe an apartment in Adairsville.”

He nodded. “There’s plenty of those. That would be great. Of course, you could move in with me, but I’m sure you want to date me first.”

I laughed. “I want to date you, definitely, and I’d move in with you in a heartbeat, but maybe it’s best we at least get to know each other first. You know, date for a week or two.”

“Or a day or two,” he said.

It would be slightly longer, just for formality’s sake, but I didn’t need to date him to know he was the one for me. I just knew it, deep in my heart.

“I’ll finish those tacos and show you where all the good stuff is,” he said.

“The good stuff’s right here.” I gestured toward the driver’s seat. “I can’t believe you took the polar plunge with me.”

“I’d take any plunge you want,” he said. “But next time, could we maybe wait until the weather gets a little warmer to go skinny dipping?”

“You’ve got a deal. No more polar plunges for me. If I want to jumpstart my system, I’ll just take a cold shower.”

“Or maybe have a cup of coffee,” he said. “That does it for me.”

Yeah, a warm cup of coffee beat an ice-cold body of water any day, and I definitely wasn’t into cold showers. But this guy got me, and that was what made this a forever deal.

As I crumpled up the wrapper on my final taco, Beau started the car. But before he shifted it into gear, he leaned over and gave me a sweet kiss—one that promised many more to come.

I already knew moving to Seduction Summit would be the best decision I’d ever make.

EPILOGUE

BEAU

“This feels illegal,” Macy said as we stood on the banks of the pond just a few miles from our house.

I shrugged. “I won’t tell if you won’t.”

It had been five years since our polar plunge down in Adairsville. Five perfect years.

Well, five years and three months, to be exact. On our five-year dating anniversary, we decided that on our wedding anniversary, which was today, we’d skinny dip again.

She couldn’t chicken out now, and she knew it. We’d gotten an entire kid-free weekend, thanks to my parents watching our three-year-old daughter, Angel, and our one-year-old son, Max. It was our first night without the kids since soon after Angel was born, and we’d just polished off a couple of Shack Stack burgers on the front seat of Macy’s SUV. Now we stood, fully clothed, staring out over the water.

“Don’t overthink it,” I said, grabbing my T-shirt and pulling it up over my head. “This’ll be much easier than the first time.”

She laughed. “That’s not saying much. The first time was great, but very, very uncomfortable.”

“Exactly. And it was more likely we would’ve been arrested that time. We were in Adairsville, after all.”

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