Page 13 of Cursed Mountain Man

But I knew that had everything to do with him. Nobody else could bring that out in me.

As I was coming down, he began moving faster. And I knew that meant he’d let himself go.

Sure enough, within seconds, he was releasing that series of grunts and groans that told me he was coming. When the last of his seed was spent, he didn’t pull out immediately. Instead, he drew me close to him, leaning over in what had to be an uncomfortable position. But he didn’t seem to mind. After a minute or so, he pulled back a little, pressed a kiss against my forehead, and straightened as if to get dressed.

“How about another hand of Hold ’em?” he asked.

I smiled and shook my head. “How about I make us ice cream sundaes instead?”

I knew that would get him away from his game. Josiah never turned down a good dessert. His sweet tooth was his weakness—well, that and the sight of me naked.

“You’ve got a deal,” he said. “I’ll fire up the TV and find a good movie. You grab the dessert.”

I threw on my T-shirt and panties and headed to the kitchen. I couldn’t stop a smile from spreading over my face. These nights with Josiah were the best of my life. I could hardly believe it, but it seemed like every day with him was getting better.

As I headed over to the sofa, a bowl full of ice cream and toppings in each hand, I stared at him. Yes—I had definitely found my home. And it had been only a few miles away from me all along.

EPILOGUE

VIOLET

“Do you think they’ll be surprised?” Rachel asked as we pulled into the dirt-covered parking area next to the lot our husbands’ logging crew was clearing away for the new apartments.

Locals were freaking out over all the development around here, but there’d long been a shortage of places for the young workers to live. The city was growing, and the one-bedroom cottages near the downtown shopping center held only twelve residents. Although the turnover was huge, that was no longer sufficient for the many people moving to this town to work.

I smiled. “Definitely.”

Of course, as I said that, I was staring at our group of guys. This particular crew was made up of all our husbands—Josiah, Carter, Quinn, Hunter, Memphis, and Dane. One by one, they turned to look up at my SUV as it pulled into the lot.

My gaze immediately found Josiah’s. He was just as handsome as the day I first saw him, when he walked into my real estate office ready for a fight.

“Pop the trunk, and I’ll get the food,” Ana said, opening the passenger door and hopping out of the SUV before it had rolled to a complete stop.

I shifted the vehicle into park, then popped the trunk. Before exiting, I glanced in the rearview mirror and saw Rachel, Joely, Mallorie, and Cassady. They filled the two back rows of my SUV. Normally, my kids would be back there, but this was a special occasion. This was a celebration.

I got out of the SUV and went to the back to help Ana. By the time we had our hands full of to-go bags, the rest of our friends were around the back of the vehicle. They grabbed the cooler full of drinks and bags of picnic supplies.

“Can you take a break?” I called out as we neared the group of men.

They were already putting down their tools and walking toward us. Since they’d been standing in a circle when we pulled in, I had a feeling they were already on a break of sorts.

“What’s all this for?” Dane asked, stepping forward to take the cooler from his wife, Cassady.

“We’re celebrating,” Joely said. “Our brokerage just won an award.”

I smiled at my husband. “Top sales in the Southeast.”

He smiled back. “I knew you could do it.”

“We all did,” Hunter said. “The six of you can’t be stopped.”

We’d started our own real estate brokerage eight years ago. We were all in the process of starting families—some with kids, some pregnant, some trying. At the time, Josiah and I had just found out we were expecting. We now had three kids—Oliver was seven, and our twins, Scarlett and Stella, were four. Running our own business put us in control of the hours we worked. It also made it easier for us to pitch in and help each other out when we needed it, whether it was handling a last-minute showing or having a playdate so one of us could hold an open house.

“We picked up sandwiches from the deli near the shopping center,” Cassady said as Ana and I spread out an extremely large blanket for all of us to sit on.

The goal had been to make a big circle, but as we all crowded onto it, it became clear that wasn’t going to be feasible. It was more like a long rectangle, and some of the men were sitting on the grass to give the women the blanket.

Luckily, Josiah and I got to sit next to each other. We didn’t spend nearly enough time together these days, with both of us working and the kids keeping our schedules so busy.

---