Page 21 of Lumberjack DADDY
“Emery?”
“Yes?”
“I love you.”
His words catch me off guard. They surprise me. And yet, at the same time, they don’t. Probably because it’s a thought that’s been echoing around my own heart. I smile and bite my bottom lip as I intertwine my fingers with his.
“And I love you too,” I say and truly mean it.
EPILOGUE
ELI
One Year Later
Inail down the last of the shingles and look around at my handiwork.
“Perfect,” I say and nod to myself.
I climb down from the roof and am just moving the ladder around to the front when Emery pulls in, a trailer attached to the back end of her car. My heart stutters at the sight of her as she gets out. The sunlight slanting down through the trees glints off her auburn hair, setting it ablaze while it warms her pale, creamy skin, making it glow. She’s breathtaking. Ethereal.
Over the past year, we’ve grown closer—which is a feat given how much time we’ve spent apart. She did eventually have to go back to the city. She had to finish her classes, settle her affairs, and get herself organized. We had been taking turns with her coming here and me going there for a few months before we decided we couldn’t bear to be apart. So, we decided that whenshe finished school, we would live together. And much to my surprise, Emery wanted to come here.
She told me that she had never felt the sort of peace in her heart that she’d felt over the weeks she stayed here with me. She said she’d grown to love being out amongst nature and that it had rekindled the fire inside of her for her art. She said she had never felt more inspired than when she was out walking among the trees. And she really worked on and refined her craft. I’m not an art critic, but the shots she captured were breathtaking.
And I’m not the only one to think so. At the encouragement of one of her professors, she set up a small online store selling her prints, and she quickly became sought after. Galleries were contacting her, offering her showcases of her own, which only heightened her profile even more. The success she was having overwhelmed her, which was another reason Emery wanted to come here—the tranquility recharged her and gave her time and space to breathe.
Knowing she was coming here, I immediately began building onto my cabin. It was fine when it was just me, but knowing Emery would be living with me, I knew we needed space. So, I added on and made it a home rather than just a cabin in the woods built for a misanthrope. Because of Emery, I no longer feel like that guy. In ways I can’t even begin to explain, she resurrected parts of me I thought were long dead. In ways I never thought possible, she’s made me happy.
She’s given me her input on the house and what she’d like, and I’ve done my best to accommodate it all. I think we have a really nice home now. Three bedrooms, an expanded kitchen, a great room, a loft, and room to expand even more if we want to. And over the last few months, she’s been slowly moving her things uphere, bringing a load every time she comes up. The house in the woods has slowly become a home. Our home.
But there’s one project I built in secret, with no input from her. It’s a surprise gift, and honestly, I can’t wait to see her face.
“Hey,” I say. “How was the drive up?”
“Long,” she replies. “But this is it. This is the last of my things.”
“Why don’t you go relax, and I’ll get it unloaded?”
“I can help.”
I give her a quick kiss and pull her into a warm embrace. “Go relax. Open a bottle of wine,” I tell her. “I’ll move these things in.”
“Are you sure?”
“More than sure.”
“Thank you,” she says.
I kiss her again, then swat her backside. “You’re welcome.”
When she goes inside, I go to the trailer, open it up, and start hauling everything inside. Most of the boxes are light, and it doesn’t take me long to finish. When I have the last of the boxes stacked inside the cabin, I close the trailer and lock it up, then walk back inside and find that she’s already poured me a glass of wine and is sitting on the sofa waiting for me.
Emery gets to her feet and comes over, giving me a long, slow kiss. It’s been a couple of weeks since I felt her lips on mine, and it sends a white-hot tendril of desire coursing through me. My cock thickens, and I gaze at her soft, nubile body, trembling withneed. Part of me wants to take her to the bedroom and have my way with her right now.
I sigh and take a step back. “Before we do that, there’s something I want to show you.”
“What is it?”
