Page 21 of Once Upon a Frosty Winter

“Of course.”

“Fair enough. Anything else?”

“And the name for the resort will be Once Upon a Frosty Winter.”

Jax’s eyebrows pull together, and there’s a long pause. Finally, he nods. “I like it. I really do. There’s just one more thing.”

“What?”

He walks over to the switch that controls the sound system. “I want to dance with my futurebusinesspartner and whatever you’ll let me be in your personal life.”

Under the stars, with lights glittering all around us, we dance.

Epilogue

One Year Later….

Frost

The no-commitment plan didn’t last. We gave it our best try, but every time we were in a room together…

Actually, a few times even over video calls, we…

The point is, fate had other plans for us. Even though I swore I wasn’t a marrying man, tonight I’m going to see if Hilda is a marrying woman.

We left the annual masquerade ball at the Glass Slipper to come back to her beloved apple orchard, exactly as we did a year ago when we agreed to be business partners. Snow flurries are dancing along with us. Low Christmas music plays over the sound system as twinkling lights illuminate our makeshift dance floor. I can’t wipe the stupid smile off my face.

“What are you grinning like a fool about?” Hilda asks.

“I’m going to marry you tonight.”

She jerks to stop. “Tonight? What… marriage? Tonight?”

“Did I manage to stun you?”

Hilda raises her chin and scoffs. “Stop with your silly games. We’ve had a successful year, and I’m trying to celebrate.”

“Successful businesswise or in orgasms?”

“We managed not to kill each other, so I’d say that’s successful.”

“Eh, depends on how you look at it.”

“True. But I only thought about poisoning you every other month.”

I swing her around and dip her. Looking into those emerald eyes, I say, “Marry me tonight.”

“Why would I? And why tonight?” she asks when I lift her back up.

“Because I’d be a moron not to marry you as soon as possible. You’re the most intelligent, cunning, and beautiful woman I’ve ever known.”

“All excellent points.”

“You’re the only person I can see myself spending the rest of my life with.”

“Obviously you’re getting the better end of this deal.”

“I’ll spend the rest of my life making it worth your while.”

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