Page 87 of The CEO and the Mountain Man

We held each other tight, kissing and murmuring “I love you” till we were an incoherent mess.

Finally, after one last, messy kiss, I declared, “And as of next month, I’m gonna be a hell of a lot closer to you.”

“About that…” He grabbed my hips, anchoring me close.

“Yes?” My heart couldn’t take it. “Don’t leave me hanging.”

He tapped his chin, then winked.

“Snow Creek is expanding, bringing in more help. And—no pressure—but Jesse was wondering if I would be staying on the property for much longer.”

Be cool, be cool, be cool.As part of taking it slow, we hadn’t brought up living together since the hospital. But the thing Iwanted most in the hospital, to live with Beau and to be close to River and Miguel … that hadn’t changed.

I put my hand to my chest. “Are you officially asking to move in with me?”

“You did say you loved me.”

I narrowed my eyes at him, even though I couldn’t help the twitch of my lips. “You do understand that my love of spreadsheets also extends to the house cleaning plan.”

“You need a spreadsheet to clean your house?”

“Doesn’t everyone?” I asked, sticking my tongue out at him.

“I’ll have you know that I am an excellent roommate, and I pick up after myself, and I rarely leave dirty underwear on the floor.”

I rubbed my hands together, considering. “I don’t mind you leaving your dirty clothes on the floor as long as you don’t mind paying the price.”

“Really?” He twirled me out, then pulled me in close. “What’s the price?”

Oh, how he’d fallen right into my trap.

“I get to edge you for a solid hour, and if you complain even once, I’ll start all over again.”

Beau rubbed his chin, then held up a finger before stalking out of the bathroom. He was moving around in my room, picking up things and putting them down loudly. He returned with a pair of his tighty-whities hanging from his fingertips.

“Well, well, well,” I said, playing along. “What have we here?”

He held the underwear in front of my face, then let it drop to the floor.

“Oh no!” he said, perplexed. “Whatever will we do?”

I shrugged, unconcerned. “It’s only a punishable offense if you leave it there.”

“Look at the time.” He toed the underwear with his boot, sliding it into a corner. “We don’t want to be late for dinner.”

I let my mouth drop open. “You’re seriously going to leavethaton my bathroom floor?”

He nodded. “It’s a shame, but you know…” He tapped his watch. “Priorities.”

I pulled him in for a deep, searching kiss. “I love your priorities.”

Chapter 26

Beau

Christmas Day was sad, but not as heavy as I’d thought it might be. The four of us—me, Clark, River, and Miguel—went to visit Monica’s grave. River said a few words, both about the painful reality of living with her decisions, and how he’d found love and strengthened his relationship with his dad.

Clark stood by his son, and they both looked so much better, so much stronger than the pair that’d shown up at Snow Creek all those months ago.