Page 129 of The Outpost (Jamison Valley 4)

“Yeah, you will.” She was still pretending to be mad but I could feel her shiver when I kissed her again.

“Do you still love me even though I look different?”

She huffed. “You know I do.”

“Do you still think I’m sexy?” I slid my fingers into the waistband of her jeans and fingered her pussy.

“Obviously,” she panted as I rubbed her wetness up to her clit.

My fingers kept working and she started to melt in my arms. “I’ll make you a deal, Shortcake. I’ll promise to let you dictate the length of my hair in exchange for a new puppy.”

“You jerk!” She laughed, yanking my hand out of her pants and spinning around to playfully smack me on the bare chest. “This was your plan all along, wasn’t it?”

I shrugged. I’d been wanting another dog for months but she had always refused, not wanting Boone to be put out by a puppy. I admit, this negotiation tactic may have been extreme but I was pretty sure she wouldn’t say no this time.

“What do you say? Have we got a deal?”

She sighed. “Fine.”

Damn, I love this woman.

“Good.” I smiled and wrapped her in my arms, lifting her up to carry her to bed.

The next morning, the bags were loaded, the kids were arguing over puppy names in the back seat of our car, and Sabrina’s hand was holding mine as I drove us to the airport.

I’d told Sabrina once that I wasn’t a dreamer. That was still true. I’d leave the dreams to her and to my children.

Because I didn’t need to dream.

I already had everything I could ever hope for, right here in my car.

Last summer, my husband was invited on a hunting trip to Idaho. He went with a friend of his that has a couple of small planes, so rather than drive, they decided to fly. On their flight out, my husband kept spotting these small strips of bare land in the mountains and asked his pilot friend what they were all about. The pilot shared that those strips were actually U.S. Forest Service outposts spotted throughout the mountains. The open fields were for small airplanes, like his, in case they needed to make emergency landings. When my husband came home and told me about his trip and the flights, I was instantly fascinated by the idea of these outposts and knew it would make a unique setting for a novel. I have taken some fictional liberties with Sabrina’s outpost but I hope you’ve been able to picture it as a place where she was able to fall in love with Montana and with Beau.

I am incredibly, incredibly lucky to have such an amazing team of women who add their special touches to each of my books. To my editor, Elizabeth Nover. My cover designer, Sarah Hansen. My proofreader, Julie Deaton. My formatter, Stacey Blake. Thank you!!!

Also, a huge thanks to Nazarea at InkSlinger PR, the team at EverAfter Romance and all of the amazing book bloggers who have been so wonderful in promoting this series.

And a special thanks to you. Thanks for reading The Outpost.