Page 51 of The Bitterroot Inn (Jamison Valley 5)
Her breath hitched as I leaned just a bit closer. She smelled so good. So sweet. Fuck, I want to kiss her. I wanted to wrap her in my arms and take her mouth. To hold her all night long after I’d exhausted her completely.
But tonight, she needed to get this room painted, and if I kissed her, it was going to take a while.
Our first kiss was going to be the lasting kind. The kind she’d never forget. The kiss that erased all others from her past.
Tonight, we didn’t have that kind of time, so instead, I leaned down and whispered in her ear. “Are you going to teach me to paint?”
She shivered as she whispered back, “Yes.”
I grinned and forced my feet to take a backward step. Then we got to work.
Three hours later, the ceiling was white, the walls were “dove gray,” and I had paint specks all over my clothes, hair and skin.
“Thank you,” Maisy said as she surveyed our work. “This would have taken me a lot longer by myself. Now Michael might actually be able to go home and not sleep on my couch.”
“Anytime.”
I meant that too. I’d help her anytime. The smile on my face would last all week just because I got to spend my Sunday night working side by side with Maisy.
Maisy
When I was twelve, I planned my dream wedding. My cousin had just gotten married and I’d spent an entire day of summer vacation filling the better portion of my diary with ideas and drawings for my own wedding. I’d wanted pink. Everything pink. The cake. The flowers. The dresses. Lots and lots of pink.
Had I seen the majesty of Beau and Sabrina’s wedding back then, that diary would have been a whole lot different.
Sabrina and Beau were married at six o’clock in an open meadow not too far up into the mountains. With the smell of pine in the spring air and the sun’s bright rays slowly fading to a glow, the two of them stood together and exchanged their vows. There were no chairs, no aisles and no fancy decorations. Just Beau and Sabrina standing with the minister as close friends and family stood by to watch.
Beau and Sabrina were so in love, I don’t think they even knew the rest of us were there.
After their kiss and some pictures, we all came back into town for the reception. While the ceremony had been simple and intimate, the reception was another story. Sabrina had gone all out to plan an extravagant party for hundreds of guests.
There weren’t a lot of large event venues in small-town Montana, so Sabrina had been limited to the school cafeteria. She’d magically transformed the space. Now it looked more like a fancy ballroom in a city hotel than the room where I’d eaten my lunches as a child.
“This is something else,” Dad said for the third time as he looked around the room. We were dancing on the large wooden floor in front of the stage where the live band was playing.
“It sure is. It’s beautiful.”
The entire ceiling had been strung with lights that gave the room a soft glow. Round tables and chairs, all covered with fancy linens, filled the floor space behind and around the dance floor. The plain walls had been hidden with black curtains lining the entire room. Stunning floral arrangements of green and ivory adorned every table.
“Wasn’t that some dinner?” Dad asked.
“I ate way too much. Coby was too busy playing so I ate my plate and most of his. But it was totally worth it.” Prime rib, Copper River salmon, roasted potatoes, fresh dinner rolls and about a half dozen salads. I’d tried it all.
“Do you think it was okay that I hit the carving station a couple extra times?” Dad asked.
I giggled and reached up high, smoothing the worry lines on his forehead. “I think the father of the groom can eat as much as he wants. I wouldn’t worry about it.”
Brock Holt was no small human. He was Beau’s size except for the huge beer belly he’d been growing over the last ten years, and wow, Dad could eat.
“Thanks.” He smiled and twirled me around. “Your brother seems happy.”
“He sure does.”
We both looked over to Beau slow dancing with Sabrina. Beau was wearing a simple suit instead of a tux, something Sabrina had surprised him with at his fitting, and Sabrina was in a gorgeous white dress, the top half all lace with half sleeves and an open cutout at the back.
“Are you having fun?” Dad asked.
