Page 93 of The Mountain Man's Mail-Order Mafia Princess

“I do.”

“And to build a life with me.”

“Yes.”

“And my schoolwork on the table.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“You implied educational materials.”

“I’ll build another shelf.”

“That’s a promising start.”

She set down the glass and moved closer.

I lifted my arm, and Talia settled against my chest.

The fan stirred cooler air over our damp skin.

For several minutes, neither of us spoke.

Then she looked toward the bedroom door, where the red dress hung again.

“You’re going to need a bigger closet.”

I pulled her closer. “We’ll build one.”

Epilogue

TALIA

Snow pressed against the cabin windows in drifts that hid the bottom porch step.

Inside, firelight moved over the Christmas tree and the gold garland stretched above the table. My leopard-print stocking hung beside Jonah’s red one on the mantel. Counseling textbooks shared the bookcase with equipment manuals, and presents crowded the space beneath the tree.

Jonah came up behind me and drew me against his chest.

“You’re staring at the tree again,” he said.

“I like what we did.”

“You made it beautiful.”

“We made it ours.”

His beard brushed my temple when he kissed me there. “That part was you too.”

I turned to face him and smoothed both palms over the dark henley stretched across his chest. “You built the shelf, carried in the tree, and pretended not to notice when I used three times the lights we needed.”

“I noticed.”

“You still helped me hang them.”

“I like seeing you happy.”

I gripped his shirt.