“Why did you just leave the papers in my door that night?” I asked next. I thought I knew the answer, but since I’d jumped to an assumption about the envelope in the first place, now I wasn’t sure about anything anymore.

  “Because I’m petty and jealous.” Noah’s answer was so honest, it caught me off guard. He folded his arms across his chest and widened his stance. “Who was that guy?”

  I let out a breath and braced myself. “That was my ex-fiancé, Roger. He’d driven out here completely uninvited. I had no idea he was coming.”

  “So, he came into town to win you back?” Noah had an unreadable expression on his face. He seemed to be studying me.

  “He did,” I said plainly.

  “Congratulations,” Noah croaked.

  I shook my head vigorously. “Nothing happened. He hugged me—without my permission. I shouted at him to leave. He eventually did. And that was that.”

  Noah’s arms dropped as I stepped closer to him. That’s why he ghosted me. He thought I was back with Roger the baked potato. There wasn’t a chance in hell of that happening.

  “I don’t want Roger.”

  “What do you want?” Noah asked, stepping closer to me.

  I didn’t answer in words. Instead, I stepped into Noah and crashed our lips together. My body finally relaxed as he accepted my kiss.

  Could it be this easy? Was that possible? It all felt so familiar with Noah. Like I was his and he was mine. Despite all the time and distance, it was so natural between us.

  I pulled back from the kiss just to admire him. He looked a bit dazed, but happy as he blinked his eyes open slowly.

  My heart leaped. Noah Hart would be very easy to fall in love with. Part of me wondered if I’d ever really fallen out of love with him in the first place.

  Dropping my gaze, I said, “I know we can’t just pick up where we left off ten years ago . . .”

  He stepped back in and kissed me again. “Who says we can’t?”

  26

  * * *

  ABOUT DAMN TIME

  Noah

  Rachel and I left the game in my truck without telling anyone. I shot a quick text to Austen so no one would send out a search party. The last thing I wanted was another poorly timed interruption. I wanted Rachel all to myself tonight.

  As we drove home from the game, we were laughing about it already.

  “Let’s vow to never make assumptions again. Deal?” she said, grinning.

  I reached across the console, and we shook on it. “Deal.”

  Inside, I was buzzing with anticipation. I think we both knew what was going to happen tonight. We didn’t even need to say more. After she suggested—in so many words—that she wanted to pick up where we left off, I wasn’t going to let that chance slip away again. Wasn’t going to let her slip away again.

  As we parked the truck, I turned to her. “Will you be my girlfriend again?”

  She giggled at me. “Do people our age still call it that?”

  “Hell yes. I don’t want any more confusion from this point forward. So, will you?”

  She exhaled sharply. “Yes.”

  “Good.”

  I raced around the truck to open her door for her. When she stepped out, I leaned down and scooped her into my arms. She immediately broke out into nervous laughter.

  “What are you doing?” she said with a chuckle.

  “Carrying my woman inside. You got a problem with that?” I asked, leaning down to kiss her before she could answer as I walked us up the steps to the front door.

  Opening it with one hand was tricky, but I managed, and soon I was marching her toward my bedroom.

  I wasn’t messing around tonight. I was a man on a mission—a mission to make up for lost time. To claim Rachel as mine. And to make her moan in pleasure.

  As soon as I laid her on the bed, I started to strip her down, peeling off a jacket, a sweater, a T-shirt, her bra, and then moved on to her pants.

  “How many layers are there?” I groaned in frustration as I pulled off a second pair of pants and finally found her panties.

  She laughed. “It was cold out.”

  “I’m going to warm you up,” I told her as I stood beside the bed and pulled my shirt off.

  She watched me carefully, so I slowed it down and gave her a show. Hell, I was proud of my body, and watching her reaction was worth it. My jeans and boxers came off next, and then finally my socks.

  “Come here.”

  She whined at my delay, and I complied, crawling up the bed to settle myself between her legs. Our mouths came together in a scorching-hot kiss. I pulled the sheet over us.

  The feeling of her body—which had been cold but was quickly heating—and her soft skin, it felt . . . just right.

  Rachel pushed me gently, and I rolled over. She shifted down the bed, her hands splayed out on my abs, her fingers tracing my muscles, which tightened in response.

  She looked up at me with a smirk. “Showoff.”

  “For you, always.”

  Rachel shifted down then, and without giving me any warning, she kissed a path along my abs. I watched her in fascination.

  “Sweetheart,” I murmured when her lips grazed the most sensitive spot on my body.

  She smiled and then brought her mouth around me. Damn, it felt good.

  I groaned, clenching my muscles in reaction, and slammed my eyes shut to maintain my control. I took a few breaths to steady myself, and then opened my eyes to see her in action. And damn, was she beautiful like that.

  I pulled her up toward me then. I needed her. Not her mouth on me—I needed all of her. Now.

  My heart beat unevenly as I felt her silky heat slide across my hard length. Her breathing was just as ragged as mine. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes hazy.

  I sucked at the sensitive skin on her neck and her ample chest. She arched back on a moan, and I shifted us up and pulled her close to me.

  Her legs wrapped around my waist, squeezing me impossibly close. My hips were moving of their own accord. I needed to slow things down, but she was rubbing herself all over me, and I loved it.

  “Sweetheart . . . condom.”

  I barely got the words out before Rachel nodded her approval of this idea and went right back to kissing my neck. I managed to grab a little foil wrapper from the bedside drawer and wrangle the condom on.

  As soon as that task was done, she rose up on her knees to find just the right angle.

  We both let out a sigh of pleasure. It was the perfect moment—the calm before the storm. I knew that this meant she was mine, and I sensed that she did too.

  I pressed up without another thought and sank inside her.

  “Noah.” She gasped, her voice strangled.

  I couldn’t speak, even if I wanted to. I was focused solely on the feel of her, the sight of her, how everything about this woman was consuming me in the best possible way.

  My hips gave a little thrust.

  Her hands roamed my back, her nails lightly brushing against my skin.

  Our mouths locked together, our tongues lapping softly, slowly, while we began to move together, her writhing in time with each of my thrusts. It was painstakingly slow, but it had to be. We were making up for years of lost time right now. It was something that couldn’t be rushed. More than a decade of longing had gone into this moment.

  “You feel so good,” she said softly, kissing down my jaw and throat, around to the sensitive spot under my ear that she’d discovered years ago.

  “Rachel, baby.” I moaned in reply, getting closer to the edge of losing my control.

  My hips rocked, quickening the pace. She arched and moved into me, taking what she needed from me.

  I needed to slow things down if this was going to last.

  “More . . . there,” she murmured.

  She made the most fantastic sounds as she sought her pleasure, and I loved that I was the man giving it to her. Finally.

  I picked up my pace, frantic, desperate, ready to come apart at the sight of her.

  Rachel gasped and moaned, her body tensing and shaking. I could feel her clenching around me, and it was the final straw.

  A few more firm thrusts, and I followed her right over the edge.

  27

  * * *

  WISHES

  Rachel

  “Happy turkey day,” Dottie said as she brandished her arms above her head triumphantly.

  We all took one look at her and everyone cracked up. She was wearing a hat that was . . . well . . . a turkey, I guess.

  “Where on earth did you get that?” Natalie asked with a chuckle.

  “It’s awesome,” Logan said, walking around his grandma to take in the details. After all, the little legs of the turkey were wearing Santa hats.

  “Where all good things come from, of course. The internet,” she said.

  Noah walked over to her and planted a kiss on her cheek. “You look cute as a button.”

  “Damn straight,” Dottie said. “Now, get Grammy a spiked cider.”

  Noah shook his head as he walked to the bar counter in the kitchen.

  “Me too,” I called after him, and he saluted me in confirmation. “What next?”

  I turned to Austen, who was reading me the recipe for Grandma Dottie’s famous apple pie. We’d been tasked with the job, and so far, Austen was good for reading off the steps, so I’d take it.

  “Lay crust over pan and gently press into pan,” he recited in an uninterested tone, as if he were sulking.

  “Anything wrong?” I asked him for the second time that afternoon.

  He sighed. “Nope.”

  Austen was lying, I could tell, but about what, I had no idea.

  His plan about leasing my grandfather’s land, well, my land now, had come to fruition. And his and Noah’s brewery business was really taking off. What he was upset about, I had no idea. It was Thanksgiving—a day to hang out with family, be happy and to eat a lot of turkey, of course.

  Noah came over and handed me a glass of apple cider spiked with what smelled like whiskey. He planted a kiss on my cheek. I took a sip of the spicy warm liquid as Austen grumbled again.

  “You two make me sick.”

  “He’s just jealous. Ignore him.” Noah patted my bottom stealthily and sauntered back to the living room where he and Logan were preparing the Thanksgiving bingo game prizes.

  I’d been here just over two months, but it felt like I’d never left. This family was like my own family, and in a way, I guess they were.

  Later that evening, we sat down to a table filled with loud, boisterous conversation and steaming dishes of delicious food. I piled my plate with smoked turkey, green bean casserole, stuffing, potatoes, and mac and cheese, made by yours truly. It was something Grandpa always requested at Thanksgiving, and it just felt right to make it this year.

  I realized I was most thankful for Noah and this family who had accepted me into the fold as one of them. Not as an outsider, or a neighbor . . . but one of the family. This was something I’d always dreamed about since I’d known the Harts, and now I was actually a part of their clan, more or less.

  We went around the table, at the request of Natalie, and shared what we were thankful for.

  Austen was thankful for me signing the lease agreement, he said as I rolled my eyes in unison with Natalie. Logan was thankful he was ahead on all his classwork and could take a nice break from school. Dottie was thankful that she’d hit her first hole-in-one on the golf course earlier that year. Natalie was thankful for her goats and her family—in that order, she insisted. I said I was grateful I’d been brought back home.

  Then it was Noah’s turn. He stood up, and everyone looked at him curiously.

  “It’s not a speech, son. You don’t need to stand,” Dottie joked.

  “What are you—” Natalie said and then snapped her mouth shut.

  We all looked around in confusion until Noah spoke, looking right at me.

  “Rachel, I’m thankful that you took a chance on an awkward sixteen-year-old me. And that you came back to me and were patient through all my bullshit. And that you agreed to be my girlfriend after all these years. I can honestly say that I’ve never been happier. And I wanted to know . . .” He paused then and lowered himself to one knee in front of me.

  Everyone gasped, and poor Austen choked on a sip of spiked cider.

  My heart thumped wildly as I wondered, hoping, guessing, praying, that what I thought was happening, was really happening.

  I doubt I even took a single breath as Noah reached into his pocket and pulled out a small black box, flipping it open to reveal a tear-shaped diamond ring. The most beautiful ring.

  “Ask her already!” Dottie shouted, and everyone chuckled nervously.

  Noah shot a glance at her, and she giggled. He met my eyes with a small, sweet smile, and I did my best not to pass out from excitement as he spoke the words.

  “Rachel Rose Tyson, will you be my wife?”

  I nodded and jumped from my seat. He stood, and we hugged as he lifted me off my feet. Everyone clapped as he set me back down.

  “Is that a yes?” he whispered on a chuckle amidst the noise from the table.

  “Yes. Yes!” I shouted and kissed him. “A thousand times yes!”

  When the excitement of our proposal finally died down—my new ring secured on my finger—Dottie clapped her hands.

  “All right, now. Time to eat before it gets cold.” She was always great at telling it like it is.

  After we’d stuffed ourselves, Natalie came into the dining room carrying the wishbone, and she waved it at the table. “Whose turn is it this year?”

  “I need it more than these ungrateful people,” Austen grumbled.

  “Me too. I’m old. Might not have many wishbones left,” Dottie said thoughtfully.

  Natalie groaned at her mother, but no one made a challenge.

  Austen and Dottie looped a pinky finger around each half of the delicate bone and tugged. When it snapped, Austen had secured the larger half and smiled.

  “That’s a good omen,” he said more to himself than anyone else.

  Dottie bugged her eyes at him. “Well, what are you going to wish for?”

  Austen blushed then, which was a rare sight. He was normally confident, cool, almost cocky. He looked slowly around at each of us. “Jameson’s married. Noah’s getting married. So, I wished for a wife. It’s probably about time, I guess.”

  The room seemed to freeze in shock at his words. Everyone raised their eyebrows and gave each other little questioning glances. Natalie looked like she’d never been more surprised. I worried for a second that Dottie might have a heart attack.

  Was this his idea of a joke? But no one laughed, and Austen’s expression was completely serious.

  Austen hadn’t had so much as a girlfriend as he did a revolving stable of women who came and went when his mood struck. Now he wanted to settle down with a promise of forever?

  That would be interesting.

  Finally, we moved on with dinner and I ate entirely too much, but it was perfect.

  Later, as Noah and I cuddled up on the couch for a family movie, I leaned into him and spoke softly. “What do you think about Austen saying he wants to find a wife?”

  Noah shook his head. “That came out of left field. I’ve never heard him mention anything like that before.”

  I nodded, guessing as much, based on the shock on everyone’s faces after his big announcement. “You think Austen would make a good husband?”

  “I have no idea,” Noah said. “Never really thought about it before.”

  I nodded again, still wondering where this idea had come from.

  Noah continued. “But when Austen wants something bad enough, he usually makes it happen.”

  I couldn’t wait to stick around with my new-old big crazy family of Harts and see what would unfold in the coming year.

  Natalie turned down the lights, then passed around bowls of caramel popcorn, as if anyone had room.

  When the credits began, Noah kissed my cheek. “I love you, Rachel.”

  “I love you too, Noah,” I told him.

  “Hey, Rach.” Grandma Dottie interrupted and nodded to the glass of hot cocoa in my hand. “You want me to spike that for you with the good whiskey?”

  • • •

  Don’t miss The Marrying Kind, up next in this series!

  Ella Westover and Austen Hart are about as different as different can be. After losing her parents in a tragic accident, Ella is determined to live her life to the fullest. So. she sets off on an adventure, complete with a hand-written bucket list tucked safely in the worn pages of her journal.

  Her first stop? Kodiak Canyon, elevation nine thousand feet, population just over six hundred. The views are breathtaking, the mountain air is sweet, and the pace is slow . . . it’s everything she’s dreamed of.

  Austen is a real-life mountain man. A local with a knack for surviving in the toughest of climates, he’s got everything a man could need . . . almost. The only thing he doesn’t have is a wife. A pretty maiden to warm his bed at night, someone to share his homestead with . . ..

  Kodiak Canyon has a lot to offer, but female companionship isn’t one of them. He isn’t about to let the beautiful and strong-willed Ella get away so easily.

  Ella might take him up on his room to rent, but she’ll never be someone’s wife. She’s got a plan. A life to live.

  But as she starts ticking off items on her bucket list . . . one that she never imagined starts to take center stage.

  Fall in love.

  GET YOUR COPY HERE

  Acknowledgments

  Thank you so much to my sweet little family for always being a source of encouragement and endless love. I am so blessed! To my younger sister who is the best partner in crime a girl could ever hope for.

  Thank you to Megan Addison who has stepped in and filled the role of assistant beautifully. You just … handle stuff without much direction and that has been such a blessing. Thank you for being so professional and lovely to work with.