Epilogue
HAILEY
“ Welcome to The Cozy Crumb,” I called out as I heard the door to the bakery open.
When silence followed, I knew something was off. This was still a small town, even though it had grown a lot since I moved here to open this bakery a few years ago. But for the most part, everyone was friendly and personable, whether we were passing on the street or they were customers.
I straightened and turned with a big smile on my face. The customer might not be friendly, but I had to blast happiness and sunshine no matter what. It was part of making sure our online reviews stayed strong.
What I saw when I turned wasn’t some tourist who’d stumbled in here. No, it was my husband and our three-year-old daughter, Addison.
“Hey,” I said, my spirits already lifting. “What are you two doing here so early?”
“Somebody wanted some crullers,” Sawyer said, stepping up to the case.
He lifted Addison to his hip. She pointed to the row of strawberry and blueberry crullers I’d made first thing that morning. We tried to limit Addison’s sweets intake, but it was tough with her mom running a bakery. It was her Saturday morning treat. Today was Wednesday.
“It’s a ce-bra-la-tion,” Addison explained when she saw the look on my face.
She was full of spunk. And she knew how to get what she wanted, especially from her dad, who was a big old softy where she was concerned.
I put a hand on my belly. I was five months along, but we’d broken the news to Addison last night. She was going to be a big sister. After we explained what that meant, she was more excited than I’d ever seen her. She’d talked about the little brother baking in my belly nonstop until we finally tucked her in. She only stopped when we said she had to get some sleep.
“Maybe you should have blueberry,” Sawyer told her, smiling at me. “You know, since the baby’s a boy.”
Addison frowned, and I could tell she didn’t get it. She didn’t know blue was a traditional color for baby boys and pink was for girls. Good thing she liked pink.
“Mommy, you should have a dough-net too,” she said. “For the baby in your tummy.”
Sawyer and I exchanged a smile before I returned my attention to my three-year-old. “You know what? That’s a great idea. That’s exactly what I’m going to do.”
“Well, let’s make it three then,” Sawyer said. “But can mine be a fritter?”
He loved the apple fritters we made. They were our biggest seller—with tourists, anyway. The locals tended to prefer our bear claws. I assumed it was a mountain life thing.
“Daddy says we can go to the doggie store,” Addison said. “Oliver needs a sweater.”
Oliver was the little Cavapoo we’d adopted last summer. Addison loved that dog. He slept in her bed every night and went everywhere with her.
“Sounds like a plan,” I said. “I may join you—at least for a little while. I just have to wait for my new employee to show up and keep an eye on the counter.”
“Now that’s a good idea,” Sawyer said.
Sawyer got Addison settled with her cruller, then came back to grab our doughnuts. But he didn’t take them from the counter right away. He just stood there, our eyes meeting and holding as my heart skipped a beat.
How was it possible this man could still get my pulse racing? Almost four years of marriage, and I was as in love with him as I had been in the early days of our relationship.
He leaned forward and whispered, “You look hot in that apron.”
I couldn’t help but smile. I maybe even blushed a little. Just a couple of weeks ago, he’d stopped by here to bring me some coffee. Addison was spending the night with her grandparents, who’d relocated to Hope Peak to be closer to us, and the shop wouldn’t be open for another half hour at that point.
Instead of hanging out to drink the coffee and then leaving, though, he locked the door to the back room and came up behind me at the table where we glazed doughnuts after they came out of the fryer. He’d unbuttoned my jeans and slid his hand inside, going straight to that spot that he knew would bring me to orgasm quickly.
But that morning, he’d gotten me right up to the edge before I stopped him, shoving my jeans and underwear down and reaching behind me to start unbuttoning his pants. The message was clear. I wanted to fuck him right there, in the back room of the bakery.
When he slid into me, Sawyer was hard. So hard. I had to bite my lip to keep from crying out, it felt so darn good. Over and over, he slammed into me, going deep—so much deeper than he’d been able to go that first time.
His hands went under my T-shirt, shoving my bra cups upward and thumbing my nipples as he thrust in and out. At the same time, I moved my fingers to my clit, touching myself while he filled me.
Within just a couple of minutes, I let out a gasp as my walls contracted around him. That was all it took to send him over the edge, and he let out a light grunt as he stilled, his cock throbbing inside me.
At the memory, I took a deep breath and fanned my face, glancing over at Addison to make sure she wasn’t paying attention to us. We may as well not have existed at all right now. She was happily eating her cruller and staring out the window at the cobblestone walkway that led shoppers around the charming alley full of gift shops, eateries, and even a small art gallery that displayed local artists’ work.
“You’re thinking about it, aren’t you?” he whispered. “That time in the back room when I took you from behind?”
I nodded and shifted my stare back to him. “I’m thinking we might need Addison to spend another weekend at my parents’ house.”
“I like the way you think,” he said. “I could try to book us one of the rooms at the cabin where it all started.”
He’d kept that property as a rental and used the money he made from that to buy the cabin next door. Both were investments that were starting to pay off in a big way—and now Sawyer was thinking about expanding to other rental properties here in Hope Peak.
“Let’s plan it,” I said. “But meanwhile, I think we have some doughnuts to eat.”
I came around the counter, planning to walk straight to the table, but Sawyer met me, a doughnut in each hand. He leaned forward and gave me a quick kiss on the lips, to which our daughter let out an “eww.”
Smiling, we both turned and walked toward the table. We had to control our displays of affection in front of her. But I was glad she was growing up with two parents who clearly loved each other. It was the very kind of relationship I’d want her to have someday.
Hailey’s roommate Dakota meets a determined lumberjack in Grumpy Mountain Man, Book 1 in the Seduction Summit Lumberjacks series.