EPILOGUE
Deacon
“Dessert?” Harper asks from her spot on my lap, her blond curls brushing my chin.
“Soon,” I say to the little girl who has absolutely stolen my heart.
She lies back against my chest, worn out from a day of sledding in a big January snowfall and a huge family dinner at Levi’s house.
“She’s so ready for bed,” Amelia says, leaning in close and brushing her curls out of her face. “If we wait much longer, it’s going to be hell getting her to sleep.”
Which means it’ll be that much longer before Amelia and I can be alone in bed. I’ve only recently started sleeping over at Amelia’s house on the regular. I sneak out before Harper’s up most mornings, but it’s getting harder and harder to leave.
Amelia doesn’t want us to move in together until we’re married, and I’m still living at Levi’s house. I told Amelia it’s so I can save money for my own house.
What I haven’t told her yet is that I’ve already found it. My brothers are going to help me renovate it when they can, but it might take a little while for it to be livable.
I don’t want to tell her until it’s perfect. If she hates it, I’ll sell it, but I have a good feeling about this place.
“I’ll sneak into the kitchen and get dessert to go.”
I start to pass Harper over to Amelia, but stop when Sebastian speaks over the various conversations going on at the table. Family dinner has gotten pretty big lately and now includes Gentry and her sisters, as well as my brothers. Tonight, even Millie joined us.
She’s been working for us since November and is doing an amazing job, but she's still shy around us. Especially around Cash, who does his best to avoid her at all times.
“Cash,” Sebastian says again, “and Millie. I’d like you to take a trip to Aspen Cove—”
“No business at the table,” Levi shouts over Sebastian.
Seb glares at our brother. “This isn’t business, mostly, it’s family. Cash doesn’t have current projects, so he’s the best choice to help Mom and Dad get the house ready and make sure the realtor lists it for the right price.”
“I can handle that,” Cash says. “There’s no reason for Millie to go.”
Millie seems to curl in on herself, staring at the table like she’d rather be anywhere but here.
“Millie is going to assist you because she’s far more organized than you are. Plus, while she’s there, she can meet Stanley and learn her secrets.”
“Millie doesn’t need to learn anything,” Cash says. “She’s already perfect.”
Millie’s chin lifts, and she stares at Cash with wide, shocked eyes.
Cash clears his throat. “As a receptionist. She’s already perfect as a receptionist.”
“I’m not suggesting she’ll learn how to be better at her job,” Sebastian says, relaxing and looking back and forth between Cash and Millie like he’s trying to figure something out.
“But Stanley can teach her about working specifically for a construction company like ours and give her advice for dealing with us.” He lowers his head and looks at Millie.
“I’m sorry again for biting your head off this morning. ”
“It’s fine,” Millie says with a soft smile. “It was a stressful morning.”
Cash glares at Sebastian so hard I’m surprised his head doesn’t explode. I don’t know if it’s because Millie seems to prefer Seb to him or because he wants to kill Seb for being mean to Millie.
Cash refuses to talk to me about Millie at all.
“Do you mind taking a week in Aspen Cove?” Sebastian asks Millie. “I’ll double your pay for the week and cover all of your expenses. It would be helpful if you could still handle scheduling and paperwork remotely…” He looks over at Levi. “Can she do that remotely?”
“I’ll set it up so she can,” Levi says.
“A week?” Cash asks. “You want me to stay there a week? I’ve got a job—”
“I rescheduled it,” Millie says, with an uncharacteristic bite to her words.
“You did what? That’s an important—”
“Stop,” Sebastian says. “The client was perfectly happy to wait, and Mom and Dad need you more than they do. Cash, you’ll stay with Mom and Dad. I’ve booked a hotel room for Millie downtown so she can have everything she needs within walking distance. The two of you can leave Friday night.”
“My car can’t make that drive,” Millie says.
“I’ll drive,” Cash says. “But I’m not staying a week if I can get done what needs to be done more quickly.”
Clearly annoyed, he gets up from the table and storms to the kitchen.
I hand Harper over to Amelia. “I’ll be out in five minutes with dessert, but I need to talk to Cash.”
She nods and settles Harper against her chest. There’s probably no need for dessert, since Harper’s eyes are already drifting shut, but I’ll bring some just in case.
Cash is elbows deep in soapsuds, washing pots, his dress shirt sleeves rolled up. He glances over his shoulder at me and rolls his eyes. “Would it have killed Sebastian to ask me if I want to take on this job?”
“Probably,” I say as I scoop up three slices of store-bought apple pie onto a heavy-duty paper plate. “He doesn’t really do it on purpose, you know. He just slots us all into place like puzzle pieces and figures it’ll make sense to us, since it makes sense to him.”
“If he’d talked to me, he’d have known sending me with Millie is a terrible idea. She hates me.”
I set down the dessert plate and move to stand next to my brother. “Maybe you can change that on this trip.”
He clenches his eyes shut and groans. “I’ve been managing to hold it together, but riding in my car with her, being in the same hotel with her...” He opens his eyes and looks at me pleadingly. “You can go in my place. You don’t have anything pressing, do you?”
I roll my eyes at him, because he knows I do. “What are you worried is going to happen, Cash? You think you’re going to grab her and kiss her against her will? You aren’t an animal.”
“Of course not,” he says, pushing his shoulders back.
“But I’ll do something stupid, like let down my guard and tell her how good her hair smells or how pretty her eyes are when she smiles.
I cannot spend a week in constant proximity to that woman.
It’ll…” He lowers his voice to a whisper. “It’s going to fucking hurt.”
Damn, he’s got it bad. “I’ll talk to Sebastian. I’ll convince him to send Millie separately and—”
A gasp from the doorway has me spinning to see Millie standing in the doorway, her eyes already glistening with tears.
“I don’t like this any better than you do, you know,” she says.
“I don’t know why you hate me so much, but I promise I’ll be entirely professional.
I’ll bring plenty of work to do, and I won’t even speak to you unless absolutely necessary. ”
Shit. “Millie,” I say, not sure what else I’m going to say.
She spins on her heel and hurries out of sight.
“Shit, Cash,” I say. “I’m sorry. I’ll make up a story about why I was saying that and—”
“Leave it. It’s better for both of us if she thinks I hate her. She should avoid me.”
“Cash,” I say. “Would it really be so bad if you let her know how you feel?”
“Fuck no. There’s no good that’ll come of it. You know how my relationships go.”
“Passionless arrangements that service both your needs until she decides she wants something more and moves on to someone else.”
He purses his lips. “Not how I’d put it, but yes. I don’t like messy, and there’s no way dating our awesome assistant won’t get messy.”
“It could be amazing,” I say. “You two could fall in love and get married and—”
“See my wife at work every day? No, thank you. That’s a recipe for divorce.”
“Fine. I’ll let Millie believe you hate her. We need to get Harper to bed. See you tomorrow for the Galahad job?”
“I’ll be there,” he says, looking more miserable than I’ve seen him maybe ever.
In the dining room, everyone’s involved in their own conversations, and I nod to Amelia to let her know I’ve got the dessert. I don’t need my brothers hassling me about leaving early on family dinner night. They’ll let Amelia and Harper go. They’ll just give me shit because they live for it.
I spin back into the kitchen, grab the dessert, and hurry out the back door to meet Amelia at my truck. We strap Harper into the car seat I bought two weeks after Amelia and I got back together and shut our doors quietly as we get in.
I hand the dessert to Amelia, and she holds it on her lap while I make the short drive to her place.
More and more, it’s starting to feel like my place.
I don’t spend much time at Levi’s house anymore.
Levi’s almost never there himself, and I don’t think it’ll be long before he announces he’s going to sell his house and move in with Gentry.
I need to get my living situation in order before that happens, but my new house needs a ton of work.
“I’ll get Harper,” I whisper to Amelia as soon as I’ve parked in her driveway and shut off the engine.
Amelia smiles at me sweetly as she gets out of the truck, and my heart flips like it does every time I remember how lucky I am to get to love her.
Harper doesn’t wake up when I pull her from her car seat. She’ll be five this summer, and she’s gotten taller just in the couple of months I’ve known her. Right now, she’s deadweight in my arms.
Luckily, I lift heavy things all day long. She’s feather-light compared to a panel of drywall.
She lets out an adorable little snort as she settles in my arms, and I bite back laughter.
Amelia holds the front door open for me and follows me to Harper’s room. Marmalade is curled up in a nest near the ceiling, but I’m not going to risk waking Harper to get him out of here.
Harper snuggles into her pillow and lets out a little sigh as I lay her down in her bed. Amelia pulls off her shoes, but we leave her in her clothes. They’re soft and comfy and fine to sleep in.
I cover her with her pink princess comforter, and we each kiss her soft forehead before we creep out of her room.
“Want pie?” Amelia asks.
I grab her waist and pull her against me. “I’m good. You?”
She shakes her head. “I’m not in the mood for pie.”
I grin down at her. I’m so in love with this woman and feeling so damn lucky. “What are you in the mood for?”
She wiggles free of my arms and pulls her shirt over her head, tossing it down the hall behind her. “Something that involves a lot fewer clothes.”
She shrieks when I throw her over my shoulder, and we both freeze, listening for sounds that’ll indicate we just woke up Harper.
When no sound comes from her room, I race for Amelia’s room, shutting and locking the door behind me.
I set her on the floor, and she pops onto her toes to kiss me. “I love you,” she says.
“I love you so damn much.”
“You should move in with us,” she says.
It takes me a moment to understand what she’s just said. My brain has to reverse out of sex mode and into serious conversation mode. “Are you sure?”
She takes a step back, looking nervous. “If it’s too soon, I totally understand. I—”
I scoop her up in my arms and drop her onto the bed, falling over her as she lies back. “It’s not too soon for me. I just want to be sure you’re sure.”
The look she gives me is so full of warmth and certainty and love that it’s hard to catch my breath.
“I’m sure,” she says. “I never understood what people meant when they said, ‘when you know, you know’ about relationships. But I just know, Deacon. I want you here all the time. I don’t want you to have to sneak home every morning.”
“But you wanted us to be married before I moved in.”
Amelia looks up at me, eyes wide. “I still want that.”
I stare down at her. Just when I think this woman is done surprising me, she knocks me off my feet again. “You’re just going to go for it, just like that, when my mind’s already focused on getting you naked?”
She shrugs. “So get me naked. I don’t understand what you’re going on about.”
I snort laugh. “Right.”
I roll off her and stalk toward her closet.
“Wait,” she says. “Where are you going? Shit. I’m sorry, Deacon. I shouldn’t have pushed.”
In her walk-in closet, I pop onto my toes and reach all the way to the back of the top shelf. My fingers close around the hard edges of a small box, and I grab it, holding it behind my back as I walk back over to her.
She’s sitting up on the bed, staring at me with confusion and worry.
I drop onto one knee in front of her and hold the small black box up.
She gasps, hands to her mouth, already crying. “Yes,” she says. “Let’s get married.”
I shake my head as if I’m disappointed. “So pushy you won’t even let me ask the question.”
She laughs and waves a hand at me. “So sorry. Go ahead.”
“Amelia. I know this is probably too fast and you probably aren’t ready, but with you I finally understand what people mean when they say, ‘when you know, you know.’ I know. You’re the only woman I want to be with for the rest of my life. Will you marry me?”
She laughs again. “You stole my line.”
“Nope.” I pull out the paper from under the box where I wrote the words I wanted to use to ask her to marry me. Though I thought it would be a few months from now at least. I hand it to her, and she reads the words that match exactly what I just said to her.
She laughs as I slide the ring onto her finger. “Great minds,” she says.
“The greatest,” I say as I admire my ring on her finger. “I love you.”
She smiles up at me. “I love you, Deacon Sullivan.”
Then, I help her take off everything except that ring, and we consummate our engagement with very quiet but amazing sex.
Thank you for reading The Love Ambush!