EPILOGUE
Two weeks later
B ella stared at the pink troll doll sitting on Luke’s living room shelf. It looked so wrong. His place was all classy and sleek. She was not classy or sleek. And nor were her things.
Clearly.
Since she’d moved in, Luke had insisted Bella put her belongings out on display. Which she did. The only problem was her belongings consisted mostly of random, garish trinkets she’d picked up on her travels. And they so did not go with his decor. Which she told him. Again and again. But did he care? Nope.
“Angel.” Luke sighed, appearing from the kitchen. “Not this again.”
Bella whipped around to face him, arms still crossed, frown still firmly in place. “It just looks silly.”
He flashed her a sexy lopsided smile. “I like having your things out. It makes the place feel more like a home.”
She turned back to the shelf to pick up her bright blue shark bottle opener. She’d snagged it in Sydney. Shark in hand, she began waving it at Luke. “This? This makes your place feel more like a home?”
“This”—he quickly swiped the bottle opener from her—“this is a part of you, angel. A part of your life. Which means I love it. And I want to look at it every day. And for the millionth time, it’s not my place, it’s ours .”
“You love the shark?” she asked incredulously. She was not convinced.
“I love the shark.” He grinned.
“And the troll doll?”
“And the troll doll,” he repeated, a short laugh leaving his lips.
“And the—”
He cut her off, taking her hand, pulling her into him, and covering her mouth. “I’m gonna save us time and tell you that I love them all. Everything, sweetheart.”
She shot him a look. The one that called bullshit. Even with her mouth covered, she was pretty sure she was pulling it off.
“Do you know why I kitted this place out with designer shit and fancy gadgets?”
James Bond fan?
She had no idea. Her mouth was still covered, so her smartass reply was out, which meant she could only shake her head. She realized, a moment later, was for the best as his expression grew more serious.
“Growing up,” he continued, “I never had anything nice. Anything expensive. I had nothing but the clothes on my back. I’m sure you can relate.” Yup. “Well, when I started earning, I promised myself that my life would be different from now on. Where I lived would be clean. I’d own nice things. And most importantly, I wanted a home. I’d never had one before. No one had ever given me that chance.”
He was breaking her heart.
“So I saved. I worked my ass off. And I bought this place. Filled it with fancy shit. Got a cleaner to come every week. But do you know the one thing I couldn’t buy? The one thing this place is missing?” He dropped his hand then, his dark gaze boring into her, waiting for her to speak.
“A troll doll?” a playful smile started to spread.
“No, Bella.” Luke’s smile was back and so was the twinkle in his eyes. “ You . You were the one thing this place was missing. You were the missing piece. The key to making it a home.”
She was beaming now. Happiness warming her insides and hope blooming in her chest. “Okay, okay, I’ll leave the troll doll out. You win.”
Wrapping her hands around his neck, she gave him a tug until his head dropped. She wasted no time pulling him into a kiss. A kiss that made everything worth it.
***
Six weeks later
B ella was back at the Evans ranch, and it felt surreal. Three months ago, she’d driven up this very driveway, completely unaware that by doing so, her life would be forever changed. But in a good way of course. Hence, the humongous smile on her face as Luke tagged her hand and led them up to the main house.
Tonight, was Zach and Libby’s rehearsal dinner. Tomorrow, they would be getting married. And Bella could not wait. She’d never, ever, ever been to a wedding before.
Because you’ve never had any friends.
Right. No friends meant no wedding invites. But now she had actual living friends, and they were all dying to get married. Jackpot.
“Wade!” she squealed as she dropped Luke’s hand and ran into her friend’s arms.
Wade had to be her favorite of all her newfound friends. And it wasn’t because she’d gotten to know him outside of her relationship with Luke either. There was just something so calming about the man. He kind of reminded her of a little old lady, not that she’d ever tell him that. He just had all of those quirky traits, like wisdom, kindness, and let’s not forget, massive freaking gossip. Oh, and he was big on home comforts too, which meant the man hardly ever left the ranch. One of the reasons, Bella guessed, why he was still single.
“Well, hello to you too, darlin’.” Wade chuckled.
“Oh, don’t mind me,” Luke teased, raising his hands in the air, “you just go on right ahead and start throwing yourself at other men.”
“Well, if you’d have bought that cowboy hat, like I asked you to ... maybe I wouldn’t have to go looking for it elsewhere.” She shot Luke a wink.
Despite his laughter, he was pulling her out of Wade’s embrace moments later and plastering her to his side. Such a caveman.
You love it.
She did.
“Come on, Wade, take us to the alcohol.” She gestured for him to lead the way.
As requested, he took them to the back of the house where a huge tent had been erected. Off to the side was a bar with so many bottles of booze, she felt her liver twitch. It was going to be a good night.
As they gathered around the bar, and Luke went about making her a drink, she noticed Wade’s attention drift. Not just drift but leave the party entirely. Instead, he fixated on the house. Bella followed his gaze, all the way over to a petite, dark-haired woman dragging a huge laundry bag through the backdoor.
“Who’s that?” she asked.
When he didn’t reply, she felt her smile spread as she asked again. This time Wade jolted, shaking his head before turning his attention back to Bella.
“What?”
“I said ... who’s the woman? You know, the one you’re making goo-goo eyes at?”
“Darlin’, I ain’t making goo-goo eyes at anyone; I don’t even know what goo-goo eyes are.”
Just as she was about to reply, the woman reappeared. She’d lost the bag and had emerged from the house carrying a stack of folded towels. Bella looked at Wade. Yep, just like she thought, his gaze was back on the woman.
“Ah ha!” She pointed accusingly. “You’re doing it again!” She could practically see the hearts in his eyes. “You like her!”
“Bella,” Wade warned.
“You love her!” She giggled. This was awesome. She might not even need alcohol at this rate. “Come on, who is she?”
“If I tell you, will you promise to stop?”
Not a chance. “Sure, so?”
Wade let out a heavy sigh. “She’s the new live-in maid. My brothers hired her a week ago—her name’s Riley.”
“You asked her out yet?” Bella wasn’t taking the dirty look he was giving her personally.
His glare and lack of any real reply told her he hadn’t. So she decided to take matters into her own hands.
“Riley?” she shouted across the yard. Then shouted again, ignoring Wade’s hand that was now gripping her arm. “Riley?”
The woman’s head whipped to Bella, and the deer-in-headlights look she was giving her almost made her feel guilty. But not enough to stop her from gesturing her over.
“Bella,” Wade scowled, “what the hell are you doing?”
Bella fluttered her lashes at her friend. “Don’t worry, I’m not gonna declare your undying love to the woman.”
As soon as Riley was near, she felt Wade stiffen. Actually go stiff. She never thought she’d see the day that the most laid-back Evans brother would go from calm and collected to a tightly wound spring. In an instant.
She got it though. The closer the woman was, the more beautiful she became. Shiny, straight dark hair was pulled into a neat bun. Black-rimmed glasses framed a delicate heart-shaped face. Even the jeans and tee she was wearing tugged at her curves in all the right places. No wonder Wade was captivated.
“Hey,” she greeted the very confused-looking woman, “I’m Bella. Nice to meet you.” Riley managed a “Hi” before Bella continued. “Wade mentioned that you started at the ranch a week ago, does that mean you’re new in town?”
“Um, yeah.” Riley shyly nodded.
“Me too,” Bella offered up a warm smile. “I moved here a few months ago, so I’m still getting the lay of the land, so to speak. Maybe we could hang out sometime?”
“Uh—” She’d scared her. But she wasn’t done yet. Besides, she was getting good at making friends, and you could never have too many. “Yeah. Sure.”
“Amazing, what are you doing tomorrow?” Bella ignored Wade’s kick to the ankle. “Wanna come to a wedding?”
This was going to be fun. Who said small towns were boring?