Page 137 of Moonlit Colorado

“How do you feel?” Dane asked.

“Kind of overwhelmed. But grateful. So grateful for you.” I lifted my eyes. “This is the best gift you could ever have given me. I love you so much. I’ve loved you for weeks, but I was afraid to say it.”

“I love you too. With everything I am.”

Then I dissolved into tears and folded myself into his arms.

Epilogue

Grace

“Merry Christmas, baby,”Dane murmured in my ear. “I have one more present for you.”

“Is it in your pants?” I whispered back.

He burst out laughing, making everyone else in the living room turn and stare. “Nothing to see here,” he said, then lowered his voice again. “Actually, it’s out in the car.”

I’d already had the best Christmas ever. Last night, we’d taken over Piper’s house for a raucous Christmas Eve, almost too many people joining the celebration to fit. Especially when you added the kids and Stella the dog. Dane and I had brought the champagne and the cheeseboard. Yum.

This morning, I’d woken up next to Dane, and we spent a luxurious half an hour in a bubble bath, kissing and caressing each other until we both were so turned on we couldn’t stand it anymore.

We hadn’t even made it to the bed, Dane taking me up against the dresser beside a full-length mirror. I hadn’t been able to take my eyes off of us as he’d thrust inside me, filling me so perfectly with every stroke. A Christmas gift to us both.

Then an hour later, we met my family at Ashford’s apartment for Christmas breakfast and opening gifts around the tree. Dane was still a mediocre cook, but Callum had taught him how to make a mean pancake. On our last visit to NYC, Dane had bought some kind of rare maple syrup from Canada that was like liquid gold. This morning, he’d passed around the bottle at the breakfast table and brought out French butter, too. Maisie ate six pancakes before Ashford made her stop.

And then, when we were all gathered around the tree, Dane surprised me with a necklace. It had a pendant of the letter G crusted in tiny diamonds. Gorgeous and completely over the top, something I would never dream of asking for. Which somehow made the gift even better.

For Dane, I’d ordered a simple, masculine leather cuff branded with our names and the date we met, the day I’d bumped into him and spilled hot coffee down his front. Mortifying in the moment, yet a memory that never failed to make me smile. And still a running joke between us.

I had more than I could ever have imagined. So much love and laughter and happiness every day. What more could I ask for?

I’d had several more conversations with Grayden in the last couple of months, thanks to Dane tracking him down. My oldest brother wasn’t planning to visit Silver Ridge just yet, not until Ashford and Callum were willing to see him, but I hoped we would get there.

Even work was better than ever. Dane had invested in my bookkeeping business, which helped me hire employees and expand my base of clients. He interacted with all kinds of people as a representative of Knightly Global, and he loved referring new clients to me.

I appreciated everything Dane did for me, and I did my best to show my love in turn in every way I could. But the man was making me look bad. I hadn’t bought anything else for him to open.

I’ll make him a nice dinner, I decided.Followed by a massage and an epic blowjob.

We’d been back in suite 701 since the beginning of the month, after some renovations. Dane’s office looked completely different than it had when Ainsley and Vincent showed up on that fateful night. But neither of us had wanted their actions to dictate where we lived. And there was no question that we wanted to spend every night together.

Besides, I had been tired of living in a hotel room with no kitchen. Dane offered to move with me to the firefighter house, but I declined. Would’ve been funny, though. Seeing my billionaire boyfriend battle for space with four other guys and sharing one bathroom. Except I would’ve had to deal with that too, so yeah, no thanks.

One afternoon, I’d asked Dane if he would rather move back to New York. As much as it would pain me to be away from my family and friends, I would’ve done it. I adored Silver Ridge, but Dane meant even more to me. He assured me that he really did want to stay in Colorado.

I still didn’t want to live in a hotel forever. He’d mentioned buying a house, and it seemed like he was making up his mind about that. Yet being with Dane meant that, no matter where we slept, we were home.

As for the Harcourt sisters, they’d both pled guilty to numerous charges and would soon be calling prison cells home. I thought of them very little these days, and that was how I liked it.

We hung out at Ashford’s a while longer, enjoying a lazy Christmas morning. Emma told me the latest on the wedding plans. The big day was coming up in February, less than two months away, and it promised to be unforgettable. I looked forward to seeing Ayla there, since I hadn’t seen her in person since New York.

Maisie roped Dane into playing with some of her new toys, while I helped clean up the kitchen and grabbed another cup of coffee. After lots of hugs with Emma and my brothers and my niece, Dane and I finally went out to his SUV.

He opened the passenger door for me, giving me a quick kiss before I got in. I glanced eagerly around, playing with the pendant on my new necklace. “Where’s my other present?”

“So greedy. Be patient.”

I stuck my tongue out at him.

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