Page 3 of Keeping Happily Ever After

The last thing Bella wanted to do after kissing Jeremy one final good-bye on the porch was help her grandfather pack up the house he’d lived in for decades. What she really wanted to do was have a long, hot bath, and curl up in her bed with a good book. Not that she’d even be able to get through a full chapter before falling asleep. She was exhausted, with a type of tired she hadn’t felt in a very long time. The type that permeated through every single cell of her body. But it wasn’t just her muscles that were tired—it was her brain.

The last few weeks had been a whirlwind of meetings, auditions, and sound tests of all kinds. Not that she was complaining. Not at all. All of her dreams were finally coming true, in a huge way. It had only taken a few good words from Stephanie Starz, who not only happened to be the biggest star in all of Hollywood, but was also a new friend, and before Bella knew it, she had a talent agent and more meetings and interviews and auditions in a one-week period than she’d had in her entire career up until then. Never mind the opportunities that had opened up. She’d gone from auditioning for small gigs in smokey basement bars, to having actual auditions and sound checks for major Hollywood casting agents. Her head still spun with how quickly things had changed.

In the living room, Bella stretched her arms over her head as she inhaled a deep breath and filled her lungs. She held the pose for a moment before exhaling slowly and dropping her arms and folding her body in half.

“What on earth are you doing?”

Her grandfather’s voice startled her into breaking the posture.

Bella stood and smiled in his direction before folding over again. “Yoga, Papa. It helps me relax.”

Papa made a snorting noise and Bella stifled a giggle. He was so old school, no doubt he still thought yoga was some sort of new age—

“I never understood that new age hippy bullshit.”

She didn’t even try to hide her laughter this time. Bella burst out laughing and stood tall. With a shake of her head, she moved to kiss her grandfather on the cheek. “You are nothing if not predictable, Papa.”

He frowned and shook his head. “I’m just saying—”

“It’s okay.” Bella moved across the living room. “I love you just the way you are.” And she did. She’d spent far too long away from him and the small town of Glacier Falls, where she used to spend her time as a child. It wasn’t since returning at Christmas that she realized just how much she’d missed it. Of course, reconnecting with Jeremy, who’d been her childhood crush and first kiss, had definitely helped her favorable feelings toward the small mountain town.

Her face heated, at the thought of Jeremy and the way she’d surprised him a few hours earlier.His hands on her skin, his lips on hers. The way his arms caged her in as he—

“Bella?”

She spun around at the touch of her grandfather’s hand on her shoulder and let out a small squeak of surprise before catching herself. She really did need to get some rest if she planned to focus on anything at all.

“Sorry, Papa. I was just thinking about—”

“Oh, I know.” He interrupted her. “You have more important things on your mind than helping an old man.” He didn’t sound upset in any way, but Bella couldn’t help but feel guilty. “I really do appreciate you being here, baby girl. Especially because I know you have your own life to live and it’s an exciting one, to be sure. If you need to take care of business, you go right ahead, Bella. I don’t want to keep you from anything.”

“Papa?” She moved a little so she stood directly in front of her grandfather. He’d always been such a big man. Every summer when she came to spend a few months with him, she remembered thinking that he was the biggest, toughest man she knew. Even though year after year, she got taller and caught up with him a little bit more, he remained a larger-than-life figure in her world. Now in his eighties, he no longer had the strength she remembered, and he’d lost a little of his height, but he still had the same presence of the man who made her feel safe and loved as a child. “There is no place I’d rather be,” she said slowly. “Don’t think for a moment that you are inconveniencing me in any way. I’m just a little tired, but I promise you have my full attention.”

His lips twitched up a little in a smile. “If you’re sure.”

“I’m sure.”

“Okay,” he said slowly. “Because Lydia mentioned she could give me a hand as well, so if you’re ever too busy, or…”

“Oh?” Bella wiggled her eyebrows. “I see what’s happening here. You’re trying to get rid of me so I don’t cramp your style with the lady next door.” She shook her head with a laugh and grabbed a box.

“I didn’t say that.”

She turned and gave him a wink over her shoulder. “You didn’t have to.”

ChapterTwo

Jeremy could have happily spentthe rest of the day in Bella’s bed. Or thinking about Bella. Or dreaming of Bella and the way her mouth made that perfect circle and her eyes squeezed tight when she was climaxing. Oh yes, he could have very happily spent the rest of the day thinking about that moment, or better yet, reliving it. Unfortunately, despite the extended break his chief, Ed Walker, had afforded him, his shift was far from over.

It would only be the memory of Bella in that red negligee, her dark hair falling over her shoulder as she leaned against the doorframe that would be keeping him warm through the rest of the cold February night, because his shift didn’t end until morning. Not that he minded working. Not at all. He loved his job. Serving as a firefighter for his hometown had long been a dream of Jeremy’s. There was literally nothing else he could imagine himself doing for a living.

But that didn’t mean he couldn’t imagine himself in a whole lot of different positions at that very moment with one very sexy, petite brunette.

With a deeply unsatisfied groan—because he knew that was exactly what hewouldn’tbe doing that night—Jeremy pushed up from the easy chair in the station lounge and moved to the restroom, where he let the water run cold.

“Focus, Davis.”

He splashed and scrubbed the icy-cold water over his face and looked up into the mirror at his reflection. There was a permanent grin in place. It had been there since Christmas Eve when Bella returned to town, surprising him and affirming that she, too, felt that there was something developing between them. Something that could be…love? Jeremy chuckled at himself and shook his head. It wasn’t a question. It had never been a question. He was very much falling in love with Bella Burton. Maybe a part of him always had been.

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