Page 41 of Cherishing Happily Ever After

“This doesn’t just happen.” She turned and waved a hand with a spatula up and down. “It takes work, you know?”

“Oh, baby. I’ll—”

“Forget it.” She held the spatula out at him to hold him at bay. “Breakfast,” she insisted. “We need food.”

Travis held up his hands with a laugh. “Okay, okay. I’ll behave. But only for a few hours, and then I’m going to show you exactly what myprogramincludes. When I’m finished with you, you won’t need any of those fancy trainers.”

She laughed.

Such a sweet sound.

“Promises, promises.”

It was only one of a million promises Travis would happily make to her. Now that the decision had been made, and they’d crossed that line between them, everything had shifted. And quickly. Including his feelings.

Travis took his coffee out to the porch while she finished cooking. Partly so he wouldn’t continue to distract her, but also so he could think. Never in his life had he felt this way inside.

Warm and…happy.

He laughed at himself. Sure, he’d felt happy before. He wasn’t dead inside. Not at all, but this…this was different. This type of happiness was unlike anything he’d ever felt before. It was both scary and exciting at the same time. He took a deep breath and a sip of coffee.

The creek off the end of the porch that was usually mild and slow moving was more like a river now with all the additional rain. Still, it was far enough away from the cabin that it shouldn’t be a threat. Interesting how much the familiar stream had changed in less than twenty-four hours.His whole life, he’d known it one way and now…

The irony that the stream was a metaphor for his own life struck him as funny, and Travis burst out in a laugh, scaring the puppy, who had found a piece of firewood to chew on. “Sorry, Tink.” He bent down and took the wood away. “I didn’t mean to scare you.” He sat on the deck and the puppy clambered up into his lap and immediately started to lick his face. “I blame you for this,” he said. “Before you came along, it was just me and now…” The dog responded by licking his face again before jumping off his lap and running to the front door. Travis laughed. “And now…” He pushed himself up from the deck. “Well, I’m sure not complaining.” He scratched the dog’s head and opened the door.

Stephanie turned from the stove with a smile on her face.

“About either of you,” he finished and stepped inside.

By the time they finished their breakfast, which had turned into more of a brunch, the rain had stopped completely and the sun had come out.

“It’s still going to be awhile before they can get the bridge sorted out,” Travis warned her. “But maybe we can pull a few—”

“I’m not in a hurry.” She winked across the table at him. “In fact, I can think of worse things than being trapped up here with you for a few days.”

“Or weeks?”

She nodded and licked her lip. “Weeks would be okay.”

“Really?”

“Why are you surprised?” She sat back in her chair. “You don’t think I’d want to spend a week with you alone out here?”

Travis shook his head. “It’s not that.”

His eyelids lowered and he gave her a hungry gaze that instantly sparked a fire low in her belly.

“Not at all,” he continued. “It’s just that I assumed you would have some things to get back to in the city. Don’t you have a movie coming out?”

She shrugged. “I didn’t think you paid any attention to any of that.”

“I don’t.” It was an honest answer, too. As far as Steph knew, Travis didn’t see many movies or read any of the magazines where her life was usually photographed in extreme detail on the glossy pages, or as was more and more the case, on the internet. In fact, he’d never mentioned her career before.

“Well, I think the world can do without me for a few days,” she said.

“Or weeks?”

“Or weeks,” she agreed. “The question is, what are we going to do here all alone for that long?”

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