I’m not sure how we managed it, but somehow we kept both being lovers and living together under wraps for the last few months.
And here it was, now mid-December.
Everything between us had fallen into place. Not so easily at first. It took a little time and patience, but we achieved it.
Of course we still hit bumps in the road. But nothing we couldn’t handle by working together to get past it.
Chase and I, Timber and Onyx, made up our little family. Others might think it untraditional, but it was perfect for us.
I manned the bookstore and wrote there during the week, while Chase continued to pen his novels at the cabin. On the weekends, we both put our writing aside and went hiking, swimming and even took day trips.
After coming home one evening and finding two shiny new four-wheelers in a shed Chase had delivered a few weeks prior, we also began riding around the property. Having the dogs follow along burned off some of their pent-up energy. We even added platforms on the back of the four-wheelers and once tired, the dogs would hitch a ride.
They loved every second of it. So did we.
Purchasing those two ATVs hardly made a dent in Chase’s most recent book advance. I guessed those were the perks of hooking up with a famous author who sold millions of copies of his books.
He was always cautious when it came to mentioning the royalties he made, but he quickly learned I wasn’t jealous of his success. If anything, I was proud of him. I only wanted the best for him, no matter what it was.
I glanced around the bar, packed full with every local in the area. Unless someone was sick, everyone made an effort to show up at one point or another during the evening, even if they couldn’t stick around for very long.
An extensive food buffet was set up, colorful blinking lights filled the bar’s interior and a fully decorated Christmas tree sat in a corner. Beer and drinks flowed freely and the song choices included a mix of both holiday and regular tunes. The music had to be loud to be heard above the din of voices since gossip, news and personal views were being shared at every table and in every corner.
When my gaze swept over the crowd, it landed on Chase working his way through and around small groups of gathered people on his return from the restroom. He’d get pulled to a stop here and there with people greeting him or wanting to know how his latest book was coming.
He would smile and nod, shake hands and give some of the women or girls a requested hug. If he was uncomfortable doing any of that, he hid it well.
When he finally made it back to the small high table where I sat waiting for him, the first thing he did was pick up his pint glass. I couldn’t pull my attention from his thickly corded throat when it undulated as he swallowed down half of his draft beer.
“Too much peopling already?” I teased.
“It can be a bit much,” he admitted and brushed away a fleck of foam caught on his upper lip.
He no longer looked like a wild lumberjack. His hair was back to being trimmed on a regular basis and his face clean-shaven so he’d look neat and professional. I kind of missed the rugged mountain man look. His PR team didn’t.
What I would not allow him to trim was his chest hair, no matter how much he complained about it being too hot. I’d be bummed if I couldn’t get lost in that thick rug every night. It made the formerly grumpy grizzly bearably cuddly.
“What are you grinning about?”
I lifted my gaze from his neck to his face. “Nothing.”
He gave me a look that clearly said he didn’t believe me. No surprise. I shrugged.
His mouth opened and quickly snapped shut when Dolly materialized out of nowhere to stand next to him. She squeezed Chase’s shoulder. “I’m so glad to see you here, Chase!”
“I’m glad to be here.”
I raised an eyebrow and cleared my throat. Now I didn’t believe him.
The mayor’s wife turned toward me. “You told me you were bringing a date!”
Oh shit. Here we go… “I did.”
“Well, handsome, where is she? I can’t wait to meet her. I promise we won’t scare her off.”
Of course they wouldn’t. That would be impossible.
“He is right here,” I announced, flipping a hand toward Chase.
He turned into a concrete statue right before my eyes.
Dolly clicked her tongue. “I thought you meant a real date. I was hoping you finally found someone.”
Several times, we had discussed “coming out” to the locals, we just hadn’t discussed when. He was leaving it to me to decide. I figured tonight was the perfect opportunity. It would be better if they saw and heard the truth directly from us instead of learning a twisted version from the local phone tree.