Once Upon a Lumberjack

by Dallen, Maggie

  He tilted her chin up and pressed a soft kiss to her lips. “Scary stuff, huh?”

  He didn’t have to elaborate. She nodded vehemently. “Super scary.”

  She kissed him and he savored the feel of her lips on his. He could savor the feel of her all day and all night. He grinned as it really started to dawn on him that this was just beginning.

  There was no end date, no time limit. No kiss allotments. They had all the time in the world to figure this out and to make this work.

  She pulled back and returned his smile. “It’s scary,” she said, picking up their conversation where they’d left off pre-kiss. “But it’s also kind of amazing.”

  He cupped her face in his palms so he could see her, see all of her. Every little bit of this precious human who had turned his life upside down and given it a whole new meaning.

  “It is,” he said between kisses. “It is absolutely amazing.”

  Epilogue

  Interestingly enough, Kat seemed to have her best ideas while cuddled up next to Bryce. Just one more perk to being married to the love of her life, she decided.

  Now, as she stared at the paperwork on the side table next to Bryce’s king-size bed at the lodge, she couldn’t seem to stop her brain from going into overdrive.

  It was planning, obviously, but the good kind. Bryce still hadn’t convinced her to live one hundred percent by following her intuition, because honestly… that was nuts.

  It led to things like buying a cable news station that one didn’t particularly need nor want. But, as Bryce would point out, owning the station had helped him branch into a whole new world of communications, and his company was thriving.

  So was CRBO, apparently. Minus Todd. He’d still been let get and for a ton of reasons, not the least of which was that he was a pervy turd.

  Bryce shifted beside her, mumbling sleepily as one of his large, warm hands moved over her belly, gripping her waist and tugging her closer so he could snuggle her like she was a teddy bear.

  Grinning, she shifted slightly to accommodate the new cuddle position, but her eyes never left the manila folder on the end table.

  “Aren’t we sleeping?” His sleepy low rumble made her shiver.

  She shook her head. “I can’t sleep. I’m still celebrating.”

  “Mmm.” He murmured. “Celebrating without me?” His voice was teasing, she could hear him waking as he shifted to look up at her.

  “I couldn’t sleep in,” she admitted, tapping her temple. “Too many ideas.”

  He shifted into a sitting position beside her. “I can’t believe I married a woman who’s more of a morning person than I am.”

  She laughed as she rested back against his chest, his arms wrapping around her.

  “What are we celebrating this morning?” he asked as his lips grazed her shoulder in a kiss that made her shiver. “The successful wedding? The honeymoon with your favorite husband…?”

  She laughed at his teasing and he pulled his head back so he could meet her gaze. “You know we could have a second honeymoon. I still do want to take you to Paris, or maybe South Africa, or—”

  She cut him off with a kiss. He’d offered to take her anywhere in the world after their small wedding with their closest friends and family, but Kat had opted to return to the scene of the crime, as it were. The place where she’d first fallen in love.

  For one thing, the place held a special place in her heart since it was where they first met. And it also gave her a chance to see through her New Years resolution of expanding her comfort zone.

  To that end, she’d decided perhaps nature deserved a second chance.

  “We’ll have plenty of chances to travel to all of those places,” she reminded him. “But for now, I’m glad we didn’t go too far from home.” She picked up the manilla envelope which had arrived at the lodge the day before. “I have a lot of work to do.”

  He chuckled beside her as she eyed the folder, unable to take her eyes off it like it was a newborn baby or something. In some ways, it felt just as miraculous.

  She had formed a company. All her own. Never in her wildest dreams, or even in her most grandiose planning, had she ever thought that this could be possible. Her big plans had always involved working for others—climbing that corporate ladder until she got the corner office in the sky.

  But now… She grinned at the paperwork, reveling in the feel of Bryce’s arms around her. Now, she was in such a better place than she ever could have imagined.

  And all because she’d thrown her plans to the wind. And made new ones. Obviously. It wasn’t like she was going to completely change her personality, and she liked plans, dang it. But her new husband had opened her eyes to a new way of looking at things and she was fairly certain she was rubbing off on him as well.

  Despite his initial protests, he’d actually come to like her weekly to-do lists, especially once she’d started to incorporate date nights into the agenda. Aside from which, he’d been forced to reevaluate his jet setting ways a bit and, though she’d told him she was just fine with him traveling to all his many homes, he’d decided that he wanted a bit more structure in his life.

  They’d come up with a compromise that let them travel together, but they kept their home base in New York.

  After all, if she was going to run a headhunting firm, she’d need to be there.

  It was perfect, really. She ran a hand over the envelope as she rested her head on Bryce’s chest. A headhunting firm that specialized in placing the irreplaceable. From her circle of friends, she’d learned one thing. Well, many things, but only one that was relevant to this new business.

  Even the most artistic people needed to pay rent. And that was where she could help.

  She grinned even as her eyes closed against her will. Maybe she could steal Emma Lazarus’s poem as her motto. Give me your actors, your painters, your struggling musicians yearning for benefits…

  Her success placing Bart had been her first taste of what she could do if she combined her skills in sales with her passion for people who had more artistic talents than her. Which, let’s be honest, was pretty much everyone she knew.

  She might not be artsy, but she appreciated those who were. Her practicality made it impossible to ignore their plight. Some needed jobs that could give them flexibility to audition or tour the country. She could find that. Some just needed a steady gig that didn’t make them want to jump out the window at the end of the day. She could do that too.

  She was currently offering temp services as well as permanent, and her roster of clients was growing so rapidly, she’d been anxious to get the official paperwork confirming her business license and all that jazz.

  But now, she was official.

  She was going into business for herself and for the people she cared about. Finally, she’d be selling something she truly believed in—people. Their talents, their time, their energy.

  She dropped a kiss on his chest as he toyed with her curls, yawning loudly as he woke fully.

  Thanks to his idiotic gallantry, she’d been forced out of her comfort zone. And thanks to his irritating, but lovable insistence that she listen to her gut and trust her heart, she’d come up with a whole new plan. One that gave her a sense of rightness she hadn’t known was possible in the world of sales.

  “Happy, my love?” he asked softly.

  She tilted her head back to meet his warm, loving gaze. “Happier than I ever knew I could be.”

  “Good.” He dropped a kiss onto her lips. “So am I.”

  She sighed as he held her tight. The only thing that could make her happier would be to see her two best friends find their own happily ever afters.

  * * *

  Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed, reviews are greatly appreciated. And if you’d like to see Yvette find her match, check out the next book in the series, Once Upon an Earnest Nerd.

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  About the Author

  MAGGIE DALLEN IS a big city girl living in Montana. She writes romantic comedies in a range of genres including young adult, historical, contemporary, and fantasy. An unapologetic addict of all things romance, she loves to connect with fellow avid readers. Subscribe to her newsletter at http://eepurl.com/bFEVsL