“…live at Mirror, Mirror Inc. Alex?” the announcer said.
I bolted up and Dan groaned in protest.
“Hang on!” I cried. “That’s Alex. Turn it up!”
The TV had everyone’s attention now and I inhaled sharply as my friend’s heart-shaped face appeared on screen.
“Thank you, Tina. As you can see, I’m in front of Mirror, Mirror Incorporated, a company that has been long affiliated with helping the environment but have they really?” Alex started and I squealed in delight.
The sly dog hadn’t mentioned a word of this to me!
“In the background, you can see the EPA and FBI are raiding Mirror, Mirror’s headquarters under suspicion of fund misappropriation, conspiracy and environmental charges. There have been reports from both inside the company and independent sources that Mirror, Mirror has been using their wholesome image to cover chemical testing. While the investigation is still ongoing, witnesses say that there may be more charges associated with this scandal, including involuntary manslaughter and attempted murder from the damage the testing has caused to locals in secret testing areas. Back to you, Tina.”
I gasped, my hand flying to my mouth in disbelief.
“Wow,” Graham muttered, muting the volume. “That’s something, isn’t it?”
“She cracked the story!” I cried, clapping my hands together. “She’s on TV!”
I’d never been so proud of Alex and I went to move for my cell phone but I was blocked four ways.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Jim wanted to know. “It’s Christmas Day, you know?”
“It is?” I asked in mock surprise, laying back down. “What does that mean?”
“It means,” Dan purred, picking back up where he left off. “It’s the season for giving.”
“Mmm,” I sighed. “I like the sound of that.”
But no sooner did things get started did a wail come through on the baby monitor and a collective groan filled the room—from everyone but Seth who suddenly popped his head up from his sleep.
“I’ll get him!” he cried, rolling off the bed and we laughed as he scampered toward Tanner’s room.
“He can sleep through a tornado but the second Leo cries…” I mused. A strange lull followed my words and I looked at them in confusion.
“Was it something I said?”
“Maybe that’s because Tanner’s his son,” Bash offered timidly. My smile broadened.
“Yes,” I agreed. “He is. Just like Tanner is your son and mine. He belongs to all of us. Never forget that.”
A wry smile formed on Bash’s lips.
“One day, we’ll have to explain our living situation to a landlord, you know,” he teased and I snickered.
“I’ll just download ‘Three’s Company’ for whomever asks and explain inflation.”
There was another round of laughter and again, I was pulled under the blankets but this time, my boys were going to give me the Christmas present I so desperately wanted.
Them.
- The End -
Author’s Note
Dear reader, I want to take a moment to personally thank you for taking the time to read my book.
Snow and the Seven Men is a book I've wanted to write for so long, and I'm SO excited to finally bring it to you.
They say “Every girl deserves a fairytale ending”, and with this book, I want to encourage you to look for your own HEA. It’s out there, and if you haven’t found it, you will find it soon.
I hope you have enjoyed reading this book as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it. Seriously, I had so much fun writing this one!
I almost didn’t make it, with all I had to do for the holidays this year. (This year I’m responsible for coming up with some fun ideas for Christmas Eve and I literally had to write a list of ideas and send it to mom…)
But somehow, I finished my first reverse harem romance, and it’ll be the last book I release in 2018. :)
If this book made you smile in any way, please do a girl a favor and leave a review on Amazon! I would be so excited to read your review. I love reading them as they are one of my biggest motivations to continue doing what I love: telling stories.
If you want to find something to read after this one, I would recommend you to check out A Weekend with the Mountain Man. It’s also very adventurous and perfect for Christmas. If you need something to binge read, then Love, Again: A Second Chance Romance Collection is exactly what you need.
Don’t forget to Sign Up to my newsletter to be the first one to know about my new releases!
Love,
Nicole
Read an Excerpt from A Weekend with the Mountain Man
Blurb
One look at Eloise and my whole world f*cking turned upside down.
My cabin in The Black Mountains is where I belong, where I have been my whole life.
Until the blonde beauty showed up.
Scared.
Alone.
And f*cking stunning.
So I brought her back to my cabin of solitude.
She is a goddess that makes my heart race.
I can’t resist her innocence, or her luscious lips.
I need to taste her, possess her, and feel her under my chest.
But someone else wants her forever too.
And I’ll be d*mned if I let that b@stard take her from me.
Eloise is mine now, and I'll protect her no matter what.
Prologue
ELOISE
I heard them whispering but their voices carried despite their low tones.
What were they doing out there in the middle of the night anyway?
I wasn’t mean to hear what they were saying but how could I not? My instinct told me something was different. I had felt “it” coming for days after all.
What “it” was, I couldn’t say for certain.
“It” had existed somewhere in the back of my mind for as long as I could remember, knowing the day was coming but not understanding what it meant.
But how did I know it was here?
Perhaps it was the way my mother smiled at me almost placatingly or the way Sir eyed me with special interest.
Maybe it was Lucy being extra bitter toward me or the panic in Jillian’s eyes.
Whatever the reason, I knew the change was coming and it filled me with dread.
“What are you doing here, Eloise?”
I jumped at the sound of Randolph’s voice at my back and I whirled to smile at him weakly, skirts swirling at my calves.
“I thought I heard something,” I fibbed, darting my dark eyes downward so he wouldn’t read the lie in them. “I just came to investigate.”
“It was probably a coyote,” he told me, grabbing my arm and spinning me away from the tree line. “You shouldn’t be out here alone at night. We’ve already lost three sheep in two weeks.”
But it wasn’t the coyotes which concerned me.
Coyotes were natural creatures which behaved in predictable ways. They did not instill fear in me the way some of my human counterparts did.
Reluctantly, I allowed Randolph to lead me back toward the house but I couldn’t resist glancing over my shoulder as if I would catch one more word.
It wasn’t as if I understood what was being said anyway but maybe if I could hear one more thing…
“The temperature is dropping,” Randolph told me, releasing my arm abruptly, no doubt worried that someone would see him touching me. “And you aren’t even wearing a coat.”
“I did not intend to stay out long,” I replied quickly, wondering if he suspected that I had been trying to listen.
I hoped not; he was apt to run back to Sir and tell him what I had been up to and a flogging would be inevitable.
There was nothing I could do about it now.
I hadn’t been careful enough. I was growing reckless in my mounting unrest.
We continued the rest of the short trek in silence, Randolph leaving me at the door and turning to
leave before anyone saw him.
For as much as he prided himself on being the keeper of order, he knew that if Sir caught him on the women’s property, he would be severely punished.
No man was allowed there.
No man except Sir, of course.
Without a word, Randolph disappeared into the darkness, not even the bright light of the half-moon making his lanky form visible.
There was not a cloud in the sky on that cold October night, making the atmosphere seem even more frigid somehow.
Or maybe that was just my heart running on ice.
I stood on the unstable porch, not wanting to create a creak with my feet lest I arouse the attention of the others.
As Randolph had said, the air had turned and I could see my breath coming out in short puffs of steam as I tried to make sense of what I had heard in the woods moments earlier.
Perhaps I had misunderstood.
“Eloise! What on God’s earth are you doing out here?”
I cringed inwardly and turned to face Lucy.
Was everyone meant to see me that night?
“I am just taking some air,” I replied but she didn’t seem to accept that as an excuse.
“You shouldn’t be out here. Come inside before you catch a chill. We can’t afford for you to get sick, not now.”
The hairs on my arms rose at the words and I wondered what that meant.
Why not now? What is so different than any other time?
But as I followed Lucy back inside, grateful that the days of her cupping my ear were long over.
The words I heard in the woods came flittering back into my mind.
I forced myself not to think about it, even though I had been so eager to hear earlier.
“Off to bed. It’s late and you need to be well-rested,” Lucy instructed.
Swallowing the half dozen questions which sprung to my mind, I lowered my blonde head and hurried past her to climb the stairs to my room in the attic.
“Eloise,” Lucy called and I paused, my heart rate escalating slightly as I turned to look at her.
“When you rise, you are to bathe immediately. Margaret will dress you.”
My honey colored eyebrows knit together as I stared at her with perplexed coffee eyes.
It was not bath day and even if it was, never would I bathe in the morning.
Alarms seemed to be sounding in my mind as I debated whether to ask the question aloud.
“Is tomorrow different than any other day?” I asked timidly. It was not in my nature to ask questions of my elders, especially not Lucy whose tongue was sharper than the wood-splitting ax.
“Do as you’re told, girl!” she snapped. “And do not let me catch you outside again in the middle of the night. The coyotes are on the prowl.”
She spun toward her own room on the main floor near the kitchen, leaving me to stare after her, gulping back the lump in my throat.
My instincts had been right.
Something was happening, something I didn’t understand.
I slowly took the steps up to the third floor, my mind racing as I wondered about the next day.
“It is time.”
That was what Sir had said in the woods and the words had filled me with dread for some inexplicable reason.
Time for what? What does it mean?
I would find out the next day but sleep would not come easily for me that night.
And coyotes or not, I had the insurmountable desire to flee into the mountains.
But why? What could I possibly be so scared of?
I had no idea.
1
Harding
The howling was driving me nearly to the edge and I flipped onto my back, pressing the pillow over my ears.
It had been going on for ten minutes and whatever it was out there, had to be gone by now, didn’t it?
“Rufus, if I have to come out there, I’m gonna feed you to the fucking coyotes, I swear on your life!” I roared, my ears ringing from the mutt’s ongoing diatribe.
When my favorite hound did not stop his mournful wailing and groaning, I shoved aside my sleeping bag, throwing my legs off the bed and looking around for my slippers.
At that moment, I couldn’t remember why I liked that damned dog so much.
The temperature had dropped substantially in the few hours since I had gone to bed but I rather liked it that way; the fresh air filled my lungs even though the fireplace had crackled down to only a few glowing embers.
I would put a log back on when I returned.
Shit, I might even put Rufus on if he kept this up.
Clayton joined Rufus’ noise and suddenly, I felt my skin prickle with worry.
Rufus was known for his caterwauling but Clayton needed a special reason to make his voice heard.
It had to be a persistent coyote. They had been a bigger pain in the ass than usual this autumn.
I snatched my loaded hunting rifle from the gun rack in the living room and pushed open the screen door, my steel green eyes adjusting to the darkness.
“Come!” I instructed the mutts and they instantly appeared at my side through the inky blackness.
I could see little else and with Rufus still grunting and whining, I couldn’t hear any signs of life in the trees.
“Rufus, shut up!” I growled, running a hand through the scruff on my face. I was sure it was some sort of wildlife out there but you could never be certain, even in my remote area of the Black Mountains.
Not that I was concerned for my safety.
I had a small arsenal at my disposal and despite the sucky nature of my dogs, they were trained to kill first and ask questions later.
Or at least they were in theory. I had never really had occasion to test their killer commands.
I had ever had any issues in the past but one could never be too sure.
You always see those poor assholes on the news who say, “we never had any problems before.”
I didn’t want to be one of those assholes.
Suddenly, Rufus stopped barking and sniffed the air as if trying to sense whatever it was which had gotten him going.
I eyed the mutt and he cast me a sidelong, sheepish look.
“Well?” I demanded. “All done now?”
He dropped his eyes and sighed.
Chuckling, I leaned forward to scratch his black head, slipping the gun over my shoulder by the strap.
“Can I go back to bed now?”
As if to give his consent, he started in the door first, Clayton already having gone ahead.
By the time I threw another couple logs on the fire and put my rifle back in place, the dogs had claimed my spot on the bed.
“Oh come on!” I grunted, shaking my head. “Move the hell over!”
They ignored me, closing their eyes in unison so I was forced to shove them toward the foot of the double bed, knowing full well that they would just take over while I slept.
I see why female dogs are called bitches, I often thought. They take over your bed and leave you in the cold with nothing.
It wasn’t really a fair assessment
Most of the dogs I’d had were warmer than the women I’d known. It seemed unfair to lump them together in the same category.
Sighing, I closed my eyes and stretched out to the best of my ability, my toes digging into Clayton’s ribs as he sprawled elongated across the foot of the bed and tried to regain the blissful sleep which had consumed me before Rufus had started his symphony of warning.
I was on the day shift these weeks and after coming off two months of nights, it was already hard enough to get my body in synch without the hounds keeping me awake.
Blissfully, I found myself slipping back into slumber with little sheep counting.
Maybe this weekend wouldn’t be so bad, even if I had to work it.
The double time pay was going to make it more than worth it.
I felt myself drifting off as I thought about the new extension I was working on for the cabi
n.
No sooner had I reached my REM state did both dogs start, causing me to jump at the same time.
Guttural noises erupted from their throats in unison and my body tensed.
Something was out there, I had no doubt.
Again, I jumped from the bed and the dogs followed me as I once more reached for my weapon, flicking on the floodlight outside the cabin.
As I stepped onto the porch, I gazed around the property, looking for the slightest movement in any direction but I could see nothing.
Like the dogs, however, I could sense a presence.
“Get the fuck out of here!” I growled into the night, raising the gun to my shoulder as I waited for whatever beast was out there to show itself.
Both Clayton and Rufus were vibrating at my side and I knew that we couldn’t all be imagining it.
I fired a warning shot out into the sky, hoping that whatever it was would run scared.
As the sound echoed through the mountains, a flutter of birds squawked in protest at being woken in the middle of the night but I still saw nothing else.
Slowly, my canines seemed to relax and after another minute, it became clear that whatever was lurking about had retreated through the ravine and away from my cottage.
Still, I was reluctant to venture off the wraparound porch.
It was rare to have such an insistent animal lurking about and I wracked my brain trying to understand what had drawn it to the property.
Every night I burned my food waste, knowing that the wildlife could sense it from a distance and that evening had been no different.
I didn’t want a nosy black bear wandering by after all and no matter how loud Rufus could be, he was no match for one of those.
I wondered what it was that night and why it was so eager to stay near.
Black bears were not nocturnal.
It had to be a coyote.
Whatever it was had disappeared again, my suspicion solidified by my now yawning dogs who padded their way back inside once more, leaving me to stand guard outside.
Snow and the Seven Men: A Reverse Harem Fairy Tale Romance Page 14
