Instant Temptation
“Stone told you.”
“That you want to temp for us as our new outdoor specialist and photographer? Yeah.”
“Are you okay with that?”
“Do you really have to ask?”
“Actually…” She held her breath, then bent and opened her backpack, pulling out a pencil. “Can I see those? I have a change to make.”
He peeked into her well-organized pack. “Wow. Impressive.”
“You like? A good friend taught me how to organize it.”
His eyes were quiet and assessing. “A good friend?”
“The best kind of friend. My everything friend.” She flipped through the pages to the end. “It occurred to me that I’ve always had a lot of temporary stuff in my life. I’m hoping to change that, and upgrade to a more permanent status.” She erased the “temporary” on her application, then leaned in and wrote permanent. She looked up. “If there’s still a place for me.”
“There will always be a place for you, at Wilder, and in my heart. Turn it over, Harley.”
She felt a little dizzy from his words, and the deep meaning behind them. “What?”
“The application. Turn it over.”
She flipped the pages over. He’d written her name at the top, and then a list of qualifications:
Pro-makes me hot
Pro-makes me smile
Pro-makes me hot
Pro-accepts me as is
Pro-makes me hot
Pro-makes me feel whole
Con-makes me hot
She burst out laughing. “Makes you hot is a con?”
“I couldn’t think of anything bad.”
“Liar.”
He smiled and ran his thumb over her jaw. “Okay, maybe I just like you how you are, faults and all.”
Her breath caught. “Even though I have a hard time putting how I feel into words?”
“You’ve shown me how you feel. In actions.”
Her throat caught. He got her, really got her. She closed her eyes and opened her heart, and for the first time in her life, took a real risk. “You once asked me what was going on between you and me. I never answered you.”
“I know. We’ve been waiting for you to decide.”
“I’ve been a little slow on the uptake,” she admitted. “I didn’t have the words then, but I have the words now.”
He reached for her hand and brought it to his mouth. “Do you?”
“I love you, TJ.” She was a little startled at how easily the words came. “I think I always have.”
He looked stunned, and she took a moment to realize that he hadn’t been sure exactly what she was offering him. And with that, she faced something else. All along she’d understood that she was out of her element, far from her comfort zone when it came to him, but the truth was, he was just as far out of his comfort zone, and just as off balance.
She’d rendered him speechless. Before the smug smile could spread across her face, he’d grabbed her in a crushing hug, burying his face in her neck. There was no sly teasing, no sexy innuendo, nothing but him holding her like he planned to never let her go. “I wasn’t happy in Alaska,” he whispered. “For the first time, I needed out of there.” He pulled back a step and slid his hands up to cup her face so she could see his tender smile. His voice, when it came, was low and gruff with emotion. “It wasn’t home.”
“You’ve been gone from Wishful for much longer before.”
“No. Well, yeah. But that’s not what I’m getting at. I missed you next to me.”
Undone, throat tight, heart pounding, it took her a moment to respond. “Home is being next to me?”
“Now you’re getting there.” His smile warmed her from the inside out. “Yeah, home is being next to you. And on top of you. And underneath,” he murmured. “And buried deep inside…”
With a laugh, she walked back into his arms. And found her own sense of home.
EPILOGUE
Four months later
Harley sat at one of the many decorated tables arranged across the lodge’s expansive back deck. Cam’s and Katie’s wedding reception was in full swing. Guests were dancing, eating, talking, laughing.
It was a beautiful January evening, a cool thirty-four degrees, but there were freestanding heaters at every corner, and no one felt the chill.
Least of all Cam and Katie, locked in each other’s arms in the center of the makeshift dance floor. Stone and Emma weren’t too far away, swaying to the music as well.
Harley sighed in pleasure, enjoying the sense of…peace. She and TJ had just come back from co-guiding a three-week bike trip in Costa Rica. She could still feel the warmth from the long days in the sun.
And the longer nights in TJ’s arms. Oh yeah, that was definitely her favorite part. The way he looked at her, held her, touched her.
As she smiled with the memories, he came back to the table. He’d ditched his tux jacket and tie, had untucked his white shirt, and looked good enough to finish unwrapping and eat for dessert. He held two flutes of champagne, smiling as he handed her one, his eyes filled with heat and affection.
There were no more long treks on the schedule. If any booked, Harley and TJ would probably take them, but for the time being they were back in Wishful. She’d moved into his cabin. During the days, he was working the shorter adventures with his brothers, and she joined in when needed. She was also working for the local forest service on a part-time basis as their wildlife biologist liaison.