Epilogue
Two years later…
Thea set down her charcoal pencil and pushed up from her stool, arching her spine and stretching against the perpetual ache in her back as she critically evaluated her work. Well, perpetual ache as of eight weeks ago.
Rubbing the small of her back, she glanced at the clock. It was well after twelve and she hadn’t stopped for lunch yet. Her stomach grumbled in protest. She removed her smock and hung it on the hook on the wall.
She followed the sounds of hammering outside. Standing on the porch, she held a hand up to shield her eyes. It was a rare sunny day, and she smiled as she caught sight of Niall on the roof of the new house. It should be ready for them to move into next month.
With three bedrooms and two-and-a-half baths, she could invite Gina and her husband to come and stay with them now. Maybe Grams would even pay them a visit, now that she had adjusted to the idea Thea was staying in Scotland forever.
Of course marrying Niall six months after they met had definitely forced Grams to get accustomed to the fact that Thea would only ever be returning home for visits.
That day on the road had changed everything. She had hoped she found something special with him. She had wanted to believe it, had longed to believe in the forever he was offering.
Within the week she knew it for truth.
She was totally, irrevocably in love. And as the days slid to weeks to months, she knew that wasn’t going to change. She wanted him in her life forever.
He proposed to her precisely one week after walking in on her asleep on his couch.
Worried that he might regret it later and come to change his mind, she made him wait. Even though she knew she already loved him, caution from the old fears of her failed relationships made her wait.
She didn’t want him to change his mind. She couldn’t live through that again, not this time with a man who really mattered to her, with a man she really loved. It would be unendurable.
He’d proposed every day for three months until she finally said yes.
He loved her. He wanted her. And he wasn’t going to change his mind. They were married three months later in a beautiful spring wedding. The Highland heather was in wild bloom outside the village church. Gina, her grandmother, her cousin, aunt, and a few other close friends flew over for the occasion.
And here she was. Married to a six-foot-four surly Scot who made love to her every night (often in the day too) and whose smiles were reserved for her alone. A year and a half later and still no regrets. Still blissfully happy. Even the worst day here was better than any day she’d had before.
She leaned back against the front door. He was shirtless as he worked. She admired the play of his muscles as he pounded the hammer, and she felt the familiar stirrings. She would never grow tired of that sight. Never not feel this arousal, not feel this love.
Her stomach growled again, reminding her of the reason she came out here.
“Niall,” she called, waving at him. “Want some lunch?”
He looked up. Even across the distance she could make out the grin on his face. He climbed off the roof, swinging down and landing on his feet on the new porch deftly.
He strode across to where she stood, pressing a hard kiss to her lips and tweaking her nose. “You’ve smudged some charcoal there.”
“Oh.” She rubbed at it with the back of her hand. She’d been painting local landscapes for the previous year and selling them to shops in the surrounding villages. They were very popular among tourists.
Her landscapes brought in a tidy little sum every month. Her hand drifted to her stomach. Due to recent developments, she’d put aside her acrylic paints for pencil and charcoal. It was a happy sacrifice and only temporary. She was quite enjoying the new medium anyway.
This life was more than she ever hoped for. She was in love and loved in return. And painting again.
And—
“How’s our wee one here?” Niall bent down and pressed a kiss to her belly.
Four months ago she had her IUD removed. It hadn’t take very long to get pregnant. No surprise, she supposed. They did practice quite a lot.
“Famished,” she replied.
He straightened and wrapped an arm around her waist, hauling her against me. “Then we better feed you.”
Lifting her off her feet, he carried her into the house. She fanned her fingers against his hard shoulders, damp with sweat. “And perhaps after lunch, you can take a break.”
“A break?” His eyes gleamed down at her in amusement. He knew what break was code for. Rarely did a day pass without a break.
“You know, wife, this house would have probably been finished three months ago if I took less breaks.”
She grinned. “Are you sorry? Should I stop suggesting them?”
He claimed her mouth in a slow, searing kiss, his hand drifting down to palm and squeeze her ass. He pulled back to growl against her lips, “Don’t you dare. I don’t regret a single break. I see a long future ahead of us with many such breaks.”
She sighed happily, not doubting that for a moment. She saw their future too. And it was this.
It was beautiful.
* * *
I hope all of you loved Thea and Niall’s story. It was largely inspired by my trip to Scotland. As I traveled through that beautiful country, I kept imagining an American getting abandoned by a tour bus and ending up at some sexy Scot’s cottage. It was so much fun to write this story as a modern-day Goldilocks.
If you enjoyed it, you can read more of my sexy contemporary romances in my Devil’s Rock series. Start with ALL CHAINED UP:
“Off-the-charts hot and emotionally charged! Get ready for these sexy-as-sin ex-cons to take you on a wild ride!”
(NYT bestselling author Elle Kennedy, praise for The Devil’s Rock series)
“I read the gritty, sexy as hell, addictive story in one sitting!”
(#1 New York Times Bestselling Author Kresley Cole)
There are bad boys and then there are the men of Devil’s Rock . . .
Some men come with a built-in warning label. Knox Callaghan is one of them. Danger radiates from every lean, muscled inch of him, and his deep blue eyes seem to see right through to Briar Davis’s most secret fantasies. But there’s one major problem: Briar is a nurse volunteering at the local prison, and Knox is an inmate who should be off-limits in every way.
Knox feels it too—a shocking animal magnetism that drives him to risk his own life to protect Briar’s. Paroled at last, he tries to resist her. She’s too innocent, too sweet, and she has no idea what Knox is capable of. But a single touch can lead to a kiss—and a taste . . . until the only crime is denying what feels so right . . .
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