Crew’s mind wandered as he lounged next to the fireplace in his living room, reading. The crackling of the wood entertained him more than the novel in his hand. He didn’t much like Emma as a heroine, but he’d taken to reading Jane Austen whenever he missed Harley. He’d read way too much Jane Austen the past four months and he still thought she needed a heavy-handed editor.

Construction naturally slowed down in the wintertime, and by the day before Christmas Eve, Crew was down to three houses under construction. It didn’t matter much financially, as he had plenty saved and numerous projects lined up for the springtime, but it killed him not to be busy. He built lots of concrete sinks and vanities and shipped them around the nation, he visited his friends Ryker and Sadie several times a week, and he bought so many books he had to build another bookshelf in his bedroom to house them all.

He hated to admit he was depressed, but what did he expect with little hope of her ever coming back for good? He lived for their emailed conversations and often wondered why he didn’t just call her and demand to know if she still cared for him, if there was any hope for them.

He knew Ryker had picked her up from the airport earlier this afternoon for Christmas break. He hoped he’d see her, but sometimes he wondered what would that accomplish—just break his heart all over again? Four months of agony and loneliness that no one but a certain brunette beauty could cure, and she obviously had no desire to be his cure. Her emails were always fun, interesting, and intriguing, but she never got close to anything personal and neither did he.

His front door opened and closed. Probably one of his sisters or his mom demanding he come over for Christmas Eve dinner tomorrow. He needed to. It would help to not dwell on the Redlands being together without him. It’d been a hard few months for Ryker and Sadie missing Clint and Harley, but thankfully Harley was there for them now. At least for a couple of weeks.

He put Emma down on the coffee table and stood to greet whoever had walked in. The oxygen whooshed out of him when Harley strode into his great room and pushed the hood of her pink coat away from her face, her dark curls springing everywhere and a huge grin lighting her beautiful face.

“Harley?” he whispered faintly.

“In the flesh.” She did a little bow.

She was really here? Did it mean anything that she’d sought him out? “H-hi. You look good,” he managed to say. She looked awe-inspiring, but his tongue was thick.

Her eyes swept over him. “You look better,” she said.

Her words gave him the encouragement to take a few steps closer. “I …” He couldn’t just lay it all out there—how much he missed her and loved her and never wanted to be apart from her again. If she’d let him, he’d do anything necessary to be by her side. “How’s England?”

“I love it.” She nodded, and his heart sank. She loved it, without him. “But,” she continued, drawling out the word, “it’s missing a certain spark that would help me to truly savor it.”

Crew’s eyes widened, and the way she said “savor” made his neck tingle. “What could England possibly be missing?”

Her eyes sparkled at him. “Where’s your Christmas tree?”

Crew all but felt his neck break from the whiplash. He wanted to know what England was missing. “Too lazy to get one. I’ll spend tomorrow night and Christmas morning at my parents’ anyway.” The truth was he’d been too morose to get a tree. Who wanted to celebrate without Harley?

“Hmm.” She took a couple of steps toward him, but she was looking around at the room. “So my dream house, with my dream guy …” She looked pointedly at him. “But no Christmas decorations to complete the picture?”

Dream guy? Crew swallowed hard and braced himself. It was all he could do to not run and sweep her off her feet. She wouldn’t tease him like this, would she? Harley was a tease, but she wasn’t heartless. He pushed out a shaky laugh. “I could buy some Christmas decorations if it would make you happy.”

“Would you?” She sauntered toward him until she was within touching distance. Crew could smell her delectable vanilla scent, and he could hardly resist her. “You’d do a lot to make me happy, wouldn’t you, Crew?”

He nodded, too stunned to even form words.

She edged in and gently put a hand on his chest. “Would you wait for me?”

He drew in a quick breath and rushed out the words, “Until my teeth fell out, Harley.”

She gave a cute little giggle at that.

Crew couldn’t take it any longer. He put his hands around her lower back and tugged her flush against him. “What’s England missing, Harley?”

She grinned impishly at him, stood on tiptoes, and kissed him. “You.”

Crew held her close to him and returned the kiss wholeheartedly. His body warmed with desire, but the love he felt for her was stronger than anything. She tasted like mint and happiness. She felt like heaven in his arms. Harley was here and he was pretty sure she was saying she loved him.

“So I guess you kind of like me?” he whispered against her lips.

“Not really. You tease me and you make me crazy.” She grinned. “But I do love you.”

Crew got choked up and couldn’t say it back. Harley was kissing him again, so she didn’t seem to care. He kissed her with all the passion he’d been storing up these long, miserable months, lifting her off her feet and carrying her to the sofa.

* * *

Harley was floating. Crew lifted her off her feet but kept kissing her like he’d missed her as much as she’d missed him. She’d been nervous to just walk in his house, but it felt like her dad had been there, pushing her along. Now she was so happy that she couldn’t imagine why she hadn’t done this years ago.

Crew sank down onto the couch and continued to work his magic on her mouth. His hands trailed along her neck and into her hair. The short hair on his face tickled her cheek. She cuddled closer to his strong chest as he tilted her head slightly and deepened the kiss.

Harley dug her fingers into the short curls at the nape of his neck and tried to pull him closer. She couldn’t get enough of him or his kisses. He released her lips and trailed kisses along her chin and down her neck, then came back up to meet her lips again. Harley drank in the feel of his lips and his hands.

Who knew how much time passed when he pulled back and studied her? He looked much too serious as he said, “I wanted to tell you at the airport, but then I missed you and it didn’t seem right to text or call, and I know you thought fate didn’t want us together, but to heck with fate, and then I didn’t want to say it all over the phone, and I didn’t want to come over there and smother you and not let you have your dreams, and I wanted you to have time to get your degree, and …”

It wasn’t like Crew to not be able to get his point across. She could hardly keep up with all of his rambling thoughts. “What did you want to tell me at the airport?”

“I would sell my business and house and move to England for you, Harley. I’d go anywhere for you.”

Harley was stunned. “You’d leave your home? For me?”

He nodded. “I love you, Harley. That’s all that matters. Wyoming’s just a place without you.”

Her heart threatened to burst as he said exactly what she’d come to realize. She kissed him quickly and whispered, “I appreciate that, Crew, but I want to be close to my family as well.”

His eyes widened and his brow wrinkled and he looked irresistibly cute. “You’ve always been so set on England. When did you change your mind?”

“I realized that England, Connecticut, Wyoming, they’re exactly what you just said: they’re all simply locations. I’ve loved every spot I’ve lived in, but without you, without my family, they couldn’t be my home. I was caught up in Jane Austen fantasies and my own childish dreams, but without you, they’re nothing. Jane Austen and traveling the world are black and white to me now. You’re Technicolor and 3D.”

Crew chuckled. He looked so good to her, his blue eyes focused completely on her, his handsome face so welcoming and perfect. She ran her fingers along his beard. Oh, how she’d missed him.

“I’d go anywhere in the world for you, Harley.”

“Good. Because I plan on going on jolly good holidays quite regularly.”

He grinned at her attempt at an English accent. “You’re all that truly matters to me,” he whispered. “You’re my dream, Harley.”

“I know,” she teased, though his words meant the world to her. “And lucky for you, I’m going to make all your dreams come true.” She winked and kissed him again, savoring each touch and his musky cologne. With effort, she pulled back and framed his face with her hands. “Can you wait five more months for me?”

Crew pursed his lips. “I’ll think about it.”

She giggled and said bravely, “I’m thinking a June wedding sounds about right.”

“Oh?” His eyes widened, and her heart threatened to pound out of her chest. “You proposing to me now?”

She grinned. “I’ll give you a chance to do it right with a huge shiny diamond, but I just wanted to make sure we’re on the same page.”

“I’ll turn to any page you want me to be on.”

“Ah, you big sweetie.” He was sweet. He was perfect. “We can get married right here in my dream yard, and then I plan on designing and decorating homes with you and helping you with your marketing and business expansion.”

Crew arched his eyebrows. “Sounds like a dream.”

“It will be.” She kissed him again, and she knew that no childhood pact created by twelve-year-olds could compare to the reality of being with the right man for her. It took her too long to get here, but because of the long, twisted path to love, she appreciated him all the more. Crew was her dream man—debonair, solid, and good.

His kiss became more intense, and she knew love had never tasted so good. It was better than her mama’s sea salt and caramel pecan pie topped with ice cream—savory, sweet, creamy, and something she’d never, ever want to be without.