Epilogue
Lissa sat with her eyes tightly closed as Tank pulled his truck to a stop.
“Can I look yet?” she asked.
“No.”
He turned off the engine and walked around the truck. “No peeking!”
“I’m not peeking.” She shut the eye she’d just tried to crack open.
“You’re totally peeking,” he said, opening her door. “Am I going to have to get strict with you?”
“You start talking dirty like that to me, Big Bear, and there’s no telling what might happen. I could drop my panties right here, and what if the cops should drive by?”
Tank dropped a kiss on her lips, finishing with a tiny bite to her lower lip. Lissa moaned.
He took her by the shoulders and turned her around.
“Okay, now you can open.”
She opened her eyes to see the boarded-up service station. “My old squat!” she said. “How romantic.”
Tank leaned down and kissed the top of her head, grinning.
“Incorrect,” he said. “You’re looking at the new premises of Bearcat Construction, specializing in renovations and tiny house construction.”
Lissa turned and stared at him, eyes wide. “You bought it? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Flynn and I signed the papers a couple of days ago. I wanted it to be a surprise. Flynn is going to renovate and flip regular houses, and I’m going to build tiny ones.”
Lissa turned in a big circle, looking at the yard with new eyes. “This will be perfect,” she said. “Look how huge the parking lot is! You can build the tiny houses right here, and keep model homes here too.”
“That’s what we thought,” Tank said. “The old car repair bays we can turn into a workshop, out of the weather. And let me show you what we’re going to do to the rest of it.”
He led her inside. The front door had been un-boarded, and had a new lock on it. Tank unlocked it and ushered her inside.
Most of the shelves had been cleared from the convenience store area, and some of the drink cases had already been removed. It looked much bigger than it had before.
“Over here we’re going to have a mini-showroom, with samples of finishes and hardware.” He pointed. “Staff desks in the back, and over here, where the kitchen area is, we’re going to have a break room for coffee and stuff.”
Lissa couldn’t suppress a thrill as she looked around the room, envisioning it all. She’d been encouraging Tank to set up his business, but he and Flynn had kept this close to the vest, the sneaky bastards.
He led her down the hallway to the offices. “We’re going to enclose part of the storage room as an office for Flynn. He’ll be out on site most of the time, but he needs someplace to hang his hard hat. And this is my office.”
He pushed open the door of Lissa’s old squat, and she gasped. The old desk and couch were still in there, but the junk had been cleaned up, and the room was full of flickering LED candles. There was an ice bucket with champagne in it next to the couch.
“Not as romantic as real candles,” Tank said, “but I wanted them to be lit when we got here.”
Lissa threw her arms around him. “It’s beautiful,” she said. “Who would have thought, the day I knifed you in the hallway, that someday we’d be mated and you’d be building your dream in this very place.”
“Not me,” Tank said, kissing her slowly and thoroughly. “Come on. Let’s make a toast.”
Tank popped the cork on the champagne bottle and poured two glasses. “What?” he said, noticing Lissa’s expression.
“I saw the label,” she admitted. “I’m trying not to think about how much it cost.” Tank was trying to break her of the habit, but it wasn’t easy.
Tank laughed. “I swiped it from the wine cellar at the cabin,” he said. “Courtesy of Alexander Fucking Grant.”
Lissa raised her glass. “To Alexander Fucking Grant’s incarceration,” she said. “And to Bearcat Construction.” They clinked glasses.
She looked him in the eyes. “I’m so proud of you,” she said softly. He’d come so far in the last couple of months—starting a business, putting down roots, backing up Flynn and being a rock for the rest of the crew to lean on.
“Ooh,” she said, as a thought struck her. “Can I build you a website? Pretty please? I learned some cool new things in the online course I’m taking. I’ll make you a million bucks.”
“Speaking of that…” he looked nervous, and Lissa tried to hide her disappointment. Did he not want her to work on the business?
Tank picked up an envelope and handed it to her.
Lissa frowned at him. “What’s this?”
“Open it and see.”
Lissa opened the envelope. It had “Bearcat Construction” at the top, and began, “Dear Ms. Ramsey.”
Bearcat Construction would like to offer you the position of Marketing Manager, beginning immediately. Salary and benefits are as follows…
Excitement spread through her. “You’re offering me a job? With a salary and everything? Do I get my own desk?”
“Yes, yes, and yes.”
Lissa squealed and bounced on the couch. “I never had a real job, with vacation days and payroll deductions.”
“You know you’re the only person in the entire United States that’s excited about payroll deductions, don’t you?”
“Don’t care. They’re awesome.”
Tank shook his head. “I love you so much,” he said, smiling.
“I love you too. And I love your office.” She gazed around thoughtfully. “You remember what the best thing about this office was?”
He shook his head.
“It has a door that locks.”
“And that’s important because…”
“It’s important because I’m getting the overwhelming urge to seduce my boss on this very desktop. It’s a fantasy of mine, but I’ve never had a boss before, so…”
She moved some candles and hiked herself up on the desk. She was wearing a skirt, and she made sure it exposed most of her thighs.
Tank’s eyes got that smoky look she loved, and the front of his pants started to bulge. He walked over and locked the door, and then he walked back to the desk, slow and predatory. Lissa felt her panties getting wet.
He stopped in front of her and unzipped his pants, shoving his underwear down to expose his cock. He was hard already.
“Is this what you came in for, Ms. Ramsey?” he asked, reaching down and giving it a long, slow stroke.
“Yes,” she said, deliberately licking her lips. “Please.”
He gazed down at her. “I believe your attire is inappropriate for the office.” He reached between her legs and tore her panties off, dropping them on the floor. Holy hell, he could make her desperate for him in two seconds. He gazed down at her, a smile hovering at the corner of his mouth.
“There, that’s better. Now. How do you want it, Ms. Ramsey?” he asked, his voice gravelly and low.
She slid off the desk and turned her back to him, lifting up her skirt to expose her bottom. She heard Tank growl, the sexy growl that made her quiver.
He reached between her legs and slipped his fingers into her slick folds. He stroked, her finding her clit and rubbing her juices all around it, making it more sensitive. She moaned.
Then suddenly he was inside her, hot and hard, one hand holding her hip, the other reaching around to stroke her clit. She was so ready for him, ready for him to fill her up, make her feel loved and wanted and whole.
He was hard and fast, bringing her to the brink as she leaned over the desk, loving every second of it. Within a few minutes her release was crashing over her, her legs shaking.
Tank drew back and turned to sit on the desk, pulling her to straddle his lap. He thrust into her once more, wrapping his arms around her and holding her tight.
She was still limp from her climax, and he held her still, kissing her half-closed eyes, her mouth, raining kisses down her neck.
“You make me crazy, Ms. Ramsey,” he said. “I want you all the time.”
“We’re going to have a hard time getting any work done, then,” she said.
He smiled at her, smoothing back her hair with gentle fingers. “Don’t care,” he said. “I love you so much. I never thought I could be happy again, but you make me happy every day.”
Lissa slid her hands around his shoulders, pressing her cheek against his rough, scruffy one, leaning into his strength as he moved inside her.
Her bear. Hot and sexy, sweet and gentle, fierce and protective. They’d helped each other start over, fight the demons of the past, and put down roots in a new place, with a crew they could count on.
“I love you back,” she whispered to him. “You’re my heart, the best thing in my life.”
He captured her lips, and held her as he took them both to the edge and beyond, in each other’s arms.