Clete chuckled. “I’ve been telling you two that you need to get out more.”
Hawk stood. “Speaking of getting out, I would like to take Bella out today if that’s okay with both of you.”
She had no idea what that involved, but she was game. “I hope it’s via a car.” It snowed there yesterday.
“We can take your car.”
“Works for me.”
Hawk had told her they’d be doing some hiking and to wear appropriate clothing.
She took little time to dress. “I’m ready.”
Hawk cocked an eyebrow. “You do know you’ll get hot when you hike.”
That might be true, but she didn’t want to chance getting cold. “I can always remove a piece of clothing.”
“Suit yourself.” He picked up a backpack and handed her a Nalgene bottle filled with water. “I’ve got another daypack in the garage you can use.”
There seemed to be a lot more pep in her step when she left. Given the intense lovemaking session this morning, she was surprised she had any energy. She debated asking where they were going, but even she wanted it to be a surprise.
It wasn’t long before he parked at a trailhead. “You ready?”
“How long is the hike?”
“Forty-five minutes maybe.”
She could handle that. Hawk seemed to hold back for her sake, but it didn’t take long to realize she needed to get in shape. Despite jogging every day, living in flat Florida did not prepare her for the hills.
Ten minutes into the hike, Hawk stopped. “Drink some water. We’ll take a break.”
She wanted to say she could make it, but the blood beating against her temple told her she wouldn’t mind resting. “Thanks.” She drank some water, and he helped put back the bottle in her pack.
This time, she paced herself a little better and was less winded when they reached what looked like the top.
“Give me your hand. It can get a little slippery.”
She held on tight and let him guide her through some brambles. After ducking under some limbs, the way cleared. A large granite slab appeared that overlooked a mountain range.
“This is incredible.” Words couldn’t describe the feeling of being so high up. The air was cold and the wind brisk, but she didn’t mind. The view from Clete’s ridge was lovely. Up here, she could see for maybe a hundred miles.
He pulled out two foldable stadium-like seats. “Let’s sit.”
She squatted and slid onto the seat. From the way Hawk’s face had relaxed, this must be a special place. It commanded silence. For the next fifteen minutes, they watched the hawks fly by. A few butterflies flitted in the air and landed on the rock.
As Hawk held her hand, a strange peace descended around her. Then something magical happened. A hawk landed on the rock and watched them. It was as if there was a connection between the man and the bird.
Nobody moved. A full minute passed before the bird took flight again. Hawk let out a long breath and smiled.
“What just happened?”
“I’ve never brought anyone here. It’s my special place where I get my answers.”
“From God?” They’d never talked about religion.
“Don’t know. Could be a spirit god, or it could be nothing. What I do know is that when I found out you were gone and I came up here, the universe was off-kilter. No hawk landed. I knew then that I had to change.”
“Is that when you decided to come look for me?”
“Yes.” He leaned over and kissed her lightly as if to seal the deal, and to set their love in stone.
Her heart melted, and she knew she’d made the right decision coming back to Montana.
He held her hand for a while then pulled out some PowerBars. “Eat one. We need the energy.”
She’d enjoyed her time on the rock so much that she hated to leave, but she knew Hawk had a lot of bikes to fix.
When they got back to the house, Raven was rushing around the garage, gathering a lot of paperwork.
“What’s up?” Hawk asked.
“You won’t believe this.”
“What?”
He waved an envelope. “I got a letter from the Harley-Davidson corporate headquarters. Seems someone sent in some of my sketches on my new designs.” He looked over at Bella and grinned. “They want to fly me out to Kansas City, Missouri, and have me work as a consultant.”
She’d sent in the drawings because she wanted Raven to be able to live his dream, but she never expected he’d be moving. “You’d leave us?”
Raven had her in her arms in a heartbeat. “No. Never. I can work from here. Once a month, I’ll be traveling to Kansas City. That’s all. I’d never leave you.”
His thorough kiss convinced her he was here to stay.
“Then I need to get to work.”
Raven stilled. “Doing what?”
“If I recall, we never got to cut your birthday cake. I need to make another one.”
Hawk wrapped a possessive arm around her waist. “This time, all of us will be there.”
For her, life couldn’t get much better.
* * * *
It was getting close to Christmas, and after six weeks of being outside in the snow, she expected to have lost a few fingers and toes to frostbite. To her delight, she found that if she dressed properly, the cold weather didn’t bother her much. In fact, she seemed to have more energy than in humid Florida. Who knew?
The last few weeks especially had been hectic. She and the men had decorated the house for the holidays, but it mostly fell to her and Clete to get ready for the annual CK Ranch party. Then there was finding time to buy gifts for her men.
She’d showered and changed into a dress, ready for the tonight’s festivities. The first guests to arrive were the men who lived on Clete’s ranch, Matt and Clay. She hadn’t seen much of them since her return, but when she had run into them, they’d been as nice as could be. It didn’t hurt they were major eye candy. Some woman would be lucky to land those two.
All three of her men rushed out, and her throat turned dry. “Oh, my. Don’t you all look handsome.”
None of them had ever looked better. Even Raven wore slacks. Okay, he did have a Harley T-shirt under his button-down shirt, but he appeared more mainstreamed than usual. Hawk was spectacular in his tailored pants, polished boots, and fitted shirt. As always, Clete was well-groomed. He was the most sophisticated of the group.
All three men made a beeline toward her and gave her a group hug. Then one by one they kissed her.
Clete squeezed her waist. “Let me get our guests something to drink.”
Within an hour, the party was in full swing. A few of the ladies brought some special desserts, ranging from fudge to ginger cookies to a lemon meringue pie.
Clete stepped in the middle of the group. “May I have your attention?”
The group took a while to settle down. She had no idea what he needed to tell everyone.
He walked to the end of the crowd and faced them. “I wanted to present an early Christmas gift to our newest addition to the family.” He lowered his gaze and looked over at her.
“Me?”
“As you all know, Bella has more or less taken over the marketing of Hawk and Raven’s motorcycle shop. It’s been going gangbusters. But I think it’s time she focused on something for herself.”
Heat raced up her face. She had no idea what he was talking about.
He cleared his throat and smiled. “I have purchased the old bookstore in downtown that has been empty for some time. If Bella is willing, I’d like to be co-owners of a new Internet café. We’ll have all sorts of exotic coffees, teas, and of course, cookies and pastries.” He held out his hand.
She let him pull her up. “I don’t know what to say.”
“How about yes?”
Her grin couldn’t get any bigger. “Then yes!”
This was a dream come true. She’d always done marketing for others. Now she could do it for herself. With Clete�
��s connections and his proven track record, the store should do well. Plus, she’d get to really know the wonderful townsfolk.
* * * *
Between celebrating Christmas and getting ready for the grand opening of her store on February 14, Bella was exhausted but exhilarated.
Tomorrow the store would officially open. She grabbed Clete’s hands. “I can’t believe this is really happening, and I have you to thank.”
“Hawk and Raven had their say-so, too, you know. Hawk picked out the location and Raven had to convince City Council that another café would be good for the town.”
“We aren’t really competing with Mountain View. We won’t be serving full meals, just go to the counter and order something type of food.”
“I know. Remember everyone had a part in its creation.”
The bell above the door rang and her heart soared. She loved that sound. Hawk and Raven waltzed in.
“Hey. You come to help put the finishing touches on the place?”
They looked at each other. “We came for something more important.”
Hawk’s tone was more serious than usual. He motioned she take a seat. Clete, his brother, and Raven pulled out three chairs, swiveled them around, and sat down.
Hawk inhaled then wet his lips. “As the oldest, I represent these two fellows here when I say that having you in our life has been the best thing that has happened to us.”
“I can say the same thing.”
Hawk reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small, velvet box. “This is for you.”
Before she could reach for it, Clete swiped it. “What my ill-mannered brother is trying to say is that we three love you and want to pledge our hearts to you forever.” He flipped open the box to display a brilliant diamond. “Will you marry us?”
While she’d hoped that someday they’d ask, she never expected it to be this soon. Since her return, her life had been hectic but ideal. In fact, everyone seemed to be doing what they loved best.
Raven grabbed her hand. “Well?”
“Yes.”
All three jumped up and gathered her in their arms. There were so many kisses she couldn’t tell who was who.
Next thing she knew they were carrying her into the back room. “What are you doing?”
“Don’t you want to properly christen this place?” Raven said.
The thought of making love on the large counter thrilled her. The shelves were loaded with pastries of all kinds for tomorrow’s opening, and an idea popped into her head. “Only if I can smear some of these gooey confections on your bodies and lick it off.”
They all smiled. Hawk stepped forward. “I’ll be the first to volunteer.” He got naked faster than she could say the name of her new store, Knight’s Delight.
“Oh, boy. I just don’t know where to start.” So many men and so much loving.
THE END
WWW.MELODYMONROE.COM
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Unlike most other authors, I started writing late in life. Writing stories in high school and college was not for me. Only after I graduated did I fall in love with romance novels. For the next twenty years, I read voraciously. It got to a point where my book-buying habits cost as much as my groceries. At that point, my husband suggested I write a book. Hey, it looked easy, right? All the stories started in the same spot (hero and heroine at odds) and ended the same way (happily ever after). Only it was anything but easy. Eleven years and fifteen completed romantic suspense books later, I finally published. I never would have gotten that far had it not been for two local chapters whose generous members shared their amazing wealth of knowledge
Also by Melody Snow Monroe
Ménage Everlasting: Pleasure, Montana 1: Chelsea’s Pleasure
Ménage Everlasting: Pleasure, Montana 2: Lydia’s Passion
Ménage Everlasting: Pleasure, Montana 3: Destiny’s Desire
Ménage Everlasting: Pleasure, Montana 4: Brittany’s Destiny
Ménage Everlasting: Pleasure, Montana 5: Taming Tammy
For all other titles, please visit
www.bookstrand.com/melody-snow-monroe
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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Monroe, Melody Snow - Bella's Bad Bikers [Pleasure, Montana 6] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 17