by London Casey
I put her on her feet and looked at the car.
“Damn,” I said. “That got ripped up pretty good.”
“Yeah. I’ll have to call for a tow or something.”
“Or something, huh?” I asked.
“What? What are you thinking?”
I ran to my truck and got a knife out of the middle console. I walked back to the car and stood there.
“What’s the knife for?”
I grinned as I crouched and then stabbed the back tire.
There was a pop and scream of air escaping.
“Osiris!” Lara screamed. “What the fuck?”
I folded the knife and opened the back door to her car. “Now you have to stay with me. You’re stuck.”
“I was stuck already, you dummy,” she yelled. “Why’d you do that?”
“Because I fucking felt like it,” I said.
She was shocked.
I grabbed a couple bags from the backseat and put them on the roof of the car.
I went to her and grabbed her again, kissing her.
“I think I might hate you right now,” she said.
“I’ll pay for it,” I said. “We’ll take care of it tomorrow.”
“I was going to go figure out the flower shop thing,” she said. “I have to check the books. I have to look at the lease. I have to call a lawyer. I have to-”
I kissed her again. Harder.
I broke the kiss.
She nodded. “I have to tell you to do that again.”
I did it again.
And again.
I threw as much of her stuff into the bed of the truck as I could. I threw Lara into the passenger seat.
I drove us both… home.
Our bodies were tangled up tight. Lara was out of breath. With each exhale of my own breath, I growled. I was like an animal around her. Unable to control myself. Our clothes were thrown all over the floor of the cabin, leading to the bedroom.
I was on my back, holding her tight to my chest.
She was soft, warm, shaking.
She was my everything.
“Syi,” she whispered.
“Sugar,” I whispered back.
“I don’t want you to ever stop.”
“Stop what?” I asked and looked down at her.
“Stop looking for her. I don’t want you to ever give up. And if you ever need a minute to yourself just tell me.”
I nodded. “I don’t get it, Lara.”
“Get what?”
“Why you care so much.”
“Because for as much as you try to hide, you’re out in the open. And I love it. Plus, you have some features I do like.”
“Yeah?”
Lara touched my arm. “So strong. And you have a huge di-- heart.”
I laughed. “I really doubt my heart is bigger than my-”
“Depends on the moment,” Lara cut me off.
“What about right now?”
“Definitely your heart,” she said.
I smiled. She made me feel good. Really fucking good. She made me want to go to work not to hide my pain and beat up my muscles. But to grow the business with Jerry and do something that mattered. She made me think all these crazy fucking thoughts, like when it would get cold. Picturing her in a hoodie and sweatpants, sipping hot chocolate by the fire while it snowed outside. Cutting down our first Christmas tree together and decorating it.
“What are you doing right now?” Lara whispered.
“Thinking,” I said. “All that is going to happen.”
“So you’re a fortune teller now?”
“Yes I am.”
“Where’s your crystal ball, mountain man?”
I slapped my left hand to Lara’s bare ass. I pulled her on top of me. “I don’t need a crystal ball to predict the future, sugar.”
“Oh?”
“I see something big in the very near future,” I said with my lip curled.
I pulled at her, grinding her perfect curves against me.
She looked down. “Wow, you were right.”
I slipped a hand to the back of her neck and pulled her down for a kiss. I rolled on top of her and broke away.
“I’m always right, sugar,” I whispered.
My right hand eased along her inner thigh. I welcomed myself to her body once again. Her hands grabbed at my back and she groaned my name.
In my bed, in my cabin, the woods. Lara was everywhere. She could call me her mountain man, her lumberjack, her man.
But all that mattered to me was this: Lara was everything and of all the places to be, the most important was in my heart.
Epilogue
Everything After
MONTHS LATER
(LARA)
I heard Osiris yell FUCK! for the fourth time. That’s when I decided to go outside with an ice cold bottle of beer to calm him down. If that didn’t work, then I’d start taking off my clothes. But if I did that, we would have to act fast because Adley was coming any minute now.
I walked off the porch and found him on his knees holding the pole for a tent. He stared at it like it was something foreign.
“What the fuck is this for?” he growled.
“I think it’s for holding up the tent,” I said.
Osiris looked at me. “I put up the tarp.” He pointed to a large tarp that was nailed to a couple trees. “That’s good enough.”
“You wanted to go camping with Adley,” I said. “You have to sleep in a tent. You know that.”
“I promised her we would look at the stars. She could fall asleep and I’ll carry her inside. It’s going to be cold tonight, too.”
“Then you’ll have to build her a fire,” I said.
“And you’re loving this, huh? You get to sleep inside.”
“I wasn’t invited,” I said. “Brought you a beer.”
Osiris threw the pole down and came to get his beer. And steal a kiss from me. “How are you feeling?”
“Great.”
“Liar,” he said.
“How’s the tent going?”
He curled his lip as he drank the beer.
I went to the tent and, no lie, I had the thing standing in less than two minutes. My wild mountain man was able to build anything by hand with tools and wood. He could carry a tree on his wide shoulders. But ask him to put up a tent?
“Don’t tell anyone about this,” he said. “If anyone asks, I did that.”
“Fair enough,” I said.
“How’s business today?” he asked.
“Good,” I said. “I have to get in there tomorrow and finish up a few orders. Megan is working the register until eight tonight.”
“I’m proud of you, sugar,” he said. “Taking all that on and making it work.”
Yeah, so, I bought the flower shop. I sold everything I could part with. I took a loan out from a bank that owed Jerry and Osiris a favor. So I was all on my own. I owed nothing to nobody. I kept everything in the shop the same. I did a little advertising to get the word out about our custom orders and retail space. I hired an amazing woman named Megan. She was twenty-one, going for her MBA, and was thrilled to be working with me. I gave her all my trust to grow the business with me. I told her when she finished school, if she was still interested we could partner up and open a second location. But I had it in my heart she was going to end up getting serious job offers. Which was great.
I was technically homeless still. I found an apartment and then gave it up at the last second for a good reason.
“So, did you look at any of the houses I sent you?” I asked Osiris.
“Nope.”
“Syi…”
He touched my face. “I told you already. Find what you like.”
“I want it to be us, though.”
“Oh, trust me, sugar, this is all us.”
“I don’t like when you talk like that.”
“I don’t really care.”
“I’m going to tell Dane you couldn’t build the tent.”
Osiris gri
tted his teeth. “Fine. Which house did you like best?”
“The second one. With the red shutters. With the maple tree in the backyard.”
“Me, too,” he said. “That’s my favorite.”
I slapped his chest. “Asshole! There was no house with red shutters!”
“Well, maybe we should find one that has them.”
“I hate you sometimes,” I said.
Syi slid an arm around me and pulled me close for a kiss.
I pushed at him. “Hey. Careful. Your lips taste like beer.”
“Relax, nothing’s going to happen,” he said. “It’s my baby in there. A little beer won’t harm a thing.”
Syi winked.
I rolled my eyes.
I was finally starting to show.
It was sort of the reason I was still homeless. I found an apartment and then found out I was pregnant. Right now I lived in the cabin with Syi. But I was anxious. I wanted to set up a nursery and get ready for the baby. For our baby.
“Lara,” he said. “I want you to find your dream home. My dream home already exists.”
“Well, where is it?”
“The home you’re in with me.”
I lowered my head.
I hated when he said stuff like that.
Yeah, it was romantic as hell. But my hormones were out of control.
“Are you crying?” he asked.
“Shut up,” I said.
A truck appeared on the horizon.
“Big truck,” Syi whispered. “Means he has a small dick.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Your truck is bigger than his.”
“I’m the exception to the rule,” Osiris said with a wink.
Both doors opened and Michelle opened a side door. Little Adley popped out and hit the ground running.
“Wow!” she screamed when she saw the tent. “It’s really here!”
Osiris dropped to one knee and Adley jumped into his arms.
“Told you,” he said.
“Are we cooking s’mores?”
“Yup.”
“Telling ghost stories?”
“Of course.”
“If I get scared…”
“You can sleep inside,” I said to Adley. “But we’ll make Osiris stay outside. Girls night, right?”
Adley giggled.
Michelle walked over with a pink bag in her hand. “Here you go.”
I took the bag. “Thanks.”
“How are you feeling?”
“Better in the afternoon,” I said.
“A little girl, huh?” Michelle asked.
“Yeah,” I said. I glanced at Osiris. “He’s convinced they’re wrong.”
“We’ll see when the baby gets here,” Osiris said.
Michelle shook her head. “Typical man.”
Dane walked up and put an arm around Michelle.
“Where are you two headed tonight?” Lara asked.
“Movies,” Michelle said.
“Dinner,” Dane said. “An actual night out. Off. Away.”
“Hey,” Osiris said. “Anytime.” He then pointed to the tent. “Ad, why don’t you go check it out. Put your sleeping bag down.”
“Okay!” Adley yelled.
She grabbed her bag from me and disappeared.
I sensed a little tension.
I wasn’t going to step in unless I had to.
“Look,” he said. “I have plenty of blankets and sleeping bags. Chances are, she won’t last an hour in the tent. Which is fine.”
“I know,” Michelle said.
“Then why are you two standing there like I’m about to get yelled at?” Osiris asked.
“What you did to the bench out there,” Dane said. “That’s good.”
“Oh,” Osiris said.
A couple months ago Osiris disappeared in the middle of the night. He always took midnight walks. This time he didn’t come home until morning. He turned the stone bench into a memorial for Mila. He said it was the right place to have the memorial for her. I didn’t question it. I loved that he did it.
“It’s nice, Syi,” Michelle said. “What you did. What you’re doing tonight for Adley. You know, Father’s Day is coming up. She was asking questions…”
“About what to do,” Dane said.
“Right,” I said.
“I told her what she should do,” Dane said.
I sensed Osiris stiffening. These two guys were never going to be friends. That was for damn sure.
“I told her to make two cards,” Dane said. “That at the end of the day she was lucky to have two fathers in her life. You and me, Osiris.”
“Damn,” Osiris said. “That means a lot to me.”
“There’s a Father’s Day party at her daycare,” Michelle said. “It’s next Wednesday at-”
“I’ll be there,” Osiris said. “I’ll be there.”
“Good,” Michelle said.
“We better get going,” Dane said. “Let’s say goodbye to Adley.”
As Dane walked by, Osiris grabbed his arm. The two had a stare down. “Thank you.”
Dane nodded.
They said their goodbyes and the sleepover-slash-camping trip had officially begun.
It wasn’t until after nine, when it was dark out, that I left the cabin to check on things. I walked to the end of the porch to spy on Osiris and Adley.
Adley sat in a small chair with a blanket on her legs.
Osiris knelt next to her, poking a stick into the fire.
I smiled.
Osiris looked up to me and I saw his smile in the smoke of the fire.
I put both hands on my stomach and let out a long breath.
I looked down and smiled bigger, tears filling my eyes.
We’re the luckiest people in the world, little one. Not many people get the love your father has to give. He’s a rough-looking guy. He’s got tattoos. He doesn’t smile as much as I’d like. But I can tell you this… there are three times I always catch him smiling. The first is when he sees the drawings on the fridge from Adley. The second is when I catch him in the reflection of the mirror staring at me. And third, most of all, is when he pulls the picture of the ultrasound out of his pocket and looks at you. I’ll forever joke and call him ‘the hot guy from the woods’ but you, little one, you get to call him Dad.
THE END.
Here we are again, another novel behind us. You’ve followed this journey since it began. Stemming from Jaxson’s need to slip away and find himself… creating Osiris through his own mending heart. And then London (Karolyn) with Lara already in mind. A woman wanting to find a new course in life. The two characters – and authors – colliding together in what you just read. And the point of the novel? Sometimes the past is never truly resolved, but the future always waits.
We hope to hear from you as we love to read emails and messages from our readers.
Until next time… thank you for being there with us along the way…
London (Karolyn) & Jaxson
Please be sure to leave your review for THE HOT GUY IN THE WOODS right now. Find the book on Amazon here: http://amzn.to/2jUsnmh
Also by London & Jaxson
Check these books out:
5 Years Later
In Her Words
A Boy I Used to Love
This Crazy Forbidden Thing
Secret Exposure
The Man. The Game. The Baby.
Hate Me (& Hate Me Again)
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About the authors
Jaxson Kidman is the bestselling author of several novels, including:
5 Years Later
In Her Words
Hate Me
Look for his upcoming novel, The Mechanic & the Princess
London Casey (Karolyn James) is the author of the bestselling series, Back Down Devil MC
These books have no set reading order. They are all stand-alone novels set in the BDD MC world. She is also the author of several stand-alone novels, including:
SECRET EXPOSURE
A BOY I USED TO LOVE
THIS CRAZY FORBIDDEN THING
Look for the upcoming novel, The OTHER One
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. (This also includes the cover image and/or cover model(s) appearing on the cover. The context of this book does not in any way depict the personal life of said cover model(s). Image is licensed and used purely for fictional purpose only.)
First electronic edition August 2017
Copyright © 2017 by London Casey (Karolyn James) & Jaxson Kidman
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part of any form.
Image credit to Wander Photography
Cover Art credit to Mayhem Covers