Discovering You (Miller Lodge Romance Book 1)

by Jadelynn Asher

  “Mmm…sounds like you want a lot of things, Lisa. I could take you shopping for a good truck.”

  He echoed her words back to her, but the teasing offer fell on top of them before he could stop it. The way her smile widened he knew it was exactly the right thing to say.

  “I don’t want a truck. I just want you.”

  He pulled her in tight, her toes barely brushing the dock as he half lifted her into his embrace, and she grabbed his shoulders to keep her balance. She made a squeaking noise that made him grin as he covered her lips with his. Her kisses were sweeter than sunlight, and he didn’t stop kissing her until they were both breathless.

  Slowly, he eased her to her feet, leaning his forehead against hers.

  She kept her arms around his neck, a look of wonder in her eyes. “You know I got accepted at the University of Denver for next year, right? Is that going to be okay?”

  Jason laughed, tugging the tie out of her hair and running his fingers through the dark locks. “More than okay. I spent two days this week in Denver, looking around. There are some great apartments not far from the school that I think you’ll love, and I dropped off resumes with a couple of companies. Val was disappointed I wasn’t staying on, but he said he’d put a good word in for me with any of the resorts if I want to keep instructing part time, which I do. But that’s all things we can plan together. As long as you’re with me it doesn’t matter where I am.”

  She kissed him again. “I love you.”

  Jason took her hand, pressing her fingers to his lips and kissing them. “I love you too.”

  Epilogue

  Lisa climbed the stairs from Jason’s basement apartment, her arms filled with a large box of old vinyl records. She’d flipped through the albums as they’d packed them, impressed with the collection he’d put together. She had most of these on digital, but Jason assured her they sounded better this way.

  Another trip or two up and down the stairs and they’d have all of Jason’s stuff out of his parent’s house and loaded into the truck. He had a surprising amount of furniture that was his, but that was just as well since the apartment they’d rented was unfurnished.

  Beth met her at the top of the stairs, holding the doors open so Lisa didn’t have to balance the box while fumbling doorknobs.

  “Last chance to run away before you’re stuck living with a boy.” She elongated the word ‘boy’ in a teasing tone. It would have made her sound like a teenager – which she’d ceased being with her birthday yesterday – but Lisa knew she was referring to a line from the television show Friends which had always cracked them both up.

  “I didn’t renew my lease with the dorm and your apartment is full up, so I guess I’m stuck with him.”

  Beth grinned, her eyes bright and filled with happiness. “I’m okay with that. I always knew you two would be good together if you gave it a chance.”

  Lisa shifted the box with a chuckle. “You did, huh?”

  “Yep. I’m a good judge of character.” She stepped back so Lisa could get around the screen door. “When you have kids I totally get to be cool Aunt Beth, right? And you’re going to name one after me.”

  “Kids?” Lisa shook her head, her pony tail brushing her shoulders. “For goodness’ sakes, we’re nowhere close to that. We’re still deciding if we want a goldfish.”

  Beth snickered. “No, no you don’t. Goldfish are stinky.”

  Lisa didn’t bother mentioning that children could also be stinky, letting the conversation drop as Connor called for Beth to come help. She liked the thought of children, and of having them with Jason, but that was in a far away future. Right now she was happy with where they were.

  She stepped out into the warm April air, and Lisa couldn’t hold back a smile. She loved springtime, and while Colorado springtime was very different than Arizona springtime she’d take it. Springtime mean new things and this new life fit right in with that. Jason’s graduation had gone off without a hitch, him looking dashing in his black robes, and last weekend her parents had come out for a surprise visit.

  Lisa hadn’t expected to see her folks again until mid summer, but her father had some unused airline miles and they’d come out to meet Jason and his family. The visit had turned into a weekend at the lodge where it was still soggy, but just as welcoming as it had been in the fall. Her parents had hit it off with Jason’s, the four of them acting like old friends by the time the vacation was over. Lisa’s plans to go home in the summer had turned into plans for them to come back and go camping and fishing. Lisa knew her dad had never been fishing in his life, but he was sure excited to try.

  If anyone had asked her a year ago where she’d be at this point she wouldn’t have guessed any of it right, except that her grades were stellar. And that wasn’t a guess, that was hard work and she was pleased with how everything had come together.

  Jason came around the truck and approached her with a smile. He leaned over the box and pressed a kiss to her lips, tasting like sunshine and lip balm. He took the box from her, lifting it much more easily than she had. “Connor and Dad are getting the last of it, much to Mom’s chagrin, but then we should be ready to go.”

  He carried the box the rest of the way to the truck and slid it into the remaining space. Lisa followed, looking over the back to make sure everything looked secure. Just an office chair and they could put a web over all of it to keep it in place. “I can’t believe this all came together so fast.”

  “Believe it, babe, I’m gonna keep you on your toes.”

  “Babe?” She arched her eyebrows at him and shook her head. He’d been trying to decide on a sweet name he could call her for two weeks. She thought it was hysterical, and had claimed veto power early on. “Nope, not that one.”

  Jason grinned. “I didn’t think you’d like that one either, but I had to try.” He paused then, taking her hands and pulling her close. “No doubts, right?”

  She smiled, resting her head on his shoulder. He smelled wonderful, and she loved being in his arms. “About us or about moving in together?”

  “Either? Both? Are we crazy?”

  “I thought we decided we were crazy long before now.”

  He laughed and she heard the sound deep in his chest. “You know what I mean. This is kind of the last chance to call it off if you don’t want to live with me for at least the next year.”

  She considered his words for a long moment and slipped her arm around him. “Beth said something like that, about it being the last chance to run away, but I don’t want to run away. I’ve never been more certain in my life of what I wanted or where I should be. There’s a lot of life in front of us, and I’m looking forward to figuring it out together.”

  He made a soft, happy sound and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “Then that’s that.”

  “And I reserve the right to kick the next person that asks us a variation of the aren’t you moving too fast question.”

  “Sounds fair to me.”

  They stood in a moment of blissful comfort before the family arrived with the chair and a few pillows to stuff into the cracks and keep the load steady. Jason’s Mom, Bev, pressed a large Tupperware full of snacks into Lisa’s arms.

  “Something for the drive.”

  “Mom, Denver is only 35 minutes away.” Jason laughed, giving his mom a hug. “Though I’m always happy to eat your snacks.”

  The next twenty minutes were taken up by rounds of hugging and saying goodbye and hugging again. Finally, Lisa climbed into the truck and pulled the door closed behind her. She clicked her seatbelt on as they backed out of the drive. “So…anything else you want to do on your way out of town?”

  Jason fished a pair of battered sunglasses out of the sunglass holder on the roof of the cab. He put them on, looking at her when they stopped at a light. “I know this little place just a few miles away with great cover bands. I think they’re doing GNR tonight, and they have an amazing fried onion. Wanna go with me?”

  Lisa covered her hand
with hers. “Fried onions, huh? I love those.” She laughed as he pulled away from the stop, pealing out with a squeal of tires. “Let’s drive.”

  About the Author

  Hi, We’re Jadelynn

  Referring to ourselves in the plural isn’t an affectation. Or not just an affectation. Jadelynn Asher is a pseudonym for two friends who turned to each other one day and said “could we really?” One of us (Jana) has the writing chops, having worked as a writer for (ahem) uncounted years. The other (Jacob) loves romance stories and reads and writes about them and complains when people get their stories wrong.

  It was during one of his rants that the assembled friends (many of them writers) challenged him to write his own. Cringing at all that work, he deferred. This scene played out with minor variations for a while when Jana said “you know, if you have the story, I could make the writing happen.” And we decided that our friendship could probably stand the nonsense working together would entail and we gave it a shot.

  You can judge for yourself if the results are a success!

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