His passionate words felt like honey poured directly into her heart.
“But…there’s reasons…financial reasons…”
“I know those reasons. I reject them. Jason does too. We all talked about it, as a family, and we’d rather give up the money, the sponsorship, all of it. We want you, Gretel. I want you. Only you.” Those last words growled into her ear with hot wicked intentions that shivered down her spine. “Unless there are other reasons…”
“No. No, that’s it. I just wanted what’s best for you all—”
“You’re what’s best. It isn’t even close.”
She shot a quick glance at Jason and Petey, who were mostly looking at anything except the two of them. Typical boys, embarrassed by such blatant emotion. Well, they’d just have to get used to it. Because she loved this open, heartfelt side of Zander. Showing him how much she loved him back would be pure joy.
“What about the divorce?” It was already official; her father had pulled some strings to make it happen that fast. He was going to be furious that all his machinations had been for nothing.
Off to the side, she caught sight of her father, who stood next her mother. Aimee was whispering something to him that caused his red-faced glare to recede.
Gretel caught his eye. He shrugged in resignation, as if to say, “I tried. You’re on your own now.” Her glance shifted to Aimee, who tipped her glass of champagne toward her. Thank you, Mom.
“I’m not worried about the divorce,” Zander was saying. “We’ll get married again when we’re good and ready. I just want to be with you.” All of Zander’s deep and soulful heart shone from his eyes.
“Okay. Okay. Yes. Let’s go home.” She buried her face in his neck and sobbed with happiness. He held her like that for a long time, then relaxed his embrace so they could join his brothers.
Sniffing back her tears, she offered her hands to Petey and Jason, and all four of them stood in a tight circle that felt exactly like home.
She cuddled against Zander, feeling his thumping heartbeat through his clothes. Nice clothes, she realized. Black trousers, a well-cut green twill shirt she’d never seen him wear. Both the boys wore new jeans and nice sweaters. He’d bought them all new outfits and flown his two brothers all the way to Connecticut to prove to her how much she meant to them.
She loved this man from the bottom of her heart, forevermore. “Who needs a wedding? I guess we can just be wicked together,” she told him.
“It’s a deal.”
Open Mic night at the coffee shop; always one of Gretel’s favorite events. Especially now that the cafe belonged to her. Danny D had finally decided to sell, for real.
In the most amazing turn of events, Zander had bought it with part of the life insurance money. An investment in their future, he’d told her. And also a drop in the bucket of his new fortune.
Yup, ironically enough, he was now the wealthy one of the two of them. Aimee, for one, was extremely happy about that. The life insurance had paid the Ross family two million dollars, more than enough to cover all of Jason’s future ski expenses and invest in a coffee shop.
It had been Zander’s idea to buy it, and his idea to rename it to Gretel’s Cafe. Her place to make her own, to transform as she wanted. She already had so many ideas. For one, she planned to travel the world and seek out coffee farms that produced only the most delicious beans. She also intended to insist on sustainable growing methods and farms that guaranteed a share of the profits to the local workers.
Her Robin Hood instincts finally had free rein.
Besides, the only way to make sure the farms were up to these standards was to see for herself, and that meant she could still satisfy her wanderlust. Her love of travel hadn’t disappeared just because she’d fallen in love with Zander. She still wanted to see the world. But she also loved having a home to return to.
Most of all, she loved having Zander to return to.
Gretel’s Cafe brought in a steady income, and with her plans for expansion, would do even better. Maybe someday her bank account would even match Zander’s.
The space buzzed with chatter. Spring was coming to Lost Harbor and people were discussing their gardens, and how many of their chickens had survived the winter, and how much work their boats needed, and how bad “breakup” was going to be.
“Breakup” was what Alaskans called the time when all the ice began melting and everything turned to mud. Gretel didn’t care for the term, since it made her think of Zander and the time they’d spent apart. She never liked thinking about that time.
She leaned against Zander’s hard chest. He was completely healed now, and back to working magic with wood. In fact, he’d carved her new sign for her.
Gretel’s Cafe, it read in beautiful curlicue swirls. The two words sat on a sled that was being pulled through the snow by a laughing girl who looked a lot like Gretel.
The man was an artist with his wicked, beautiful hands.
“Are you ready for this?” she murmured to him, tilting her head to gaze up at that beloved face.
“Ready for what?”
“There’s something I owe you.”
“Honey, you don’t owe me a thing. Except maybe a kiss just because you love me.”
“I do love you.” She stood on tiptoe and brushed a kiss onto his chin. “But apparently you’ve forgotten our first ever deal.”
He gazed down at her with lifted eyebrows. “Are we getting married again?”
“We could. I do want to talk to you about that, and about a few other related things. But I have to do my duty first.”
“Duty, huh? You sound like me.”
“I guess it rubbed off.” After one more kiss, this one met by his warm, loving lips, she pulled herself away and stepped to the mic.
“Welcome, everyone, to Open Mic night at Gretel’s Cafe! I’m so happy to see you all—familiar faces and a few of you who have finally chipped your way out of your winter ice caves and made it into town. I’ve always heard that strange things happen around Lost Souls Wilderness, and we have living proof right here.” The crowd laughed good-naturedly. The Lost Harborites were good sports. “Now, I usually leave the performing to everyone else, but tonight I’m going to claim some time. A while ago a certain woodworker challenged me to stay here for the entire winter. I didn’t quite make it, due to a few twists of fate.”
Zander was shaking his head at her with a broad smile, letting her know she wasn’t required to do this.
“Since I lost that challenge, I’m here now to pay up. Harris, would you mind? Darius, are you in?”
She’d enlisted her stitch-and-bitch bestie to accompany her on his fiddle. The fire chief, it turned out, was a master of the bass. He’d brought it out of retirement to help her fulfill her bet.
Wearing a black cowboy hat that made him look hot as hell—just because she loved Zander didn’t mean she couldn’t appreciate a fire chief in a cowboy hat— Darius took his place on stage behind her. He carried the bass as if it weighed less than Harris’s fiddle.
“Let’s smoke this,” he said. He grinned at Harris, who nodded and struck the first note. Together, they launched into the tune the three of them had been practicing for the last week—her favorite Elvis song, “A Little Less Conversation.”
Except she’d completely changed the words.
Gretel took hold of the mic. “Lost Harbor, Alaska, this is for you. My required ode to your winter greatness.”
She waited for the right beat to hit, then launched into the song.
“A little less snow tonight, a little more sunshine, please.
All this endless shoveling ain’t satisfactioning me.
A little more beach and a little less windchill,
A little less frostbite and a little more chlorophyll
Close your doors, put a log on the fire and baby satisfy me.
Satisfy me, Alaska.
* * *
Baby close your eyes and listen to the blizzard
And sh
iver in the winter gale
Its a subzero night, I’ll show you how to survive it,
Come inside and you know we can’t fail.
Come on baby I’m tired of freezing
Grab the calendar and please stop teasing
Come on, Spring,
Come on, Spring,
Don’t procrastinate,
Don’t be so damn late,
Lost Harbor’s tired of waiting around.
A little less snow tonight, a little more sunshine please.
Satisfy me, Alaska, Come on, come on.”
* * *
The crowd was laughing and applauding by the time she finished, but she really only noticed Zander’s reaction. He was cracking up, just the way she loved to see. Not that she didn’t adore his serious side too. But knowing that she’d lightened his heart and brought a smile to his lips gave her a special joy.
He strode onto the stage and swept her off her feet into a movie-worthy dip.
“Oh, I’ll satisfy you,” he whispered. “Always.”
“I accept that challenge.”
“No negotiation?”
“Nah.”
He smiled into her eyes and they sealed that deal in the best possible way. With their hearts and souls…by way of a wicked kiss.
Thank you so much for reading! You can find all the Lost Harbor books here. Want to be the first to hear about new books, sales, and exclusive giveaways? Join Jennifer’s mailing list and receive a free story as a welcome gift.
About the Author
Jennifer Bernard is a USA Today bestselling author of contemporary romance. Her books have been called “an irresistible reading experience” full of “quick wit and sizzling love scenes.” A graduate of Harvard and former news promo producer, she left big city life in Los Angeles for true love in Alaska, where she now lives with her husband and stepdaughters. She still hasn’t adjusted to the cold, so most often she can be found cuddling with her laptop and a cup of tea. No stranger to book success, she also writes erotic novellas under a naughty secret name that she’s happy to share with the curious. You can learn more about Jennifer and her books at JenniferBernard.net. Make sure to sign up for her newsletter for new releases, fresh exclusive content, sales alerts and giveaways.
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Also by Jennifer Bernard
Lost Harbor, Alaska
Mine Until Moonrise
Yours Since Yesterday ~ Book 2
Seduced by Snowfall ~ Book 3
* * *
The Rockwell Legacy
The Rebel ~ Book 1
The Rogue ~ Book 2
The Renegade ~ Book 3
The Runaway ~ Book 4
The Rock ~ Book 5
* * *
Jupiter Point ~ The Hotshots
Set the Night on Fire ~ Book 1
Burn So Bright ~ Book 2
Into the Flames ~ Book 3
Setting Off Sparks ~ Book 4
* * *
Jupiter Point ~ The Knight Brothers
Hot Pursuit ~ Book 5
Coming In Hot ~ Book 6
Hot and Bothered ~ Book 7
Too Hot to Handle ~ Book 8
One Hot Night ~ Book 9
* * *
Seeing Stars ~ Series Prequel
The Bachelor Firemen of San Gabriel Series
Love Between the Bases Series
Copyright © 2020 by Jennifer Bernard
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
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