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“Call me that again.” Brendan deepened his voice to an oh-so-sexy tone. If only she wasn’t stuck in this damn bed. “I dare you.”
She bit her lip suggestively. “What are you going to do about it?”
His features sobered. “I think we covered this—take you home and never let you go.”
“Sounds about perfect to me.”
With an intense gaze, he brought his forehead to hers. “Forever.”
“Forever, Brendan.”
Ten seconds later, a familiar head with an endearing mushroom cut popped into the doorway.
“Momma,” Genevieve called out. A surge of warmth coursed through her, overwhelming her with happiness at the sight of her mother, safe and sound.
Her mom ran to her side and grasped her hand. “Oh, Gen, my sweet Gen, I’m so glad you’re awake. It’s been the longest hours of my life. You did it, my tough, resilient girl. I’m so proud of you.”
Genevieve sniffled, fighting back tears at her mom’s loving words while stealing a glance at Brendan. “We did it. All of us. Will you come and live with us in Aspen, Momma?”
Her mom beamed with a loving smile. “I wouldn’t be anywhere else, my sweet girl, other than where you are.”
Genevieve let her mom’s love flow into her heart, bursting with emotion from the amazing turn her life had taken. She now had more hope than she’d ever dreamed possible, and the best years of her life were about to begin—she could feel it.
Epilogue
QUILL
ONE YEAR LATER
Quill flung open the door to his Aspen Roaring Fork River estate. He’d bought the home next to Brendan and Genevieve’s shortly after their wedding last month and never looked back. It was the first time in his life he’d owned a property, putting down real roots, and it felt good. Too good. It made him edgy to believe he considered them family. The ‘what ifs’ behind losing them in that gun battle with Marshal and his cronies still scarred him. He was even fond of Genevieve now, though he’d tried hard not to let her know it—especially when she was making his life a living hell.
“Bro, I can’t do this.”
Brendan shrugged, grinning. “Do what?” The tool already knew it had something to do with his crafty wife and was amused by it.
Quill raked a hand through his lengthy strands and marched toward his living room. “Genevieve keeps setting me up on blind dates that I swear are meant to spite me for her own personal entertainment. The last woman spent two hours talking about her cats. Cats, man. Why the frick would I care about someone’s fuzzy little creatures? Cats are gross allergy-inducing, claw-bearing nightmares. I tried to change the subject five times before I gave up. There was nothing there. Genevieve’s just toying with me.”
Brendan chuckled, following closely behind him before plopping down in his favorite brown chair. The fact that his best bro already had a spot at his place filled him with both warmth and fear. Relax, Quill, they’re not going anywhere. We all live in Aspen, and we’re staying.
“Nah,” Brendan drawled out, easing his head back, “Gen wouldn’t waste people’s time. Yours sure, but a woman looking for love, no way. There’s some motivation behind whomever she’s set you up with.”
Quill gritted his teeth. “If I didn’t respect the heck out of Genevieve, I’d bail out on my promise, but I deserve this. I was so, so wrong about her.”
Genevieve walked in, shooting a smug smile at him. “You were wrong about me.”
Where had she come from? Those self-defense lessons she’d been taking after her physical therapy sessions had made her even more stealthy than a damn cat—not his favorite thought right now after being stuck hearing about them for an entire evening.
Genevieve tut-tutted before adding, “And you’re wrong about cats, too.”
Ugh, no more!
“They’re adorable, loyal, precious creatures,” she continued, “just like whatever woman I’m sure you’ll end up with someday. You need to learn to give people a chance and actually commit.” She crossed her arms. “That’s why I want you to adopt Love Shy—he needs you to give him a chance, too. It’ll be good practice for you.”
Quill burst into disbelieving laughter. “Oh, so that’s your brilliant plan. I knew you were up to something.” Double hell no was Genevieve winning this battle. “Nope, sorry. That wasn’t part of our bet.”
She swung a backpack around. A freaking animal backpack with a—oh, shit—was that the cat? A long-haired white tabby cat with brown streaks and gold-beady eyes stared back at him through a tiny mesh window, hissing like he was enemy number one. The thing wanted less to do with him than he wanted to do with it.
“Nope, no way, Genevieve. Ain’t happening.”
