Page 99 of Beastly Mountain Man

Bear licked her cheek.

Caprice closed her eyes.

“Of course.”

I laughed and handed her a glove she’d dropped in the snow.

She wiped her cheek, gave Bear one last rub under the chin, and stood.

Then there was nothing left to carry, clear, or check.

Caprice took the resort key packet from her coat pocket and held it up.

“I’ll return this and the gear at the lodge. After that, I’m officially no longer your guest.”

“Guest Services will take both. And after that, you won’t be.”

Her gaze held mine.

“Good, because I have something I need to clarify before the contract expires.”

The producer was back in her voice, but only enough to make me smile.

Caprice stepped close and touched one finger to the center of my chest.

“The deal was that I called you when I had a legitimate problem with the rental cabin, and you handled it personally. I’m about to return the key. The fireplace works, the door works, the road is open, and Bear has not destroyed any additional lingerie. As far as I can tell, you have completed every obligation.”

“I’m glad the resort met your standards.”

“It exceeded them in one significant area. The Property Manager.”

That one got me.

Caprice rose onto her toes and kissed me again, softer this time.

When she settled back on her heels, she kept one hand against my jacket.

“So when I call you from Missoula tonight, I don’t want you answering as the Property Manager, and when you call me tomorrow, I don’t need anything to be broken first.”

“I wasn’t planning to wait for that.”

The words stayed between us for a second.

Then I understood exactly what she was giving me.

She wasn’t giving me a schedule, a promise that work would never interfere, or an impossible guarantee about two lives we had only just started figuring out.

She was taking away the excuse.

“I can manage that,” I said.

“I thought you could.”

Caprice finally stepped back and opened the driver’s door.

I closed it for her after she climbed inside, then waited while she adjusted the heat and checked the mirrors. Bear stood beside me, close enough that his shoulder touched my leg.

She lowered the window.