Epilogue

“What do you think?”

Why this part always makes me nervous is lost on me. Sammy, the supportive asshole husbutt he is, apparently finds it endearing.

It’s not. I don’t care how many bjs it earns me because I’m being “cute,” the process freaks me out.

“Bentley, it’s incredible. Seriously.”

“Yeah?” The tightness in my voice is obvious.

“Yes.” He loops his arm around me, forcing his hand into my back pocket. “Seriously. The design is incredible. The client’s going to fucking salivate and throw their money at us so damn fast, we just might be able to get our car serviced at the dealership.” He bounces his brows at me.

I snort. “Now, let’s not get carried away. Going to Mike’s is just fine and will easily save us a grand.”

“Hey, dreams are not meant to be destroyed so swiftly.” His pout is half-hearted at best. It also looks kinda ridiculous. Okay, and maybe a little hot. He does have the best bottom lip for nibbling and sucking and general all-around kissing.

And when wrapped around my cock, fuck yes. Best lips ever.

I swallow hard. Sammy has a call with Senator Banks in fifteen minutes, so I need to rein my desire in. Since we already shot our loads before coming into the office this morning, it’s doubtful I’ll be able to come so quickly again.

Age has that effect. Not that thirty-five is old. Far fucking from it. But when it comes to coming, yeah, at least a five-hour break is needed if the mission is a fast release.

“Dude, why’s your dick hard?”

“Hmm, what?”

He shoots me his “don’t ‘hmm, what’ me” look.

“Nothing. It’ll go down in a minute. Keep talking.”

“About what? About how tight I think the space is there, right next to the rearopening.” A megawatt smile quickly forms as he points at the back door of the house on the half-acre property we’re landscaping.

“I think we’ll need to go slow with the insertion of the pieces they want around the herb garden.”

“You’re an asshole.” A rush of gratitude has me happy sighing and pressing a kiss to his temple. That we’re able to do this together is one of the best decisions we ever made.

Not that it was easy to get to this point.

After Trevin was denied early parole, life eased up a bit, but when it was time for Sammy to figure out what to do with his business degree, life became a challenge.

He struggled there for a while—as in almost three torturous years of him being miserable, locked away in offices that slowly sucked out his soul. The only positive is that along the way, he learned and gained genuine experience. We were lucky that his misery at least meant he earned enough money that we could put a deposit—thanks, Mom and Dad—on a small condo and afford the monthly repayments.

It was then, almost at the same time as Trevin’s release—when I worried for a moment there that Sammy would lose himself a little—that Grady offered him a position. Yeah, I was still working for him back then.

We were just fortunate Grady’s such a good guy that he let me venture into design rather than always being on the ground with a tool in my hand.

And Sammy, well, my talented husband found his calling.

Working on pricing jobs, sweet-talking clients, and wrangling outside contractors, the man’s skills are limitless. It made sense that four years ago, we bought Grady out.

Again, talk about another poignant moment. Just as Grady announced his retirement, asking if we wanted to buy him out, we also got word of Trevin’s death. It was a bittersweet time. But putting that part of Sammy’s life completely to rest, I don’t know, it kinda made the decision to buy the business crystal clear to us.

Owning our own business can be tricky, but the rewards are worth it, and this particular job is pretty major. It’s for a local politician, Senator Banks. We latched on to the whole support-local and celebrate-diversity vibe she has going on. Well, that and we need the work.

But this project is going to appear in a national magazine, so yeah, if she loves it, if we pull this off, it’s going to be a game-changer for us.

“And you think the veggie garden works?” I worry my bottom lip, taking a look at the plans for the millionth time.

“It’s perfect there. Completely uptown-chic-meets-farm-to-table vibe.” Even though he’s teasing, he’s not wrong. “Honestly, sweetheart,” he says, turning me into him so we face each other. And yes, all these years later, I still melt every time that endearment slips past his lips.

I think the first time it happened was the moment that changed everything.

There’s been no looking back since.

“The design is perfect. The last two modifications have nailed her vision. We’ll just walk her through them together, then tomorrow, prepare ourselves for the camera crew coming around.”

A camera crew is a good thing. I know it is. There’s a whole video documentary paired with the magazine spread. What did I say about Sammy finding his calling? This is it.

As soon as he discovered the senator was in the market for a landscaper, he put together this whole marketing pitch. Talked to the magazine. Even got in with her PR firm. Sure, at college, he’d taken a couple of marketing-esque classes, and from what I remember, he’d enjoyed them, but combined with the business side of things, something just clicked for him.

But still, the two of us together in front of the camera makes me sweat.

“We’re going to nail it, yeah?”

I bob my head. There are only a few times he’s led me wrong… though usually that was on the way to a good time. But never in business. Never when it impacts our livelihood.

“Yeah, I know.” I reluctantly pull away. At least my cock’s behaving. “Do you have everything you need for the call?”

Rather than rolling his eyes at my anxiety and pestering, he nods. “I do. Everything’s ready.”

“Okay.”

And that’s the thing: everything will always be okay. Even in the lows—the money problems, the bickering about whose turn it is to do laundry—and the highs—spending time together shooting hoops or going to the archery club—we’re in this together.

The phone rings, and with a deep breath, I nod at Sammy, letting him know I’m ready.

With a grin, he answers the call: “ES Landscapes, Sammy speaking.”

I can’t believethe series is over. What a bitter sweet feeling.