Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 101622 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 508(@200wpm)___ 406(@250wpm)___ 339(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101622 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 508(@200wpm)___ 406(@250wpm)___ 339(@300wpm)
“I didn’t leave you for dead. I debated, sure, but you were an asshole back then.” I cup his cheek. “I have no regrets saving you,” I smirk and give him a little wink.
“Glad to hear it.” He chuckles again. “Whatever happened then led us here. I don’t want to miss another day of your gelato-hating, cookie-in-bed eating ways.”
“If it makes a difference, I prefer gelato these days.”
“I knew I’d convert you.”
Bending down, I kiss his cheek and whisper, “You converted me, alright. I’m a full-on fool in love with you, Warner Landers.”
“You’re lucky you’re so hot since you’re stealing all my good lines.”
I stand back up. “Well, skip to the good part, then.”
“I love you so much, Delaney Bayetti. Will you be my wife?”
When he stands, I reply, “I will.” I lift on my toes, and he leans down to meet me in the middle. “I do from this day forward, Hotshot.”
We kiss. Just as it deepens, the rest of the world disappears, and that song starts playing again, making us laugh. He digs in his pocket and says, I got you something. He lifts the hinged lid on the blue velvet box, leaving me gasping. “Warner.”
“It’s real this time,” a woman calls, getting our attention. We turn to see his mother standing next to mine. Two families becoming one for us makes my heart clench.
I turn back to Warner, slipping the diamond ring on my finger. Holding it up, I wiggle my finger, admiring it. The diamond is one I would have chosen for myself. Not too big and showy. The band is gorgeous, with diamonds on the sides of the centerpiece. Just enough to make it look like a million bucks. Wait, he wouldn’t spend that, right?
It’s too pretty to worry about. They have insurance for that kind of thing. “I love it.” Wrapping my arms around him once more, I say, “I love you more than I knew was possible.”
“Same.”
I roll my eyes. “Same? That’s all I get?”
“How about this? I have all these people showing up in my life now, people who stepped in when I thought I needed them most. I didn’t. I only need you, Sass.”
He leans down to kiss me, but just before he does, I say, “So much better.”
We join our families and make the rounds of hugs. My mom says, “I’m so happy for you.”
I overhear her tell Warner, “Welcome to the family.”
When Grace and I embrace, she leans back and says, “He’s waited his whole life for you. I’m so happy he has you, and I get to call you daughter.”
I hug her tight, probably more than she’s used to, but we’re family now. “Thank you. Seems destiny had a plan for us all along.” I don’t bother bringing up that if he weren’t trying to usurp the little guy, we wouldn’t have met. He did us one better when he saved the building and the tenants, my family’s restaurant, and gave me the memory I always hoped for today. And he did it all for me. If that isn’t a love story, I don’t know what is.
Falling back into his strong arms, I lose myself in his incredible scent and the warmth in his eyes, the way he licks his bottom lip, and later that night, into that heavenly bed of his again. We leave the past in the past. And when I roll over breathless and happier than I’ve ever been, I turn to look at him next to me. Warner’s eyes are closed, but a smile lies on his face. It’s the only kind of lies we’re going to allow in our lives moving forward.
Cuddling up to his side, I kiss his chest, remembering that very first time we met. I ask him the same question he asked me that day, “What do you need?”
His eyes find mine as he rubs my back. With that smile still owning his expression, he replies, “I have everything I ever wanted. Your heart.”
It was a wild ride to get here, but as I lie in pure bliss and contentment, I wouldn’t change a thing. All’s fair in love and Warner.
EPILOGUE
Warner
We moved out of the tower, as she called it. I liked the penthouse, but it was never the same after she left. Her moving in didn’t feel like the way for us to start a new chapter. That chapter includes renovating a brownstone to suit us as a family. Living on the West Side has been a good change. It’s close to her school, and it’s only two blocks from her family.
It makes Sass happy, so I’m happy, even if they do tend to let themselves in at the most inopportune times, like when I had her pinned to the shower wall fucking her last week. I don’t think her brother Joe will ever come over again.