Fake It ‘Til You Feel It (Work For It #3)

Epilogue

IVY — ONE YEAR LATER

I sit on the low sea wall, watching Mars stand at the water’s edge and gaze out at the ocean while he waits for me.

A loud slurping pierces the calm, and I turn to look at Joanie. “Seriously?” She turns to stare at me and slurps even harder. “You know, there was nothing in that bet that said I had to keep buying you those ridiculous drinks every month in perpetuity.”

“And yet you keep buying them for me.” She takes another sip of her pink and purple swirly beverage that has the barest hint of coffee in it.

“Tell me again why you’re here. This is my and Mars’ surf time.” Joanie gives me a shrug, never letting go of the straw. I startle when someone drops down onto the wall on my other side.

Meredith. She silently salutes me with her travel mug. It’s probably filled with black coffee and the tears of her victims. “You too? Is this beach day and nobody told me?”

“Every day is beach day for you,” Meredith points out. “Joanie and I were curious how your surfing was coming along.”

“See for yourself.” I hop off the wall and pull my wetsuit zipper the last few inches. I let out a piercing whistle and our dog, Spock, comes running. He’s carrying a stick that’s entirely too big for his body, and he looks so proud of himself. “Can you keep an eye on him while we’re out there?” I ask my two friends. They both hold up their drinks in acknowledgement.

Mars is still staring out at the water, his arms folded over his chest and our boards on the sand next to him. He’s been a little off the last couple weeks, and I know work has gotten much busier. He needs this time on the water to unwind, and ever since he started giving me lessons, I come out with him a couple times a week. I’m finally getting the hang of it.

“Come on, let’s go.” I tug on his arm, and he turns to look at me with a grin.

“Yeah, let’s do this.”

I manage to catch a few good waves, whooping with delight when I ride without falling off. Mars has a permanent grin on his face. I can’t get enough of watching him catch wave after wave.

I take a break and straddle my board, bobbing on the water. An otter pops up, does a few rolls, and dives back under. Thinking of Mars’ drawing of an otter sitting in a therapist’s chair makes me laugh. We have it framed, along with some of his other drawings, and hung in our hallway. The skateboard deck with the illustration of me in armor hangs over the fireplace.

We moved in together within a month of making our relationship official and adopted Spock a month after that. The word relationship no longer scares me, not when I get to wake up to Mars every morning, spend quiet evenings with our friends or snuggling on the couch, and be in his arms every night.

Mars and I end up floating next to each other, quietly watching the horizon. He toys with the neck of his wetsuit and gazes at me. “Hey, Ives?”

“Hey, Mars,” I respond.

“I have a question for you.” His voice comes out in a rasp, and suddenly I know. Oh, shit. I know .

My eyes lock on his, and my heart almost comes out of my chest when I see the hopeful but unsure look in his eyes. I reach out a hand to him and he takes it, gripping me like he’s afraid I’ll float away.

“Ask me anything,” I manage to say.

“Want to get married?” The simplest question coming from the best man I know. I want to leap up onto my board and jump up and down with happiness right now. But I swallow it down.

“To you?” I ask, struggling to keep my voice calm.

Mars huffs out a laugh and squeezes my hand. “Yes, to me. I know how much you love weddings.” The smile he gives me lights up his face. He drops my hand and holds up a finger for me to wait a second. He pulls the zipper part way down on his wetsuit and takes out a chain that hangs around his neck. “If you say yes you get to wear this.”

Out comes the prettiest emerald ring I’ve ever seen, hanging from the chain around his neck. Not too big, not too flashy, but classic and gorgeous. I suck in a breath and tears sting my eyes. “Oh, Mars,” I manage to say.

I scramble off my board and try to climb on his. He reaches for me, but we only manage to tip ourselves into the water. Coming up for air I wrap my arms and legs around Mars and plant the biggest, wettest kiss on him. He holds me to him with one arm and tucks the ring back in his wetsuit.

“But,” I protest. “Gimme.”

He laughs. “I haven’t heard a yes out of you yet. And you have to wait until we’re on dry land and off the beach. There’s no way I’m losing this thing in the water or sand.”

I squeeze him tighter and pepper his face with kisses as we bob in the waves. I don’t miss his sniffle or red-rimmed eyes.

“Yes. Yes, yes, yes. I will marry you, Mars Brooks.” I throw my head back and shout it louder. “Yes.”

Spock barks from the beach, and I turn to see Joanie and Meredith jumping up and down and clapping. “Wait, is that why they’re here?”

Mars reaches for his board while keeping one arm around me. “That was the deal. If they helped me look for a ring, they got to witness the proposal. And Joanie wants to use our fake dating, friends to lovers, only one bed meet cute for one of her books.”

I gape at him. “What, she gave me a crash course in all the cool romance lingo. I’m pretty much an expert now.” He looks so smug, I want to kiss that smirk off of his face. So I do.

We make our way to shore, and I run out of the waves, carrying my board. As soon as Mars is on dry land, I wrap my arms around him again and haul him into another kiss. He smiles against my lips as Spock jumps and barks around us. Joanie and Meredith are still cheering, but all I can focus on is Mars.

The most real thing that I’ve ever had.

Ivy and Mars spend some quality time at the beach. Things get interesting in this steamy bonus scene .

What happens when you shut a black-cat audio engineer and the golden-retriever coworker she can’t ignore in a tiny sound booth after hours? Read Stuart and Meredith's office romance in Hear Me Out , first in the Work For It series.

Read what goes down when a romance writer realizes the guy she's had a tiny crush on is not who he first seems. Read Joanie and Colin's love story in Seen You Before , part of the Work For It series.