Epilogue
One Year Later
Demi
“Demi, Roman’s here to see you.”
Cassie popped her gorgeous head in, her platinum hair now streaked with violet, her spiked necklace looking extra spiky.
“Do you want me to stay? Be HR adjacent?” she teased.
“That’s okay. We already fought about the two matches I didn’t approve when he returned home from being on location last night.” I smirked.
Of course, we’d spectacularly made up when he finally admitted I was right. Making up was my favorite, but Cassie didn’t need to know that.
Yes, Roman got to keep his show. Turns out him falling in love with me had made our season a huge, huge hit, so the studio didn’t care that he’d broken his contract.
The spin they put on it was perfect: This is what the show is all about—finding real connections, proving love is unscripted.
And really, what could be more unscripted than the host falling in love with a cast member?
But Roman was doing things differently now.
His show wasn’t about manufacturing drama or making villains out of people.
There still was drama, of course, but that’s because love rarely comes easy.
Hestia was now making guest appearances on the show and truly helping people work through their issues.
Hestia’s brand of counseling was the best, and those episodes were must-see TV.
And I had agreed to keep running the Bureau.
But this time I had a brand-new guidebook to go by.
This one was filled with rules like, Help people know their own hearts and see their worth.
And there were even bylaws for when things like love at first sight, grand gestures, and even enemies to lovers were acceptable.
But the biggest rule was that there are no set rules when it comes to love.
Don’t get me wrong: it wasn’t a free-for-all, but let’s just say I had learned to listen to my heart .
. . and my goddess. She hadn’t steered me wrong yet.
Just in case you’re wondering, I’m still working on things with my father.
We’ve made some good progress in our weekly sessions with Hestia.
She’s really proud of how I speak my mind now, and I’ve even drunk her special blend of For the Love, Let That Go tea.
There were just some things that I would probably never fully understand.
But I was trying to understand my father in the here and now. I knew my mother would want me to.
“I could poison him for old times’ sake?
” Cassie said, with just enough hope in her voice to make me laugh.
She was still a little salty that I’d never let her use that truth serum on Roman during our Love Unscripted days.
But once I learned he’d spill every truth to anyone within a ten-foot radius, I couldn’t in good conscience let her administer it.
Although, honestly, it would’ve been hilarious.
“Nah. Too much paperwork. And we have to pick up Junie from her mom’s after this.” She had her first gymnastics meet tonight.
“Okay, fine,” she sighed dramatically.
I giggled.
“Hey, before you go—I talked to Jonas earlier today. He asked about you. Are you ever going to tell me what really happened between you?”
Because I knew something had. She could claim it was just a fling for the drama, but the way she’d acted after the show ended told me otherwise.
“Nope.” She grinned, flitting off like a mischievous sprite. “You can see your wife now,” I heard her call to Roman.
I loved being his wife. For the past six months, I’d held that title. Ever since Cupid had joined us together at the resort in Wyoming. It was the perfect place to say “I do”—the place where we’d finally recognized each other for who we truly were.
Roman strutted in, tight jeans and a fitted T-shirt, hair tousled just the way I liked it. Looking every bit like the best decision I had ever made.
A gust of enchanted wind shut the door and sealed us in.
“You’re early.” I smiled.
Roman landed near me, settling on the edge of my desk. He reached for me instantly, pulling me into him.
“I couldn’t wait to see you.”
“I missed you too.”
My lips found his, moving slowly, deliberately—our long, drawn-out dance. Roman grew hungry for more, deepening the kiss. His hands traced their way up my body, lingering at every curve, claiming each one as his. They ended in my hair, his fingers tangling in the strands, anchoring me to him.
I tilted my head, giving him more, and his mouth followed—coaxing, teasing—until the kiss turned hungrier.
His breath mingled with mine, warm and steady, then uneven as he pulled me closer.
One hand tightened in my hair; the other pressed to the small of my back, guiding me against him, as if relearning every inch of me with intentional, devastating care.
The world outside blurred, forgotten. There was only the taste of him, the heat of his body, the way he kissed me like he had all the time in the world—and yet not nearly enough.
I thought of all the time we had spent together this past year, loving each other.
Our souls becoming one again. Somehow he made it easier to face the whirlwind life had been lately.
All the interviews after my stint on Love Unscripted.
The world had demanded to know where I’d been and who I was now.
And we’d caused quite the scandal falling in love on his show.
As much as the studio was eventually happy about it, there had been brutal things said about us online, about how the show was rigged and all my drama was fake.
“Harlot” was the nicest of the names I’d been called.
But Roman, Junie, and Roman’s mom Melissa made it all bearable.
With them, I could shut out the noise. And of course, I had a hex-loving best friend, which didn’t hurt.
Roman abruptly pulled away from me, his eyes wide. Stunned.
“Is everything okay?”
“Yes,” he said, breathless, a smile breaking across his handsome face. “I felt something.”
“I’m sure you did. You can read all my feelings now when you’re touching me. I’m sure you’re very proud of yourself.”
“Believe me, I am,” he said far too cockily. “But it wasn’t only your heart I felt this time.”
I blinked, trying to comprehend. My hand drifted to my abdomen.
“Roman,” I whispered. “Am I . . . pregnant?”
His eyes shimmered with wonder.
“Yes, my love. And he can’t wait to meet his mother.”
I threw my arms around his neck. A happiness unlike anything I had ever felt before consumed me.
“Junie’s going to be so excited,” I laughed through tears. “She’s been asking for a baby brother.” She’d probably already dreamed about him.
Roman pressed his forehead to mine. “I love you, Demi, my goddess.”
“I love you. So much.”
Hmm. I had a thought. Perhaps a ridiculous one. But I was getting pretty good at this goddess-of-love thing. Maybe I should write a book. I could call it A Demigoddess’s Guide to Love.