Epilogue
LILIAN
Six Months Later
Six months later, the sun was setting over the town and Reid and I were standing outside the shop with our fingers intertwined. The winds were beginning to cool, but there was a warmth in my chest that had nothing to do with the weather.
“Penny for your thoughts?” Reid’s voice pulled me from my reverie. “The grand results have just been announced from all the entrants who participated in National Dare Day—” he raised his brow as a shudder went through my body.
“That doesn’t matter anymore.” I whispered to him as I leaned into his side, resting my head against his shoulder. The first few weeks after Reid and I had slipped that we had been dating through a dare and told Paisley how we felt things had been strained. It was only once people understood that we’d actually not meant to hurt anyone in the process and deep down we’d fallen madly in love in the process that apologies started coming our way. The only people who had really stuck by our side at the time were Miri and Evander. Paisley just needed to get her head around what had happened and the fact everything had gone a step too far. Once Aiden had spoken to her and explained I think she finally understood what had upset not only us but others too. “I’d just been thinking about how much our lives have changed in six months.”
“Paisley and of course you—won, babe. We gave everyone an amazing performance.” He chuckled back. “The marketing package with Sleek Strategies and Heidi Lowerstoft is yours to share. I wonder how you’ll use it. I mean you’ve already come so far in a short time.”
“I think I’m going to tell Paisley to go with her heart and finally start her dream.” I admitted to him, holding his hand tightly. “I’ve been so lucky with all the backing and support I’ve had. It’s time that Paisley has the same opportunities to leave the school and open a shop for her eccentric shoe line she’d been making from her home.”
“I think that sounds perfect.” Reid gently placed a kiss against my lips. “A chance to give a little back to her.”
I mean I’d somehow managed to make the chocolate festival I’d dreamed of a reality, too with the thanks of Reid’s help navigating the permits and Paisley’s marketing genius, we’d transformed the pier into a chocolate lover’s paradise. Local vendors, wine pairings and my special demonstrations had drawn tourists from all along the coast.
“Remember when you couldn’t stand me?” Reid teased, squeezing my hand as I laughed, the sound carrying on the evening breeze.
“I never couldn’t stand you. I just thought you were…” I paused knowing I was never going to finish that sentence.
“Stuffy? Uptight? A corporate shill destroying the charm of Starlight Bay?” he supplied, his eyes twinkling with humor as I shook my head.
“Not getting an answer from me Mr. Belgrave,” I stated. “But I will admit I was wrong.” The thing that was behind that perfectly pressed suit was a man with depth and warmth I never could have imagined. A man who took care and listened to me. A man who carved me a wooden box to hold something so precious to me and someone who’d stood by me through everything these past months—even when my mother had a health scare that sent me spiraling into old fears.
“Lilian Raeflower,” he continued, “we may have started as a dare. A silly game that somehow turned into the most real thing I’ve ever known. These past six months have shown me what it means to truly share my life with someone, to be vulnerable, to love without holding back.” I watched as he sank down to one knee, still holding my hand, and my heart felt like it might burst from my chest. “I know I have done this before but this time I’m doing it for just us. The two of us. Will you marry me? Not for show, not for Starlight Bay, but for us?”
A tear slipped down my cheek as I nodded, unable to find my voice for a moment. “Yes,” I finally managed as I watched him pull out of the box a ring, I never thought I’d see again. “Reid!”
“Shall we say your mother gave it to me? She kept your grandmother’s all these years for the right person. She knew Jason wasn’t it.” Reid uttered as I took in a deep breath. “It had a few stones missing around the edge,” he said pointing to them. “I took the other ring and had it adjusted so it’s within this too. A memory shall we say and the remaining part of the stone was cut into a necklace—for you to keep.” His face broke into a smile that rivaled the sunset as he placed it onto my finger as the tears dropped onto my cheeks. I gave him a second to stand before I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him with everything I had—all the love, all the dreams, all the future I could see stretching out before us. “You deserve it all and more, Lilian.”
“I love you, Reid.” I whispered to him as I glanced at the man in my arms.
“I love you too, Lilian.” He replied back, sealing his words with a gentle kiss to the lips. “So,” Reid said, drawing me back to the present, “a spring wedding by the lighthouse?”
“How did you know that’s what I’d want?” I replied, smiling up at him.
“Because I know you,” he replied simply. “Your love of this town, your connection to the sea and because that best friend of yours might have dropped a few hints.”
“Of course she did.” I laughed out loud. “It wouldn’t be Pais without saying something.”
We locked up the shop and stepped back outside. Night had fallen fully now, the stars bright over Starlight Bay. The town that had always been my home felt even more precious now, knowing I would build a future here with Reid by my side. My chocolate shop would continue to grow. Reid would continue to practice law, though he’d begun to focus more on community development and preservation, finding a balance between progress and tradition than divorce proceedings. The salty breeze off the water carried whispers of possibility as we walked hand in hand down Main Street, my grandmother’s ring catching the moonlight with each step. And as the stars continued to twinkle above us, I knew that this was just the beginning of our story. The guy who was meant to be.
Bonus Scene:
Reid
Wedding Night
The second the door to the honeymoon suite clicked shut behind us, I had Lilian pinned against it, kissing her like I was trying to brand her soul.
She laughed breathlessly against my mouth, her hands already tugging at the knot of my tie.
“Slow down, counselor,” she teased, her voice wrecked with need.
“No chance,” I rasped, dragging my mouth along her jaw, down her throat. “I’ve waited too damn long to make you mine.”
“I’m already yours,” she whispered, tilting her head to give me better access.
“Forever,” I growled against her skin. “And I’m gonna spend all night proving it.”
She shivered at my words, the thin silk of her dress doing nothing to hide how her body responded to me.
I gripped her thighs and lifted her easily, making her wrap around me, her dress riding up her hips. I carried her across the room and laid her down on the massive bed like she was the most precious thing I’d ever held.
“Stay right there,” I ordered, my voice rough as I stepped back to drink her in.
Her hair was wild from my hands, her lips swollen, her eyes dark with heat and love. She was a fucking vision—my wife.
I ripped off my jacket and tie, my fingers fumbling with the buttons of my shirt, needing to feel her skin against mine.
Lilian propped herself up on her elbows, watching me with a smirk that said she knew exactly how far gone I already was.
“Your turn,” I said, my voice gravelly.
She sat up slowly, reaching behind her to unzip the back of her dress. Inch by torturous inch, the fabric slipped away, revealing smooth skin and a lacy white bra that made my cock throb painfully against my pants.
“Holy fuck, Lilian,” I breathed.
She bit her lip, shimmying out of the dress until she sat there in nothing but lace and a wicked smile.
“Come here,” she murmured.
I didn’t walk. I lunged.
I kissed her like I’d die without it, my hands everywhere at once—tugging the lace down, baring her breasts, thumbing over already-tight nipples until she whimpered. She yanked at my belt, desperate and fumbling, and I barely managed to kick my pants away before I was on her again, hard and aching.
She wrapped her hand around my cock, stroking me, making me groan against her mouth.
“Fuck,” I grunted, grabbing her wrist and pinning it over her head. “Not tonight. Tonight’s about you.”
She whimpered, her body arching into mine, begging.
I kissed my way down her chest, her ribs, her stomach, until I reached the tiny scrap of lace still covering the place I needed most.
I hooked my fingers into the waistband and ripped it away with one brutal yank.
“Reid!” she gasped, half laughing, half moaning.
“I’ll buy you a new one,” I muttered, and then I buried my mouth between her thighs.
God, she tasted so fucking good. Sweet, slick, and completely mine.
I licked and sucked and teased her clit until she was writhing under me, sobbing my name, her hands tangling desperately in my hair.
“Come for me, Lilian,” I growled against her.
When I slipped two fingers inside her and crooked them just right, she broke.
She shattered against my mouth, coming so hard I had to hold her hips to keep her grounded.
I kissed my way back up her trembling body, giving her no chance to recover.
Not tonight. Not ever again.
“Ready for me, Mrs. Belgrave?” I murmured against her ear, positioning myself at her entrance.
“Always,” she whispered.
I slid into her in one slow, deep thrust, burying myself to the hilt.
She was tight, slick, perfect. We both groaned at the contact, at the rightness of it, the inevitability of it.
“Fuck, baby,” I rasped, barely holding myself together. “You feel like heaven.”
I braced myself on my forearms, cupping her face between my hands as I started to move—long, deep strokes that made her gasp and clutch at my shoulders.
“I love you,” she whispered, her eyes shining.
It damn near broke me.
“I love you too,” I rasped back, my voice raw. “Only you. Always.”
The pace between us shifted—growing frantic, desperate, messy.
I drove into her harder, faster, swallowing her cries with my mouth, drowning in the taste, the feel, the fucking miracle of her.
“Come with me,” I demanded, grinding deep, feeling my orgasm building, inevitable.
“I’m close,” she gasped, nails dragging down my back.
One more thrust. One more brush of my thumb against her clit—and she shattered again, crying out my name, her pussy clenching so hard around me it ripped my orgasm from me in a blinding rush.
I came with a broken roar, emptying myself inside her, our bodies locked together, trembling with the force of it.
We collapsed into the mattress, tangled up, sweaty, shaking.
Mine.
Forever.
The End