Epilogue
SAVANNA
FIVE MONTHS LATER…
“Hey Sav?”
I look up from the computer to see Bryn standing in the doorway of the office, her chin length hair looking exceptionally cute all barrel curled. Nate calls it my office, but I roll my eyes when he does; it’s our office.
I officially accepted his offer when I went back to work a month after getting out of the hospital. He wouldn’t let me back any sooner than that. Now, after getting certified in California, I do all the accounting and bookkeeping for the bar. Nate let his old accountant go after he got confirmation everything I did was perfect, and in working order. I wasn’t surprised, but I had to prove it to Nate, for myself at least, before he did anything drastic.
The bookkeeping doesn’t keep me busy enough, though, so I spend my other time serving, and when Nate isn’t around, I manage the bar. That’s not all. Nate’s grandparents, Bob and Mildred, asked me to consult for them when they found a new firm to join after leaving Prescott and Wesley. They said before me, they’d never met someone they felt comfortable enough with at the firm, which was why they changed consultants every time they came in. I asked them why they hadn’t left years earlier, and they amused me greatly when they admitted they enjoyed making everyone there uncomfortable.
“What are you doing here?” I ask, raising an eyebrow.
Bryn and I have grown close since I started, and given that I do the scheduling these days, I know she’s not on it. I’m surprised she’d be here for dinner without telling me beforehand. Maybe she has a date.
Waving a hand casually, she rolls her eyes. “I left a jacket here last weekend and I need it for tonight. It completes the outfit.”
I give her a once over. Black jeans, sheer black, long-sleeved blouse with a lace camisole underneath, and her leather jacket in her hands.
“You look hot,” I fan my face. “Hot date?”
“I am too busy for dates between work, Gran, and serving,” she laughs, shaking her head. “A friend has a party tonight.”
I snap my fingers. “Too bad. I was looking forward to some juicy gossip about a man.”
She waves me off. “On my way back here, Martin asked me to let you know there’s a guy asking for you at the bar.”
“Oh.” I check my watch. It’s almost six.
At one time, hearing the words someone was asking for me would send me into a tailspin, but these days it does little more than make me curious. Therapy, and my worst nightmare being dead, probably have something to do with that.
I have no idea who it might be. I met with a vendor earlier today, but the next meeting I have scheduled isn’t until the following week. Maybe a vendor dropped by unexpectedly. I’ve learned they do that sometimes.
Nate should be here soon too. He worked at the firehouse yesterday, so I only saw him briefly this morning when I was getting ready for work, when he’d told me to dress up a little so he could take me for dinner tonight. When I chose an off-white cable knit sweater dress with a scooped neck that flares a bit at mid-thigh, he grinned at me, called me perfect, then threw me on the bed before I could finish getting ready. I didn’t object.
“I don’t want to know what you’re thinking right now,” Bryn laughs, and my cheeks heat. “I gotta go, though. I’ll see you tomorrow. Don’t keep the guy at the bar waiting with whatever you’re daydreaming about.”
“I’m not daydreaming about anything!” I call out after she spins and leaves.
Whoever it is, I want to get rid of them before Nate shows up. I’ve been looking forward to our date night all day, and while I may have denied my daydreaming to Bryn, I’ve been fantasizing a lot after this morning.
I really thought our appetite would have curbed by now, and I guess it has slowed a bit. We can be in bed together without ending up tangled between the sheets, but I still constantly want the man.
I suppose we did go six weeks after the hospital where we didn’t have sex. Nate was way too concerned he’d hurt me, and he has the willpower of a saint. We were a grouchy household by the time I said fuck his rules and got him so worked up he couldn’t fight it any longer. I learned more than a few things that night about what drives him wildest.
Pushing away from the desk, I make my way into the kitchen, pausing for a moment when I don’t hear the usual sounds of the guys. Looking around, I realize no one is in here.
That’s weird.
A small knot forms in my stomach as I think worst case scenario. They wouldn’t all quit at the same time, with no notice, would they? I’ve gotten to know all these guys and they’re all a great bunch. Happy, goofy, here to do a good job while having a good time doing it. No one has come to Nate expressing unhappiness, so I’m not sure why no one is in the kitchen. An emergency?
I glance towards the back door and bite my lip, thinking of the night Tony overdosed. Would they all have rushed out there if it happened again?
A loud commotion from the front of house catches my attention, my frown deepening as I twist back to the swinging doors. I can see a bunch of people standing around out there, which is just as unusual as no one in the kitchen, especially on a Tuesday evening.
Deciding I’ll leave the issue with the kitchen staff for a moment to investigate what’s going on in the bar, I head towards the doors, pushing my way through them only to come to an immediate halt.
I blink once, twice, a third time, trying to understand what I’m looking at. The entire bar staff is out front, along with the firehouse crew. There are other faces I recognize as well, but I’m so caught off guard that everyone is turned to face the door I just came through, that I’m having trouble placing them.
Until I recognize one couple.
“Mildred? Bob?” I ask, shaking my head in confusion. Then I realize Elizabeth, Nate’s mom, is standing there along with his dad. Jordan is next to them. “What’s going on?”
No one speaks. The only indication I get from any of them is when Mildred nods her head to the side, indicating a spot I can’t see from my vantage point. With just as much uncertainty as before, I take a few tentative steps forward, my heart galloping in my chest with anticipation.
I’m not prepared for what I see when I turn the corner at the edge of the bar, both hands coming up to cover my mouth as I gasp loudly and stop.
Down on one knee is Nate, holding a black velvet box in his hand, his other held out to me.
It takes me a moment to move my feet because I’m so overwhelmed by the sight and what I think is about to happen. Tears sting my eyes, but I manage to move closer to him, taking his outstretched hand.
The man is beaming at me like I’ve never seen. Enthusiasm lights up his bright blue eyes, and there’s pride in his smile. Someone who didn’t know him may mistake his reddening neck and face as excitement, but I know it’s nervousness.
He’s so damn handsome I can hardly stand it, and I have to hold myself back from screaming “Yes!” before he has a chance to ask me.
“Hi,” he says, eyes dancing.
“Hi,” I respond, swiping a finger under my eye to catch a tear. “You’re making me cry.”
His grin ratchets up a notch. “These are the kind of tears I don’t mind, but I could stop what I’m about to do if you’d rather.”
“No!” I cry, and there’s laughter all around us. I think the whole room had fallen away until that moment, but now I remember everyone we know seems to be here. Nate must feel rather sure of my answer for him to invite everyone. He’d be right, and I love that he’s included his family and our friends. “Please continue.”
Nate chuckles, giving me a short nod before he takes a deep breath. He gazes up at me with so much love shining in his eyes that I think I might melt into a puddle.
“I know we’ve only been together for six months, so this might seem sudden, but Savanna, I love you,” he says, his hand squeezing mine. “I think maybe I’ve loved you since the first day I saw you in that elevator and you called me a disgusting, filthy pig.”
I can’t help it; I throw my head back and laugh. I am never going to live that down.
“Christ, I love that sound. I love it more when I know I’m the cause of it,” he beams, a sense of pride mingling with the love in his eyes. “I know I want to hear you laugh for the rest of my life. I want to spend every day getting you to laugh, and smile, on good days, and especially on bad ones.”
He brings my hand to his lips, kissing the back of it before he continues, and yep, I’m a puddle of goo because of this man.
“I want to hold you every night, grow with you every day, have a family with you when we’re ready, then get old with you and chase grandkids around.” I swear his eyes are shining with his own tears, but I can’t be sure because mine are filled with moisture.
“Will you make me the luckiest guy out there, and marry me?”
I could easily scream my yes, jump into his arms, and kiss him until we’re both breathless. And I will. But I’m really impressed with how composed he’s been through this entire proposal. It’s completely different from when he asked me on a date, and it might be a little devious, but I kind of want to make him sweat a little.
I suck in my bottom lip, releasing it a moment later. “You want me to be your wife?”
Confusion clouds his eyes, and I have to bite back a laugh. “That’s generally what happens when a guy marries a woman…”
“Like you’re asking me to be yours forever?” I raise an eyebrow.
He’s going to give me hell later. I can see the panic creep into his eyes, like he isn’t sure this was the right move, something I remember fondly from when he asked me on our first date. It’s adorable he hasn’t clued in yet.
“I am,” he says hesitantly. His Adam's apple bobs as he swallows hard.
Biting down on my bottom lip, I know he can see the amusement in my eyes because his start to narrow at me. I think it’s dawning on him that I’m toying with him.
I give him the most innocent smile I can muster. “You’re my boss.”
There it is. The recognition of the first time he asked me out. “If that’s a problem, you’re fired.”
Laughter spills out of me as I throw myself into his arms, shouting what has been in my heart since the second I saw him down on one knee. “Yes! Of course I’ll marry you!”
Nate’s arms wrap around me, his lips capturing mine, and for a moment we stay right there. Then he’s standing up, spinning me around as we kiss each other until we’re both gasping for air and he’s setting me back on my feet.
I’m not sure if the cheers and claps were happening the whole time we kissed, or if they only start as we finally part because the whole world seemed to have disappeared for a time, and it was just the two of us, sharing the moment together.
Though I want nothing more than to stare at this incredible man for the rest of the night, I glance to my side, my smile glowing as I look at our friends and family.
Then do a double take as one face catches my attention.
“Connor?” I shriek at my brother. I realize that Devin is beside him, and my dad is behind them. “Dad? Dev?”
My head snaps back to Nate, my eyes wide, and he grins at me, giving me a nod to go. His eyes convey an ease and happiness that says he knew this would happen when I saw them. He anticipated it.
I’m halfway to them when I recognize one more familiar face standing beside Connor, and I scream so loud I’m sure I scare half the people in here. “Maddie!”
I’m overwhelmed at the sight of my best friend and my family, the four of them enveloping me in a hug that seems like it’s one giant embrace. I think I actually go from one to the next, but the tangle of arms all seems to be the same. When I get to Maddie, she squeals and I shriek while we hug fiercely.
I can’t believe she got time off to come out here. We saw each other at Christmas when Nate and I went to Colorado, but she wasn’t able to get out here to visit.
“Let me see the ring in person!” she says, letting me go.
My eyes widen to saucers, and I spin around, looking for Nate, who is right behind me, chuckling.
“The ring!” I gasp, horrified. “I didn’t even let you put it on!”
“It’s not going anywhere, beautiful,” he says, laughter erupting around us. “At least I know you didn’t say yes for the merchandise.”
When I thrust my hand in front of him, he takes it, smirking, and slips the ring on my finger. It’s the perfect size. I don’t know how he knew, but he did, and I love him even more for it.
“Oh, wow,” I murmur, looking down as it sparkles on my finger. It’s white gold, and has a larger diamond in the middle, with little diamonds spread sporadically through the metal that is cut into an intricate pattern down each side of the band. It’s breathtaking with all the character woven through it. “Nate, it’s beautiful.”
Tilting my chin up with a finger, he smiles at me. “Not as beautiful as you,” he murmurs, leaning in to brush his lips to mine, eliciting a sigh from me. “I love you.”
I smile, wrapping my arms around his waist, pressing my cheek against his chest. “I love you too.”
Hours later, in the comfort of our bed, I’m blissed out, draped over Nate’s chest, cuddling after the best orgasm of my life. I should probably be exhausted after all the excitement, and then the amazing sex, but I’m wide awake.
The way he’s running his fingers up and down my back with one hand, and playing with the ring on my finger with the other, tells me he’s feeling the same. Perhaps he’ll spin the ring for hours and hours until he’s ready to give into sleep. I have a feeling he’s going to play with the band a lot if the pride radiating from him is any indication.
Claimed me as his own for life. Happiness spreads through my chest and I smile against his. I can’t wait to start that life together with him. We’re well on our way, I suppose. Maybe getting engaged after six months seems fast, but for us it seems like it’s right on par considering I basically moved in with Nate the day I officially met him and haven’t left, having given up my apartment before it was even livable again.
“Let’s go to Vegas,” I say, smiling when he stops all movement. Not even his chest rises with breath.
He clears his surprise with a cough. “You want to elope?”
Lifting myself up, I rest my arm on his chest and gaze at him, shaking my head. “No. I want us to plan something, but I think we should do it in Vegas. I don’t want to make your family travel to Colorado, or mine travel to California. Let’s go to Vegas, and whoever wants to come can come.”
There’s a long pause as he regards me thoughtfully, then quirks an eyebrow. “But no Elvis, right?”
I laugh, giving my head another shake. “No Elvis. A real wedding in a real venue, not some chapel on the corner. We could go a few days early with some of our friends, hang out at the pool, maybe catch a show, or go to a club.” I run a fingertip along his chest. “We can do our own thing, and if people want to join us, they do, but they could do their own thing too. We just make it a fun few days and cap it off with you becoming my husband.”
I can see the gears turning in his head as he thinks about it, envisioning it as I lay it out for him. A soft smile plays on his lips, and I wonder if he’s picturing me walking down the aisle towards him in some beautiful white wedding dress, our friends and family surrounding us. My stomach does a somersault at the thought of it.
“You mean, you becoming my wife,” he says after a moment, winking at me.
I lean closer to him, my lips just barely brushing his. “I really love the sound of that.”
“Me too,” he murmurs, his fingers tangling in my hair as he pulls me down so our lips fully connect. He adds against my lips, “Okay. Let’s do Vegas.”
Sliding a leg across his body, I straddle his waist, nipping at his bottom lip. This man. He changed my entire world, opened me up and showed me exactly what love truly was. Now I’m lucky enough to call him mine for the rest of my life. “I love you so much.”
“Show me,” he requests.
So I do.