Epilogue
STERLING
I woke up to the warmth of her hand on my shoulder and the soft brush of her lips at my temple.
I cracked open an eye, confused for a second when I realized that the sun hadn’t even broken over the skyline yet.
Figuring she was probably just pulling me closer, I tightened my grip on her hip and settled in for another couple hours, but then I heard her whisper, “Wake up, my love. I’ve got a surprise for you. ”
I frowned and blinked open both eyes this time, squinting at the clock. Just past five. On a Saturday. What in the everloving…
“Lane,” I mumbled, voice thick with sleep. “The only surprise worth waking up for this early involves you, no clothes, and at least another few hours in bed, so I really hope it’s that or I’m going back to sleep.”
She laughed, the sound soft and happy but also just a little impatient. “That’s too bad because it’s not that but you’re also not going back to sleep. Come on. You have to get dressed. We’re going to Napa today.”
Still fighting the fog of sleep, I blinked a few times and finally lowered my gaze to hers. “Napa? Why?”
It wasn’t like I needed convincing to go anywhere with her, but the look on her face, all smiley, determined, and a little mischievous told me this wasn’t just about good wine. I sighed. “Yeah, okay. I’m getting up, but should I be worried?”
“Nope, but hurry. The sooner we leave, the sooner we get there and the sooner we can hit the trail.”
“The trail?” I groaned. “This is about that hike you wanted to do the last time we were there?”
It shouldn’t have come as this much of a surprise. Laney and I had gone to Napa for a week after we’d made up and she’d learned from the vineyard manager that there was a supposedly fantastic hike right on the property.
We’d meant to do it, but in the end, we’d barely left the house. It’d been five days mostly spent in bed, making up for lost time and reassuring each other of our love for one another over and over again.
That had been about a month and a half ago, and I still hadn’t had enough of her. If she wanted to go spend another couple of days in that bed rather than this one though, I was game. As long as we didn’t really have to go on a freaking walk.
I climbed out of bed and strode into the bathroom, eyeing her as I picked up my toothbrush.
“Is this really about the hike?” My gaze skimmed across her shapely body and her full breasts, her toned thighs showed off by the tiny shorts she had on. “I?—”
“Don’t even try, Sterling Westwood,” she admonished me playfully, backing away until she was all the way to our bedroom door. “We’re going to Napa and I’m not going to let you convince me otherwise.”
Before I could open my mouth, she spun around so fast that her ponytail swished out behind her head and then she disappeared. I groaned and pushed down on my growing erection, knowing that for some reason I wasn’t going to be able to change her mind today.
Curious about why she was so excited, I grabbed a quick shower and changed, even more curious when she was practically bouncing in the passenger seat all the way there. Her fingers were drumming against her thigh, her eyes fixed straight ahead like she couldn’t wait for whatever her surprise was.
When we finally pulled up to the house, the sun was high enough to cast that magical, hazy, early morning glow across the vines, and it caught her hair when she jumped out. I barely had the car in park before she turned, reached into the back seat, and tossed something at me.
It took me a second to realize what it was. The hiking sandals. Those godawful, strappy things she’d bought me weeks ago. I’d made fun of them at the time, called them an insult to footwear. Now she was grinning, her eyes dancing with some kind of challenge.
“What’s taking you so long?” she asked, those gray eyes widening as she parked her hands on her hips. “Get them on. We’re going. Now.”
I turned the sandals over in my hand like they might miraculously transform into boots. “Are you really going to make me wear these?”
“You promised you’d try them, and besides, you’re going to want them where we’re going.”
She’d called the last half of the sentence to me over her shoulder, her ponytail swaying. The smile on her lips made it impossible to say no, though. I sighed, shoved my feet into the ridiculous things, and followed.
Whatever this surprise was, I knew it probably wouldn’t stop with Napa, the hike, and the sandals. Or maybe it would. With Laney, the real surprise had always been just how easy it was to say yes to her, but she’d also been acting strangely for a few days now—even by her standards.
She’d been restless and jumpy, almost vibrating at times and seeming exhausted at others. Every time I’d tried to corner her about it so far, she’d deflected with a kiss or a joke, and I’d let it go because I’d known she would tell me when she was ready.
I had to respect that. Even if it’d killed me to wait when it was obviously something big.
Laney led me around the house to a trail that cut through the edge of the vineyard, the morning sun warm on our backs. The ridiculous sandals squeaked with every step I took and she kept giggling softly about it.
“You know,” she teased, her eyes meeting mine over her shoulder. “They wouldn’t have been doing that if you’d actually broken them in.”
“They also wouldn’t have been doing it if you’d let me burn them,” I shot back, stepping over a root that threatened to trip me.
She grinned at me. “If you burned them, what would you wear for my next terrible idea?”
“I’m starting to think you should just leave the idea-having to me,” I grumbled. “My ideas are good ideas.”
“Your ideas are all about sex.”
I arched an eyebrow. “You haven’t complained about that before.”
“I’m also not complaining about it now. I just need you to trust me, okay?” She smiled, strangely secretive and smug, and kept walking.
I followed her, but that was no surprise. I would follow this woman into hell if it meant getting to spend a little bit of time with her.
The last few weeks since we’d made up hadn’t been without their challenges.
We’d had a lot to talk about and we’d both completely opened up about our fears, our reservations, and our expectations.
Talking about that kind of thing had not come naturally to me, but as always, sharing it with her hadn’t been as bad it might’ve been if I’d been sharing it with anyone else.
After bleeding my insides all over the floor of our penthouse, I’d also finally presented her with a printout of all our assets. I’d included everything from properties, to cars, to racehorses, and beyond, and she’d eventually—reluctantly—begun to accept that it all belonged to her now too.
We still had to take a tour of most of our properties, but the one she’d been most excited about had been that second storefront in LA.
I’d bought the whole damn building and we’d be opening in just a few weeks.
Vincent was convinced I’d only done it to win her back, but the truth was that I’d owned that building since before she’d even left it the first time.
I’d simply been waiting for the right time to tell her. At least her dad was talking to me again. Our relationship was far from perfect, but he was coming around. Slowly but steadily. He’d made a very real threat to my balls if she ever showed up at his door like that again, though.
Once she and I had smoothed things over at home in every way possible, I’d made an appointment with my father and I’d sat him down, letting him know that I was through letting him use my relationship with Laney as some kind of bargaining chip with my brothers.
She and I had also invited Jameson over for dinner one night and she’d told him everything about our arrangement from her point of view.
I’d learned a lot about her that night myself, but in the end, I’d also explained things to him as I’d experienced them.
Without getting into an argument this time.
Things were better between us now, even if I knew Jamie still wasn’t onboard with the whole arranged marriage thing.
All three of us also knew that Dad wasn’t going to get off his back about it entirely, but for now, he was letting things unfold naturally.
It wouldn’t last, but at least my brother had a tiny fraction of peace.
Eventually, the trail opened into a small clearing on the far side of my property. I’d never been here before, but it was shaded by old oaks and there was a blanket and a basket waiting for us right in the middle.
My eyebrows shot up. “What is this?”
Laney ignored me, spreading out the blanket and sitting down before she opened the basket.
Humming quietly, she smiled as she started pulling things out of it.
A bottle of wine and a selection of cheeses, fresh bread, berries, olives.
All of them were things she knew I loved and the fact that they’d been in that basket made it clear she’d planned this. Like, really planned it.
Cautiously striding over, I sat down next to her and watched as she opened a bottle of wine and poured me a glass. She handed it over and smiled. “So, what do you think we’ll be doing this time next year?”
I leaned back on one elbow, watching her through the dappled sunlight and wondering where she was going with all this. “This time next year? At this point, I’m just hoping I’ll have recovered from you insisting we wake up before dawn for a surprise hike.”
She tucked her hair behind her ears and looked at me like nothing else mattered. “That’s all you’re hoping for?”
As our gazes caught, I shook my head and pushed up onto my knees. “I also hope that you’ll still be looking at me exactly like that.”
“Like what?” she asked, her breath catching as she watched me crawl closer to her. “Sterling?—
“Like I’m the surprise you’ve been planning all along.”
She opened her mouth to respond, but I couldn’t wait any longer. I caught her around the waist and pulled her down on the blanket with me. She laughed right before I kissed her, deep, hungry, and with everything else I’d been holding back since she’d woken me up this morning.
When I finally pulled away, she was breathing fast, her fingers twisted in my shirt. I was panting too, my leg moving to pin hers to the blanket. As I moved my palm to her hip, she suddenly touched a hand to my cheek and shook her head.
“Sterling, wait,” she whispered, a nervous hitch in her voice that I hadn’t heard before. “There’s something I have to tell you.”
Her expression shifted then, the teasing playfulness fading. Whatever it was that took its place was somehow a lot scarier and more endearing all at once. I frowned, sliding my leg off hers and curving myself protectively around her side.
“What is it, baby? What’s going on?”
“That’s just it. Baby. I mean, I found out a few days ago,” she began, the words tumbling out in a rush. “I wasn’t sure how to tell you, but we’re going to have a baby. I’m pregnant, Sterling.”
My entire world seemed to narrow down to her eyes, the hope and fear tangled there. My heart stopped, but then it was racing, pounding loud enough that I was sure she could hear it.
“A baby,” I repeated like I had to taste the word to believe it. “Pregnant?”
She nodded, her voice shaking as she stared up into my eyes. “Next spring. That fits into your timeline, right?”
I almost laughed, but I almost cried, too. Instead of either one of those things, I took her face in my hands, my thumbs brushing her cheeks. “Fuck the timeline. I’m changing the contract.”
She blinked. “What?”
“I want you for my whole damn life, Laney,” I said, my voice rough. “I want it in writing. With a wet signature, notarized if you want. Forever.”
Her eyes shimmered, her smile breaking wide and bright through the tears threatening at the corners. “Forever?”
“Forever,” I repeated before I kissed her, the vines rustling around us in the warm, late summer breeze, and for the first time in my life, I felt like I had everything.
I had her . We had our future, and soon, we would have a family I never even dared to hope for. Life was pretty darn good, and for as long as she was at my side, I had a feeling it would only keep getting better.