Epilogue
Two months later
Danica had never seen so many people inside the natural history museum. Not even at the gala.
She walked through the crowd, shaking hands and saying hello in between answering questions.
Then she turned, and across the atrium she saw her favorite person in the world walking through the glass entrance doors.
Noah spotted her instantly and waved. A couple dozen teens and tweens trailed in behind him—the kids from his military mentorship group. Tanner and Devon pulled up the rear, herding the stragglers.
She hurried over to meet them. “Noah, I’m glad you could make it.”
He winked at her. “Good to see you too, Dani. Been awhile.”
“Introduce me to your friends?”
“I’d be happy to.”
They’d woken up together that morning at Danica’s new house. She’d needed to leave early for the museum, so they’d had to choose between going for a run or making love.
Her cardio was going to suffer if she kept skipping workouts, but she’d started out the day more than satisfied.
Danica’s new place was on the other side of the hilltop neighborhood from their families’ homes.
But she and Noah usually ended up visiting the Foster-Grants or the Vandermeers at least once a week.
Brunches with Gramps and Ginger, where they sipped champagne and ate caviar, or just as often pre-frozen snacks warmed up in the oven.
Dinners with William and Tori, which were a little stiff, but slowly improving.
Danica still traveled several times a month, often going back and forth to New York to meet with her foundation employees and her friends. Whenever possible, Noah came with her, and she’d loved showing off her sexy Navy SEAL boyfriend to everyone she knew.
But she’d decided to make West Oaks her home base. Noah had been a big reason, but not the only one.
The revelations of two months ago had forever altered how she viewed her family. But that didn’t have to mean losing them. It was a new chapter in her life. A new challenge that she was more than ready to face.
She’d been getting to know her sister better and reconnecting with her father. The three of them were even going to family counseling. It was going to take a long time to rebuild the trust between Danica and her dad, but she knew the effort was worth it.
But her brother was a more difficult subject.
Soren’s company had lost most of its stock value after the truth about its financials had come out.
The last she’d heard, he was under investigation by the SEC.
She and William had both declined to fund his legal defense.
But Soren had received some money from Blake’s estate.
Not fifty million, but enough to make a dent in his legal fees.
If her brother wanted to try fixing their relationship, she was willing. But she also wasn’t holding her breath.
“Why don’t you all come in and check out what’s new,” Danica said to the kids. “Our renovation isn’t done yet, but our new exhibits are getting rave reviews. I can’t wait to hear what you all think.”
Noah headed toward the exhibit hall with his charges. But as he passed, he blew Danica a kiss. And of course, some of the kids noticed and hooted and hollered at him. Danica laughed, waving them on.
“You two just can’t get enough of each other.”
Danica looked over at Rosie, who’d just strolled over from the reception desk.
“Gives me hope for my own love life,” Rosie added.
“If you need to be set up, just let me know.” She’d made this same offer several times, without a firm yes or no. “There’s one lady in particular I think you’d like, on the museum board of directors…”
Rosie’s cheeks colored. “I’ll keep thinking about it, Dani. But thanks.”
Rosie was now Danica’s chief of security. It hadn’t been easy to convince her to permanently move to West Oaks from Northern California, which had been her home base with Valoris before. But Danica thought Rosie seemed pretty happy, too. Certainly more laid back.
Today, Rosie was in charge of the security arrangements for the museum’s special event. They’d invited several school groups to get a preview of the new exhibits.
After the setback of losing their executive director and curator, combined with the problematic publicity from the gala, things were finally looking up around here. In so many ways.
Noah walked outside onto the deck. Danica was curled up in an Adirondack chair, working on her laptop.
He took a moment to admire her. Then he spoke.
“It’s official. Fossils are now cool. Pretty sure the kids were making TikToks about the exhibits during their tour.”
Danica glanced up at him, smiling. “I love it. I’ll have to check the museum account later.”
It was nearly sunset. Danica’s view faced east, so they were missing most of the show. But sunrises on this side of the house were spectacular.
Especially when those first few rays of sunlight caught in her dark hair on the pillow. Noah had to wake up early to see it because Danica was the quintessential morning person. It wasn’t always easy to slow her down. But those quiet moments together had become some of Noah’s favorites of the day.
Noah sat in the chair beside her. “What’s on your agenda for tomorrow?”
“Back to the museum to meet with the new executive director and debrief after the event today. Oh—I got an interview request from a journalist in New York. Some website, I think? She said it would be a chance for me to talk about the foundation’s upcoming projects.”
“Sounds great.”
“But she asked if you’d be there, too. Wants to write about the whole ‘love story’ angle.” Danica used air quotes. “You don’t have to do it.”
Noah shrugged. “I don’t mind. I’ll go.”
He liked talking about how they’d fallen for each other twelve years ago, then reunited. There might be questions about Soren, but Noah would deflect them. He preferred to focus on the cuter parts of their story. After all, he was a romantic now.
Or maybe that wasn’t right. Where Danica was concerned, he’d probably always been a romantic. Holding on to a secret hope, hidden even from himself, that they’d get their second chance.
Noah was living here with Danica, and his condo in town was on the market. He’d wanted to buy this house with her, but Danica had made some good points, primarily the fact that his income paled in comparison to hers.
Instead, he was covering their daily expenses. Like all those food delivery and takeout bills.
But he didn’t mind being a kept man. Noah was secure enough in his masculinity that he had nothing to prove.
He’d decided to phase out eventually as a captain at Bennett Security. There was no rush to find his replacement. It would have to be a top candidate, someone who’d satisfy Max’s demanding personality and vibe well with Tanner. He wanted to stay on as a bodyguard, but probably just part time.
Eventually, Noah planned to free up his schedule to do more with the Foster-Grant Foundation. Maybe even start a nonprofit of his own. Danica had already been helping him expand the military mentorship program.
He loved the idea of working closely with her, traveling with her. Truly being partners. Danica had helped him to see more clearly what he wanted—to dedicate his life to his ideals and to serving others. The same thing he’d done as a SEAL, just in new ways.
Every once in a while, he still felt anxious about losing her. But that risk was worth it. Each day with Danica was more vivid, more intense, than his last several years put together.
Time with Danica was more thrilling than anything else he could imagine. His Ducati probably felt neglected.
Noah had told Chase Collins something similar the last time they’d spoken. As far as Noah knew, Chase hadn’t solved his love problems yet. But Noah had wished him luck.
The best things are worth fighting for, he’d said. A little advice between friends.
Noah hadn’t even protested when Ginger made a gift of Lucifer as a housewarming present. That was how much he loved this woman. He was willing to put up with that demonic cat, who still enjoyed kicking him out of his side of the bed.
Danica set her laptop down, stood up, and stretched. “Want to go for our run? Since we missed it this morning?”
“I can think of better ways to use up that extra energy. We can put on one of your sexy playlists.”
“You’re such a bad influence.” Danica laughed and shook her head. “I’m older than you. I can’t afford to skip my workouts.”
Noah thought she was the bad influence. Before Danica had returned to his life, he’d been the king of long runs and daily gym visits. Now? He just wanted to stay in bed.
“How about you run,” he suggested, “and I’ll catch you.”
“Deal.” She looked over her shoulder at him, a wicked gleam in her eye. “Let’s see if you can keep up.”