16. Epilogue
“Through here is the event room,” Gwen says, leading Ben and me down a narrow hallway.
I feel like a beached whale and the summer heat isn’t helping. Miraculously, the air conditioning is up and running in our new building, which is why I’m finally here for a tour.
Every room I’ve seen is empty, but in my mind, I can envision exactly how we’ll set everything up. When we were kids, this place was a paint store, so we’re paying homage to that by painting each room in bold colors inspired by the Pacific Northwest.
The event room will be a deep blue to represent the Pacific Ocean on its best day. Stepping into it, I can picture the dances we’ll have in this space.
“I’ll leave you two to check out the rest of the place,” Gwen says, ducking out.
We say our goodbyes and I turn to Ben when the echo of Gwen’s footsteps dies down. “Has she found a new job yet? Or are our brothers going to keep her at Trees of Steel?”
Ben’s last day is in two weeks as he helps the guys adjust to one less person. Gwen’s his personal assistant and not needed there once he’s gone, but she’s such an outstanding employee. No one wants to lose her to another company. The fate of her future has been weighing heavily on Ben’s mind.
“Gwen’s more of an entrepreneur than I realized—she pitched an idea to me, and I want to run it by you.”
“Oh?” I trail my fingers along the wainscotting that will be painted gold to contrast with the dark blue walls.
“She wants to set up a tour guide business that centers on the history of Clover Creek. She already has some great ideas for tour stops and has offered to oversee all of it if we can supply the startup costs.”
“Anything we can do to preserve the story of this town, I’m in.”
Ben kisses my cheek and pulls me close to him, the swell of my belly pressing between us. “I knew you’d love it. Before we go, I have one more surprise for you.”
His eyes darken, and he backs up, tugging me with him.
He doesn’t say anything until we’re in a room I want to paint a moss green with silver leaves along the ceiling. “Before our baby girl gets here, I want to fulfill something you asked for a long time ago. It’s too easy for life to get in the way, but I promise you we’ll always find our way back to each other. No matter how busy or overwhelming things get, we will always return to each other.”
“Of course,” I breathe.
Ben moves to the side, revealing a box in the corner of the room I hadn’t noticed. A familiar box I’ve seen before.
“My dress?”
He nods, a delicious smirk lighting his face. “I seem to recall you wanting to be fucked in this?”
My whole body burns as he lifts the dress up and the memory of that night comes flooding back to me.
I strip out of my clothes—locking the door before this goes any farther. The last thing we need is a Clover Creek scandal before we’re even open.
Ben slips the dress over my head, his hand smoothing the fabric down my rapidly growing belly. The empire waist sits perfectly above it and I’m tempted to make this my official uniform for the rest of summer.
Ben rolls up the sleeves of his dress shirt, looking every bit a modern version of a Regency duke. I can see his erection through his pants and am selfishly grateful he’s as turned on as I am. The thought of him teasing me or delaying this any longer is unbearable.
“Lady Decker,” he murmurs, taking my hand in his.
And I see stars as his hand travels through the layers of my dress and causes a flurry of scandals all on its own.
Thank you for reading Ben and Phoebe’s story! In the next book, Lani is coming to visit Phoebe to meet the baby—and maybe Elijah, too. When she gets to Clover Creek, she discovers Elijah is indeed single, but that’s not exactly the entire story.