Epilogue
Three months later
The Anchor looks as cozy and romantic as it did in July, only now, the restaurant is decorated with pumpkin lanterns and there are outdoor heaters on the deck.
The hostess leads Broven and me to our seats. We’re not even seated yet before Willa runs toward me.
“Happy birthday, Daisy!” she says, pulling me into a hug.
“Thank you.”
She stares at me with a mischievous smile.
“Why do you look like that?” I ask.
“Like what?”
“Like you know something.”
“I don’t know anything,” she says.
June and Meldrick arrive before I can press Willa for an explanation. June hugs me and says happy birthday, then steals a piece of bread from the basket before she’s even sat down.
“Everything okay?” I ask.
“Just tired. The sitter has my eternal gratitude and also a very large tip,” she says with a laugh.
Meldrick puts his hand on her shoulder and she leans into him.
Fangor arrives.
“Sorry, lost track of time,” he says.
“That’s okay. You’re only five minutes late. And I love seeing you this happy,” I say.
“So, who’s ordering what?” Willa asks and everyone looks down at their menus.
I lean my head against Broven’s shoulder and think about how different this table looks from the one I was sitting at in July when I first had dinner with the man I thought would be nothing more than a fake date to a wedding.
The waiter comes around to take our orders. As soon as he leaves again, Broven stands up and looks at me.
“You okay?” I ask.
The table goes quiet.
Broven nods, then he gets down on one knee.
My hands fly to my mouth when he reaches into his jacket pocket and holds up a ring.
“I’m not the kind of man to draw attention to himself, but I want everyone here to know that you are the love of my life. My fated mate.” He smiles at me. “Daisy Tully, will you marry me?”
I wipe away a tear of happiness and nod furiously. “Yes. Oh my god, yes!”
He slides the ring onto my finger and kisses me long and hard, not caring that we have an audience.
We sit back down and Willa screams as she looks at the ring on my finger. It’s a proper scream, the kind that makes the couple at the next table jump and the waiter appear from inside to check if everything is alright.
I can see Meldrick smile at his brother, looking proud. June wipes her eyes with her napkin and Fangor raises his glass to me with a grin.
Three months ago, I didn’t know my life was about to change when I first saw Broven. Now, we’re engaged and living together, and he’s renovating a cute house near the lake which he bought, cash, after telling me his family’s apparently loaded.
I find his hand under the table and let it swallow mine.
Turns out, agreeing to have a giant orc be my fake wedding date was the best decision of my life.