Epilogue
One month later
“I want you to remain open-minded.” Piper glanced over at Emilio as she drove. He was as handsome as ever, sunglasses on and
an effortless smile on his face. It was nearly the end of the Formula One summer break and he’d really needed it. Piper had,
too.
“It’s very hard for me to be open-minded when you’re driving. Please pull over. Let me do it. I am paid to drive. Some people
even call me a professional.”
Piper couldn’t help but notice he was gripping the armrest especially tight, but she took joy in making him a little nervous.
“Does it really bother you that much that I’m behind the wheel? This is easier. I know my way around. I’ve lived here my whole
life.”
“You drive like you passed your test yesterday.”
She playfully swatted at him. “Take it back.”
“You just clipped that cyclist’s left arm.”
“I did not.”
Emilio laughed and shook his head. “Okay. Fine. You grazed it.”
Piper took a left. “Like I said, try to be open-minded about this house. I know you wanted a big modern mansion in Miami,
but I think we should keep our options open.”
“I’m an F1 driver. A big modern mansion in Miami goes with the territory. But I promised I would look.”
“And I appreciate that.” Piper turned onto the street and spotted a familiar car up ahead. “My mom beat us. Always the professional.”
Piper pulled in right next to her mom’s car and killed the engine. Willa stood near the front door, on her phone, per usual.
From the outside, the house didn’t look like much—a ranch-style mid-century bungalow with a stucco-and-brick exterior and
some tidy but unimpressive landscaping. Emilio removed his sunglasses and slid Piper a look that said he wasn’t loving this.
“The house in London isn’t much from the outside, either. Open mind, right?”
He slid his hand into hers. “Open mind.”
“There they are,” Willa said. “The happy couple.”
Piper still wasn’t used to hearing others refer to her and Emilio as a couple even though they very much were. They’d been
together nonstop ever since he’d followed her to Florida and they both finally said the thing they’d been holding on to so
tightly—I love you. Contrary to Piper’s plans that night, she stayed at the reception until there was no more champagne to drink, and the cake
was a memory, and the DJ had run out of music, all with Emilio by her side. Turned out he was quite the dancer, and he took
her mom, Meghan and Gabby each for a spin around the dance floor.
That night they’d stayed in the hotel Emilio booked, and they had a chance to show each other exactly how they felt.
“Why were we so stupid before? Why didn’t we just come out with it and admit we loved each other?” Piper asked as Emilio kissed
his way down her bare belly. Her bridesmaid’s dress was flung over the chair in the corner. His suit was in a pile near the
door. Gus had wisely decided to sleep in the bathroom. “I’ve been thinking about that a lot.”
He peered up at her, his dark eyes blazing in the faint light of the moon through the window. “It’s a testament to how much
we care about each other. We were both trying to be respectful of what the other person had been through. But it doesn’t matter,
now, because I can just say it. I love you.”
She smiled then. “I love you, too.”
“Good.” He stood and swept her off her feet. “Now, if you don’t get in this bed right now, I will never speak to you again.”
After that night, they spent a few days with her parents so Emilio could get to know them. As she’d predicted, Emilio and
her dad fell in love in a matter of minutes. They talked about everything from cars to dogs. But mostly cooking.
“Emilio, I was going to cook some ribs for dinner tonight. Do you like to go low and slow or hot and fast?” her dad had asked
over breakfast.
Willa and Piper both snickered. If only her dad could hear himself.
“I’ve never cooked them,” Emilio answered. “But I’m willing to learn.”
“We should consult the interwebs, as they like to say.” Dad finished his coffee. “Actually, what am I thinking? Would you
like to go to the hardware store? They have a whole bunch of smokers down there and the guys are real knowledgeable. We can
ask what they think.”
Emilio shrugged. “Sure. I’ll do whatever you want.”
“Great. We can talk about Piper in the car. Do you think Gus would like to go?”
“I’m sure he’d love it.”
Piper didn’t need her dad’s endorsement so much as it confirmed what she already knew—Emilio was her person.
From there, they’d gone to the Canadian Grand Prix, where Piper discovered it was much easier to attend a race when you were
actually the girlfriend of a driver. There were no cagey answers from Emilio in interviews. No attempts to evade the press.
Turned out that as soon as you stopped hiding things, nobody cared all that much.
Emilio finished in second place—his first podium of the season. Piper watched him during the trophy ceremony with Gus by her
side and tears streaming down her face. She gave him the biggest kiss as soon as she got to see him up close, and Gus did
the same. It was pretty bad. Emilio had to wash his face afterward.
From there, they returned to London for the first few days of the summer break, then went to Ximena’s house in Spain for a
night to drop off Gus for some “grandma” time. Emilio and Piper traveled to Portugal as just a couple, where they walked the
beach and lounged by the pool of their very expensive hotel. They toured a castle and strolled hand in hand through street
markets. They had so much sex Piper could hardly walk by the time they checked out.
Even so, that trip wasn’t just about the physical. With everyone and everything else out of the way, they were able to talk.
About being together. About the future. About what that might look like, and about how they wanted to be a team. A partnership.
“I think the only compromise is to live in two places,” Emilio said one night over dinner at a lovely little place on the
coast. They had grilled fish and a bottle of verdejo. “London and Florida. I don’t want you to have to be away from family
if you don’t want to. Especially with Meghan’s baby on the way.”
“You need to be close to Mega Headquarters.”
“For sure.”
Piper was busy perusing the dessert list. “I’ve already talked to my mom about a condo. She’s been looking for places.”
“Let’s buy a house. So you can have the really nice place to live that you dreamed about. And Gus will be happier.”
“I can chip in with my money from the Nom Nom deal. Whenever that gets signed.”
“I’m not worried about it.” He leaned over to kiss her softly. “As long as we’re together, it’ll work out.”
Yes, it all happened fast, the intertwining of their lives. That was mostly how things moved in Emilio’s world, although Piper
had always enjoyed traveling at high speeds. Together, they were creating a delicious whirlwind.
And now they were shopping for that home together. They figured they could be in the US for part of the year and in Europe
for the rest, and then of course, they would be all over the globe during the Formula One season, whenever Piper was up for
attending the races.
Piper walked up to the house and embraced her mom, then watched as her mom gave Emilio a hug. There was a genuine warmth between
them, but the real love affair was between Emilio and Piper’s dad. Actually, it was more of a love triangle, between Emilio,
her dad and Gus.
“Your dad just sent me a text,” Willa said. “He and Gus went for a walk, then to the dog park, where they apparently made
many friends.”
“Did he have some of Piper’s treats with him?” Emilio asked.
“Always. Then he took Gus to the hardware store, where everyone doted on him like crazy, and finally they went to Starbucks
and got him something called a pup cup? I don’t know. Your father thinks Gus is his first grandchild.”
Piper smiled. “Sounds like Dad.”
“Exactly.”
Emilio squeezed Piper’s hand. “Gus is a very happy boy now. That’s for sure.”
Piper knew exactly what that meant. After Emilio came to Florida, he told her exactly how down Gus had been after she left.
So sad that Emilio had worried he’d never be the same. But apparently, all of that disappeared in the banquet room of The
Grand Salt Cay restaurant. When the three of them were reunited and everything fell into place.
Piper turned to Emilio and he smiled, making Piper’s heart feel like it might burst. He was the man of her dreams. She’d been
waiting for him. She just hadn’t known it.
“Shall we go inside?” Willa popped the key out of the lockbox.
“Can’t wait to see it.” Piper stepped into the foyer, which was an odd raised platform with a coat closet off to one side.
Emilio followed as she stepped down into the great room. It was sizable and open, with a high wood-beamed ceiling and a view
to the pool and the backyard. Although the layout felt very modern, nothing appeared to have been updated since perhaps the
1970s.
“It’s a four-bedroom, three-bath,” Willa said.
Piper turned to Emilio, squeezing his hand. “Plenty of room.”
He nodded, seeming unconvinced. It wasn’t an impressive house. But Piper could see the possibilities. “After London, everything
feels like a lot of space,” he said. “Let’s keep looking.”
As they went from room to room, Piper felt like her new life was revealing itself. She could see the future. Like never before.
“This room is great. Could be my home office.”
Emilio stepped inside and turned around. “Not sure this looks like the headquarters of a multimillion-dollar dog treat company.”
Piper swiped his arm. She wasn’t anywhere close to that, but she had signed a deal with Nom Nom. They were manufacturing the
treat recipe she’d devised and calling them Gus’s Yum Yums. They not only had an illustration of Gus on the package, but a
portion of every sale would go to a foundation for animal causes that Piper had started as well. She wasn’t much of an expert