“It’s to celebrate.”
“Celebrate what?” I asked, pulling back so I could look into her eyes.
She smiled. “This place has been open for almost six months. That article in the Times has taken our business to a new level. I think we have like 250 reservations for Friday night already.”
I drew a strand of hair off her cheek. “Are you happy with it? The hours and the work?”
She shot me a sidelong glance. “Are you kidding me?”
The Times article had been a human interest piece more than a food critique. Word got out soon after we opened that I’d opened the restaurant in Lily’s honor. The dishes and their names were all charmingly named for her. She’d become something of a celebrity in the food world overnight, but there was no time to relish in the popularity except for stolen moments in our back office with stolen champagne.
“What about you?” she asked.
“I’m happy if you’re happy.”
She rolled her eyes at my cheesy comment and then held up the champagne. “Should I pop it open?”
“I have something to ask you first,” I said, feeling the weight of the ring in my pocket.
She rubbed her lips together to contain her grin. “I think I already know what it is.”
“Do you?”
She nodded. “I found something in your pants the other week when I was doing laundry.”
“Lily—”
She smiled and kissed me.
“And guess what?” she continued.
“What?”
“I already tried it on.”
I shook my head, surprised that she’d been able to keep the secret as long as she had.
“Did you?”
She nodded, not the least bit ashamed. “And I might have also sent a photo of it to Jo.”
I laughed. I shouldn’t have been surprised. This was Lily after all. “Well then I guess I don’t even have to ask you then?”
Her eyes widened with the fire I’d grown to love. “You'd better ask me, Dean Harper.”
I shrugged, trying to play it off. “Nah. I think I’ll wait for a better moment. Maybe I’ll plan something next month? Or maybe next spring when the trees look nice in Central Park?”
She fumed at the idea of waiting that long. “Please don’t make me wait.”
I shook my head. “This can’t be our story. We can’t get engaged in the back of our restaurant.”
Her head fell to my chest and she rocked it back and forth. “No! I want this story. This, right here.”
I already had the ring in the palm of my hand. There was no way I’d wait another minute.
“Lily Noelle Black.”
She smiled and I could feel her body shake with excitement.
“Would you do me the honor…”
Her big eyes stared up at me with unabashed expectation.
“…of opening that champagne? I’m parched from my plane ride.”
“DEAN!”
She slapped my chest and tried to move off my lap. I’d teased her too much and she wasn’t going to let me get away with it. Too bad for her, I already had her hand in mine and the ring was poised at the end of her finger, ready to rest in its rightful place.
“Marry me, Lily. Marry me. There’s no one in the world better suited than the two of us. I can’t promise that we won’t fight—you know I’d be lying if I did—but I promise that no one will ever love you more than I do.”
She laughed and nodded over and over again as I slid the ring onto her finger.
“You’re going to drive me insane, I already know it,” she said.
I smiled.
“You know…most people just say yes.”
She narrowed her eyes and slipped her hands to either side of my cheeks. I knew she was about to kiss me and I inhaled just before her lips brushed mine.
“Yeah well, we aren’t most people.”
The End
Acknowledgements
This book is for my loyal readers, the brave few who have been with me from the very beginning. Over the last two years, you all have completely changed my life. I cannot thank you enough.
All my love,
Rachel
OTHER BOOKS BY R.S.GREY :
READ ABOUT JOSEPHINE AND JULIAN’S LOVE STORY IN:
THE ALLURE OF JULIAN LEFRAY
ADULT ROMANCE
From: JosephineKeller@LLDesigns.com
To: LilyNBlack@gmail.com
Subject: Justin Timberlake Nudes!
Lily, you predictable perv. I knew you’d open this email faster if I tempted you with a glimpse of JT's “PP”. Well, put your pants back on and grab some bubbly because I have much better news to share.
I GOT A JOB!
As of tomorrow, I’ll be the new executive assistant at Lorena Lefray Designs. I am SO excited, but there’s one itty bitty problem: I won’t be Lorena’s assistant. I’ll be working for her older brother, Julian.
I know what you're thinking- "But Jo, what’s the problem?"
Google him. Now. He’s the man in the fitted navy suit whose face reminds you that there’s hope yet for this cruel, ugly world. Keep scrolling…Do you see those dimples? Yup. That’s the Julian Lefray I will be reporting to tomorrow morning.
Lord, help us all...
XO,
Jo
SCORING WILDER
USA TODAY BESTSELLER
NEW ADULT SPORTS ROMANCE
What started out as a joke--seduce Coach Wilder--soon became a goal she had to score.
With Olympic tryouts on the horizon, the last thing nineteen-year-old Kinsley Bryant needs to add to her plate is Liam Wilder. He's a professional soccer player, America's favorite bad-boy, and has all the qualities of a skilled panty-dropper.
* A face that makes girls weep - check.
* Abs that can shred Parmesan cheese (the expensive kind) - check.
* Enough confidence to shift the earth's gravitational pull - double check.
Not to mention Liam is strictly off limits. Forbidden. Her coaches have made that perfectly clear. (i.e. "Score with Coach Wilder anywhere other than the field and you'll be cut from the team faster than you can count his tattoos.") But that just makes him all the more enticing...Besides, Kinsley's already counted the visible ones, and she is not one to leave a project unfinished.
Kinsley tries to play the game her way as they navigate through forbidden territory, but Liam is determined to teach her a whole new definition for the term "team bonding."
THE DUET
ADULT ROMANCE
When 27-year-old pop sensation Brooklyn Heart steps in front of a microphone, her love songs enchant audiences worldwide. But when it comes to her own love life, the only spell she’s under is a dry one.
So when her label slots her for a Grammy performance with the sexy and soulful Jason Monroe, she can’t help but entertain certain fantasies... those in which her G-string gets more play than her guitars'.
Only one problem. Jason is a lyrical lone wolf that isn’t happy about sharing the stage—nor his ranch — with the sassy singer. But while it may seem like a song entitled ‘Jason Monroe Is an Arrogant Ho’ basically writes itself, their label and their millions of fans are expecting recording gold…