31

LUCA

T wo weeks after my discharge from the hospital, I had a

follow-up appointment with my doctor. Ellis all but pouted
as he watched me getting ready. “I wish I could go with you.”
“You have work at the clinic,” I said as I checked my
pockets for my keys. I’d gone with a simple gray button-down
and some black jeans, but the way Ellis was looking at me
gave me pause. It also made me wish we had more time. A lot
more.
I leaned over and gave him a long kiss, longer still when
he tangled his fingers in my hair and pulled me down for a
second kiss. When he added his tongue to the mix, I had to
pull back before I couldn’t.
I adjusted myself, glaring at him the whole while.
“Really?”
He only licked his lips. “I can help you out with that.”
“We don’t have time.” Did we? I checked my watch and
sighed. Nope, time hadn’t magically gone backward.
“Well, no one told you to get up early,” he complained as
he got out of bed. He was only wearing blue pajama pants, his
hair a mess. I loved that I got to see him that way. And that he
didn’t even bother to use his room anymore.
“I had to make you breakfast.”
“Which is sweet,” he grumbled as he passed me. “But I
would’ve settled for cereal if it meant we had time for a quick
and dirty fuck.”
 I blushed as we headed for the kitchen, which made him
laugh. My prudish complaint of, “Must you?” only made him
laugh harder. I harrumphed. We’d see if he’d be laughing
when he saw what was under the cloche on the table.
He made appropriate appreciative noises as he took a seat,
eyes wide as he took in the breakfast I’d set up for one. He
didn’t seem to know where to look first—the cloche, the
silverware, the glasses of juice and water, or the flowers in the
glass in the middle.
I ignored his breathless “You didn’t have to do that” as I
gave him one last kiss. Of course I didn’t have to do that. I
wanted to.
It was different with Ellis than it had been with Colin. I
didn’t take care of him because I felt like he’d fall apart if I
didn’t. I did little things to take care of him, just as he did little
things to take care of me.
“I’ll see you later,” I said, leaning down to give a nosy
Charlie a quick rub.
Ellis sent me a suspicious look, like he thought I might slip
in a rogue I love you like I tried to do the day before. “So
you’re just leaving.”
“Mhmm.”
“Just like that.”
“Just like that,” I confirmed and kissed him on the lips.
Then I did it again because he tasted so goddamned sweet.
“I’ll give you a buzz and let you know what the doctor says.”
“Please and thank you.”
I whistled as I headed for the door. I knew the moment he
uncovered the cloche because he yelled out, “Alessi! You
come back here.”
I chuckled and slammed the front door behind me. It
hadn’t been that hard, really. Any chef worth his salt could
make the shapes I, heart, and U in pancakes.
Dr. Robin was appropriately nosy about my routine and
schedule, which could honestly be described as “free as fuck.”
I struggled to summarize the current state of my life in nicer
words. “I’m taking it easy.”
She nodded encouragingly. “Well, whatever you’re doing,
keep it up.”
More testing. More prodding. In the end, Dr. Robin
seemed pleased. She even told me that I could discontinue the
omeprazole if I felt comfortable doing so. So that was good
news. We lost traction when she suggested I get in more
exercise and cut down on my salt. When she used the word
borderline for my cholesterol and suggested I use fake butter, I
almost stalked out of the building.
Fake butter. In my cooking? The sacrilege of it all.
I scheduled more follow-ups with a receptionist, pushing
them off as far as possible. She looked appropriately
suspicious when I told her several dates just wouldn’t work.
She threatened me with an appointment so early that even a
rooster wouldn’t be able to make it, and I got more
cooperative. We settled on a date six weeks from now and I
skedaddled.
As I started up my truck, my phone buzzed. I checked the
message from Ellis and chuckled softly.

Ellis: Where’s my update, Alessi

Me: Still alive

Ellis: Fuck. I had my eye on some of your stuff

Ellis: Your watch is so much better than mine

Me: Too bad, so sad. Guess you’ll have to put up with me a

little longer
 Ellis: I guess it’s a good thing I love you then, isn’t it

Huh. Guess those words from him made me emotional even in

a text. I wasn’t sure I’d ever get tired of hearing them. I started
to type and the dots appeared quickly on his side.

Ellis: No

Me: No what

Ellis: Not yet

Contrary bastard. I laughed out loud. I wasn’t sure how the

fuck he knew, but whatever. I hoped he enjoyed eating food in
the shape of “I love you.” It should certainly make the risotto I
planned for dinner pretty interesting.

Me: You drive me nuts, you know that

Ellis: That is the thing that wakes me up in the morning and

lets me sleep well at night

Me: Lol, fucker

Me: You at the clinic

Ellis: Yeah, I’ll be home late

Me: Be safe

Me: Don’t fall in love with any animals, Charlie will be jealous

Ellis: I can only promise one of those things

Ellis: Sorry, Charlie

I chuckled as I tossed the phone in my cup holder. I pulled out
of the lot and eased into traffic. I didn’t have a destination, but
I wasn’t ready to go home. Without Ellis there, it was empty
and quiet.
I just felt at odds without my usual routine. Nothing
proved you were a workaholic more than having no work to
do. There were no repairs to keep track of, no orders to make.
No production, no dinner pre-shift or dinner service, and no
VIPs to appease. I didn’t have payroll to do or inventory to
check, no staff meetings to prepare for…the list went on and
on. It was just me, alone with my thoughts.
There was a lot of paperwork to file to deal with the
insurance company, but I’d already done that. Every couple of
days, they sent me an email or called for more information, but
now the ball was mostly in their court, and they were doing…
whatever the hell insurance companies did before they settled
up.
I’d helped most of the staff find new positions with my
industry connections, so that eased some of my burdens. I
gently urged Hayden to accept Lana Cartwright’s offer—the
phrase “don’t be stupid, Hay” might’ve been used—to no
success. He’d been shifty as Jell-O about his plans and I gave
up. For now.
I did a lot of walking Charlie, so much so that he was sick
of me. His leash was missing from its usual spot this morning,
and he was the number one suspect. He’d followed me around
the house, “helping me look for it” with zero enthusiasm.
When I finally found it under the couch, I could’ve sworn he
sighed.
I’d also taken Dr. Collin’s words seriously and tackled my
stressors. There had been a family meeting with my sisters,
where I let them in on some of the things I’d thought they
needed to know. My mother nudged/poked me in the side
when I finished and I looked at her blankly.
“All of it, tesoro,” she instructed gently. “The time for
hedging and lies is done.”
 “But—”
“They’re stronger than you think. They will be angry with
him, as I was.” She touched my cheek. “But they will love him
no matter what. As they love you.”
So I came clean about the rest. The gambling. The loan
sharks. I couldn’t look at anyone at all as I told them about our
father leaving, for good, without telling any of us. I didn’t
provide any excuses. Just the truth.
There had been a healthy dose of shock all around, and my
sisters had absorbed the news in their own unique ways. Anger
from the outspoken Sierra. Andrea, the thoughtful, quiet one
had done a lot of listening and not a lot of talking. And Nova,
inquisitive to the end, had just asked a lot of questions. I
answered them as best I could.
At the end of the day, they were going to have to deal with
the toppling of a hero in their own way. Just as I had. I’d also
gotten my ears cuffed for keeping it a secret for so long—
fucking ouch, Sierra—and plenty of hugs and tears because we
were a family.
No matter what.
Lost in my thoughts, I was surprised to find myself in
familiar territory. A wry smile twisted my lips as I realized I
was close to Alessi’s. Hell, I’d been driving the route for so
long that I’d gone that way without even acknowledging
where I was going.
I didn’t turn around, even though I knew what awaited me
there. I had to go there sometime. Might as well pull the
bandage off now.
I eased to a stop across from the building. It had rained in
the time since the fire, almost like the earth’s way of restoring
balance. The damage was even starker in the light of day. The
front of the building was entirely burned out and I could see
straight through to the charred black inside. What the fire
hadn’t destroyed, the fire hoses had flooded. Three other
businesses in the plaza had shared the same fate.
 I’d thought of going inside, but I knew that was a fool’s
errand, now. So I just sat there, looking at Alessi’s. I wasn’t
sure why I was here or what I expected to find. Maybe
answers about what to do next?
I jumped at the tap on my window. I turned to find Hayden
standing there, looking entirely too amused that he’d scared
the shit out of me. Fucker. He motioned for me to lower the
window and I just raised an eyebrow. He tsked with
impatience and said, muffled, “Open the door.”
“No.”
He held up two Starbucks cups at eye level and I sighed.
That was as good as money in my book. Ellis hadn’t allowed
me so much as a sniff of coffee since I’d been discharged from
the hospital. I knuckled the locks and Hayden went around to
the passenger side and hopped in.
“You need to get a life,” he said, handing over the cup.
“You’re here, too,” I reminded him, just in case he forgot
that pathetic is as pathetic does. “Thanks for the coffee.”
“I also need a life,” he said with a sigh. “Also, that’s not
coffee. I have no desire for Ellis to put a boot up my butt.
Enjoy your decaffeinated tea.”
I made a face even as I sipped the vile stuff. Hayden
looked a little disheveled, his clothes wrinkled, his jaw
covered in golden stubble. There were dark shadows beneath
his eyes, and I knew I wasn’t the only one struggling with this
new reality.
As if by unspoken agreement, we both looked at the
building again.
“I resented it sometimes, you know?” I dropped my head
back against the headrest and rubbed my eyes tiredly. “I
complained about it every damn day.”
“Human nature,” he said. “You loved it, too.”
“Did I?” My eyes felt hot and dry and I wasn’t sure why. “I
treated my family legacy like a burden and now it’s gone. It’s
almost like I willed it to happen.”
 “Are you done?” He demanded. “Unless you set the place
on fire, this was just one of those things. You put your all into
keeping it open and your dad would be proud. He couldn’t ask
for anything more.”
Despite the seriousness of the conversation, my mouth
lifted. Briefly. “You clearly didn’t know my dad.”
I’d met Hayden’s mother and father, Betty and Jason. They
showered praise on him like it was their full-time job. But
Stefano Alessi? Yeah, he could always ask for more. I never
doubted his love for me, but his encouragement came in the
form of pointing out everything I’d done wrong. Maybe that
was part of the reason I’d bucked at working with him for so
long. I had no desire to incorporate “nothing you do is quite
good enough” back into my diet.
“Luca?”
I glanced over at Hayden, whose blue eyes were crinkled
with concern. “We’re going to be okay no matter what. But we
don’t have to do the same things just because that’s all we
know.”
I wanted to lash out at him, but he didn’t deserve my ire.
Not for pointing out what I already knew but was too scared to
admit. Maybe it was time to stop doing all the things I should
do and do some of what I wanted to do. My dreams had to at
least make the top five on the to-do list of my life.
Hayden seemed to agree. “Life is short, but it can seem
pretty long when you’re living it for someone else.”
“I know,” I said softly.
“Then we have to put on your headstone, Here lies Luca.
He did everything he thought his father would’ve wanted him
to do.” He paused. “That’s a little wordy, don’t you think?”
I huffed out a laugh. “Fuck, I really hate you.”
He grinned. “I’m your best friend in the whole world,
motherfucker. That’s how I know that you already know what
you want to do.”
“Yeah. Maybe.”
 “Then fucking say it, Alessi. This place is kind of bleak
right about now, and I don’t want to hang out here all day.”
I blew out a breath. “I don’t want to rebuild.”
“Then we won’t.”
“You make it sound so simple.”
“It’s not going to be simple at all,” he said affably. “In fact,
it’s gonna be a fucking nightmare. But it’ll be our nightmare
and we’re going to do amazing things.”
“You should take the job with Lana,” I said. “I don’t even
know what I want to do.”
“We’re chefs. We cook. You want to build a restaurant.”
He peered at me. “Am I allowed to call you a dummy since
we’re business partners and you’re not technically my boss
anymore?”
I glared. “I don’t know where we’ll get the capital—”
“You have the insurance money. Or you will,” he said
reasonably. “And I have some savings.”
“This is going to take more than savings, Hay, this is a big
venture and….” I blinked as he opened the car door. “Just
where the hell are you going? We have so much to talk about
and plan….”
“It’s getting a little nippy, don’t you think?” He eyed the
sky dubiously. “What happened to my tropical climate?”
“It’s nearing the end of October, and it’s barely dipped
below seventy-five degrees.”
“Hmm,” he said, clearly doubting the veracity of my
temperature assessment. “Well, I’m going to the farmer’s
market.”
“It’s a little late for that, isn’t it? All that’ll be left is
bruised fruit and crap no one else wanted.”
“Too bad. I’m in the mood to get inspired and cook.” He
gave Alessi’s one last long look. “Of course I’ll be doing that
at home since someone burned down my fucking kitchen, but
it should still pull me out of my funk for a bit.”
 I barely held in an envious sigh. Just an hour ago, I’d been
reflecting on how much time I had to loaf. Now I had so much
to think about and do. There was no time to tag along.
“And you’re coming,” Hayden announced.
A smile tugged at my lips. “Is that so?”
“It is so.”
I could’ve protested more, but what was the point? I
followed him to the farmer’s market. We bought a lot of
questionable produce and fought over what dish we’d make –
then decided just to freestyle and see what we came up with.
Then we squabbled over whose place we would use, a
skirmish I quickly won because I have double ovens.
Ellis came home to find us busy working on a vegetarian
dish. I gave his bemused face a quick kiss as he watched us do
our thing. “I’ve never seen you make this before,” he said,
peering into my bowl.
I batted his hand away when he tried to steal a slice of
zucchini. “That’s because I haven’t.”
He looked at me with those blue eyes that always saw a
little too much. “You’re feeling inspired,” he said softly,
smiling a little. “That’s nice to see.”
I huffed. “Don’t make a big thing of it.”
“No, I’m gonna.” His smile only grew as he shrugged out
of his—my—sweater. “Maybe I can help.”
At that, Hayden sent me a panicked look. “He’s gotten
better,” I assured him as he made a sign of the cross.
“That’s right,” Ellis said triumphantly and promptly
bumped into a colander full of pineberries and raspberries.
We all watched in silence as the colander hit the floor and
the berries went rolling and tumbling, pell-mell, across the
floor.
“Oops,” he said sheepishly.
I couldn’t help but laugh—way more than the situation
required. After a moment, he joined in and Hayden wasn’t far
behind. Some of the laughter was just a release of stress, pure
and simple, and it felt good. So very good. We brayed like
fucking donkeys, holding our sides until Charlie barked and
skidded into the kitchen.
I reached for his harness and he evaded me, scarfing
berries as he ran. “Shit,” Hayden said as he made a grab and
missed. “Can dogs eat raspberries?”
“I dunno,” I said, harried, trying to block him off by the
dishwasher. “Ellis is the fuckin’ animal expert.”
“I haven’t even started school yet,” he shot back. “And
yes, but in moderation.”
We looked in dismay as he hoovered up some more
berries. “This…is not moderation,” Hayden said breathlessly,
scooping fruit into his apron, the end of which he’d folded into
a makeshift bowl.
We all applied ourselves to berry cleanup as Charlie,
delighted with the game, tried even harder to find them with
his tongue. The bastard was good at it, too. Ellis made an
indignant sound as Charlie snatched one right from his fingers.
They both spotted the one next to the refrigerator and made a
mad dash for it.
I had to bite my lip to keep from lapsing into another
laughing fit.
Yeah, we had problems. My future was up in the air—
maybe we’d succeed, maybe we’d fail. But any day that ended
with food and family and laughter couldn’t be all that bad.
32
 LUCA

I hated surprises.
I glanced over in Ellis’s direction, glaring at him through
the blindfold. He knew this. And if he didn’t know it, I’d
certainly said it enough. At least four times on the ride over to
where the fuck ever.
I’d also done nothing to deserve such punishment. Ellis
had texted out of the blue after being gone all day and
demanded to know my location. I was more than happy to
answer that I was at a coffee shop with Hayden. We’d been
there most of the morning, planning our future
restaurant/bistro/who knows what because we can’t stop
arguing long enough to decide. Frankly, I could use some
company that wasn’t a scowling blond chef with opinions
about every damn thing.
Ellis bounded into the coffee shop fifteen minutes later,
looking exceptionally pleased with himself. He must’ve
stopped home from the clinic and changed out of his scrubs
because he was dressed casually in stonewashed jeans, a faded
blue shirt, and white sneakers. I wasn’t sure if his skinny jeans
had more fabric than rips, but either way, they grabbed my
attention. And held it.
He cleared his throat, looking amused. “Nice to see you,
too.”
I colored a little but I didn’t stop looking. “You’re the one
wearing all that. Anyone would look.” Hayden’s appreciative
murmur of agreement broke the spell, and I sent him a glare.
“Don’t look.”
Ellis laughed. “I have a surprise for you.”
I eyed him suspiciously. That certainly tracked. He’d been
awfully secretive lately. It was nothing for him to be gone all
day and extremely vague about where he’d been. I had my
hands full with the restaurant situation. But I’d wondered.
“I hate surprises,” I announced.
“Doesn’t change the fact that I have one, now does it?”
“Why do I put up with you?”
“I dunno but you do,” he said cheekily. “So let’s go.”
He held out a bandana…an actual fucking bandana,
straight from the How To Facilitate A Successful Kidnapping
store. “I’m not interested in being murdered, thanks.”
“I’m starting to understand why kidnappers used to use
chloroform.” He shoved it at me again, less patient this time.
“Put it on, Alessi.”
“Mmm. I always did like a bossy bottom,” Hayden said
with a quick waggle of his brows.
That…didn’t necessarily describe Ellis. We certainly
switched it up from time to time, I did the majority of the
bottoming. By choice. I wasn’t ashamed of my preferences.
Just maybe not as a topic in a coffee shop with my nosy best
friend. I silently begged Ellis to be cool. But to Ellis, cool was
clearly just a setting on a blow dryer.
A smile tugged at his lush mouth. “Who says I’m a
bottom?”
Hayden swiveled his head in my direction, eyeing me
speculatively as he tried to figure out if Ellis was just fucking
with him or not. Hopefully, he’d just think that sometimes I
turned red as a beetroot for fun.
His eyebrows nearly hit his hairline. “Do tell.”
“Dear God.” I snatched the bandana. “I’m putting it on,
I’m putting it on. Let’s just…stop talking.”
 And that’s how I wound up participating in my own
kidnapping. Blindfolded. Riding along in a windowless van to
God knows where. It was a sad fate for me really, and just
when I’d started to have hope for the future.
Okay, maybe that was a bit dramatic and bleak. In truth, I
was riding shotgun in my truck and Ellis—who I trusted
unequivocally—was driving. But I was blindfolded, dammit,
and I didn’t know where the fuck we were going.
I huffed, showing my displeasure, but he continued
humming along with the radio, unperturbed. Like any good
kidnapper.
“Do I get bread and water at some point?” I wanted to
know.
He chuckled. “Luca, if I was going to take you prisoner,
there would be rope and a bed involved. Not your pickup and
traffic.”
Imagining that certainly left me in a situation, and shifting
in my seat did little to ease my problem. Which just goes to
prove that things can always get worse.
At some point, the truck trundled over a bumpy path that
seemed unpaved. I sat up straight as the smell hit me. I knew
that smell. Slightly citrusy and fresh. Like orange trees and
everything green and growing.
“Where are we?” I asked quietly.
Enigmatic to the end, all Ellis would say is, “You’ll see.”
When the truck finally stopped, I reached for my blindfold
and Ellis made a tsking noise. “Leave it on.”
“Did I mention I don’t like surprises?”
“At least six times,” he said, his tone tinged with
exasperation as he got out of the truck. The door closed behind
him a second later, a little harder than usual if I wasn’t
mistaken. I huffed. He was the one losing patience with me?
Unbelievable.
My door opened, letting in the sun, and things got slightly
lighter behind my blindfold. “Let’s go, Alessi,” he said, as he
helped me out of the truck.
I stumbled once and glared in his direction. Or at least
where I thought he was standing. I could’ve been glaring at a
damn tree. His mouth landed on mine, kissing me soundly in
apology, and I forgot what the hell I was mad about.
He prodded me to get walking, and I was mad all over
again. To his credit, he had to be watching me carefully,
because I only stumbled a few times.
“If you’re taking me to the woods to kill me, I wish you’d
just get it over with already,” I grumbled.
He pulled me to an abrupt stop and I stumbled a bit yet
again. “I would never take you to the woods to kill you,” he
said calmly. “I would use a hypodermic needle and shoot air in
between your toes.”
Again, I stared at the space where he should be. I must’ve
been looking in the right direction because he demanded,
“What?”
“You might be a goddamned serial killer is what,” I said,
half-amused, half-scared for my life. “You came up with that
way too easily.”
“I watch things,” he said sagely.
I huffed out a laugh. “Are you ever planning to take this
off me? Or is darkness my life now?”
He hesitated. “I don’t want you to be mad.”
“I don’t think I could ever be mad at you.”
“You seemed pretty mad when I put your cast iron pan in
the dishwasher.”
My blood pressure spiked yet again just remembering the
atrocity of it all. “For Christ’s sake, it was perfectly
seasoned….”
I let out a breath slowly, trying to let it go. Maybe a few
years from now I’d be able to think about it without wanting to
chew nails.
“I won’t get mad,” I promised.
 “You have to keep an open mind.”
“It’s as wide open as a Montana sky.”
“You have to use your imagination—”
“Ellis, will you just…?”
He huffed out a sigh even as he untied my bandana and I
squinted at the sudden change of light as he removed it
completely. I looked around, confused, trying to get my
bearings after being blindfolded and frog-marched all across
God’s creation.
We were in a barn. A familiar barn, in fact, as my gaze
landed on the scratched initials in the far wall by the defunct
horse stalls. The smell of hay and animals long gone was
strong and I couldn’t believe I hadn’t put it together before.
Dust motes drifted in the air, catching on the beams of light
shooting through all the crevices and cracks.
“Ta-da,” he said needlessly.
“Ta-da? It’s an old ass barn. An old barn in which I used to
earn my summer allowance by shoveling horse shit.” I raised
my eyebrows at the love of my life, who continued to reach
new levels of strange. “Baby, you shouldn’t have.”
He looked up at the sky, which you could see through a
sagging patch of roof. “What’re you doing now?” I demanded.
“I’m conversing with the big guy upstairs. Apparently,
when you ask the universe to send you someone, you have to
put terms and conditions on that shit.” He paused. “That
would’ve been handy to know.”
I scowled. “You’re not the least bit funny.”
“Yes, I am. And just to clarify, this is not an old barn,” he
said, aggrieved. “This is your restaurant.”
I cast another look around, taking in the space again before
I looked at him blankly. “You want me to put my restaurant in
an old ass barn?”
He huffed. “No. And can you stop saying old ass barn like
that?”
 “I don’t…I don’t understand. What happened to the
Mosbys?”
“They were tired of working all this land by themselves
and things were getting tight. Mr. Mosby has lots of health
issues and they want to kick back and relax at this stage of
their life. At least, that’s what Mrs. Mosby said.” The corner of
his mouth kicked up. “Mr. Mosby did a lot of grunting and
glaring mostly.”
“I can’t believe…you bought the farm?”
Ellis blinked those big baby blues at me as he took in my
words. And then he started laughing uproariously. My ears got
warm, but I had to chuckle, too. “You know what I mean.”
“Yes,” he said, trying to get himself under control. “I
bought the farm. Can you think of a better place for a farm-to-
table restaurant?”
I just stared at him, speechless. No, fuck speechless. I had
questions. “Where’d you get the money for something like
this?”
“I negotiated a deal with my grandfather that was higher
than originally anticipated.”
I narrowed my eyes. “That’s a lot of fancy talk for you put
his nuts in a vise and started cranking.”
He shrugged, a little smile playing on his lips. “Tomato,
tomahtoe.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I wanted it to be a surprise.”
“I hate surprises,” I said automatically, and the look he
gave me could’ve peeled paint. “Sorry, I just…I don’t know.”
“What don’t you know? There’s plenty of space in here to
create whatever concept you want…that’s providing you and
Hayden can ever agree on anything.”
“He wants to call the restaurant Planet of the Grapes,” I
reminded him. “He is incorrigible.”
 He rolled his eyes, making it clear what he thought of our
bickering. He didn’t seem to mind being our judge when we
cooked competing dishes, though.
“Mrs. Mosby has a huge garden behind the house and
swears you’ve never tasted tomatoes quite so sweet,” he went
on. “They’re willing to leave us the chickens…the cows—”
“Cow, singular—”
“For milk,” he continued determinedly. “Mindy comes
with the property as long as we treat her in the manner in
which she’s become accustomed.”
Despite all the ideas tugging my mind this way and that, I
couldn’t help but snort. “I don’t know what that means, but it
sounds expensive. And I doubt anyone has gotten milk from
that cow for a decade or more.”
“Shhh, she’ll hear you,” he said, hushing me.
I opened my mouth to tell him he was being dramatic
when I looked out of the wide-open doors and caught a
glimpse of white and black. I narrowed my eyes as Mindy
meandered by. Such a nosy heifer. Literally.
But back to Ellis. I hated to admit it, but I was starting to
see his vision. The décor would be rustic, with a lot of charm.
Instead of the polished lacquer table tops we’d had at Alessi’s,
we could use natural wood-grain tables and comfortable
chairs. Maybe even a long table in the middle of the room for
family-style dining. People joined the vision—laughing,
talking, eating.
I walked around slowly, lost in thought.
I could see the soft glow of old-fashioned Edison and
globe lights. We could open the barn doors at night and it
would be like dining under the stars…of course, we’d have
five point six seconds to marvel at the wonders of nature
before every bug in a ten-mile radius screamed attack. So
maybe not that. But a skylight could be nice—a real one and
not just a hole in the roof like it was now.
We could grow a lot of our ingredients—organic, with no
pesticides or poisons. And cooking seasonally, our menu
would never be boring. It would continuously change with the
freshest ingredients available. We could probably partner with
local farms to source the rest….
“You’re picturing it, aren’t you?”
I blinked a few times and my dream restaurant disappeared
like I’d pulled the plug on a slide projector show. All that was
left was Ellis’s smug face.
I narrowed my gaze even as I stalked closer to him. His
eyes widened as he walked backward, one step to my two.
“You can’t just buy me a restaurant.”
“I didn’t,” he protested. “I bought you a farm.”
“Same rule applies. You can’t spend that kind of money on
me.”
“I certainly can,” he said, sounding a little breathless as his
back hit the wall. I didn’t stop walking until his chest brushed
against mine. “You mean you’re allowed to buy me everything
from the clothes on my back to the food that I ate, but I’m not
allowed to spend money on you?”
I frowned because that wasn’t an accurate summary at all.
“Those were necessities.” I made a sound of frustration as
he continued to look at me placidly. “I wanted to do those
things. You deserved those things.”
“And you deserve this.” His eyes were shining pools of
blue that I could lose myself in with little effort. “Besides, I
didn’t do it for you. I did it for us.”
Objections flew to my lips but I wouldn’t let them out.
There were so many reasons why we shouldn’t work on paper.
He was too young, and we were at different stages in life. His
life was coming together and I was essentially starting over,
this time with a lot more salt in my hair and wrinkles around
my eyes. He was impulsive and I could think about things
until the earth stopped spinning.
None of that seemed to matter. When we were together, all
the objections in my head faded away to nothing. The fact that
we were different seemed like a strength, not a hurdle. He
wasn’t settling, he was choosing. And even if all of that wasn’t
true? I wasn’t about to let the love of my life go.
Maybe it’s time you told him that, huh?
“I love you, you know that?” My voice was hoarse as I
dropped my forehead against his. All the better to hear his
breath catch at my words. “Seriously? You had to know.”
“Yeah.” He swallowed hard as he looked up at me, his
eyes wide. I was a little awed that I could affect him that way.
“But it’s fuckin’ nice to hear.”
“Well, I would’ve said it sooner if you weren’t so damned
stubborn.”
He didn’t look the least bit sorry. “I just wanted to make
sure you meant it like I meant it.”
“Yeah, and how’s that?”
He flipped the script, swapping our positions so quickly
that I lost my breath as my back hit the distressed wall. God, I
loved being manhandled by Ellis.
He pressed a kiss on my mouth and I could only wait for
his next move, his next touch, captive under his spell. “Like
I’d walk over a bed of nails to be with you. Like I’d climb the
highest mountain to get to you.” For that, I got another kiss,
and when he pulled away, I tried to pull him back. Not yet.
“Like I’d eat bananas just to have you.”
Another slow, drugging kiss and I tangled my fingers into
his hair, groaning into his mouth. And then my eyes popped
open.
“Bananas?” It was my turn to pull away because my
Hallmark movie had taken a strange turn. “What the hell kind
of example is that?”
“I’m allergic to bananas.”
“Oh.” Just as he leaned forward to kiss me again, I gasped
and reared back. “I’ve been feeding you for damn near a year.
How could you not tell me you’re allergic to something?”
 “It never came up.” Since I was still doing my best
impression of a gasping guppy, he settled for kissing my neck
instead. “If you’d served me something with banana in it, I
would’ve told you.”
“You might not have known,” I said, well aware my voice
was much too loud for the intimate cocoon we’d created. But
Good Lord, what if I’d made him something that had touched
bananas? It wasn’t something I used often, but still. “If you
have an allergy, you’ve got to tell people.”
“Did I tell you that I loved you today? I can’t believe I get
to say that anytime I want.” He didn’t seem to care about my
banana-inspired freakout as he nipped at my neck. “Also, I’m
telling you now.”
“You’ve got to tell someone before he’s been…feeding you
for…oh, fuck.” My breath hitched as he pressed a kiss to my
stomach and then several more. When his tongue flicked out,
tasting my skin, my muscles contracted and all deathly fruit-
based thoughts were shelved. His hand drifted to my belt
buckle.
“No, no, no,” I said with a husky laugh that said yes, yes,
yes. “We’re not having sex in the restaurant.”
The grin he gave me was pure sin. “It’s not your restaurant
yet, Alessi. Right now it’s a barn. Nothing sacred about that.”
That…was hard to argue with. It—and my dick—got even
harder when he sank to his knees.
Sooo…we wound up getting busy in a barn. I know, I
know. Classy. But we’re in love and all, so the whole situation
can be classified as romantic, I think. Ellis complained that the
floor was too dirty and then I reminded him that this was his
bloody idea. That only netted me a sheepish oh, right before
we started arguing over whose clothes we’d sacrifice as a
makeshift blanket. Things ground to a halt briefly when I
remembered we didn’t have lube or condoms, but then Ellis
proved himself to be an efficient horndog by having both in
his pocket.
 “I’m prepared,” he corrected with a sniff as I made use of
the lube packet. “You ever hear of being prepared?”
“Yes,” I said, amused. “But usually in reference to a Swiss
Army knife. Not a sex kit in your back pocket.”
“Sex kit,” he squawked. “I’ll have you know…oh fuck.”
I hit that spot inside of him again, crooking my fingers just
so. “Like that?”
He hummed and then it was just skin against skin, my
forehead against his as I slid home. I moved within him, my
fingers laced with his. Our breaths melded and mixed as we
raced toward the finish. With nothing left unspoken between
us, everything was just…better somehow. Damn near perfect.
At least it was until a voice cried, “My eyes! My eyes!”
I’d been staring at the screwed-up expression on Ellis’s
face, reveling in every gasp of pleasure, so I saw the exact
moment his eyes popped open. “Oh shit,” he said, peering over
my shoulder at whoever had just gotten a pretty good look at
my buttocks. “I forgot I texted Hayden an invite to take a
peek.”
I twisted just in time to see Hayden slap his hand over his
eyes. “Well, I certainly got that,” he said indignantly. “I might
never be the same.”
Lifetime trauma just from seeing my bare ass? I huffed.
Our partnership was off to a poor start.
Responsible Luca would never keep fucking his boyfriend.
Jobless, go-with-the-flow, ulcer-free Luca didn’t hesitate. “We
need fifteen minutes. Go do something.”
“What am I supposed to do for fifteen minutes while you
turn our restaurant into a bloody sex den?” He grumped even
as he stomped out of the barn, dust rising in his wake.
“Pet the cow,” Ellis suggested loudly. “She’s nice.”
“She’s not, in fact,” I said worriedly.
“Well, she won’t do him bodily injury, at least.” He
paused. “Although I might have to check with Mr. Mosby on
that.”
“Fifteen minutes and not a moment more,” Hayden yelled
from outside. Then despairingly, “I can’t believe you’re having
sex on my future coffee bar!”
Before I could tell him that the coffee bar should go out on
the patio—any idiot could see that was a prime spot for
sipping a cuppa and watching the world go by—Ellis dug his
heels into my flanks. That was Ellis-speak for get back to
work, peasant. So I did, thrusting inside of him as he pulled
me down for a kiss.
“Tell me again,” I murmured.
“Not a hardship, Alessi,” he said, looking amused. I wasn’t
surprised when he knew exactly what I meant. “I’ll say it a
thousand times if you want. You’re going to get sick of
hearing it.”
Not in this lifetime.
“Love you,” he whispered against my lips. “Love you.
Love you. Love you.”
My heart fluttered each time he said it. I’d just gotten rid
of an ulcer and the rat bastard was going to give me
arrhythmia. Worth the risk, I thought as I kissed him soundly.
“Love you too. So much.”
“I know.”
“Also, that’s not a thousand,” I said because math was a
thing.
He smiled at me crookedly. “We’ve got time.”
EPILOGUE
 ELLIS

A s—six
I walked down the path to the pond, I was met by ducks
of them—in a surprisingly tidy line. My lips
twitched as I watched their approach. That almost comical
waddle on land was hard to reconcile with their seemingly
effortless grace on the water. I walked past the duck army with
a little wave of hello and they fell in line, giving my pack of
dogs a wide berth.
We did this routine every morning and once in the
afternoon, and everyone usually minded their manners. If there
was a dust-up with the dogs, the ducks were generally the
aggressors. And the winners.
I chuckled under my breath as the fattest one bossed
Charlie to my other side with nothing more than a spreading of
his wings. I had three other dogs as company on my walk—
sometimes more, sometimes less—and three others waiting at
the house. I also had three cats. Several rabbits. And a
potbellied pig that made Luca and Hayden feel terrible about
cooking pork and me feel guilty about eating it.
Not guilty enough for any of us to stop, though.
I reflected on my menagerie as I reached the pond near the
house. Luca called it hoarding. I called it fostering. He
informed me—and quite snarkily, I might add—that fostering
usually involved giving animals away. Some bullshit about a
forever home. Whatever. So I told him that I’m running a pet
rescue. Despite wanting to win the argument—badly—he
hasn’t been able to dispute that. Yet.
 The ducks waited, still and intent, until I started throwing
out pellets from my bag. I watched them pecking at the food, a
little smile on my face. Charlie whined, jealous as always. I
rubbed his ears because there would be treats when we got
back.
Peter, a brassy mutt if I’ve ever met one, stood with his
stout legs wide apart, ready for action. Luna hid behind my
leg, more than a little scared as the ducks started to posture at
one another. I’d tried to leave the little terrier at home, but she
insisted. She didn’t like being far from me for too long. Her
previous owner had kept her chained in the backyard for
breeding, and I planned to make sure the rest of her life made
that seem like a very bad dream.
One of the ducks chased another away from his pile of
pellets. “Be nice,” I said, chuckling at their antics, but they
paid me no heed.
I’d lasted exactly two months in vet tech school before I
knew it wasn’t for me. Working with sick animals wasn’t a
bed of roses and took more fortitude than I had. The first time
I had to assist with putting a dog down—an older, blind little
beagle named Poppy—I was hardly the rock she needed me to
be. Poppy’s mom decided she couldn’t stay for the end and
lavished her with hugs and kisses before bursting into tears
and heading for the lobby.
Poppy was so nervous she had the shakes, and the vet, the
kind but businesslike Dr. Fulton, instructed me to hold her. I
rubbed her belly and sides and her head until she calmed. She
turned her head in my direction, listening to the sound of my
voice for a moment, and then tucked her head trustingly under
my chin.
In the end, I wept so much, Dr. Fulton thought I had a
condition.
Needless to say, he sent me home early. “I wish I could say
it gets easier, but this is just the start,” he said, not unkindly.
I could still feel her warm little body in my arms before
she went still and cold. “Harder than Poppy?” I blurted.
 “Go home,” he said gently. “And maybe think things
over.”
“I can do this,” I insisted.
“I know you can. You’re the best damned intern I’ve ever
had. But do you want to?”
He gave me a surprising hug before he headed back to his
next patient—like he knew I wasn’t coming back. I watched
him go with a frown, thinking his words over. My
stubbornness demanded that I stick it out. But was that the best
thing?
Luca was no help. When I came home, he was on the
couch, feet up on the coffee table, reading some food
magazine. Despite my crappy day, a little smile spread across
my lips. The man lived, slept, and breathed food. I wouldn’t
deny I reaped the benefits, though. Let’s just say he’d
negatively affected my relationship with my skinny jeans.
There was a lot more jumping involved to get ’em on. And
downright witchcraft needed for the zipper.
He’d looked so warm and cozy lying there in sweats and a
soft shirt that I pounced. He took my weight with an oof and
let me get settled on one side. I told him the situation, and he
just hummed and rubbed my back. The bastard even kept
flipping through his magazine.
“So what do you think?” I finally prodded.
“I think I’m going to miss seeing you in your scrubs. I
didn’t think I had any fetishes until you showed up, you know.
But that ass….” He shook his head in despair. “I used to be a
good Italian boy who worked hard and loved his family.”
“You hired me as a sex worker,” I reminded the forgetful
love of my life.
“So I did.” He didn’t seem bothered by our dubious
beginnings. “Little did I know I was making the best decision
of my life.”
I was equal parts mollified and touched until I processed
everything he’d said. I gasped. “You think I should quit,” I
accused. “I’m no fuckin’ quitter, Alessi.”
 “Thinking about your mental health doesn’t make you a
quitter, Ellie.”
I scowled some more because I’d told him not to call me
that. Many times. He said apologetically that he hadn’t
realized he was doing it and that he only did it when he was
feeling unbearably fond and just El wouldn’t do. And how the
hell was I supposed to complain about that?
I huffed. “But this was my dream.”
“Was being the operative word.”
I didn’t speak, frowning into his shirt. He shifted and I
landed a little into his armpit. I thought about moving for a
second, and then said fuck it. He smelled good anyway.
“Dreams shift and change,” he said, going back to his
magazine. “Oh, shit, the South Florida food festival is in a few
weeks. We should go.”
I snuggled into his side with a huff. The back-rubbing I
liked. The bullshit advice not so much. And yes, we were going
to that damn festival and I was going to eat my weight in
seafood.
So I quit. I volunteered at a few animal rescues and
fostered some of their tougher cases—abused animals who
needed space and time, older animals with special needs,
siblings who couldn’t be separated, and the like. Before I
realized it, my fostering had gotten out of hand and Luca was
giving me side-eye. He was mostly amused, though. At least,
that’s what I gathered when I brought home another dog last
week.
He’d shaken his head at the fabulous Miss Hilda, some sort
of long-haired chihuahua mix who routinely shook like we
were driving over cobblestones. Her intake form proclaimed
she didn’t like anyone to get too close. She didn’t seem to
mind when Luca stooped and picked her up. She burrowed
into those muscled arms like she didn’t know the meaning of
foster.
“It’s not like we don’t have the space,” Luca said, leaning
over to kiss my temple, and I wasn’t quite sure who he was
reassuring. He walked off, Hilda shooting me daggers over his
shoulder. She all but stuck out her tongue.
Hussy.
By the time the ducks had their fill, sunlight was starting to
break through the gray of the sky, heating the earth and
everything that called it home. I headed back the way I’d
come, the dogs more excited for the return trip. Treats awaited
them at the farmhouse, and they darn well knew it. There was
one light on, winking in the distance, and I knew Luca was up.
I smiled. Now I had something to be excited about, too. I
kicked our trek into high gear.
We’d decided to renovate the two-story farmhouse. It had
great bones, after all, and just needed a lot of love and care.
Bonus, it was on the other side of the farm, far enough from
the barn for privacy. We got the occasional nosy visitor during
restaurant hours, but mostly it was just us and the dogs.
Hayden, when he stopped by to lounge on our porch and
complain. Luca’s family, who assured me time and time again
that they were now my family. Oh, and Jamie, who I’d finally
convinced to come stay with us.
I thought it might be awkward, seeing how we’d both slept
with Luca. But it wasn’t. Luca was mine and I was his.
According to Hayden—whom no one asked by the way—
anyone who couldn’t see that was a damned fool.
To be fair, Jamie had been so bruised and battered when he
arrived that the last thing on my mind was jealousy. It had
been months before that natural Jamie charm emerged. Landon
showed up once, trying to get “his boy” back. And Luca
proceeded to throw his entitled rump right back off our farm,
proving that all that muscley goodness wasn’t just for show.
We’d fucked a lot that night, I thought, smiling fondly. Ah.
Good times.
Jamie had only agreed to stay as long as it took him to get
on his feet, but I dunno about that. Under Gio’s careful
guidance, Jamie was working as our manager and seemed
cozy as could be. I was pretty sure it was going to take some
C4 and a well-placed detonator to get his pert rump out of here
at this point. Luckily, I didn’t mind. He was family. And this
farm was all about family.
As I got closer, I could see Luca sitting on the top step,
sipping from a cracked and chipped mug. He was still in
pajamas—blue checked pants with a faded gray shirt. His dark
hair was a little ruffled, his jaw dark with stubble.
The porch was probably his favorite spot in the whole
house. He started most mornings this way, drinking decaf
coffee that he bitched about to anyone who would listen.
He smiled as I drew near. “How’re the ducks?”
“Bossy. Mean. Adorable.” I leaned down and kissed him
soundly. “They make a fine addition to my rescue.”
“You don’t have a rescue so much as a wolfpack,” he said
with a grin. “And you made Charlie your enforcer.”
A smile played on my lips. I denied the wolfpack thing,
but yeah, Charlie didn’t like a lot of lip from the newcomers.
We were also getting more animals—Luca just didn’t know it
yet. I had it on good authority that the owner of Walton Farms
was selling and moving to a retirement community. He needed
a place for two pigs and a poorly behaved cow named Greta.
Considering how our cow, Mindy, liked to block the road and
stare at our visitors until they laughed nervously and
scarpered, I figured she and Greta ought to get on like a house
on fire.
“What’re you doing up so early?”
“I rolled over and you weren’t there. I missed you.”
I straightened, my mouth quirking. “Liar. You don’t think I
know you’re waiting on that review?”
He laughed softly. “Alright, maybe that, too. But I did miss
you.”
“You’d better.”
I headed into the house, kicking off my shoes at the door,
and spent the next few minutes wiping paws and taking a few
burrs out of Luna’s hair. Charlie’s paws got extra wiping. He
might love his pack, but he still preferred to sleep in our room,
snug in his dog bed, instead of with the other dogs downstairs.
Charlie was a different kind of leader—the kind who sent his
troops to war and watched on a flatscreen with a cup of coffee.
By the time I finished distributing the treats, Luca had
finished his coffee and disappeared into the kitchen. I could
hear him moving about and starting breakfast, and it was my
turn to follow him. It was my favorite room in the house, with
all reclaimed wood and butcher block countertops.
“Charm,” Sloan had told me. He was the interior designer
half of the husband/husband team we’d hired to do the work.
“This place just oozes charm.”
I scratched my ear. “Well, as long as it’s not oozing
anything else, I guess you’ve got the job.”
Sal, the builder half of the dynamic duo, had grunted and
gave one of the walls a healthy smack. “It’s structurally
sound,” he reassured me. “That’s all that matters.”
“Modern farmhouse chic,” his husband cried. “It should be
polished, but keep all that charm. I’m thinking there will be
shiplap. Lots and lots of shiplap.”
“You’d marry shiplap if you could,” Sal accused as I
scurried off and left them to their bickering.
In the end, Sloan/Sal knew what they were doing. The
farmhouse was just about my favorite place to be. It didn’t
hurt that my favorite person lived in it, either.
When I looked up from pouring myself a cup of coffee, I
saw Luca tapping something on his phone screen. “Stop
checking,” I instructed him.
I pulled open a drawer for a spoon and shook my head,
inwardly amused, as I moved an epi-pen. Luca had put them
just about everywhere since a supplier had given me
blueberry/banana bread and forgot to mention the banana. The
man was obsessed. I was surprised he didn’t try to sneak a
daily shot in my thigh, just in case.
“Lana, the two-star queen, gave your restaurant three and a
half stars before the fire,” I reminded him. “She loves your
food. You know that.”
 “She loved Alessi’s,” he stressed. “The Green Kitchen is
not Alessi’s.”
“As long as there’s an Alessi in the kitchen, it’s Alessi’s,” I
informed him with a little smile. “Are you worried she might
dock some points because Hayden turned down her offer?”
He shook his head. “She’s tough but fair. Calls it like it is.
That’s part of the reason she’s so respected in the industry.” He
paused. “Except that time she reviewed my New York
restaurant and said my spicy ceviche was all bark, no bite.
That day, she was clearly insane.”
“Clearly,” I said, my mouth twitching.
“Anyway,” he said with a glare. “A good review from her
could really make this place successful.”
“Whatever she says, it’ll be fine,” I reminded him. “You
and me, remember?”
“And me,” Jamie said as he came down the stairs in
pajama shorts and a silky tank top, his hair a curly mess. He
beamed at us. “Don’t forget about me.”
I groaned, pretending I wasn’t secretly dreading the day he
decided to move out. “If only.”
“And here I came to tell you that your package arrived,” he
said. “You bitch.”
I was excited enough to ignore the bitch thing. For now.
“Where is it?”
Jamie stabbed a finger to the left even as Luca murmured,
“What package?”
I didn’t bother to respond as I practically skipped to the
living room. I spotted the package straight away, leaning
against the fireplace. The square box was about two feet by
two feet and heavy, and I wasted no time lugging it into the
kitchen.
“No, no,” I said, panting once I finished. “I don’t need any
help.”
 “Good,” Jamie said as he grabbed a carafe full of orange
juice from the fridge. “’Cuz we don’t need any help chillin’.”
I glared before turning to an amused Luca. “Ta-da.”
“You gotta stop with the ta-da shit,” Luca informed me, a
smile tugging at his mouth.
“Wow, everyone is sassy in the fucking farmhouse today,”
I said with a huff. “Now open it before you two ruin my good
mood.”
“This is a good mood?” Luca wondered as he squatted
down in front of the box and started ripping at the cardboard.
It wasn’t long before I remembered that he was the guy who
saved wrapping paper at Christmas.
“Do you need a knife?” I asked.
“No,” he grunted.
Jamie silently handed me a glass of juice as we watched
Luca struggle with the well-packaged gift. A little while later,
he’d gotten to the interior box, at least. “How about some
scissors?” Jamie ventured.
“Nope.”
We snickered as the king of I got it continued to open his
gift like a caveman.
When he finally discarded the box pieces, he just stared.
Speechless. It was a large, scripted A with the word Alessi
through the center. I’d commissioned the iron piece on Etsy.
Luca said it didn’t bother him to drive through a gate with the
iron M, but it damn sure bothered me. This signified our fresh
start. And represented a bit of the old.
“It’s for the front gate,” I said as he continued to look at
me wordlessly.
“I know.” His voice was a little hoarse. “Of course you
would think of this. Love you. Thank you.”
He rose in one fluid motion. I only had time to widen my
eyes before he pushed me against the wall and kissed me. I
was fully prepared for the slight pull of my hair—he could
never help himself from tangling his fingers in my curls. I lost
myself in the familiar press of his body against mine. Perfect
fit.
It was a slow, easy kiss…or at least it started that way. But
then my hands made the journey down to his ass and gripped.
Lifted. His pajama pants were thin and worn and he wasn’t
wearing a thing underneath. I licked my way into his mouth as
I pulled him closer still, erasing even the tiniest sliver of space
between us.
Luca groaned, deep in his chest. But that wasn’t the only
sound that registered. The soft whoa behind me kicked my
brain back online and I realized two things…important things.
A, we weren’t alone. And B, we were giving Jamie quite a
show.
It wasn’t the first time.
“Sorry. I just….” I removed my hands from Luca’s ass
with effort. “Sorry.”
“What he said,” Luca said, looking delightfully flushed. I
wanted him back against the wall. No, while we were wishing
for things, I wanted him on his back, legs in the air as I
pounded into him. Now that was a good morning. Much better
than this talking in the kitchen shit.
Jamie, for his part, looked like the cat who’d gotten into
the cream. “My,” he said, clutching his proverbial pearls.
“Breakfast and a show.”
I rolled my eyes, resisting the urge to pat my pink cheeks.
“I definitely romanticized how much I missed you.”
Jamie laughed. It was a bright, joyful sound, and I was
struck by the difference between the Jamie who’d gotten off
the plane, quiet and reserved and fearful, and the secure,
confident man in front of me. Happy looked good on him.
I still wanted him to get lost right about now. “Don’t you
have some general manager shit to do?”
“Nope,” he said, bratty as ever. “Free as a bird until the
boss says otherwise.”
 “Otherwise,” Luca said, amusement warming his tone.
“The boss also says skit, scat, skedaddle.”
“Ingrates.” He stuck his nose in the air. “I’ll just go feed
the dogs.”
“You do that,” I said. He knocked into me playfully as he
passed.
I was hoping to get back to our episode of Sex in the
Kitchen, but Luca was looking at the sign again. “It should say
Alessi and Day,” he said, touching the large scripted A. If I’d
had any doubts that he’d like it, I didn’t anymore. He was
touching it as though it was made of Fabergé eggs instead of
iron. “Mostly Day to be honest.”
He and Hayden had put most of their money into
renovating the barn into the beautiful restaurant that it now
was. I wished he would just consider our finances as exactly
that—ours—but I figured it was a work in progress. He may
be a proud man, but I was a stubborn one. I had full
confidence that I’d wear him down. And part of that started
now.
“Maybe the sign would still work if I wasn’t a Day
anymore.” I said carefully.
“You would go back to Shaw? You hate that name. Not to
mention legally, you can’t….” He frowned at me for a few
seconds before he glommed onto my meaning and his eyes
widened. “Oh. Oh.”
I shuffled a little closer. “Is that a good oh or a bad oh?”
His eyes softened as he reached out and tugged on one of
my curls. “A very good oh. And trust me, I’ve been thinking
about it. A lot. I just couldn’t figure out how to do it.”
“It’s not exactly rocket science.”
He huffed. “No, but it has to be special. You’re special and
I’m not giving you a crap proposal.”
My mouth twitched. There was nothing to get Luca
incensed like suggesting I deserved less. I didn’t wind him up
on purpose—self-deprecation had just been part of my life so
long, I wasn’t sure how to turn it off. But damned if it didn’t
make me all hot and bothered when he got riled up in my
defense.
“How would you’ve done it?” I asked.
“I don’t know. There would’ve been candles and maybe a
nice dinner and we would’ve dressed up nicely. I might’ve
invited some of our friends and family to be here…but
afterward,” he said with a wince. “I hate people staring at me,
and that goes double for when I’m spilling my guts about how
I think the sun shines out of your ass.”
“Is that so?” He looked adorably flustered and I bit back a
smile. “That does sound nice.”
“I certainly thought so.”
“But I’m not you. And I’m not fuckin’ waiting to make
you mine.” I stepped closer, taking his stubbled jaw in my
hands. I wanted those gorgeous dark eyes on me and nothing
else.
“Marry me,” I said simply.
There was a whole litany of things he could say. Reasons
why we couldn’t work. He could bring up our age gap, of
course, or the fact that our finances were now lopsided in my
direction. In the end, he said the only thing he could say. The
only thing I’d better hear out of that perfectly shaped mouth.
“Yes,” he said with a little smile.
“Yes?”
“Yeah.” He chuckled at the little excited noise I made.
“You’re my life, El. The fuck else was I gonna say?”
I briefly debated dashing upstairs to get our rings, the ones
I’d stashed in a drawer, but I wasn’t about to ruin the moment.
I was going to stay here and revel in that yes. “My thoughts
exactly. Now let’s seal the deal with a—”
“The review is up,” Jamie shouted from the living room
with his usual bad timing. “It’s long. Starts positive, though.”
 “Jamie,” I started. “We’re kind of in the middle of
something here—”
“The Green Kitchen is warm and welcoming with an open
kitchen and vaulted ceilings, and is certainly not short on
charm,” he said as he came back through the kitchen, his eyes
glued to his phone screen. “Executive Chef and co-owner
Luca Alessi achieves a perfect balance of rustic and elegant.”
“That’s what Sloan/Sal was going for,” I said sagely.
Luca laughed. “You do realize they are two individual
people, yes?”
Jamie waved to hush him. “I was informed by the manager
at The Green Kitchen that much of the food is grown on-site.”
He gave a little bounce. “That’s me!”
I bit back a laugh. “For God’s sakes, we know that, J.”
“The produce comes from Green Kitchen gardens. The
eggs are from Green Kitchen chickens, and even the cheese is
produced at a local farm a stone’s throw away. It doesn’t get
much fresher than that.”
I was glad for the review, even gladder for Luca’s success
because he deserved it. But right now, I was over the moon
about something else. I’d gotten my yes. And I planned to hold
on to the best thing that had ever happened to me so tight, he’d
never need to wear a belt again.
“Chef de Cuisine and co-owner Hayden Belle is in his
element here, unhampered by the trappings of a traditional
menu,” Jamie prattled on. “When he was at Alessi’s, he was
like a tethered stallion but this new concept freed him from—”
“Jamie, can we have a minute?” I interrupted, tugging at
Luca’s shirt. He shuffled closer with a huff of amusement. Any
closer and we’d be wearing the same clothes…which suited
me just fine.
“But she gave us five stars! Lana never gives five stars.”
He gave a huff, presumably put out because we didn’t explode
into happy confetti. “I thought you’d be delighted.”
 “I am,” I said. But not about that. “Maybe we can read the
rest later.”
“Much later.” Luca seemed to agree as he threaded his
fingers through my hair and kissed me again. “As someone
very wise once told me, we’ve got the rest of our lives.”
 AFTERWORD

Thank you for reading Ellis and Luca’s story. If you enjoyed it,
please take a moment to leave a review!
If you’re interested in reading more by me, make sure you
follow me on Amazon, or Bookbub, so you’ll be notified of
new releases. You can also join my reader group on Facebook,
Harmon’s Hideaway. It’s a great place to get news, ask
questions, and participate in giveaways.
You can also sign up for my newsletter here to know
what’s next in my fictional world.
Happy Reading!
S.E. Harmon
 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I never forget to thank all the people who help my book

releases go smoothly…or at least, steer me away from pulling
out my hair. That includes Leslie Copeland, my wonderful
beta reader who is alway my willing canary in the coal mine.
And Valerie, my alpha reader, who made time to help me find
stubborn errors that were hoping to make it into the final
version.
I want to also thank my editor, Dianne Thies, who is such a
pleasure to work with. Any errors in the book that remain are
mine. Thank you to my sister, who came up with a title that
was both clever and meaningful to the story, which is never an
easy task.
And as always, I’d like to thank the readers. You guys are the
reason I get to keep doing this thing that I love.
 ABOUT THE AUTHOR

S.E. Harmon has had a lifelong love affair with writing. It’s been both wonderful
and rocky (they’ve divorced several times), but they always manage to come back
together. She’s a native Floridian with a Bachelor of Arts and a Masters in Fine
Arts, and now splits her days between voraciously reading romance novels and
squirreling away someplace to write them. Her current beta reader is a nosy
American Eskimo who begrudgingly accepts payment in the form of dog biscuits.
Website: https://seharmon.weebly.com/
Email: silkguitar2011@comcast.net
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