“I knew that you were what I wanted and wherever that led me, that was where I’d go.”

“Liar,” I shot back, unable to keep the silly grin off my face, making him laugh. “You were ready to do one of your classic Theo Ganas decrees and drag me back to New York.”

“Okay,” he admitted, as his cheeks flushed red. “Maybe that was part of the original plan, but in the end all that mattered was you.” We grinned at each other like the saps we were and he lowered his face to mine, close enough that our lips bumped against each other. I swiped my tongue over that bottom lip I still loved to play with, and he groaned, pressing me to him. That hard, strong body that I’d learned not just to lean on, but to depend on anchoring me. “You’ve given me everything I ever dreamed of,” he whispered against my mouth, so low and fierce, like he was feeding me the deepest truth in his soul. And now, here, in his arms, I believed it.

“I love you and our life,” I told him, wobbly and awash with happiness. “Even if you’ve forced three demon dogs on me.”

He pressed a laughing kiss to my mouth and shook his head. “The demons you buy steak for every week.”

“My dogs are bougie, just like me,” I reminded him, before I kissed him for real. Happier than I ever thought was possible. Literally standing in my wildest dreams, with the man I loved beside me.

“There you are!” Julia exclaimed, exasperation clear in her voice. “Girl, what are you doing necking back here? The ribbon cutting ceremony is about to start and you know how José gets if we get behind schedule.” I’d brought José over to Bookish as our publicist and the man took his job very seriously.

“You’re interrupting!” I told my best friend, who scoffed like I was an idiot and started clapping in my ear.

“Uh, let’s go! The champagne is gonna get warm. And you.” She pointed at Theo. “You’re supposed to be helping, not grabbing ass behind bookshelves.”

The Theo that I’d worked for in New York would’ve probably bristled at that. This Theo, the man who took days off to stay in bed with me and our dogs. Who surprised me with my favorite doughnut in the middle of the day. The man who I was planning to spend the rest of my life with. This Theo only smiled as he slid his hand into mine, his eyes shining with mischief as he turned to my best friend.

“I can’t help myself,” he said with a wink, and I fake swooned.

“Dummies,” Julia said with a shake of her head and walked off.

“Are you ready for this?” Theo asked, and I nodded before tugging him down for a kiss.

“Baby, I was born ready.”

BPA