He raised an eyebrow at me. “That’s quite the dress.”
“This old thing?” I scoffed and stood, tossing the magazine onto the coffee table. I gestured toward the red body-hugging dress I wore. “I found it in the back of my closet.”
“I’m surprisedyoufound your way out of your closet.”
I narrowed my eyes.
“I’m guessing all this is because I’m in trouble,” he said, waving his finger at me.
Damn.“All what?”
He smirked. “Before you give me a lecture—Ihatelectures, by the way—why don’t you open your present?”
“Present?” I perked up. Oh, he was good. He got me a present before he got in trouble.
He handed me a white envelope. “What’s this?” I stared down at it.
“The million dollars I owe you.”
I rolled my eyes. “Olly, that was a joke. I hated that job anyway, which you well knew.”
He rolled his eyes. “Just open it.”
I ripped open the seal and slid out a stack of papers. I read the first document, looked up, and reread it again. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. My eyes had to be playing tricks on me. “Are you— Is this for real?”
He grinned. “Yep. You now are the new owner of the Iced Princess.”
“Holy pink cupcakes!” I exclaimed and threw myself into his arms. I couldn’t believe he bought my favorite place ever. My job was now literally playing with sugar all day long. “Is this why you’ve been acting all shady the past couple days?” I said, bouncing around in his arms. I was just too excited to stand still.
“I was not acting shady. I was acting secretive.”
I pulled back. “But my cupcakes aren’t as good as the ones at the Iced Princess.”
He kissed my cheek. “Yours are better.”
I squealed and hugged him again. “I love you.”
“I know.”
He pulled me back. “Now about that lecture…”
“What lecture?” I batted my eyes.
He scowled. “You thought I was already changing my mind, didn’t you?”
“No. I know you want to be here with me, but I thought maybe you were having second thoughts… maybe a couple regrets. Losing all your abilities and your immortality can be a lot on a guy.”
“A friend once told me something I didn’t really understand until I met you. ‘We should all start to live before we get too old. Fear is stupid. So are regrets.’”
“Marilyn Monroe said that.”
He smiled. “She was right. You don’t have to worry about me having second thoughts. I’m not going backward. I’m only going forward. With you.”
I kissed him.
But then I pulled back once more. “You know you really need to tell me what happened with Marilyn Monroe. I want the truth.”
“I can’t tell you all my secrets at once,” he said slyly.
