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There’s a loud metal whine across the street and I stomp to the front window of Landmark to find out, once and for all, what the hell is going on.
I’m surprised to find a sign dangling from a crane. The operator moves the sign into the place, a construction crew centering it on the top of the restaurant across the street.
The sign says Alice.
I frown through the glass. The new restaurant is named Alice?
That’s a weird coincidence.
I start to turn away from the window and go back to work when something—or someone, rather—catches my eye across the street. No way. My eyes must be playing tricks on me.
That is not Sebastian Cove in a hardhat overlooking a set of plans with one of the construction workers. But even as my brain issues the denial, his head comes up and we lock eyes. My body is wracked by a hot shiver, my womb seeming to contract at his nearness. Is…is Sebastian the new owner of the restaurant across the street?
Did he name it Alice…for me?
Tears crowd my eyes, blurring the image of Sebastian. When I manage to blink them away, he’s halfway across the street, arrogantly halting traffic with his glacial blue stare. My feet move on my own, carrying me out the door of Landmark where I wait for him on the sidewalk with my heart in my throat.
“Alice,” he rasps when he’s a few feet away, his steps slowing. “By God, you somehow got more beautiful.”
I clutch my hands to my chest to keep it from bursting open. “You didn’t go back to London?”
“Without you?” He takes off the hard hat, leaving it dangling by his thigh, and without the shadow of the hat, I can see the intensity whipping in his eyes. “Never, darling. Never.”
A whimper escapes me. “Is…is that your restaurant?”
“No. It’s yours.” He comes a step closer, his eyes tracking over every inch of my face. “It’s ours.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I’m giving you the choice. London. New York. Both. Tell me where I can make you the happiest and that’s where we’ll go.” He tosses the hard hat to the ground and goes down on one knee. Until now, I’ve been aware of nothing but Sebastian. But as soon as he’s kneeling, the crowd that’s formed around us starts to applaud and whistle. Oh my God. This isn’t a dream. It’s real. It’s real and I’m probably going to faint right in the middle of it.
“Sebastian…” I wheeze.
“I know. I know I hurt you indirectly. I never meant for it to happen. I’ll never, ever put you in a position to be anything but happy. Ever again. Just agree to be my wife and give me that chance.” He takes a small black box out of his pocket and opens it, revealing what is the most spectacular, over-the-top ring I’ve ever seen in my life or the next. “Now that I know you exist, Alice, I can’t go back to the emptiness I lived in before. You make me look forward to the next day, because I know you’re alive inside of it.” He closes his eyes. “I’m in love with you. Marry me.”
“Yes.” I fall to my knees in front of him and throw my arms around his neck. “I’ll marry you. Of course I will—I love you. And I don’t care where we live as long as you’re there, Sebastian.”
Flashbulbs go off around us as our lips meet in a kiss, knelt down in the middle of a filthy Manhattan sidewalk. I’m still reeling when Sebastian slides the ring onto my finger, hoists me into his arms and carries me across the street to Alice, my apparent new restaurant. I only catch a brief glimpse of my face being painted mural-style onto the main wall when Sebastian roars, “Out!”
He sets me down on the closest table and starts to unbuckle his belt even before the last construction worker exits onto the street. There is a partial barrier blocking us from passersby, but it would be a stretch to call our location private. Ask me if I care. I just want his hands on me. His mouth. I need to feel him everywhere so I know this is real.
“I need you, Alice. One more second without and I’ll go fucking mad.”
“I need you, too,” I breathe, opening my thighs. “Take me.”
Moaning at the sight of his hard shaft, I allow Sebastian to hike up my skirt, work aside my panties and shove himself home inside me. The table rocks beneath us, but Sebastian steadies it in his hands and begins to thrust hard hard hard. “Mine forever,” he grits into my ear. “My Alice.”
I arch my back and let him rip my shirt down the middle. “My Sebastian.”
We don’t let the construction crew back inside for hours.
