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Lukas smirked. “Well, aside from being physically intimidating himself, your boyfriend’s got a friend named Julian who knows… a lot of interesting people.”
“Is Julian in the mafia?” I asked with wide eyes. Lukas snorted.
“No. But he knows people who’ll take care of things if Cam tries anything despite the restraining orders I’m about to file on his ass.”
“Huh,” I nodded with satisfaction as I watched Lukas turn around and check on the roasted chicken in the oven, crispy and brown and almost perfectly done. I grinned at the view of his backside as he referred to the cook time on the recipe once more, adorably determined to get this dinner perfect for me.
So far, he was killing it on his first official day as my boyfriend – for various reasons but especially because he was cooking dinner shirtless for me, filling my head with vivid fantasies about drinking this view in every morning. God, I want to get used to this, I thought with a faraway grin that only fell from my face when I spotted Lukas grabbing an extra box of my truffles off his counter and popping one in my mouth. He smirked as he turned around and reached for a drink of my wine.
“Excellent pairing,” he winked.
“I’m sure it is, but I’m not sure why you’re not sharing with me. That’s not very nice!”
“I figured you’d be sick of seeing these but go for it,” Lukas laughed, sliding the chocolates across the counter for me. I rolled my eyes at him and lifted the lid of the box.
But my entire body stilled when I saw a string of sparkling stones wrapped around the only truffle left inside. My pulse jumped into my throat and I held my breath as I lifted the precious stones off the truffle. When I realized I was holding an elegant, stunningly beautiful diamond necklace, I looked breathlessly to Lukas for explanation.
“I wanted to book you a trip to Spain,” he smiled, "but I don’t know when you’ll have your next day off. I wanted to buy you your dream storefront but I know you don’t like me butting into your business. And I’ll say it – I would’ve bought you a ring and proposed, Lia, but I had a feeling you’d be a little freaked out and I don’t think I can handle you running off on me again,” he laughed softly, coming to my side of the counter. “So this,” he lifted the diamonds off my fingers, “is just my way of promising you that I’m all yours. I’m in your corner every second, every day. I want to be your rock. And you don’t have to rely on me because you’re stronger than anyone I know, so I know you don’t need to lean on me. But if you ever want to, I’m here.”
He turned my head gently and kissed my lips as he stood behind me, fastening the fine chain around my neck. My tears made a strong return as Lukas turned me in my chair to face him.
“I love you, Lia,” he said, his eyes following the slow curve of my lips as I smiled wider and wider, unable to stop. “You surprise me every day with how fucking beautiful you are. Inside and out. You make me feel better and you make me want to be better. I don’t care if you think what I’m about to say is crazy, but I’m going to marry you someday. You’re going to be Lia Hendricks. I’ll make sure of it,” he said, laughing as he kissed away my tears. “Well. At least in our house you will. Outside, you’ll be Lia Pope because Pope Chocolates is going to be too famous, and we don’t want to confuse your customers.”
“Shut up,” I giggled, pulling him back to my lips. “I don’t care,” I kissed him. “The chocolates are going to be famous and I’m going to be yours. It’s all going to work out. I believe it a hundred and ten percent.”
“You do?” Lukas held my chin as he looked into my eyes. When I nodded to answer his question, he shook his head. “Ah, ah. No more of that. Say the words for me, Lia.”
I giggled, remembering how I’d once hated him for making me say things out loud, just to force me out of my comfort zone. It wasn’t too long ago, but it couldn’t be more different now.
“I do,” I finally murmured in reply to Lukas, watching him close his eyes, as if to savor my words. When he opened them again, he looked at me with what I could only describe as love and satisfaction.
“Can’t wait,” he whispered.
“For what?”
“The day I hear those words again,” he said before closing his mouth over mine in a kiss. Licking his lips, I felt myself practically float off on a cloud.
Right here, in this kitchen, in Lukas’s arms, I had everything I wanted – busy days at work followed by lazy nights with the man I loved. It was mundane, borderline boring, but it was my perfect balance. My sweet spot.
And with both hands, I was going to hold on tight.
Epi
logue
THREE YEARS LATER
LIA
“You’re back! I missed you so much!” Tess squealed, running out from behind the counter the moment I walked in the doors. I’d been away from the store barely two weeks and already, I missed it enough to fall to my knees and kiss the floor – but I refrained from doing that because we had a fair amount of customers, both lining up and sitting down with their chocolate and coffee. Unlike its first location in the boutique hotel, Pope Chocolates now sold its signature truffles alongside espresso – the same rich beans that had been sold by the coffee shop that was previously located here, right across my old townhouse apartment on 18th Street.
“I missed you,” I sighed as I hugged Tess. “How’s the store been? Did we get the cold brew in yet?”
“All set on that, sister. Don’t worry about the store right now – talk to me about Spain!”
“Oh God, I’ve got like, two thousand pictures, but I’ll just show you my favorites,” I giggled, sitting down at a table with Tess.
Three years later, Lukas and I finally found the time to go to Spain. Well – we didn’t actually have the time. Things were still insanely busy with both our companies and the trip had actually been a last-minute decision because I’d sat him down one night and told him that due to certain developments, if we didn’t go now, we definitely wouldn’t have the time.
