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I went to snatch back my wallet, but he wouldn’t have it. He held it out of reach.
“Tell me your wedding band isn’t still in here,” he said.
I couldn’t fucking do that.
I clenched my jaw, getting angrier by the second. Embarrassed too. Of-fucking-course he’d caught that back then. Goddammit.
I had more than my wedding band in that coin pocket. I had a $500 poker chip from Vegas too.
“If I win, you marry me.”
My gaze flashed to his, and in a fraction of a second, I stopped hearing the cacophony around us. Slot machines, laughter, drink orders—all of it. It just disappeared. I saw the intensity in Walker’s eyes, bordering on desperation, and I saw the poker chip he held up.
We were so fucking broken.
I blinked back tears as emotions surged within me, and it was so goddamn stupid, but I wanted to scream yes. I wanted us to make it. I wanted to cling to him forever.
“I mean it, Macklin.” He turned a little in his seat, the people around the table waiting for him. “If I win this hand, you marry me as soon as we get back home.”
“Yeah,” I heard myself whisper. I cleared my throat, sniffled, and nodded. “Yes.”
He’d make me Macklin McKenna, and he’d never let me go.
His eyes welled up too.
It only scared the shit out of me that it was for the wrong reasons. Not happiness. Not relief. Not love. Just fear. Fear that we were nearing our end.
Reese extended the wallet to me again, and I pocketed it.
“Tell me why you love him, sweetheart,” he murmured.
The question slapped me in the face and forced the reasons to tumble out. Because I knew why. I had as many reasons to love Walker as I had to run as far as I could away from him.
“We’re in this together, my beautiful boy.”
He held me tightly, swaying me gently from side to side, and built up a wall of comfort right there in his hallway. I could let go. He’d take over from here. My failures didn’t matter when he loved me so hard.
“Fuck that pretentious motherfucker. You hear me?”
I croaked a chuckle and nodded as I wiped at my cheeks.
“What the hell does he know, huh?” He eased away my hands to smooth his thumbs under my eyes. “You don’t need his diploma—or his approval. You’re an amazing chef already. And you know what? You’ll go further than he ever will. I swear to you. I believe in you, baby. And I wouldn’t say this if I didn’t think you had it in you.”
“He was my biggest supporter for a long time.” I looked down at my lap and bit my thumbnail. “After I failed my final project at the culinary institute I was at, he marched me straight down to his bank, and he made sure I could take out a loan to open my own restaurant.”
Walker had the ability to translate someone’s dream into a strong vision, a concept, that would sell well. He’d done it for me with two subsequent smaller loans too, which I’d needed for renovations.
He wasn’t generous with unwarranted praise, so when he said he was on your side, he meant it.
“He was safe,” I went on. I wasn’t sure Reese had heard me. “It was like…as soon as I’d told him about my upbringing, he made sure to be a constant I could rely on. For as much as he worked, he always answered the phone when I called. Whatever the reason, he was ready to comfort, celebrate, set me straight, laugh… I loved to share my news with him. He soaked up every word.”
My vision became blurry, and when I tried to turn away, Reese gathered me in a hug instead.
Fuck, it hurt.
“Keep going.” He kissed the side of my head and stroked my back.
I sniffled and screwed my eyes shut.
“You’re here!” I exclaimed. A huge grin took over my face, and I nodded to Marissa. “I’ll be back in five. You okay on your own?” It was crazy busy behind the bar, but I’d been on my feet since we’d opened.
“Go.” She shooed me off and winked.
I was already gone. I hurried around the counter and all but jumped into Walker’s arms, crushing the flowers he’d brought.
He laughed and kissed my temple. “How’s my little sea monster? I couldn’t miss your opening night.”
Well, he was supposed to. He had work. I wouldn’t have blamed him—too much. Hell, he’d already done so much for me.
I peered up at him. “I love you.”
“I love you too.” He kissed me quickly, then glanced around the seating area. The first floor was packed with guests who were here for cocktails and snacks. Or they were waiting for their tables. “I heard you have to make reservations a week in advance, but I know the owner. You think he can squeeze me in somewhere? I’m starvin’.”
