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I’m laughing deliriously, tears streaming down my cheeks. I look up at Ethan and I see the soft gentleness he hides behind his gruff persona.
“We were never in control were we?” I ask.
“No,” Ethan smiles. “It has always been fate and it still is… just fate. I can’t promise you things will go the way we plan. And we both know how I like to plan,” he laughs. “I didn’t plan any of this. I didn’t know I’d fall in love with you so quickly and I have no idea what’s going to happen.”
I know exactly how he feels and I feel the same way. We’ve made so many plans, we both thought we were in control, but now we’re in free fall mode.
“Let’s make a bet, take the chance. I love you, Ethan and I don’t care what happens next. I just want you to know that you're not alone. You’re not the only one feeling the things you do…”
Ethan cuts me off, he pulls me towards him and presses his lips against mine.
He kisses me deeply, hungrily and the whole world fades to black. It’s just the two of us floating in space surrounded by our love.
He steps back and I’m breathless. Words don’t come to mind, not that they even matter.
“I love you too, Cassidy, and I’m ready to take a bet on us,” he says.
I lean forward and kiss Ethan passionately. And the fear of losing him fades into the joy of having him within the here and now.
Epilogue
Ethan
“You’ve gone soft,” Ed says, walking into my office as soon as my meeting ends. “Seriously, we used to plan hostile takeovers. You were my only competition, and now you sell cupcakes for a living,” he laughs.
I shrug my shoulders in indifference. “But I’m the happiest I’ve been in a long time,” I say with a smile.
“I’m ashamed to call you my friend,” he jokes.
It’s amazing how much things can change in a year. I remember it like it was yesterday, sitting at the club with Ed discussing our next venture. The love resort. Now I realize that the only good thing that came from any of that madness was finding Cassidy. I lost the bet and won her heart, and now I’m a corny romantic. It’s the new me, the me who fully believes in true love.
“I’ve become one of those chumps we used to laugh at, a one-woman man who rushes home for dinner after a long day at the office,” I laugh.
Ed nods. “You’re taking Love Cakes all over the country now,” he says sarcastically.
His little jibes don’t get to me, I’m too happy to be phased by snide comments.
“You do know this is all your fault right?” I say, pointing at him.
Without meaning to, he had set the wheels in motion. Even though I know that if I hadn’t fallen for Cassidy during the bet, fate would have brought us together some other way. But that’s too much for Ed. One word about fate and I know he’d have me committed.
“If you didn’t start with that bet then I would never have met Cassidy,” I smile. “We wouldn't have gone on all those dates and I would never have known just how wrong I was about love until we were neck deep in that resort, trying to dazzle people into thinking they’ve bought themselves a lifetime supply of true love,” I say.
“You might still find out you’re wrong,” Ed laughs. “This time when you’re neck deep in cake batter and sprinkles.”
We both laugh then. I laugh because I know Ed is wrong and he laughs because he still thinks, after all this time, I could come back to the way I used to be.
He doesn’t mean any of it, I know. Even with his prejudice, Ed has grown to respect Cassidy. And though I wouldn’t go as far as claiming he’s grown to love her, he does hold some affection for her.
“I guess it could be worse. Cassidy is the exception–at least she has some business sense,” he concedes. “So I guess I can take credit for that. You could have ended up with an airhead waitress. Then we’d really be in trouble.”
I raise my eyebrows and look at Ed. I know he can tell I’m cooking up a scheme, plotting something he’ll reluctantly be a part of.
“What do you want, Ethan? I know that look means trouble and I’m telling you now I’m not going in on your cookie business,” Ed says grouchily.
“Oh, our little cookie business is doing great without you. Signed a deal to get our cakes and bakes on to supermarket shelves and Cassidy is already training up a whole army of bakers for the new branch,” I say proudly.
Ed raises his eyebrows as if it’s only now dawning on him that the bakery is an actual business.
