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EPILOGUE
Five months later,William and I are sitting on a bench in the park near our building.
It’s been a leisurely Sunday so far. We slept in, had some slow sex filled with laughter and cuddling, and then finally got dressed and walked to our favorite brunch place.
We ate a lot and drank mimosas and then spent about a couple of hours wandering around and looking in shops until we ended up here, sitting on our favorite bench in the park.
Caleb, our primary bodyguard, is positioned several feet behind us. He’s big and stoic and blue-eyed, and I’ve slowly been able to uncover a hint of his real personality behind the professionalism. At the moment, he’s all business, perpetually scanning our surroundings with an intimidating stance that causes random passersby to find detours around us.
Vince Montaigne is in prison for a couple more months, so there’s not likely to be danger at the moment. But William refuses to take any chances, and I can’t say that I mind.
After so long living in fear, having an ever-present bodyguard is a luxury rather than an intrusion.
William is so protective that sometimes I wonder if he’s planning to make the bodyguards a constant for the rest of our lives.
I like that he’s protective. If I had a problem with any of his choices, I know I could tell him and he’d listen. But the close protection isn’t a problem for me, and I know it makes him feel better just like it does me.
He’s got his arm draped around me, and I’m pressed against his side. I glance up at his face and unexpectedly meet his gaze. His expression is soft. Relaxed.
He hasn’t looked at his phone or email since first thing this morning. He’ll always have workaholic tendencies, but he’s slowly learning to relax more. Not just on the weekends but also in the evenings. Only once in this past week has he gone to his home office to work after dinner.
Every small victory makes me happy.
I’ve been idly rubbing one of his thighs. Eventually, William gently lifts my hand and holds it.
At first, I wonder if my touch was accidentally getting too intimate for a public park, but then I see he’s studying the bracelet on my wrist.
It’s a new one. I just finished it a couple of days ago, and it took me a long time to craft. Because I always intended it for myself rather than the special line of jewelry I’m developing for the Worthing retail line, I’ve been working on it only on and off for the past few months. It’s made up of intricately designed links studded with jade stones.
I should have known William would notice it. He notices everything about me. It’s been an entirely new experience for me to have someone care so much that no small details about my mood or appearance goes overlooked.
“This is gorgeous,” he murmurs, lifting my wrist higher so he can study the bracelet more closely. “Why didn’t you tell me you finished something new?”
“It’s just for me. Not for the Delacourte brand.”
“If it’s for you, then I’d care about it even more.” He gives me a fondly impatient look. “I love it.”
“Thank you. I guess I just wanted to do something for myself. To celebrate…” I give a little shrug. “How far I’ve come or something. I didn’t want to make a big deal about it.”
He lifts my hand so he can kiss the underside of my wrist, just above the bracelet. “It doesn’t have to be a big deal to anyone else, but you’re a big deal to me.”
Feeling like melting, I stretch to press my mouth against his. “You’re the biggest deal that’s ever happened to me.”
He chuckles at that. “Same.”
He’s still got a hold of my hand, studying the bracelet and stroking my fingers. Eventually, he starts focusing on my ring finger, on which is a lovely emerald-cut diamond he gave me with a proposal two weeks ago.
I said yes to the proposal, of course. Nothing will make me happier than marrying him. We’ve even got a wedding date set nine months from now.
Occasionally, it crosses my mind I’d like to tell Amber about our engagement. We haven’t made it public yet, so she won’t know. She’s called me a couple of times in the past month, rambling into my voice mail about how she’s sorry, how she wants to reconnect, how she wants her sister again.
I haven’t returned her calls. I don’t know if I can trust her. But I’m thinking about taking a tiny experimental step to see what happens.
I haven’t decided yet.
William kisses my ring finger just above the diamond. I smile up at him, sappy and relaxed.
I’m not in any hurry to move, and William clearly isn’t either. We stay in the park for nearly an hour until Caleb moves close to us and asks softly if we don’t mind returning home. There’s someone across the lawn who bothers him.
