We held each other for a long time, wrapped naked together beneath my heavy comforter, whispering sweet nothings and declarations of love and making this the most beautiful memory I had of sex.
He was everything my past was not. He was trustworthy and loyal and beautiful. He was funny and sweet and kind. And he was mine.
“I’m going to be so late for work,” I groaned, after talking myself into checking the clock. “And I just got them to get there on time.”
He smiled and kissed my shoulder. “I think we should call in.”
I blinked at him, surprised he’d even suggested the idea. “What?”
“Why not?” he asked, a wicked smile lifting his lips. “We’re the bosses after all.”
That was true. We were the bosses. And we were damn good ones too.
So that’s what we did. We both called in and left our businesses to the staff we’d worked so hard to train. And then we stayed in bed for the rest of the day, talking about our future, talking through our pasts and falling more and more in love.
Vann Delane had been the most surprising thing to ever happen to me. And the best thing. He’d saved me when I didn’t know I needed saving. He’d led me to healing I didn’t know was possible. And now he would be the future I never expected.
I loved this man that was so good at helping me fix all that was broken in my life. This man that had reached inside of me and helped mend the broken pieces of me too.
Twenty-Three
“Did you see?”
I looked up from my paperwork to find Blaze grinning. The sight was so startling I didn’t know what to say. Or do. So I just blinked at him and waited for more words.
“Chef, did you see?” he asked slower, enunciating every word carefully.
“See what?” I shook my head. “Why are you smiling?”
He shook the newspaper at me. I hadn’t noticed he was holding it. Seeing him happy was too distracting. And slightly disturbing.
“Check out the living section,” he ordered.
Not understanding where any of this was going, I took the paper from him and noticed it was only the living section.
Then I noticed a picture of Bianca front and center.
“What is this?” I gasped, standing up and jumping to the balls of my feet.
Blaze’s smile disappeared, tired with my confusion. “Just read it.”
The headline read,New Chef in Townand I realized slowly, painfully slowly, that the article, by Durham’s premier food critic, was about me. Oh, my god!
“Dillon Baptiste might have family connections but her innovative ideas are all her own,” I read aloud. I looked up at Blaze with the widest eyes ever. “Is she serious?”
“Keep reading,” he encouraged.
This time I listened to him. Reading as quickly as possible, I picked out the parts I couldn’t believe were actually there. “She might be young, but she’s proving to be a force to be reckoned with… Her makeover ideas were the facelift the struggling restaurant needed… now known for its mouth-watering brunch and trendy décor, Bianca is quickly becoming a must for this city’s foodie culture… I visited three separate times and was only more impressed with each visit… Looks like little sister has a few things to teach her restaurateur brother.” I gasped and then laughed and then read the article all over again. “Ezra is going to kill me!” I screamed. “Blaze!”
He smiled again, an ear-to-ear grin. “I know.”
“This is us!”
He nodded. “I know.”
“We made the paper!”
He laughed at me. “I know.”
