Epilogue Two

EPILOGUE TWO

Valentina

" A re you sure you trust me with opening Get Baked, and taking care of it for you?" I wrap my hair around my index finger, watching Gabby carefully. This will be the first time she's entrusted me with this task. Being able to work with the students has really helped, and we've hired a couple of part-timers. But she's never allowed me to do anything completely on my own. I've been able to open and close by myself, but never both together, and I've not been in charge of other employees yet. That's what she's telling me I have the option of doing for the next week.

"I'm sure. I completely trust you. There's no one else I'd rather leave in charge while Barrett and I go on our first vacation ever. I'm not going to worry about a damn thing while I'm gone. Now is definitely the time for you to show me exactly what you can do. I have faith in you, and I can't wait to see the pictures you take and what sales look like."

I'm so nervous. No one has ever had this much faith in me, at least that I've been told. Back when I lived at home, the only thing my parents wanted to know was if I could take care of my brothers and sisters. They didn't appreciate the actual talent I had for baking, or the thought I had to get the aesthetic of what I was making correctly. "I hope I don't let you down."

She turns me so that I'm facing her. "You're not going to let me down, no matter what happens. All I want to do is see how you handle it on your own. There's no set goal I have for you. I'm willing to release parts of the business to you as I see you can handle it. All I want to know with this is what you can handle. Okay?"

"Okay..."

"You're not going to disappoint me, Val. I promise."

I close my eyes. I want to believe her more than I want anything else. She is the only person who's ever believed in me and it not be more about them than me. "Thank you. Thank you for believing in me."

She hugs me tightly. "You earned it, Val. I'm so damn proud of you. If you need absolutely anything, you know you can call me."

"And anything else she needs, I'll be here to help."

That voice cuts into our conversation.

That voice...

It's haunted me since the first time I met him, but it's increased tenfold since the severe weather that pushed through here, and he ended up being my calm in the chaos of that situation. Vaughn Collins is the type of man who I've been warned about my entire life, but somehow I'm drawn to him in ways I've never been drawn to anyone else.

"Thank you," I answer quietly. "I'm sure I won't need anything."

His gray eyes meet mine. They're the most incredible shade I've ever seen. Sometimes they appear blue, others green, depending on his mood. I'm still not sure what makes them switch, but I want to know. More than anything I want to know. "If you do, I'm the person that you call, got it?"

I nod, swallowing hard. Vaughn makes me feel many things all of them are confusing, but it makes me want to feel them more. "I know."

He leans over the case, and I can't help but move toward him. A smirk plays against the side of his impossibly full red lips. Reaching out, he cups my chin in the palm of his hand. "Be sure that you do, Val. I don't wanna hear you needed something and didn't call me."

His mouth is mesmerizing as it forms those words. I watch as he licks his lips, smiling slightly. It's hot in here, so damn hot. "I won't. I'll call you, Vaughn."

"Be sure that you do." He turns on his heel and walks out of Get Baked taking what's left of my good sense with him.

Vaughn releases September 13th