Chapter 40

Dinner with the Jacobses was the only thing that made me able to make this call. That, and Lance by my side in our hotel suite. I sit cross-legged on the bed, nestled between his thighs.

Lance’s parents had exuberantly offered to let me stay at their house, either in a bedroom of my own or with Lance, since my apartment was pretty obliterated by the fire too, but that felt too awkward.

Not staying with him—that’s a given and not weird at all. But I think my ideas about parents are pretty fucked up from my own experiences, so staying with the Jacobses seemed wrong in an after-school special sort of way.

Maybe I can learn to accept their style of love the same way I did Lance’s, though? It’ll just take some time.

Time I don’t have as the phone rings.

“Hello?” my dad says. He sounds fragile, older than he is. I remember Sabrina’s visit to the bakery before everything went to shit. If she wasn’t there to sabotage me, maybe she really was concerned about Dad.

I’m sure the stress of the last few days hasn’t helped any issues he’s been having.

“Hi, Daddy,” I say, the endearment slipping out.

“Charlotte?” he says. “Honey, is that you?” The tears in his voice hit me viscerally, the little girl in my center whispering, He really loves me, and sealing over a gaping wound I didn’t know was still there.

“Yeah, Dad. It’s me. I’m okay. Are you okay?”

He laughs, the sound taking me back to the days when he was happier, less encumbered by the drama the women in his life stir up. Me included.

“Yes. In fact, I’m better than okay. I’m great now that I know you’re okay.”

We talk for a little while, but before we hang up, I ask Dad to tell Priscilla and Sabrina hello from me. It’s a small gesture, but we’ve got to start somewhere.

Lance runs his finger over my arm, tracing freckles from my shoulder down to my hand. “Well?”

“I think that went really well, actually,” I reply, letting loose a pent-up breath. “Shockingly so. Maybe there’s hope for us yet.”

“And us?” he asks, a cocky grin charging the air between us.

I play along, asking coyly, “What about us?”

He tackles me, laying me back on the bed and tickling me. I thrash beneath him, laughing loudly and feeling so very alive. He pins me with his hands and his blue fire gaze. “Is there hope for us?”

I shake my head, grinning. “None whatsoever.” I draw the moment out, but the light in his eyes doesn’t waver in the least. “I’ve completely and utterly fallen for you, and I don’t think I’ll ever recover. You’re stuck with me, Commander Cookie, because believe it or not, I love you.”

“Ha-ha, funny girl. Guess what, my Charlotte, my Sweet Scarlet?” His voice drops down, darker and lower. “My Red, I do believe you. I believe enough for the both of us because I love you too.”

He presses his lips to mine, soft but sure, like he’s sealing our words so I can never take them back. Not that I ever would. He’s made a believer out of me. He’s my happily ever after.

He pulls back, smiling. “So, there is one thing I need to tell you.”

Before, my heart would’ve jumped into my throat, my mind racing with awful possibilities as fear shot through my veins. But none of that happens. Not now, not with Lance. I just look at him questioningly, trusting that if it’s good news, we’ll celebrate together. And if it’s bad, we’ll face it together.

“I’ve decided to find a new job.”

“I’ve decided to officially retire. I’m not going back to the Teams.”

His voice is steady, but I swallow, not because I’m scared for me, but because that’s a major life change for Lance. “Are you sure? You don’t have to give up something you love, not for your family, and not for me. I will be here for you, a home base for you to return to. And I’ll send you sexy pictures of cupcakes, the baked kind, not my . . . you know. I love you, and that won’t change, even if you’re half a world away doing the thing you love.”

He smiles, “I am doing the thing I love.” It’s half-dirty, but I can tell he means it to be sweet when he continues, “Staying right here with you.” He smacks another kiss to my lips, squashing any further discussion of his military career.

“So you’re going to work for Jacobs Bio-Tech?”

He shakes his head. “No . . . that’s Cody’s baby. I was going to tell you. Jonathan sat down with all of us guys. Now that Thomas doesn’t need a private investigator, Jonathan is ready to move on. It was always a short-term contract for him. So Thomas needs a Head of Security. I told him I’d only take it if he promised me I never had to protect him from Mia.”

I laugh because that’s warranted. She might be little and look like your average anime convention attendee, but she would cut a bitch first and ask questions later.

“So you’re going to work for Thomas? What about the bakery?” I give him a wink “We made a good team.”

“That we did. What’s your plan?”

“I’ve already proven once that I can do it. I’ll do it again. Your new boss and I are going to renovate the previous location because it’s perfect, other than the fire and water damage. Should be a fast turn-around. The construction crew said I could be opening the doors again in three-ish months.”

I pause, biting my lip. “Do you think it’d be weird if I made a flavor in honor of Trixie? It seems weird to do this without her, even after everything.”

Lance brushes the hair from my face and says, “I think Trixie would’ve liked that. What are you going to call it?”

He looks hesitant, like the only flavor worthy of a wild personality like Trixie’s would be something outrageous. ‘Better Than Sex Cream Pie’, or ‘Pop That Virgin Cherry Pie’, or something Britney Spears-themed, like ‘I Know That You’re Toxic’, a chocolate cupcake with green icing and a gummy snake on it. She’d actually suggested that one once.

“I want to call it Trix—Not for Kids. Like Rice Krispies treats, but made with Trix cereal. And it has to have a white drizzle of glaze on top, of course.”

He laughs, getting the reference. “Obviously. I think she would be honored to still be welcome as a part of your bakery.”

There are still so many questions. Investigations. A huge building that blew up. Thomas’s new headquarters . . . but we’ll get there.

Thomas will get his business situation straightened out, with Mia at his side to crunch the numbers. They’ll get married soon.

Lance is staying here and has a job. I’m going to reopen the bakery and get my happily ever after.

Izzy is done with school now, ready to tackle the world as a freelance graphic designer. And Gabe . . .

“Hey, with us all being safe from Blackwell now, what’s Gabe going to do? Do you think he could work with you as security at Goldstone?” Gabe doesn’t need me to solve his career situation, but I can’t help but want to fix that final piece of the puzzle.

Lance shakes his head. “Nah, he knows that his background wouldn’t hold up to corporate scrutiny. So he’s going to do contract work with Jonathan.”

My face must show my shock because Lance quickly explains. “Not that kind of contracts. Jonathan has lots of different types of gigs—security, investigations—but one of his most lucrative contracts is gap discovery.”

“What’s that? Tell me faster that Gabe is not going back to being a hitman,” I beg.

“He’ll be a hitman for a good cause, without the death and dismemberment at the end. High-profile people hire Jonathan to find gaps in their security—online, residential, their protective detail. So when it’s needed, Gabe will make an ‘attempt’ on someone’s life to see where he can get in, where the breeches in coverage are so they can be corrected. The best part is, a lot of it is in the research, so he can do it from home. And when he has to go out on assignment, it’ll be a short trip, usually. With Izzy being freelance, she can probably even go with him sometimes.”

I let that sink in, confused but relieved. “So basically, a hitman stopper? If that’s even a word.”

Lance shrugs. “I’m sure there’s a fancy name for it like Security Loss Specialist, but basically, yeah.”

“Okay,” I say as the last puzzle piece clicks into place in my mind. “So we’re all good, then.”

Lance nibbles on my neck, and I instinctively tilt away, giving him greater access.

He whispers into my ear, “I’ve heard I’m not just good, but great. Might even make you walk funny tomorrow from having that pussy pounded.”

God, I don’t know why his cocky arrogance gets me. Well, his silly jokes get me too. So does his sweet and gentle, and his rough and hard.

I can feel his cock already growing between us, hard against my belly. But the thing I feel the most is his heart, beating in time to mine.

Still, I can’t let him off the hook that easily or he’ll get too big-headed. Ha! I laugh but keep the pun to myself as I challenge, “I hear you talking, but I’m not feeling you backing those words up yet. Just a whole lotta chatter without much substance, like a sugar-free cupcake. Wah-wah,” I say, mimicking a game show losing sound.

“Sugar-free? That’s blasphemy! Oh, you’re gonna feel it, Red. Challenge accepted,” Lance says, and he sounds like he means it to be a warning, but all I hear is a promise.

A promise for forever.

A promise for happily ever after.