Epilogue

"Naomi?" Tyler's voice carried through the house, up the stairs, and into the master bath where I was staring dumbfounded at not one, but two positive pregnancy tests.

"Upstairs," I called back automatically, with no idea how I was going to handle this conversation.

Between renovating and reopening Harlowe's in its new location, scrambling to hire enough help to cover the influx of new customers, and Tyler moving in with me and Sparrow, the last six months had already been a whirlwind.

And that wasn't counting the renovations and expansion going on at The Fox Den.

"Hey." Tyler's voice was warm and full of worry as he opened the bathroom door the rest of the way.

I spun around, strategically positioning myself in front of the pregnancy tests on the counter behind me. Way to play it cool, Naomi. Not suspicious at all.

I just needed a minute to figure out what the hell I was going to say.

He tipped his head to the side, clearly sensing my deception. "I dropped by the salon to see if you wanted to have lunch together, but Ellie told me you went home sick."

"Yeah, I have a stomach thing," I said, fighting a fresh wave of nausea. "What is that smell?"

He held up a brown paper takeout bag from my favorite deli. "I stopped by Heights and Bites and grabbed a giant tub of that soup you love."

Seriously, who is this guy?I'd asked myself that question at least a hundred times since our first night together. He was still cocky, and he still loved to push my buttons, but he was also unimaginably sweet and caring. It was the thoughtful side of him that still managed to catch me off guard sometimes.

Hot tears pricked my eyes, both from the swell of emotion at the way he was always trying to take care of me, and from the very real threat that I would vomit again if he didn't take the food out of the bathroom in the next few seconds.

I covered my mouth with my hand and shook my head. "I can't," I groaned, motioning to the paper bag.

Concern creased his brow as he glanced between me and the food. "That bad?"

I nodded.

"I'll be right back."

The second he was out of the room, I dove for the window, yanked it open as far as it would go, and pressed my face to the screen, sucking in lungfuls of blessedly fresh air. I was pretty sure there was nothing left in my stomach after my marathon vomit session in the bathroom at the salon this morning, but that didn't mean my body wouldn't still revolt.

"Is there anything I can do?" Tyler asked.

I jolted at the sound of his voice. How had I not heard him come back in? "Not really." I shook my head gingerly, not wanting to make the swimming sensation any worse. "I just need a minute."

When a long stretch of silence followed, I turned to see him staring down at the bathroom counter.

Crap.

"Does this mean what I think it means?" he asked, holding up one of the tests with the bright blue plus mark practically glowing on the thing.

I pressed my lips together and blinked back tears. "Yeah."

The lump in my throat grew three sizes in the silence that followed. We'd talked about having kids someday. You know, after marriage and spending a few years just being us.

"I know this isn't really part of the plan," I said, taking a step toward him. "But it'll be okay."

"Okay?" He turned toward me, and the look of shock on his face morphed into a heart-stopping smile. "Gorgeous, this is fucking amazing." He set the pregnancy test down, wrapped his big arms around me, and spun me in a small circle right there in our little bathroom.

I laughed, albeit a little uneasily. "Easy tiger. My stomach is not happy right now," I reminded him.

"Shit." He eased me back down onto my feet. "Sorry, I'm just excited." Then he pressed a gentle kiss to my forehead. "How did this happen? I thought you were on birth control."

"I am." I shook my head. "I was."

I'd been feeling sick on and off for about a week, but I just assumed I was coming down with a bug. It wasn't until this morning that I did the math on when my last period started. Then I realized I couldn't actually remember the last time I'd taken one of those tiny pink pills.

I had to dig all the way to the bottom of my purse to find my round pill holder, and sure enough, I was way behind.

"Remember when you got me that new phone a while back?" I asked. According to Tyler, my old one was too outdated for the woman running the "premier" beauty shop in Stonemore Heights.

He nodded.

"Yeah, well, apparently I failed to set a new daily reminder to take my pill." At the time, I was more focused on making sure I had alarms and reminders set to check Sparrow's blood sugar and give him his shots on time. "I'm so sorry."

"Naomi, there's nothing to be sorry for." He pulled me into his arms again, thankfully letting me remain ground bound this time. "I'm thrilled, but how do you feel about it?"

That was a great question. Since I'd put the pieces together this morning, I'd spent just about every minute that followed worrying how Tyler would react. He'd been hinting about us getting married, but I still wasn't expecting the words "excited" or "thrilled" to come out of his mouth on the news of an unplanned pregnancy.

"Happy, I think." I leaned back far enough to look up at him. "And a little terrified."

There was that smile again. The one that kicked my pulse up and stilled my heart all at once. "You are going to be a great mom, Naomi."

"You swear you're not upset? We're not exactly doing things in the right order."

"We have time." He let me go, pulled out his wallet, and fished something from inside. With a nervous lick of his lips, he dropped to one knee and held up a simple silver ring with a small emerald catching the light from the window. "Marry me?"

It took me a minute to find my voice. "You really are crazy, aren't you?" First there was the thing with his car. Now this. And how the hell did he know exactly what kind of ring I would have chosen for myself? "Who walks around with an engagement ring in his wallet?"

"A guy who is hopelessly in love with the woman of his dreams and has been waiting for the perfect moment to propose."

"And you chose this one? In our bathroom? With a seventy-pound German Shepherd glaring at us from the bed?"

He twisted around to look at Sparrow who was watching us intently. "Did I break protocol? Was I supposed to ask him for your hand first?" He turned back and gave me a dead serious look that pulled a snort of laughter out of me.

"Shut up," I said affectionately.

He tossed another glance over his shoulder. "You approve, don't you, big guy?"

Sparrow grumbled something in canine-ese and laid his head on his paws.

"I'm taking that as a ‘yes,'" Tyler said. "And to answer your question: You already have my heart, and we both just found out you're going to have my baby. Can you think of a more perfect moment?"

Well, when he put it like that.

I pinched my eyes shut. "You are..."

"Dashing?" he asked. "No, wait... charming, right?"

"I was thinking incorrigible," I said, easing them back open. "And definitely full of yourself."

His responding smirk chased away the lingering threat of tears. The man might know precisely how to rile me up, but he also knew exactly what to say to make me feel better.

"You're going to make me ask you twice, aren't you?" he asked with a fake pout.

"Yes." I nodded.

He rolled his eyes and huffed out a laugh. "Naomi Harlo?—"

I pressed a finger to his lips and had to bite back a laugh at his look of confusion. "Yes, Tyler. I will absolutely marry you."