Page 127 of Dirty Rich Cinderella Story

EPILOGUE

Lori

Sunday morning, Cole and I show up at Cat and Reese’s house. Cat opens the door and I hold out my hand. She squeals and hugs me. When she looks at Cole, she laughs. “You were such an ass here yesterday, I thought you were going to blow this, Cole Brooks.”

He laughs. “You and me both, Cat.”

A few minutes later, we are standing at the kitchen island with Reese and Cat, talking about our options. “We could just say fuck it, tell everyone this is how it is, and just move on,” Cole says.

“You could,” Reese says. “She’s with us. Her performance is what matters.”

“But,” Cat says. “If her scholarship is pulled, it looks bad and it will feel bad.”

“I do feel bad about taking money someone else needs,” I say. “I desperately needed this. Others do too.”

“I have an idea,” Cole says, looking at Reese. “You know a higher-up on the committee. What about proposing she keeps her status in the program, but we, me specifically, fund her scholarship.”

“What do you think?” Cat asks, looking at Reese.

“They like being behind superstars,” he says. “I don’t think we should tell them that you’re getting married. We want to keep her at the firm, so we feel we should fund her scholarship to honor the program. However, she doesn’t want to lose it and she’s willing to move to another firm in the program, with us still paying.”

“Move?” I ask. “I really don’t want to move.” I look at Cole. “What do you think?”

“This is your career,” he says. “You really want this honor and deserve it. You can come back.”

“Oh God,” I breathe out. “This is so real now. I just need to know how this is going to happen.” I look around the room. “How do we do this? How soon can we find out?”

“I can call my guy now,” Reese says, pulling his phone from his pocket. “I’ll be right back.”

I press my hands to my face. Cole turns me to face him. “If you go elsewhere, you can come back,” he repeats. “Or not. Where you work is not what matters.”

“I like working with you. We work well together.”

“We can still work well together. We’ll always have each other to game plan with.”

“He’s right,” Cat says. “It works for me and Reese.”

Reese walks back into the room. “He says he knows we can work it out. We’re paying after all. Or Cole’s paying.”

“What does that mean?” I ask.

“He said they’ll get back to us.”

Cole slides his arm around my waist. “And so, we wait.”

“What about the engagement?” Cat says. “Secret or not?”

“Cole and I have been talking about this for hours on end,” I say. “I’m afraid if we keep it a secret and then suddenly say, ‘Surprise, we’re getting married’ it hurts the trust with the staff, and not just with me, but with Cole. But what can we do? It feels like we’ll make a public service announcement if we speak up.”

“Well, hell,” Reese says. “Just leave the ring at home, keep it out of the office, and send everyone a wedding announcement when she has her degree or right before the wedding or whenever it feels right. If someone figures it out, they do.”

His phone rings and he glances at the number. “It’s him again.” He answers the call, listens and says, “I’ll find out what they want to do.” He disconnects. “They called the firm next in line. They want Lori if she wants to come. Or she can stay here.”

My stomach knots. “I have to go.”

“What?” Cole turns me to face him. “No. You don’t.”

“I do. I don’t want to take my ring off or hide. I want to have lunch with you. I want to kiss you when I want to kiss you and I just want to be free. I can come back. I will come back if you both will have me. And then it won’t matter. I will have proven myself outside of the office.”

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