Page 69 of You Had Me at Chocolate

“You Had Me at Chocolate,” Clem continued, “is the most beautiful cookbook you will ever own.”

“All thanks to Clementine,” Jude interrupted, raising a glass in her direction.

The assembled crowd all clapped and Clem smiled at her gorgeous man and thanked god he’d stumbled into Marietta that night and proposed to her. “It is crammed with Jude’s amazing chocolate recipes and the most gorgeous pictures. Trust me, you’re going to want to lick the pages.”

More laughter and applause followed and Jude leaned in and murmured, “Speaking of, there is some mousse left over in the fridge for later,” against her temple.

Clem’s belly clenched at the wicked suggestion as her brain calculated how long it would be before they could move this crowd on and be alone.

“So… grab your copy, the chef will even sign it if you want.”

“I will,” Jude confirmed.

“Then eat up and drink up and thank you all for coming.”

The crowd surged forward and Clem moved out of the way as Jude was surrounded by people wanting to congratulate him and get their books signed and their pictures taken with the author. Her heart burst with love watching him, knowing that although he’d come to Marietta for all the wrong reasons, he’d stayed for all the right ones.

It was another hour before he joined her again, finding her in a rare quiet, alone moment, on the back porch, her forearms resting on the railing, champagne in hand, staring out at the leafy green orchard that had become Jude’s pride and joy.

“Hey, you,” he said, in that sexy undertone of his, nudging her with his shoulder as he, too, slid his forearms onto the railing beside hers, a bright red apple in each hand.

“Hey.” She smiled. “You’re a hit.”

He grinned. “Let’s hope it’s a good omen for the sales to come.”

“Amen to that,” she said.

“You happy?” he asked, his peridot eyes searching hers.

Clem’s chest tightened in a flood of emotion. “I didn’t know it was possible to be this happy.”

He smiled. “Neither did I.” Then he handed her an apple. “A toast to us.” He held it up like it was a glass. “To you and me and our forever.”

Clem bumped her apple against his. “To our forever.”

Then they raised them to their mouths and sealed their forever with two very satisfying crunches…

The End

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