Page 52 of Weston

“Aww, she completes him,” Jayson teased.

“Soulmates don’t complete you,” Wes murmured. “They inspire you to complete yourself.”

Ellie’s heart tightened and, before the tears could threaten, she pushed up onto her toes and kissed her husband.

“Well said,” Julia commented, looking misty-eyed.

“Does that mean we’re moving the wedding date up?” Brand asked. She answered him with another kiss.

Chaz tore his attention away from Lottie who was gathering empty bottles and snorted. “Love is for suckers,” he grumbled.

“Hey!” Wes shouted over Ellie’s head, pretending to be offended, and she chuckled.

“He’ll learn,” she predicted quietly. “One of these days.”

“You don’t really mean that, Chaz,” Lottie said, stopping beside his chair. Her blonde curls framed her heart-shaped face and her sunny disposition reminded Ellie of a Disney Princess. Watching them closely, she didn’t miss the way the big man gritted his teeth when Lottie innocently brushed against him as she reached over to grab an empty beer bottle from the table.

“I mean every word of it.” His stony facade cracked when she pushed a small finger against his broad chest.

“Grumpypants,” she chided playfully.

He automatically reached up, encircling her hand with his, and Ellie watched with bated breath to see what would happen next. After murmuring something she couldn’t hear, Chaz released Lottie’s hand, turned to grab his beer and took a long drink. Lottie, looking a smidge dazed, stepped away and hurried toward the bar.

Hmm. Well, that was interesting.Ellie planned to keep close tabs on those two and see what developed. Right now, however, she was in her husband’s arms and she looked up, giving him her full and undivided attention.

“When’s the last time I told you how much I love you?” she asked.

“About five minutes ago.” He grinned like a schoolboy. “But, don’t let that stop you.”

“I love you, Wes.”

“I love you, too, Ellie-Bean.” He lowered his head and caught her mouth in a kiss that was pure poetry.

Ellie leaned into him and returned the kiss with all the love in her heart. At long last, she was finally home.

Epilogue

While Wes and his team conferred with Mitch Evans over a video call, Ellie, Julia and Lottie sat up at the bar and chatted. Once she heard a Navy SEAL team had gone in and retrieved both the plutonium pit and the warhead, she knew it was officially over. Tuning out of the men’s conversation, she felt lighter as she focused on the girl talk. Specifically, the very interesting chemistry she’d noticed between Chaz and Lottie.

“So, you aren’t seeing anyone?” Ellie asked Lottie, doing her best to sound as innocent as possible. Julia smirked and arched a russet-colored brow.

“Me? Oh, no, I don’t have time for that. Between working here and raising a two-year old, my schedule is pretty full.” Her soft laughter tinkled across the room and Ellie didn’t miss the side glance from Chaz. The man couldn’t even hide it if he tried. Every move the little bartender made, he noticed. The big, gruff former Delta guy clearly kept a close eye on her, and Ellie thought it was sweet.

“But if it were the right guy, maybe you’d be open to it?” Julia pressed, exchanging a conspiratorial look with Ellie.

“I’m never attracted to the right guys,” Lottie lamented, voice darkening. “I’m pretty sure I have an asshole magnet somewhere in my body.”

“We’re going to have to remove that,” Julia said, and Lottie chuckled.

“Good luck.” She reached down and grabbed a bag of trash waiting to go outside to the dumpster. “Be right back.”

Ellie and Julia watched Lottie slip out the back door. “What do you think?” Julia asked in a low voice.

Ellie sipped her iced tea and tilted her head. “I think our Disney Princess would rock Chaz’s world so hard. She’d rip those grumpy pants right off him.”

“Oh, I’m pretty sure he’d take them off quite willingly,” Julia added, and they burst out laughing. When the men looked up from their meeting, the women waved.

“Sorry,” Julia mouthed to Brand, but he only smirked.

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