Page 21 of My Perfect Valentine

I chuckle. I don’t even glimpse at the menu. This is somewhere we eat all the time and I order the same thing I get every time, a vegetarian omelette with a side of seasonal fruit, and one French toast.

Logan leans over, and kisses my temple and whispers in my ear. “I love you.”

I sink into his side and kiss his cheek. “I love you too.”

My parents look at the both of us with happiness and I’m thrilled how this all played out. I’m the happiest I’ve ever been, and I can’t wait to see how my perfect Valentine is going to shape my life for the best.

Epilogue

Logan

A YEAR LATER, VALENTINE'SDAY GALA

I sweep Addie around the dance floor, and stare down at her with so much love in my heart, I can’t get over how every day my love for her grows. I never thought it was possible, and yet I’m living the proof every single day.

She keeps glancing down at the ring I put on her finger earlier today. As much as I wanted to propose to her the night we agreed to the fake relationship, I waited. Addie deserves the full courtship, and I did just that. It wasn’t until a month ago she moved in with me. It doesn’t matter that she practically lived at my house anyway, because her studio was too small for the both of us to stay there a lot. The place is a shoebox.

“Mind if I cut in?” Reginald asks as Gretchen stands next to him.

“Of course.” I spin Addie to her dad and she giggles. And it’s the sweetest sound in the world.

I reach my hand out to Gretchen. “May I have this dance?”

“You may.”

We dance and my soon to be mother-in-law says, “Congratulations. I’ve never seen Addison so happy before, and it’s because of you. Thank you for taking care of her when I couldn’t.”

Guilt still kinda eats away at me from time to time. Everybody still believes Addie and I were together for a while before the Valentine’s Gala, and we never came clean about how she needed a fake boyfriend for her parents' event.

After a while, we decided nobody needed to know because it changes nothing. We’re madly in love, and we’re together, and the both of us never felt like it was fake. And we don’t owe anybody anything.

“Are you ready for the wedding planning?” Gretchen asks.

I chuckle. “You know I’ll give Addie whatever she wants.”

“What about what you want?”

I shrug and watch my woman dancing with her father and I smile. “As long as I have Addie, I have everything I want.”

“Good answer,” Gretchen jokes.

It’s not easy for mother and daughter to get onto the same page, but both women are patient and working at making it a stronger bond. It’s amazing to see, and now more times than not, Addie comes home with a light heart after spending time with her mom. They try to get together every other week and talk every week.

Gretchen has gotten more into texting so she can communicate more with Addie. We even have a family chatbetween the four of us, where Reginald is embracing the memes. He embodies the dad jokes like nobody I’ve ever met before.

The relationship between father and daughter has jumped leaps and bounds, but they didn’t have as much to work through. Reginald owned up to the fact he ignored a lot, and he’s no longer doing that. If he sees something he disapproves of, he talks about it with Gretchen and Addie. Shit, he even talks to me about things.

Most importantly, my woman is happy, and that’s all that matters to me.

The song ends and I don’t waste a second. I’m scooping my fiancee into my arms and begging her to get out of there. “I need you, and we’ve been here long enough.”

“No we haven’t. It hasn’t even been an hour.”

I grumble. “But we’re newly engaged. I want you to myself.”

Addie lifts onto her toes and kisses me. “And you will, but there’s still another couple of hours to go. After last year, I owe it to my parents to be the dutiful daughter. This is very important to them, and to me.”

“Oh, all right, when you put it like that.”

Addie giggles. “Yay.”

I twirl her and hold her close.

There are some murmurings about last year, but nothing outright scandalous. Mason no longer works at the hospital. He transferred out of state, where he’s being reviewed for his conduct after patients and other staff made several complaints. I’m just glad he’s no longer sniffing around my girl and causing her any problems. Because I couldn’t continue to hold back from taking things into my own hands. Addie has cried enough over him, and she no longer has to worry about him, and I’m relieved.

Addie rests her head on my chest. “Thank you for the best year of my life.”

I kiss the top of her head. “I should thank you. I can’t wait for our many more years together. They’re only going to get better, beauty. You’ll see.”

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