Page 91 of Love Fast

Fisher’s the first of the group to hug me. Instead of cracking a joke—which is usually how Fisher greets me—he just whispers how proud of me he is. It hits me like a mallet, and I have to blink back tears.

“We wanted to ensure we were the first to your party,” Bennett says. “Nothing like standing in an empty room wondering if anyone’s going to show.”

I chuckle. Doesn’t matter how much money we have, we’re all human.

“And by the way,” he adds. “There’s no fucking way this place qualifies as a hotel under the terms of our bet. You’re going to make a killing in this place, but you’re fucking disqualified from our arrangement.”

“And that’s why Bennett always wins,” Jack says. “Because he decides the rules.”

“Exactly,” says Bennett. “There’s a lesson in there for you.”

“You’ve left Manhattan twice in a month,” I say, greeting Jack. “Proud of you for expanding your horizons.”

I expect him to say something about how he’ll have to stay on Lennox Hill for the next three years to make up for it, but instead, he says simply, “Wouldn’t have done it for anyone else.”

God, I’m a lucky bastard. All my friends—the family I chose—are here, celebrating with me.

“Where’s Rosey?” Worth asks.

“She’s working,” I say. “It’s all hands on deck.” We talked about her attending as my date, but she didn’t want to create any awkwardness among her colleagues. Tonight is work. For both of us.

“Have you talked about what happens when you come back to New York?”

I pull in a breath. “Yeah,” I say. We’ve done a lot of talking over the last week. All we know is wherever we’ll be, we’ll be together. Rosey knows she doesn’t want to be a waitress her entire life, but she doesn’t know what she wants to do yet. Neither of us is in a rush to get to the next part of our lives, so long as we’re together.

“I thought when all this is done tonight, we could go into town,” I say. “Drink some beer and shoot some pool at Grizzly’s.” I’ve arranged for the place to be open late and the bar’s free from ten. I’m hoping the people of Star Falls will help me continue the celebration of the Colorado Club’s opening.

“Grizzly’s wings?” Fisher says, his eyes popping out of his head. “Hell yeah. That’s music to my ears.”

“These wings better be good,” Leo says. “That’s all we heard about on the way over.”

“Yeah, the wings are the best you’ll find,” I say. “But they’re not the best part of Star Falls.” The people are. I’m hoping Fisher feels the same—about one of the people of Star Falls in particular. I know for a fact Juniper French will be at Grizzly’s tonight.

I push my hands into my pockets, my fingers brushing the velvet ring box I stuffed there before leaving the chalet. There’s only one thing that could make tonight any better—when Rosey says she’ll be my wife.

EPILOGUE

A month later – New York City

Rosey

I face the floor-to-ceiling bedroom window. It’s like I’m looking at a picture or something. I still can’t believe what I’m seeing—the Chrysler Building, the Empire State Building, the East River. The entire city is laid out in front of me like I’m in an art gallery. I can’t even drag my eyes away to watch my fiancé as he comes into the bedroom—and that’s saying something, because there’s not much that can keep me from ogling him.

“It’s like you have an enormous picture of New York in your apartment.”

“Our apartment,” he corrects me. He stands beside me and circles his arms around my waist. “You look beautiful.”

“It’s your apartment,” I say. “I just arrived twelve hours ago.”

“You’re right,” he says. “We’ll move.”

I laugh. Byron’s so keen on giving me anything and everything I want, it’s comical. If I didn’t love him so much, I might be tempted to take advantage and have him cartwheel down Broadway naked. It’s funny, but it’s also like being wrapped in cotton balls and cashmere. I’ve never felt so safe. I just hope I make him feel the same way. That’s what I’m aiming for—to show him the love he shows me. We both know we feel it, but I’ve learned from a lifetime without it that love is adoingword. I don’t want a day to go by when Byron isn’t sure that I love him.

“We don’t have to move,” I say.

“I want you to feel like this isourhome.”

I pause. I don’t want to upset him. It’s not that I don’t think I’ll be happy when we’re in New York. But it’s so vast, so busy. I’m not sure I’ll ever feel entirely at home here. “Star Falls feels like our home.”

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