Page 126 of Every Chance After

“Have a nice dinner,” Marina tacks on like a champ. “Oh, and Elise, good to see you. Hope you’re enjoying that promotion.”

The bouncy blonde isn’t so happy as she moves away from the table.

“Damn, that was some badass pirate shit,” I tell her.

She grins. “It’s hard not to scream and jump up and down, knowing that the G&G is making them nervous. Can you believe it?”

“You can do anything. Of course, I believe it.”

She blushes and tuts, staring at her menu. “I trained Elise at the same time as Wren. Now, she has my old job, a different title, of course, and my old boyfriend. Creepy.”

I don’t know what to say—that Cora’s dropped my secret and Marina isn’t storming out of here should mean it’s okay. Cora tried to use it against us and failed.

But her smile wanes.

I breathe out a heavy sigh. “Are you mad? Is this you not letting them break you?”

Her eyes bounce up to mine. “I don’t break. I bend. They don’t have that kind of power anymore, regardless. Wade, Roy, and Christie, bless their souls, can’t keep a secret to save their lives, especially not with me. They let that bomb drop weeks ago. I already knew.”

“If you knew, then why did you stay?”

Her shoulders slump as she drops the menu and stares at me like I should know. “You needed me to be okay. I stayed foryou.”

My mouth drops, bringing with it what’s left of my barriers. She saved me. All this time, I thought I was the hero—helping her, protecting her, giving her chances. But the Queen of Lost Causes and Second Chances rescuedme.

“I don’t know what to say. But I think I’m in love with you.”

She smirks, her eyes perked but fixed on her menu. “Well, let me know when you’re sure.”

“I can’t believe you aren’t mad at me.”

“You’d do anything for me. How can I be mad?” She meets my eyes, smiles, and returns to her menu. “I’m peeved at Cora—the nerve of her, huh? Wade will have to afford me if he wants to keep me. I never cashed his or, um,yourchecks. I shouldn’t have let it go on for as long as I did, but I was having so much fun, and you seemed less shadowy,” she giggles, using Marigold’s term. “Things must change, though … But that’s a problem for tomorrow. Don’t you think?”

“Tomorrow, definitely.” I smile, relaxing into her more than I thought possible. This woman unraveled me even before I let her—how is that possible?

It doesn’t matter. I don’t care. That she’s unraveled me means I’m free to wrap myself completely around her.

“You were right. I dodged a bullet. Marrying into that family would’ve been a disaster.” She scoffs, shaking her head. “It’s more proof that I never belonged with him. I always knew it, too. In the back of my mind. I never relaxed with him or told him things. Never felt I could fully trust him. Ha, I even doubled up on protection.”

“With Ashe?” I say, a little surprised at the subject.

She nods. “With him. With the two boyfriends I had before him. I refused to be my mother’s daughter.”

A beat passes before she meets my eyes again. “What about you?”

“Me?” It slowly dawns on me—the conversation we’re having.

“Any partners since Emma?”

“No. And only a few before her. I was always safe.”

She nods, smiling softly. “Good. Then we don’t have to be. If that’s okay with you.”

“Um, okay. That’s—good thinking. I’m good with that.”

She giggles as I stumble over my words. She stands and moves to my side of the table, slipping her arm over my shoulder. She drops a quick kiss on my forehead and says, “Relax, Grady. Order me a fun drink and a burger. I’ll be back.”

Then, she heads toward the bathrooms in the rear of the restaurant, leaving me with my imagination. I can’t wait to get her alone.

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