Page 128 of Not Fooling Anyone

He’s so ridiculous. “Did what I think about you really matter that much back then?”

He brings my hand to his lips, kissing my knuckles. “Of course. You’re my girl.”

My smile softens, a pleasant warmth filling my chest. “I love you.”

“Love you too.”

I still can’t believe how natural it feels to say that. And how much I mean it, too.

I never thought I’d be at this point, as comfortable and relaxed with a man as I am with him, but he makes it easy.

And I’m never letting him go.

Ever.

EPILOGUE

ETHAN

Six Months Later

“Dr. Perkins postedthe accounting internships for the summer,” Lexie says, spearing a bite of chicken and popping it in her mouth. “I’m going to apply tomorrow.”

I poke at my salad, still not crazy about eating so many green things, but I’ve come around to the necessity of it since I need to eat better.

“Working on Marty’s books for so long will give you a leg up,” I say, eyeing the grilled chicken on her plate. Would she notice if I stole a piece?

“And I got an A in her Cost Accounting class last semester. There are only ten spots, but I think I have a good chance. Here.” She pushes her plate toward me. “Just take some.”

I grin, taking her up on her offer.

“Why do you keep ordering that when you hate it? Manuel makes good food that’s healthy too.” She points toward the back area of Kate’s Kitchen, the cook visible through the open pass-through behind the long counter.

Thank God she gets an employee discount on meals here. And with regular shifts serving, she was even able to quit her bartending job at Element.

She has a point about my insistence on continuing to eat something I don’t like, but there’s a method to my madness. “Every time I order a salad, I thinkthis is the one. This is the salad that’ll make me love salads.But then, you know, it’s not. It’s just a boring salad.”

“Stop torturing yourself. You want me to order you a piece of grilled chicken? You need to actually eat something before you train later.”

I’m scheduled in an hour to go across the street and work with Lawrence, training for another tournament in three weeks. I’ve been doing better, even winning the last match I’d had two months ago. It’d been by the skin of my teeth, but a win is still a win. I won’t be going pro anytime soon, but I’m enjoying it.

“Nah, it’s fine.” I shouldn’t fill up too much, anyway. I can eat again later tonight. “Oh, Jordan texted me. He’s got a new girlfriend. Wants us all to meet her at a family dinner on Friday.”

She rolls her eyes. “What is this? The fourth one in three months? Where does he find these girls?”

He and Savannah hadn’t lasted long after that fateful night he brought her home to meet the family—not that Lexie and I were too broken up about it.

“Some kind of girlfriend store?” I suggest. “Maybe on clearance? That’s why they don’t last long.”

“Or maybe it’s him,” she mutters, taking another bite of chicken.

“That, too.” She finally understands my general annoyance with my younger brother. He’s family, though. What are you going to do?

“Oh, wait,” Lexie says. “We already said we’d go to my dad’s for dinner on Friday. So I guess we can’t make it.”

“Darn.” She smiles at my blatant sarcasm. “And this one was probablyreallygoing to be the one.”

My phone buzzes in my pocket, and I pull it out, seeing it’s an email from Mia.

---