Page 133 of The Billionaire Is Back

And I do.

I do, I do.

When I’ve caughtmy breath and I’m still inside her, I tell her what I hope my actions have already shown her: “I love you, Little Sweeney. I always will.”

Her glistening lips part to whisper, “I’ve always loved you, Grody Borber.”

“One question,” I say, grasping her waist because I know she’s going to wriggle around and I do not want her to leave me. Ever.

She arches an eyebrow.

“Do you have any dark chocolate?”

The quirk of her lips, the tiny spasm of her hips, and the fire in her hooded eyes is the answer to everything.

ThemoreI’ve been searching for.

I’ve found it.

And I’ll never lose it again.

Epilogue

All’s Claire in Love & War, But Give Pizza a Chance

Claire

It’s late fall.

Grady is taking me sailing at sunset in his new boat—our new boat, he insists—The Deal Baker.

Since Thanksgiving is fast approaching, I’ve been even busier than I had been throughout September and October. The entire state of Maine had a stunning show of fall foliage this year, but Beacon Harbor’s was particularly gorgeous. That meant more tourists than usual, which has meant a lot of customers at the bakery, and I’m down to my last sixteen-ounce container of pumpkin spice. But my days off are real days off now. Outside of the bakery, life has slowed down in the best possible way. We’ve had time for the people and activities we love.

November, however, has brought in an insane number of orders for pies and pumpkincheesecake, and I think I’ve baked half the apples in New England. It’s a seasonal thing, and I can handle it. Or rather,wecan handle it. I’ve got the cutest, most efficient mother-daughter team working with me at the bakery now. And the most handsome assistant slash manager slash chief operating officer slash stud muffin.

Of course, Grady didn’t stay retired for very long. You can’t turn off a machine like Grady Barber. You can only idle his engine for a little while before it has to rev back up. He’s certainly used a lot of that pent-up energy on me in many creative ways. But now he’s also applying his business skills to my bakery.

He’s already working on a recipe-book deal and branded store products. It’s perfect. I get to focus on my bakery and my bakes and the town and my local brand. He gets to remix those ingredients for use in a new, budding global empire. But this one is thoroughly kneaded into what I do and it won’t take him away from me.

I pull up the collar of my coat and gaze out at the choppy water. The leaves have mostly fallen, and winter is gently whispering that she’s about to kick our asses. But I’ll show her who’s lady boss. I’m serving the best hot chocolate in town; my car starts regularly—it’s housed in a nice warm, dry garage; and my boyfriend, who sleeps next to me every night, is an absolute furnace.

Unfortunately, I can’t get close to Grady right now because he’s busy steering the boat. The wind is whipping through me and cutting through to my bones. Why are we doing this right now? Grady made it seem reallyimportant. I had to be free at this time on this day when the sun was going down.

As we approach the island, Grady drops anchor and rows us to shore. He is acting strangely. The Grady I know is always so confident and relaxed. Especially when something stresses him out—his freakish billionaire-type-A-alpha response is always to somehow get even calmer and more relaxed.

It would be really annoying if he wasn’t so totally mine now. But he is mine and his highly effective personality has rubbed off on me. The small stuff sweats me less.

But that’s not the Grady I see before me. He’s fidgety. And nervous.

What is going on?

“Grady, are you going to tell me what we’re doing here?”

“What? No, we’re just gonna have a little picnic. No big deal. What?”

I’m about to ask him why he’s being so weird when I get a strange feeling in my gut.

And in all of the other parts of my body that talk to me about Grady.

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