Page 114 of Risk It All
While her tone was joking, I had no shame in admitting the truth. “I really,reallycouldn’t. I told you that I was drawn from the moment I saw you. I just didn’t tell you when exactly that moment was.”
Eliza pressed her lips to mine in a slow, tender kiss. She pulled back, slight hesitation in her eyes as she spoke. “Before I found you on the roof, I stopped by Lake Ridge,” she said. “Ray mentioned you have a couple of interviews tomorrow?”
I let out a sigh and nodded. “Two restaurants in Chicago.”
“Is that where you want to be? Because if so, we can make it work. We can?—”
I cut her off with a kiss. As much as I loved how her mind moved a million miles a minute to try to find a solution that would work for us both, she didn’t need to. The two interviews had been my backup.
“I want to stay,” I told her as I pulled back. “I want to be with you in Golden Falls. Maybe life will take us somewhere else one day, but for now? This sounds pretty damn perfect to me.”
“You’re sure?”
“Positive,” I said confidently, without a doubt in my mind.
“What changed your mind about Lake Ridge?” she asked, and when I gave her a look, she laughed and added, “Besides me, obviously.”
I went on to tell Eliza the excitement I’d had over the last few months crafting menus that would appeal to both locals andtourists. How much I enjoyed chatting with the locals and getting to know people in town.
I also told her about my conversation with Wes from a couple of weeks ago and the ideas the two of us had for Lake Ridge. Ideas that had me more excited about my career than I’d been in years. Maybe even ever. I felt a new found excitement, passion, and inspiration for cooking, and it was all because of the beautiful woman next to me who had breathed life into my world I hadn’t realized I was missing.
By the time I finished telling her about the ideas for Lake Ridge, Eliza was lying on my chest, and my fingertips brushed along her spine.
“I’m starving,” she sighed. “Can we cook dinner together tonight?”
“Always.”
I couldn’t think of a better way to spend the night—and the rest of my life.
EPILOGUE
ELIZA
Two months later
August
“We’re goingto need a bigger apartment for all these plants,” I said to Leo as I watered the jasmine, philodendron, and monstera plants by the window.
“We?” Leo asked as he came up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist and setting his chin on my shoulder. “Is that your way of asking me to move in with you, Trouble?”
My cheeks flushed, and I bit down on my bottom lip. Yeah, I guessed it kind of was. I set the watering can on the ledge and turned around in his arms to face him, catching the hopeful look in his eyes.
“I mean, you kind of already have,” I teased, tipping my head toward the open area of the apartment. His books were on the coffee table. His toothbrush and toothpaste were in my bathroom. His groceries were in my fridge—thank god—and he’d even moved his record player over, which was currently playing low in the background. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
If anything, I wanted more of him in the space, because I wanted it to reflect us both.
“But, yes, I guess it is my way of asking you to move in. Whenever you’re ready to.”
A few months ago, I would’ve never imagined I’d be in a relationship with someone and asking them to move in with me. But this wasn’t just someone—this was Leo. The only person in the world who I’d willingly give up being in my bed alone for. Turned out, it was much better falling asleep in his arms.
Once I let myself fall for him, I fell hard, and he was right there with me every step of the way. Now that we were together, I didn’t want to waste any of our time together. We were doing things at our speed. Maybe sometimes it was fast and other things would take more time, but we were doing what felt right for us, including finally telling Celine we were seeing each other.
It’d been something we were putting off after what happened with Colin, but something told me she’d be thrilled to find out, which eased my nerves.
We were heading up to Maple Bluffs this weekend to have dinner with her—and for Leo to get his newest tattoo: a bundle of wildflowers like the ones we saw in the clearing after our hike when I took him to one of my favorite spots in town. I couldn’t wait to see how it turned out.
Leo let out a quiet chuckle, gripping my chin with his thumb and forefinger and tipping it up slightly. “I’m ready for everything with you. I want it all.”
