Page 49

She smiled down at the writing, which was messy and scribbled at best. Next to it, he’d placed the twist tie. Their promise ring. She snatched it up, rolled out of bed, and put it back in the jewelry box.
As she closed the lid, she glanced at herself in the mirror. Her hair was a mess, and she looked like she hadn’t slept in a week, but she was…
Really, truly, happy.
As she showered, she whistled and washed, smiling at all the sore spots she discovered. And when she got to work at ten minutes before seven, she smiled at every customer who came in a little more widely than usual. Buying this bakery had been the biggest leap of faith she ever made—up until the other night when Steven asked her to be his.
That had been an even bigger one.
But the thing about leaps was, if you landed safely on the other side, you looked over your shoulder at what you left behind on the other side, and then looked forward at the beauty of the new, undiscovered side. And then you started your life all over again.
With the person or thing you took a leap with.
And doing it with Steven had been the best decision she ever made.
At six o’clock on the nose, her phone dinged. It was a text from Steven. Her heart accelerated. When she read it, she laughed out loud.
I need some sugar, baby.
Red velvet, right?
His reply was immediate.
I meant you, but sure. That works, too. I’ll take both. I’m greedy like that.
She laughed.
Ha. You’re funny.
The bubble with three dots popped up instantly.
Are you gonna leave me standing out here all night long, or are you gonna let me in?
She lifted her head. Sure enough, waiting on the opposite side of the locked glass door was Steven.
Oh. Hi.
He held up a bouquet of red roses.
Let me in?
Maybe…
He crossed his arms and smirked at her.
Grinning, she opened the door and he came inside. “Before you get any ideas, I already cleaned up for the night. So no hanky-panky on the counter.”
“Hanky-panky?” he said, laughing. And that laugh? Yeah, it did things to her heart. Dangerous things. If only she could spend the rest of her life making him laugh like that. “Did you seriously just use that in a sentence?”
“I did.” She tried not to smile…and failed. “And I rocked it.”
“That’s a subjective statement. You rock those shorts. You rock being naked.” He gave her a once-over. “Hell, you rock pretty much anything you do—but that sentence? Yeah, I’m not so sure that applies.”
“Hey.” She smacked his arm. “You better watch yourself, or you’ll be sleeping on the couch.”
That smirk slid off his face real fast. “Shit. You can hold that over my head now. No one’s ever been able to do that to me.”
“Not even Rachel?”