Page 95 of Decoding Emma

“Are you kidding?Ben, Tim, and Will adore you.Just as I love you.”

“You love me?”The astonishment in her voice made me chuckle.

“I do.I think I fell in love with you when you walked into the building that fateful morning.”

“Oh Asher.”She rested her head against my chest.“I…”

“Hey.”Cupping her chin, I lifted her head, dismayed to see tears in her eyes.“Baby, don’t cry.”

“I love you too.”

I stared at her, taking in every curve of her face, the curl of her eyelashes, and the wispy curls at her temples before I grinned.“When did you realize you loved me?”

“I think during the whole hacking/ransomware issue.You let me do what I needed to and didn’t try to interfere.You are such a special man.”

“What did I do to deserve your loyalty?”

“You see me.”

“I will always see you.Do you know how hard it’s been decoding you?”

“Decoding me?Are you telling me…”

I chuckled.“Yes, I’ve been working hard at trying to figure out how you tick, and while I don’t have it down pat, I do understand you better.”

She laughed.“Now that we have that out of the way.When do I start becoming a permanent employee?”

“When you say yes.”

“Yes, yes, yes.”She threw her arms around my neck and hugged me.

“Good.Everything will be official Monday, but for today?I have plans for us.”

“What type of plans?”

“Me.”I pointed to myself.“You.”I pointed to her.“And a beach house where we can be alone for the entire weekend, and I don’t even care if I don’t see the beach.”

Emma laughed.“Sounds like a plan to me.”

Epilogue

Emma

I’ve never been happier in my life.My life has changed so much in the past two weeks.Asher and I spent the weekend at his beach house, then I started at Fantasies, Inc.as a permanent employee.

A week later, Asher asked me to move in with him, and I said yes.While I hated giving up the little house I’d been renting, my love for Asher has grown each and every day.I wanted to be with him.

I glanced over at him as he was talking with Marcus while we sat at Whistle Stop.Our normal Friday night hang out.

“I am so glad this FBI investigation is behind us, and all the culprits have been arrested,” Miles said.

“Here, here,” Marcus said as we all held up our beers and clinked our glasses and bottles.

“What happened with Doug?”Lucas asked.

“Ben and I advocated with the DA.Doug turned himself in and told them the same story.The DA agreed to help him as much as they could, but the final decision on any deal will rest with the courts.”

In a way, I felt bad for Doug.He’d been blackmailed into helping Hugo and the others.I hoped it worked out for him because he was a nice guy.He’d called me to apologize for his participation in what had happened.