“I fucked up. I won’t again.”
The room was eerily silent. Kate held her breath beside her. The two clients leaned forward, as if desperate to hear his next words. The slow patter of footsteps stopping in the hallway alerted her to Kennedy’s presence. Nothing mattered but the man in front of her holding his dog.
“How . . . how do I know?”
“You don’t. Look, I’m no poet, and I suck at these big endings and declarations like in a sappy romance novel, but I love you. I love you, body and mind and soul, and I love this rat fink dog more than I can ever say in just words. So I’ll show you every damn day instead. I want to be in this with you. I know we’re gonna fight, and you’ll piss me off, and I’ll piss you off, but I think we were meant to be together the moment I first laid eyes on you and decided I didn’t like you.”
A choked sob of half laughter escaped her lips.
“See, I told you I suck at this. I want to be happy, and you’re the one who makes me happy. Happier than I’ve ever been in my whole sorry life. So, that’s it. All of it. I love you, and I want you to take my sad ass back. What do ya say?”
Her eyes stung. It was the worst, best, most romantic speech she’d ever heard in her life. Better than Browning or Keats or Nicholas Sparks. Better than . . . everything.
“I say yes.”
He closed the distance in three strides, shifted Pinky to the side, and kissed her. Long and deep and sweet, it was a kiss that promised a future and a life full of mess. Exactly the way she wanted it.
“I love you, too,” she whispered against his mouth.
Pinky barked.
Suddenly, there was a loud clapping, and the two clients stood up, one brushing away tears, and Kate choked up and stumbled over to them for a group hug. Kennedy patted her shoulder and shook her head.
“This is going to get us so many new clients,” she whispered in her ear.
And then together, they all laughed.
And things were very, very good.
Epilogue
I HAVE TO SAY, that was one of the most romantic declarations of love I have ever heard,” Kate said, refilling her drink.
Kennedy nodded. “Damn straight. Right in the league of my golf course declaration.”
“And my matching leather recliners,” Kate added.
“Don’t forget Wolfe’s announcement to my whole family,” Gen said.
Arilyn giggled. “They were all epic. And well deserved.”
Kennedy raised her martini glass. “Cheers. It’s been a long road for each of us, but we did it together.”
“There were a lot of bumps in that road, but we never lost sight of the goal,” Kate said.
Arilyn sighed with pure pleasure. “What should we drink to?”
“Boys who are worthy of us?” Genevieve asked.
Kennedy rolled her eyes. “Silly girl, haven’t you learned yet? We drink to us. Friendship. Female power. Earth Mother!”
“Yes!” they all shouted together. Glasses clinked, green liquid sloshed over the table, and Arilyn stretched out her feet on the braided rug, completely content. Her three best girlfriends had called for a night of celebration with pizza and apple martinis back at the bungalow. So far they were on their way to solidly tipsy and getting emotionally sloppy.
Ah, Stone was in for a surprise when he returned home. Sometimes drunk sex was so much damn fun.
“Speaking of Earth Mother, did we get rid of that love spell book?” Genevieve asked. “Did we ever decide if it worked or was just a scam?”
Arilyn hiccupped. “Scam.”
Kate’s eyes widened. “Wait a minute. Let’s do a roll call. My list was all Slade. Kennedy said hers was Nate.”
Gen spoke up. “I thought mine was my ex, but when I read it over, I realized all the qualities I wrote down were Wolfe. So that’s three. Arilyn?”
She blinked, pleasantly buzzed, and thought over her list. After they had completed the love spell a year ago, right here in Gen’s bungalow, they burned each of their lists in the fire. They were supposed to slip the second copy under their mattresses. Something about the power of unconscious sleep to make your soul mate appear. After she moved, she remembered finding the list and shoving it in one of her notebooks, thinking the whole idea had been a waste. After all, Jacob had cheated on her for the third time. She’d thought he was her soul mate.
But he wasn’t. Stone Petty was.
“Huh. Wait a minute. I took the list and put it in one of my journals. I didn’t think it worked. Let me get it.” She found her journal on the small bookshelf, plucked out the plain piece of ledger paper, and carried it back to the table.
“What does it say?” Gen asked breathlessly.
Arilyn scanned the contents. Did it again. And again.
No. Way.
“You’re killing us here, dudette. What’s on the list? Did it work?” Kennedy asked.
Arilyn bit her lower lip. “I don’t believe this. My list. These aren’t Jacob’s qualities at all. They’re Stone’s.”
“Can you read it aloud?” Kate asked.
Arilyn cleared her throat. “Okay, here we go. A man who challenges me. A man who makes me laugh. A man I find sexy and dominating in bed.” She fought a blush at Kennedy’s cheer and went on. “A man who makes me feel alive. A man who’s loyal. A man who won’t cheat. A man who loves me with a desperation that doesn’t make sense. A man who gives me all of him. A man who wants to share all of my life, including friends and family. A man who loves dogs. That’s it.”
“Definitely not Yoga Man. Girlfriend, that is Stone Petty. The love spell does work,” Kennedy stated.