by S. E. Rose
Epilogue
Six and a half months later…
Clark
“Closer and hold up those diplomas,” my mom says as she motions for us to squeeze together. Grif, Evan, Stella, Megan, and I squish together. “Perfect,” she adds as she and all our moms start snapping photos of us in caps and gowns.
“Mom, come on,” I groan as I give her my best cheesy smile.
“OK, who’s ready to party?” Kent calls out as he stands bouncing up and down because baby May finally fell asleep. I grin at my new niece. First, the fact that Kent has two daughters makes me so freaking happy. And second, I love the fact that only our immediate family knows that she’s not named after her birth month, but after the washer and dryer at our parents’ house. May Tenley Moore just arrived two weeks ago, but we are all one hundred percent in love with the little monster.
“If that means I can float in your pool while Garrett rubs my feet, I am in,” Di says as she pats her belly. Garrett wraps an arm around her shoulders. Di announced at her wedding that she was pregnant. My next nephew arrives in less than four months.
“You think five months is bad, wait till you’re ready to pop and the little stinker decides to take his time,” Tabby huffs as she pushes Vera’s stroller back and forth.
“I can’t wait to meet him,” Ash says with a grin. I swear if we had announced one more girl cousin, he might have had a breakdown.
Ash gently pats Di’s belly. “Don’t worry, Tristan Louis, I got your back,” he whispers to her belly.
Di was sure it was a girl and was ready to name her Juliet until the ultrasound showed an additional appendage. So, the kid isn’t even born yet, but he has a name in honor of our grandfather Louis. Garrett overrode naming his son Romeo but allowed the name Tristan after the epic love story of Tristan and Iseult. I can’t make this stuff up. Only Di and Garret would quarrel over boy names from epic love stories.
Brixton and Lanie look lovingly at Ash and smile.
I look over at Kylie who is tucked under Levi’s arm. They just got engaged and they look ridiculously in love. I’m happy for her. She has the dream guy, the dream house, and the dream job.
My grandparents are all here, too. It’s the perfect day. On Friday, Megan and I signed our last official paperwork for our employment with NASA. It took a few months of security clearances beyond the ones we had for our internship and human resources stuff, but we are finally ready to start working in four more weeks. Two of those weeks will be spent on the road trip that I promised to take with Evan and Grif. One of the weeks will be a trip with Megan, and then both our families are spending a week at the beach, just like we used to when we were kids.
After a few minutes of photos, we all break apart and join our families to chat for a few moments before heading to Kent’s house. He agreed to host our graduation party since he has the pool. I hug all my family members and head over to Megan.
“Well, I guess it’s official,” Megan says. “We’re real adults now.”
“Speak for yourself,” I reply with a smirk.
She rolls her eyes. “You are going to be a lifetime of trouble, aren’t you?”
“You know it,” I say with a grin as we walk to my car. Little does she know that I’m making that lifetime of trouble official tonight. I asked her dad last week for his permission because I felt like being old-school. We’re already living together, having moved into our apartment last week, which happens to be Di’s old apartment. We’re twenty minutes from work and a short walk from our parents’ homes. Now it’s time to make this legit.
Megan
Our parents are sitting at a table sharing an expensive bottle of wine. Our grandparents are sitting at another table sharing a different expensive bottle of wine. Our siblings are all in the pool. Our friends are in the hot tub. It’s the perfect evening. The sky is turning a beautiful pink and purple as the sun sinks in the sky. I’m in an adorable bathing suit cover-up that Kylie found for me. I’m dangling my feet in the pool next to Clark. He hasn’t left my side since we got here. I’m surprised he’s not in the pool yet.
“You can go ahead and get in,” I say to him as I nudge his shoulder with mine.
“Are you getting in?” he asks.
I look around. It’s pretty warm out, but the hot tub calls to me. “I think I’ll join our friends in the hot tub,” I state as I stand. I walk over to a bench to take my cover-up off. I hear movement behind me and suddenly it’s very quiet. I slowly turn around wondering what’s happening. It takes me a moment to realize that Clark is down on one knee, holding a beautiful sapphire ring.
He clears his throat and I look up to see all eyes on us. I blush and look back down at him as the realization of what is happening begins to hit me.
“Megan, you’ve been my best friend for my entire life. Even the few years we weren’t…exactly friends, I never stopped loving you. You know me better than anyone. And this past year, I’ve learned just how great we are together. We can do anything when we work together…land dream jobs, take down hardened criminals, even babysit screaming babies.” He pauses and looks over at Vera who’s clapping her hands and giggling and then he turns back to me. “I know we are young. I know we just graduated, and we are just starting our careers. But I’ve known for at least eighteen of the last twenty-two years that you were the most amazing woman and that I’d never find another one as beautiful, smart, compassionate, and awesome as you. We counterbalance each other in every way. We are the world’s most perfect team, and I don’t want to wait to start our forever together. I want to start it now. I want to marry you and make it official that you are mine and I am yours. Megladon, I mean, Megan Elise Lennox, will you marry me?”
My mouth falls open and I close it. I try opening it again to speak but the words don’t come out right away. I swallow and try again. “Yes,” I whisper.
“What did she say?” Nana Betty asks.
“Yes!” everyone yells and starts cheering as Clark slides the ring on my finger and stands. He leans in and touches his forehead to mine.
“I love you, bunny,” he whispers just for me to hear.
“I love you more, Superman,” I whisper back.
He presses his lips to mine and kisses me as he picks me up and twirls us around. I wrap my arms around his neck and deepen our kiss not caring who sees it.
When he stops spinning us and sets me down, I don’t let go. He leans down and grins. “Shall we get in the hot tub now, soon-to-be Mrs. Moore?”
I laugh. “I’m not letting you go, you know?”
He chuckles and picks me up, carrying me over to the hot tub.
“Oh, and who said I was taking your last name?” I state.
He looks down at me in surprise. “I…you don’t have to…I just assumed,” he stammers.
“Gotcha,” I say with a laugh.
He curses under this breath. “I think you had it wrong earlier. I think ‘you’ might give ‘me’ a lifetime of trouble.”
Giggling, I kiss his cheek. “Let’s make a lifetime of trouble together.”
“I like the sound of that,” he says as he sits down with me in his lap. “I really like the sound of that.”
***
Thank you for reading Reluctantly Perfect! I hope you enjoyed this story. And I hope you’ll take the time to leave a review to help your fellow readers decide on their next read.
Have you read the prequel story to the Perfectly Imperfect Love Series, Chronicles of a Hot Mess? Download it now for more laugh-out-loud moments!
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Acknowledgments
I wrote the Perfectly Imperfect Love Series over the course of the last year. A year that I, and the rest of the world, never saw coming. There were definitely times that I didn’t feel like writing. There were times where the events happening in the world were too difficult for me to sit and focus on a story. But each time, I found myself daydreaming about th
e Moores and their town of Banneker. And, after a while, I found myself escaping into their story once again. They became my happy place.
I want to thank the book community for helping me to keep writing. Everyone has been so supportive through everything and I can’t thank each and every one of you enough.
Keep reading, keep writing, keep editing. Just keep being a part of the book world because it’s a great world even when the real world is a little scary.
Stay Connected
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About the Author
USA Today & international bestselling romance author S.E. Rose lives near Washington, D.C., with her family. When she's not wrangling her cats or keeping up with her kids, she's plotting her next story.
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She loves all things wine, coffee, and cats. In her non-existent free time, she enjoys traveling, going to concerts, binging on her favorite shows, and reading, especially if it's a good mystery or comedy.
Also by S.E. Rose
Deceitful Destiny Series
Island (Book 1)
Secrets (Book 2)
Bravura (Book 3)
Determination (Book 4)
Home (Book 5)
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The Poisoned Pawn World
A Fierce Princess
A Valiant Prince
A Wise Prince
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Perfectly Imperfect Love Series
Undeniably Perfect
Hopelessly Perfect
Romantically Perfect
Awkwardly Perfect
Reluctantly Perfect
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Novels
Chronicles of a Hot Mess
Chronicles of a Rockin’ Mess
The Decoy
Second Start (A Holiday Springs Resort Novel)
Endeavor (A Drive World Novel)
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Novellas
Neighbor in Apartment No. 5
The Tinsel Tango
The Fighter
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Want to learn more? Visit www.seroseauthor.com.
