“Hey,” he replied, obviously quashing a smile. “Maybe move it along? We have an ambience we like to maintain here at the station, and you two are definitely throwing it off.”
Esme smiled, appreciating the humor even as she resisted the idea of pulling away.
“No problem, man,” Hunter said, dropping one of his hands and threading his fingers through hers. “We’ll be on our way.”
“The precinct thanks you,” Officer Flynn said before sending them a wink and walking back toward the offices.
When she felt Hunter’s eyes on her, Esme looked up—her heart pounding so hard when their eyes locked that she could have sworn she heard a high whistle in her ears.
“Come on,” he said, giving her hand a little squeeze. “You look ready to pass out. Let’s get you home and we can talk in the morning.”
“Yes,” she agreed, suddenly anxious to get to his truck. “We need to talk. But tonight you need to know that everything on my side comes down to the fact that I’m yours for the long haul. Yes, I love you, but that’s almost secondary to the fact that you’re already my home and there isn’t a thing I would do to change that fact.” She brought their clasped hands up and pressed a kiss to the back of his. “This hot mess is all yours, Hunter Chase. Whether you want me, or not.”
His hand tightened on hers. “Oh, I want,” he said, before pulling her toward the exit. “Now let’s get out of here before we kill the vibe again.”
Now that was a plan Esme could get behind.
“Also, if you’re in the mood for one of Miss Pearl’s cookies, I have two in the truck.”
Just when Esme was sure the night couldn’t possibly get better, it did.
Epilogue
5 Months Later
The first day of Spring clocked in at an unbelievable 80° F. It was unprecedented, which was why it took the guys at the fire station all of five minutes to organize an early afternoon picnic.
Thirty minutes later, Esme was in the passenger seat of Hunter’s truck headed to the park.
“This weather is unbelievable,” she said as she let the breeze from the open window wash over her. “Seriously, has this ever happened? Like, ever?”
“We’ll have to look it up,” Hunter replied, his own hand hanging outside his window.
Esme let herself bask for a moment before habit had her picking up her phone to see how everyone else was enjoying the day. She opened her Facebook app and started scrolling.
It was official: everyone was outside.
A lot of the images in her feed were from the fire family. The gathering in the park was apparently already in full swing. She and Hunter were a little late, but the food in the back seat would more than excuse their tardiness.
As she kept scrolling through the Saturday-morning adventures of friends and family, her finger paused over the picture of a cookie cart with a familiar Asian woman standing next to it.
Esme glanced up to see whose post she was looking at. Shauna Weekes. She and Shauna had “friended” each other while working on the case against Aaron Sarvo, but Esme hadn’t seen her in over a month.
Shauna had tagged her post in the Palace of Fine Arts with Brad Flynn. The caption read: Best cookies on the planet available TODAY ONLY. They cost a kiss, so grab someone you love and come on over!
“Hunter,” Esme said, being very careful not to keep her voice calm. “I need you to change lanes and take the next right.”
He glanced her way from the driver’s seat, looking as perfect as he always did albeit confused. “Why? What’s the detour this time?”
Esme held her phone up so he could see the picture at a glance. “What if I told you there was a cookie cart in—”
The jerk of Hunter changing lanes interrupted her before she could finish the sentence.
“Safely!” she said, belatedly checking their blind spot.
“It was clear,” Hunter said, hitting his blinker and pulling into the turning lane. “Who posted about her?”
“Shauna,” Esme said, looking back at the picture.
His brow furrowed. “And who did she kiss?”
“You’re not going to believe this,” Esme said, thinking back to the last time she saw Miss Pearl and her promise of how two would-be lovers would meet if she met Hunter by his truck at 7:02. She’d figured that was all a red herring, but…maybe not. “She’s with Brad.”
“Flynn?” Hunter looked as surprised as she’d felt. “I didn’t know they were dating.”
“Well, if they’re not, they should be. She’s declared the cookies to be the best on the planet.”
Hunter wiggled his eyebrows and sent her a playful look. “Yeah? Well, I’m still betting that theirs weren’t as good as the ones we’ll get.”
She tried to bite back a smile, but it snuck through anyway. “It’s not a competition, Hunter.”
His lips pursed playfully. “If you say so. But if it was…”
“We’d win,” she finished for him.
“That’s all I’m saying,” he said with a smile before glancing to her phone. “If Miss Pearl really is there, don’t you have some people to text?”
That was right. She’d nearly forgotten her promise to alert the world if Miss Pearl’s Cookie Cart made another appearance. Grace and Ash. Her parents. She had to get them over there.
Esme spent the rest of the drive spamming everyone she knew and telling them to get over to the Palace of Fine Arts. When they arrived, it looked like she wasn’t the only one who had invited a small army either. The park was packed, and nearly everyone was circling the cookie cart.
“Hurry,” she said, opening the door as Hunter parked. “Before she runs out of cookies.”
Hunter smiled at her eagerness and got out of the truck at his usual pace. It was tempting to scurry ahead and get in line, but all it took was the simple gesture of Hunter holding out his hand her direction for her to fall into his gravitational pull and tuck herself under his arm so they could walk over together.
“Let’s go get us some cookies,” Hunter said as she wrapped her arm around his waist.
This was one of the biggest perks of officially being with Hunter: how perfectly she fit under his arm whenever she was at his side. It definitely landed on the top ten list of new favorite things, for sure.
“I can’t believe she’s back,” Esme said, slightly overwhelmed by the size of the crowd. How in the world could a little cart hold this many cookies? It wasn’t logistically possible.
“Yeah, I thought she was gone for good,” Hunter said, sounding distracted. Only then did Esme look away from Hunter and realize that she recognized several faces in the crowd.
Her parents were already there, for one, as was her little brother, all the way from Stanford. It wasn’t Spring Break. What was he doing in town? The next familiar face was Ali’s. Standing next to her, looking less than thrilled, was Kade.
What in the world was going on?
Esme’s mom walked up to them, cookie in hand. “You’re right, honey. These cookies are unbelievable!”
“Right?” Esme said, both glad to see her mom and confused. “But how did you beat us here? I texted you like five minutes ago.”
“It was me,” Hunter said. “I was going to surprise you, but I actually found out that Miss Pearl was here earlier this morning and already messaged everyone.” He glanced in Ali’s direction, his eyes glinting mischievously. “I dare you to ask Ali and Kade how their cookies taste.”
Esme’s couldn’t help but look their direction and note that they were both still holding cookies with only a few bites out of them.
“We’ll steal their cookies,” Esme whispered up him. “They’ll let us.”
“They’d better,” Hunter said, giving her a little squeeze against him as they made the rest of their way to the cart. Esme’s parents were there every step of the way, and shortly joined by Hunter’s parents.
“Audra,” Hunter’s mom said. “We simply must figure out this recipe. It’s divine.”
“You read my mind,” her mom replied as they both savored what remained of their cookies. Esme was distracted from conversation, however, due to the familiar faces popping up in the sea of people—faces she hadn’t seen since high school.
“Stacey?” Esme said, spotting her fellow cheerleader from a decade ago. “Is that you?”
Stacey grinned from ear-to-ear. “Hey, Ez. Long time no see.”
Esme unwound herself from Hunter to run and throw her arms around her old friend. “Oh my gosh! How long has it been?”
“Since the five-year reunion,” she said, pulling away to get a look at her. “So good to see you. No fair that you still weigh the same as you did in college.”
“Well, I haven’t had three kids,” Esme said feeling like her face would break from the smile stretching her face. “What are you doing here?”
“Cookies,” Stacey said, as if it should be self-explanatory. And yes, if she had been the only familiar face in the group, Esme might have rolled with that, but that was the moment she caught Grace’s eye. Her friend held up a cookie and leaned against her husband’s chest as she took a bite.
“Come on,” Hunter said, reaching out to take Esme’s hand and lead her to the cart. “Before she runs out.”
Esme threaded her fingers through his even as her eyes moved around the crowd, spotting Bette and Davis, Luke, and was that her old dance teacher? And that was definitely Daryl with Kambri. Weren’t they supposed to be at the picnic?
She was about to ask when suddenly she was standing in front of the cookie cart and Hunter was holding up two fingers.
“We’ll take two cookies, please,” he said.
Miss Pearl arched a brow, a smile tugging at her lips. “You know the price. Pay first.”
Hunter looked down at Esme, the look in his eyes literally taking her breath away. “Gladly,” he said, stepping in and nearly picking her up off the ground as he pulled her into a kiss.
This. This was the biggest perk of being with Hunter. Whenever their lips met and their bodies went flush, Esme’s brain rewired a bit. When she gripped his shirt to pull him down even closer, some catcalls sounded off over to her right.
Okay, that had definitely been Andy, and she knew he was supposed to be at the picnic. Not here. Esme pulled away from kiss to find his face in the crowd only to be presented with her promised cookie wrapped in a red napkin with gold Chinese writing it. When she looked up at Hunter, he was already taking a bite out of his.
“Mmmm,” he said, eyes drifting shut. “Even better than I remembered.”
“Not possible,” Esme said, a bite before turning to look for Andy in the crowd.
She immediately forgot about Hunter’s coworker.
“Oh my,” she breathed, looking up at Hunter. “It is better, isn’t it?”
His smile was surprisingly tender. “No question.”
In that moment, it occurred to Esme that she must be in the middle of a dream. She had to be. It was the only explanation. The more she looked around the crowd, the more familiar faces she found—faces from her childhood, friends from college, and contacts from work. The real clincher was the weather, though.
It was 80° with bright, clear sunny skies. In April. In San Francisco.
Yep. This was a dream.
Still, she might at as well enjoy it until something woke her up.
Behind the cart, Miss Pearl was watching the two of them with a smile. “So you still like my cookies?”
“Better every time,” Esme said. And since this was a dream, she did what she would never do in real life and walked around the cart to give the woman a hug. “I missed you, you know that?”
The little lady laughed against her shoulder. “I got a little attached to the two of you, as well. It’s why I came back when Hunter asked.”
Dream or not, the comment struck Esme as odd. “Hunter asked you to be here?”
Miss Pearl smiled. “Your man can be very convincing when he chooses to be.”
My man, Esme thought, a shiver of pleasure running through her at how matter-of-factly Miss Pearl had called Hunter hers. They hadn’t really made anything official, but that was definitely how Esme felt.
“He can be,” Esme said, sending a look his way. Only then did she realize that literally everyone around the cookie cart was looking at her. Everyone had stopped talking, and they were all now watching as Esme and Hunter ate their cookies. She felt like she was standing on a stage.
Across from her, Hunter took another bite of his cookie and hummed his appreciation. “You know, there’s only one thing I can think of that I want more than the recipe to these cookies.”
Esme ignored the lurking dream-crowd long enough to arch a skeptical brow. “Yeah? What’s that?”
Hunter reached between his cookie and the napkin and pulled out a ring.
Esme froze, her mouth falling open as she looked from the ring to Hunter, then back to the ring and back to Hunter one last time as he dropped to his knee.
No way.
As far as dreams went, this was amazing, but Esme still didn’t know what to do.
“I’ve loved you my entire life, Esme Taylor,” Hunter said, offering the ring up to her. “Will you make ‘us’ official by marrying me?”
The world fell silent around her, everyone waiting for her answer. She didn’t give it right away. She simply stood there, letting herself drink in the moment.
“Ez?” Hunter said after several seconds of silence.
“Shhh,” she said, holding up her hand. “I’m trying to remember everything. Best. Dream. Ever.”
Hunter’s expression shifted between stressed to intrigued. “You think this is a dream?”
She pointed to the sky and nodded. “The sun’s out, Hunter. It’s 80 degrees. When has that ever happened in April?” Then she looked around at all the people watching on. “And I haven’t seen half of these people in a decade or more. What in the world would they be doing here if this wasn’t a dream?”
“They’re here because I invited them,” Hunter said. “Everyone you see here is someone who tried to get me to ask you out a long time ago. These are the people who believed in us long before we ever did. So I invited them to watch me make ‘us’ official…if you say yes.”
Esme’s mouth fell open, surveying the crowd with fresh eyes.
She didn’t know some of these people; she knew all of them.
Still stunned, Esme looked back up at the sky. “Okay, I can buy that, but I’m not buying the weather.”
“It’ll stick around for about another hour, then you’re going to need the coat you left in the truck,” Miss Pearl said, as if that explained that. The cookie lady could now apparently predict San Francisco weather. The weird part was that Esme believed her without any hesitation.
Esme blinked, looking back at Hunter—still on his knee—as she processed everything. “So this isn’t a dream?”
He reached out and took her hand. “Does your answer change if it is?”
“No,” she said without hesitation. “I’m all yours, Hunter. Dream or no, that ring is going on my hand. And once you’ve slid it on my finger, you’re going to stand up and kiss me like no one is watching, even though I’m pretty sure I see my first grade teacher over there.”
A cheer sounded out around them at her response, and a moment later Miss Pearl had reclaimed both their cookies. Hunter stayed on his knee long enough to slide the ring on her left hand. The moment it was in place, however, he stood—catching her lips on his way up in a kiss that definitely made the assumption that no one was watching.
The cheers around them increased in volume, this time accented by a heckle or two.
It was the kiss that convinced Esme that everything else was real. Some things could be replicated in a dream; some could not. She was definitely kissing the real Hunter, which was why she forced herself to have the decency to pull away and acknowledge their audience.
What she found was a sea of signs being held up by
all the people surrounding them, creating a sea of color that made Esme feel like she was at a concert or political rally. Her parent’s poster read, IT’S ABOUT TIME! Grace’s said, I Knew It The First Day I Met You. Stacey’s read, Won’t Lie: I wanted him for myself, but he was always yours. Her little brother’s: BROTHER-APPROVED.
At least a hundred signs, all with different custom messages that basically boiled down to: I told you so.
Esme didn’t realize she was crying until something tickled her face and her hand came away wet when she swiped at it.
“I can’t believe this,” she whispered.
“I can’t believe you said yes,” Hunter said, squeezing her hand. “Not gonna lie. There are going to be days you’re going to regret having me as your partner in crime.”
“Impossible,” she breathed, looking up at him. “I love you, Hunter. Without you, I can’t be me.”
“Not true,” he said softly. “But I’ll try to live as if it is.”
Their eyes locked and Esme was going up on her toes to kiss him again when Miss Pearl stepped in between them.
“How about a few pictures, lovebirds?” she said, gesturing to their audience. “You’re never going to forget this, but you’re still going to want pictures.”
“Definitely,” Esme said, gesturing Grace’s direction and holding out her phone for her friend to take a picture. “And we want the first one to be with you, Miss Pearl.”
More Books!
Thank you for reading King of the Friend Zone!
To those of you who took the time to post a review of this book, DOUBLE thanks!
To those of you who shared your review, TRIPLE thanks!
King of the Friend Zone is Book #9 in the Power of the Matchmaker series, released in 2016. If you want more romance featuring Miss Pearl, check out the other 11 books in this series. Some are funny; some are serious. Some are contemporary; some are historical. The one thing they have in common is that they all feature Miss Pearl, and they’re all a great read.
King of the Friend Zone (Power of the Matchmaker) Page 29
