A long time later, we said goodbye to Ryder and Bailey outside the restaurant. They’d chosen to drive here, whereas Belle and I had anticipated having a few too many and opted for an Uber.
While we were waiting for our car to arrive, Belle turned to me with a wide smile. “You know, this brings back memories, MacAlister.”
My lips tipped up into an answering grin. “Does it?”
She waved to the busy street in the popular area of Providence called Federal Hill, her smile growing. “This is how it all started. You, me, an Uber. That’s all it took. And now look at us.”
I pulled her into my arms and kissed the words out of her mouth. When we were both breathless, I pulled back to look at her. I tucked a lock of her light brown hair behind her ear and traced her features with my eyes, willing myself to remember this moment. To cement it in my memory forever.
“Offering you that ride was the best decision of my life.”
Her smile softened as she threaded her fingers through my hair. “And going home with you that night was the best decision of mine.”
I raised a brow at her. “Even though you ran away the next morning?”
She shrugged. “I had a feeling you’d catch me.”
Epilogue
Belle
“Belle! Remy’s here!”
I looked up at Sonia and gave her a genuine smile. “Great, you can send him back.”
She nodded, but instead of turning around to go get him, she took another step into my office. “I still can’t believe you turned him straight. Ugh. You’re a lucky woman!”
I forced a smile on my face and shrugged. “I guess love is love, right?”
She fanned her face and shook her head. “Now I just need to find me a Remy and I’ll be all set.”
My smile became more brittle. “As long as it’s not my Remy.”
Sonia laughed and waved my words away. “Of course not!” She chuckled again. “I’ll go get him now.”
I watched her leave, my smile falling from my face as soon as she was out of sight. It was stupid that we still had to keep up this charade a year later, but what was I supposed to do? Tell her I’d lied about him being gay in the first place? Not likely. But I’d been forced to say something after she wouldn’t stop drooling over him. It’s not like you can go around slapping your employees, so I did the next best thing and came up with a follow-up lie. It wasn’t ideal, but it would have to do.
And these days, my good behavior in the gallery was even more important. About six months ago, the director resigned, and I’d been given his position. Now that I was the big boss, I really couldn’t slap my employees. Even the ones panting after my man like a dog in heat.
Speaking of my man, Remy walked through my doorway looking as professional and sexy as ever. I’d never get tired of seeing him in a pressed Oxford and slacks, but a tight t-shirt and a pair of jeans were still my favorite. Pair that with his black-framed glasses and I was a goner. Thankfully, he’d gotten in the habit of indulging me on the weekends and wearing them more often.
“Hey, beautiful. How’s your day?”
I walked around my desk and straight into his arms. “It’s better now that you’re here.”
He rolled his eyes but tugged me closer, a small smile curling his lips. “I was just here for lunch. You miss me already?”
I shrugged. “I always miss you when you’re gone.”
He chuckled and pressed a kiss to my forehead. “I think you’re going soft on me, Garcia,” he said, his voice deep and low, sending shivers down my spine.
“If I’m going soft, it’s because of you. Before you I was a hard-ass bitch and now look at me. Shacking up with you in the suburbs, cooking dinner every night, saying mushy things to you all the time. I’ve completely lost my edge.”
He laughed again. “Yeah, but I like you like this.”
I smiled back at him. “I like me like this too.”
He leaned down to press a small kiss to my lips before releasing me. “I know I’m a little early so if you’re not ready to go yet, I can wait in the gallery.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “And let Sonia get close enough to hump your leg? I don’t think so. I’m ready now.”
He threw his head back and laughed, and I couldn’t help but smile as I watched him. Somehow, he was even better looking when he laughed.
I logged out of my computer and shut it down before gathering my purse and crossing my office to stand next to him. “Let’s go home.”
He wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “You know I love when you say that.”
I did.
I gave Sonia some last-minute instructions and pretended I didn’t notice the sideways looks she threw at Remy before I got him the hell out of there. There was only so much of her I could take when Remy was around before I got slappy.
We got in his car and he hopped on the highway headed north toward our house. It was a farther commute than we’d had when we lived in Providence, but we both loved living there.
Shortly after the funeral, Remy and I had begun redecorating and eventually contracted a crew to do some renovations for us. Thankfully, that hadn’t taken too long, and we’d been living happily in our remodeled home for almost nine months. I never thought I’d be the kind of woman to be happy living in the suburbs, but it turned out it didn’t matter where I lived. I was happy wherever Remy was.
And there were some things that hadn’t changed. Ryder and Bailey still came over for dinner every Sunday, and in honor of Gramps’ memory, we always played at least one game of Scrabble before they left. It might seem small, but it was one of the ways we kept his memory alive.
“Tell me about your day, beautiful.”
I released a deep sigh before I launched into the disaster that was my afternoon. We were working with some new artists and getting ready for a big opening night, and they were all being difficult in their own way.
It had been a long ass day, so I had enough material to complain the whole ride home. Once we’d pulled into the driveway, I realized Remy had hardly said more than a handful of words and I felt like an ass.
“I’m sorry, Rem. I’ve just been blabbing about my day. How was yours?”
He shrugged as he turned the car off. “I only had a half a day today, so it was pretty easy.” With that, he climbed out of his car, leaving me frowning behind him.
I scrambled out too and followed him up the front stoop to the door. “What do you mean you had a half day? You didn’t go back to work after we had lunch?”
He held the door open and then walked past me toward the kitchen. “Nope. I had an appointment this afternoon,” he tossed over his shoulder.
My frown deepened as I continued to follow him through the house. Finally, I found him leaning against one of our marble counters in the kitchen. “What appointment?”
“I got a new tattoo.”
My eyes widened as a smile spread across my face. “Really? I wanna see! Did you finally get started on that other sleeve you’ve been talking about?”
He shook his head and smiled as he unbuttoned his shirt. “Nope.”
I frowned again. “Is it on your back then?”
His smile grew. “Nope. Not there either.”
I leaned against the counter behind me and crossed my arms over my chest. “Okay, I give up. Where’d you get this tattoo?”
He slid the shirt off his shoulders and held up the arm that was already covered in tattoos. My eyes scanned the familiar images until I spotted the difference. Where there used to be a blank space on the inside of his bicep, there was now a huge, colorful bird.
I gasped and crossed the room, my fingers outstretched to trace the edges of the bandaged image. “What is this?” I asked quietly.
“It’s a Macaw.”
My eyes traced the gorgeous red, yellow, and blue feathers. “What does it mean?”
“Well, they’re intelligent and sweet birds, but also bold and unique. In the Hindu culture, they symbolize love and courtship. All th
at is why I chose this bird for you.”
My eyes darted to his face. “Me?” I whispered.
His eyes softened. “I told you this spot was reserved for the woman I’m going to spend the rest of my life with.”
My eyes filled with tears, which was a shame, because it was distorting my view of the beautiful tattoo and the even more beautiful man in front of me. A small laugh fell from my lips. “That sounds pretty permanent, MacAlister.”
He wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me against his chest. “You’re pretty permanent, Garcia.”
I blinked back the tears and smiled up at him. “Then maybe we should make this permanent.”
His eyes widened for a moment before a grin spread across his face. “Are you asking me to marry you?”
I shrugged. “I might be.”
He shook his head. “That’s not how this is supposed to work, Belle.”
I rolled my eyes. “Did we do anything the way we were supposed to?”
“No,” he said with a laugh. “I guess we didn’t.” With a sigh he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small black box. “I guess it’s a good thing I already got this then.”
My eyes widened as they jumped from the box to his face and back again. “Holy shit, is that a ring?”
“Yeah, beautiful. It’s a ring.”
“I say yes.”
He laughed again. “I didn’t even ask you anything yet.”
I rolled my eyes. “Okay, then ask me so I can say yes.”
He shook his head with a smile and took a step back before dropping to one knee. “Belle, I want to wake up every morning to you. I promise to spend the rest of my life putting that smile on your face. My family is pretty small, but I’m hoping you’ll join it with me. Will you marry me?”
The tears were streaming down my face as I wrapped my arms around his neck and breathed him in. “Yes, yes, yes!”
He held me for a long time, the ring forgotten as we got lost in each other. I’d never been happier in my life, and instead of feeling the fear I always thought I’d experience when this moment came, all I felt was excitement. I couldn’t wait to marry him. To spend the rest of my life loving him and taking care of him like he’d always taken care of me. Remy was the most selfless person I’d ever known, and every day I strove to be more like him. Now I had a lifetime to practice.
Acknowledgements
As always, the first person I need to thank is my husband, Ryan. However, at this point, I feel like I’m starting to run out of things to say. But, thankfully, I’m not quite there yet. It seems like I put a little piece of you into every hero I write. This time, it was your loyalty and forgiveness that I infused Remy with. Those are two traits of yours I’ve always admired and strove to emulate. Thanks for always forgiving me, even when I might not have deserved it.
Next, I need to thank the women who helped me along the way with this book.
First up is Shannon. I’m not sure you knew what you were getting into when you agreed to be my critique partner, but you stuck it out anyway. Thanks for always finding time to read my words even though you have a busy little boy to take care of at home and a career of your own. You helped in ways I’m not even sure you realized. I hope I can continue to return the favor.
Second, I’d like to thank my friend Jenni Lynn for reading another one of my books. I think that makes three now, right? Even though you’d just come back from vacation, you somehow found time to squeeze my big as hell book into your schedule and I appreciated that more than you know. I can’t wait to work on future projects with you!
Next, I need to thank my ride or die, Brianna. You’ve been there with me almost from the very beginning and I couldn’t even imagine writing a book without you reading it at this point. I know I’ve said this before, but for real, never leave me. Even though you were going through one of the most trying, stressful, and busy times of your life, you still managed to read my book and provide invaluable feedback. I mean it when I say I couldn’t have done this without you.
I also worked with a great editor who somehow hasn’t gotten fed up with my crap yet. Karen, thanks for your eagle eye and for supplying my book with all the commas I missed because I suck at them.
I’d also like to thank my ARC readers. There are a few of you who never fail to read and review every book I send your way despite the genre or subject matter. You’re supportive and helpful and I always get excited to send you a new story. I hope I can continue to feed you books you love.
Lastly, I need to thank my readers. Thank you for taking a chance on me. Thank you for sticking with me. Thank you for loving me and my characters the way you do.
More from Heather MacKinnon
Love in Providence Series
Send Sunshine
Beyond Beautiful
Southern Werewolves Series
Shift
Howl
Rise
McCoy Sisters Series
Chasing Callie (Coming 2019)
Standalones
Changed
Trying
About the Author
Heather MacKinnon is a romance author living in North Carolina with her husband and two trouble making dogs. She grew up on Long Island and spent her young adult years in various states in New England. This led to her subsequent addiction to Dunkin’ Donuts lattes and her gratuitous use of the word “wicked”. After a lifetime of enjoying other people’s words, she decided to write down some of her own. You can get up-to-date information about Heather MacKinnon’s books at www.heathermackinnonauthor.wordpress.com.
She loves hearing from her readers! Find her on social media here:
Facebook
Facebook Reader Group
Twitter
Instagram
Beyond Beautiful (Love in Providence Book 2) Page 40
