From the shore Clay Landon looked on with pride, part of the moment yet also above it, as all good fairy godfathers are.
Epilogue
A week later, flushed and smiling, Angelina and Connor arrived at their offices an hour late. They came to a skidding stop when they saw Kimmie standing on her desk with Linda on a crate beside the desk.
Connor shook his head and thumbed in their direction. “Are you sure you’ll be okay with them while I film on location?”
“I’ll be fine.” Angelina laughed and put her hands on her hips. “What’s going on, ladies?”
“Hang on,” Kimmie said as if her behavior were perfectly normal. “What if you bend at the waist?”
Linda shook her head. “Look at him, he’s even taller than I am right now and you’re too low for this to be comfortable.” She climbed off the crate. “Just have her lay across the desk.”
“I wanted to spice the scene up a little.”
Connor stepped closer. “What you’re not taking into account is how strong I am.” Without touching Kimmie he motioned how he’d pick her up by her waist. “I’d toss those legs right over my shoulders, lean Angelina back a little against the cabinet and take my time.”
Angelina blushed, but put that on a mental list of what she wanted to try with him.
“That’s perfect!” Kimmie exclaimed then jumped down from her table and wrote it on a sticky note. “Thanks, Connor.”
Linda gave Connor a pat on the arm. “We’re going to miss you.”
“It’s only a few weeks. The rest of the filming is happening stateside,” Connor assured her. “And you’ll have Angelina. She’s covering for me while I’m gone.”
Kimmie returned to her seat behind her desk. “That can’t be easy—to be apart right after you get engaged.”
Angelina walked over and linked hands with Connor. “Before I met Connor I would have agreed with you. I wasted a lot of time worrying about every way things could go wrong. Now I focus on how they’re going right. I found a man I can be myself with. My son goes to school now without complaint. I love my job. And that movie he’s making? It allows us to afford two secretaries who don’t actually get much work done, but are amazing anyway.”
Linda took her spot behind her desk as well. “Don’t worry Angelina, we’re writing you into the next book—the one with the reluctantly alpha prince.”
Angelina temporarily lost herself in Connor’s smiling eyes. “I don’t need a prince, I’ve already found my happy ending.”
“Quick,” Linda said, “jot that line down. I like it.”
Kimmie sighed audibly. “I’d rather describe how he’s looking at her. Love is a beautiful thing, isn’t it?”
“It sure is,” Connor said with a lustful twinkle in his eyes. “Ladies, why don’t you take the morning off? Angelina and I have some work to get done in my office.”
As soon as the door closed behind them, Connor swept Angelina up into his arms and carried her into his office, kicking his door closed behind him.
Best job ever.
THE END