“You are the best man. You’re my man.”
“And you’re my heart.” He jerked his head to the side. “We have an audience. Do they belong to you too?”
“My aunties. They saved the day. Bushra Auntie even gave me her shoes.” Her smile softened. “We should get back to the wedding.”
“I’ll be there as soon as Avi’s uncle arrives.” He gave her one last kiss. “Maybe you can find some seats for us at the couples table.”
* * *
• • •
Wrapped up in Jay’s arms for the last dance of the evening, Zara snuggled against his chest listening to Ben E. King sing “Stand By Me.” “This is hands down the best wedding season I’ve ever had.”
“Because of me,” Jay said, his voice smug.
“Mostly because of you.”
He stiffened. “Why not all because of me?”
“Well, for starters, we wouldn’t be here if Tarun and Maria hadn’t gotten engaged and decided to have a paintball party. And if you hadn’t been so arrogant and officious, I wouldn’t have shot you in the ass and you wouldn’t have noticed me. I would have been just another scantily clad woman prancing through the forest.”
He nuzzled her neck. “I noticed you the second you ran onto the field screaming, I’m heeeeeere. I thought to myself, That’s my kind of woman.”
“You did not.”
He brushed a kiss over her forehead. “Maybe I had a few different thoughts, but I couldn’t take my eyes off you.”
“Except when I was crawling behind you in the forest, staring at your ass.”
Another smug smile. “She likes my ass.”
She reached down to give him a squeeze. “It’s a nice ass, as you are very well aware.”
He rocked her from side to side to the music, his arms tightening around her. “What other things do you like about me?”
“I like how you fish for compliments when your ego is already so big I have to step around it.”
“That’s not the only big thing I have,” he whispered in her ear.
“Jay.” She mocked a frown. “You’re ruining our dance with your filthy sex talking.”
“You like my filthy sex talking.” His voice dropped to a low rumble. “You like everything about me. You came running through the airport in giant-size auntie shoes to stop me from getting on a plane. If that’s not worthy of a musical number, then I don’t know what is.”
She tightened her arms around him. “I thought I was going to lose you. I had no choice. You’re my Jay and I had to find you.”
“You never lost me.” He pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. “I love you and this love won’t end.”
“Even when you thought I was trying to destroy your company?”
“That was slightly disconcerting . . .”
Zara made a mental image of this moment: the soft music, Jay’s strong arms around her, the scent of his cologne, the way his eyes never left her as if he could watch her forever. “Does this mean I’m free of the singles table?”
“I can promise as long as you’re with me you will never have to share your naked chess and skinny-dipping stories again.”
“Jay?”
“Yes, sweetheart?”
“I didn’t find you a match.”
“You found someone better,” he said. “She brought light to my darkness and joy to my soul. She gave me love and laughter and happiness. She’s perfect. And she’s mine.”
• EPILOGUE •
ONE YEAR LATER
Stepping down as CEO of J-Tech was the best decision he had ever made, Jay mused as he zipped up his camo coveralls.
First, it meant he could keep his boots on the ground in the city and continue his treatment at the VA clinic. Coming to terms with his past meant no more nightmares. No more nightmares meant more sexy times in bed. More sexy times in bed meant a shortage of condoms. A shortage of condoms meant an unexpected surprise. And that meant a proposal at the place where they had first met so they could have a shotgun wedding.
Zara had worn camo—no more stained dresses for her. She’d bought her own weapon—a Tippmann Alpha Black Elite—so she could join him and Elias at their monthly game. She had no idea that he planned to propose that sunny Saturday afternoon. In retrospect, he should have given her warning. She’d pulled the trigger in shock and shot him in the chest. But it had all worked out in the end. Six months later the bruise had healed, and they had a small wedding at the Conservatory of Flowers with seven hundred of Zara’s closest friends and relatives, Jay’s mom, Rick, and a handful of Jay’s friends. They bought a house in Richmond, close to his mother and Rick. Marmalade stayed with Parvati, her new housemate/bedmate Faroz, and a collection of vulva fruit paintings that Faroz thought were better than the lost Picassos he’d uncovered in a Moroccan art sting.
Second, inspired by Zara’s work on her class action lawsuit and the clear need for digital security to protect the software that had been hacked by a seventeen-year-old boy in his mother’s basement, stepping down as CEO meant Jay could work on expanding J-Tech into cybersecurity, ensuring they would be able to ride the new technology wave. But only on weekdays. Weekends were for family.
Third, his reduced hours meant he had more time to look after little Zayn so his mother could focus on being the best lawyer and community theater star she could be. She was trying out for Maria in West Side Story, and going by the beautiful lullabies she sang every night, he was sure she’d get the part.
He looked down at his son sleeping in the baby carrier against his chest. Almost four months old, he was too heavy for his mom, so now baby carrier outings were Jay’s responsibility. Not that he found it a chore. He would have carried Zayn around all day if Zara would have let him, but their house was constantly full of relatives desperate to hold him. Little Zayn had even brought Zara and her mother together and they’d all spent many evenings and weekends talking through the issues that had driven them apart.
Finally, giving up his CEO duties meant Jay could be on the paintball field for another of Zara’s cousins’ bachelor-bachelorette parties, and this time he was out for revenge.
“I’m heeeeeeere.” Zara came running through the field to the practice range. Dressed in camo, her hair tied back in a ponytail, she was even more beautiful now than the first day they’d met.
“The cake is in the fridge. Food platters are ready. I got a job offer from Lucia and I turned her down. There’s extra milk in the car for Zayn—”