Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 82474 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 412(@200wpm)___ 330(@250wpm)___ 275(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82474 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 412(@200wpm)___ 330(@250wpm)___ 275(@300wpm)
In fact, now that I’m looking around more closely… There’s no one else here, except for a team of waiters, all eying us like we’re a king and queen who just waltzed in. My suspicions rise even further.
“Lark…” I say.
He nudges me. “Relax, Cassidy. I called in a favor with an old friend, that’s all.”
It’s been a few months since our big showdown with both Sheryl and my mother. It took some more arguing on Lark’s part, but Sheryl did finally sign the divorce papers. He’s out a company, and we’re both starting over. We spent a last long fun weekend in his gorgeous penthouse, and then we moved his stuff into my place for the time being.
He turned a healthy profit selling the penthouse, but he didn’t want to buy another place just yet. “This is my investment money now,” he told me the night the sale went through. “And I already know the business I want to pour it into.”
My cheeks flushed when I realized what he meant. “Lark, I’ve told you a million times, the last thing I want is your money—”
“I know,” he cut me off. “And I’m not giving it to you, Cass. I’m investing in your future. You’re the business genius now.” He’d ruffled my hair, and my chest swelled with a mixture of pride and pleasure.
With that money, we’ve been able to continue to keep up with the increased demand my little startup makeup company was already seeing. More and more orders have been flooding in every day, and we even expanded to a workshop in town. I hired a couple employees—really fun, upbeat people who are eager to make their mark on this industry too.
Judging by the way our profits are soaring, we’ll be back on our feet again soon enough. I’ve already caught Lark eying sweet little townhouses in the neighborhood near where we set up shop. I can tell he wants to keep it a surprise, though, so I’ve pretended not to notice him browsing real estate listings late at night, while I’m getting ready for bed.
It’s funny. I thought success would be what makes me so happy. But it’s not. It’s knowing that I can do this on my own. I can make my own way in the world and survive just fine. I don’t need to rely on anybody else.
But it is nice to have a teammate in this fight. I reach over to catch Lark’s hand and squeeze lightly. “You didn’t have to do all this,” I tell him, grinning. I know he still has friends in high places around the city, from when he used to be one of their best customers.
But I’m not sure why he decided to call in a favor tonight, of all nights. When we were just going out for what I thought would be a quiet dinner, the two of us, to unwind after a long week of working at the shop.
He grins and leans in to kiss me, his lips lingering for a moment, stealing my breath the way they always do. Then he crosses to the table and draws out my chair, whipping the napkin like he’s a professional. “Oh, but I did,” he replies. “Don’t you know what tonight is?”
I laugh, and take my seat, letting him fold the napkin over my lap before he takes his own chair. “It’s… a Friday?” I guess.
He shakes his head, tsking. “Am I the only sentimental one?” he says. Then he lifts a hand, and one of the waiters approaches with a bottle of champagne whose label I recognize. It’s expensive. But Lark winks, and I know he’s got it under control. If my man knows anything, it’s when to budget… and when to splurge on spoiling me.
He reaches over the tablecloth and catches my hand, his thumb tracing now-familiar circles over the back of my palm. “Today marks exactly six months since we first met. Did you realize that?”
I lift my eyebrows. “You were keeping track since the day we met?”
“Of course, Cassidy.” He leans forward, and I mirror him, our gazes locked over the candlelit table. “That first night we met, I knew we had something special. I just didn’t realize yet how special.”
“You’re so sappy,” I tease, but I’m grinning like an idiot too.
“You love it,” he retorts, and I nod, cheeks flush.
“Definitely.” Then I’m the one to lean in and kiss him, slow, savoring this moment.
When we break apart, he’s smiling like a kid on Christmas morning. “But that’s not all we’re celebrating,” he says. “I got some… news, today.”
“Oh?” Both my eyebrows lift. He raises my hand, still grasped in his, to his lips and kisses the back of it.
“The divorce has been finalized.”
My jaw drops, and my heart soars. “Already?”
“We were able to fast-track it, since we both agreed to the terms. My lawyer told me I was being an idiot; he thinks I should have taken Sheryl to court, that I could’ve gotten more out of her. But I just wanted it done and over with, you know? There are more important things to me than money, these days.”