Emma St. Clair

Never run before dessert. When—if—I’m queen, perhaps I’ll make this my motto.

“I don’t want a chase. No games,” I tell Rafe’s shoulder, blinking back my tears. “I want to be adored. Cherished. I want someone I can trust. I want a chance at love, even if it has to grow from friendship or from duty first. I’ve always wanted Callum. But it’s time to admit that he doesn’t want me back.”

“If you were mine”—Rafe’s arms tighten around me—“I would treasure you. I would adore you. I would cherish you the way you deserve.”

I shake my head and attempt a small smile. “Who is this serious, responsible guy, and what did he do with the playboy devil?”

Rafe’s grin is slow, and it makes my stomach flip. “Aw, Angel. Did you make the mistake of typecasting me into just one role? You should know I can play many parts.”

“I guess I’m starting to see you in a new way. I’m not sure who you are.”

Rafe leans closer, and for just this moment, his breath on my cheek makes me forget all about my pain, my undergarments, and Callum.

“I’ll be anyone you want me to be, Angel.”

With Rafe, I have no trouble speaking my mind, having opinions—strong ones, and voicing them unapologetically. We fight, we tease, we talk without inhibitions. Being around him is like I’ve been taken off mute and instead dialed up to a ten. With Rafe, I am Serafina at full volume.

I’m brighter, stronger, more. And he helps draw that out of me by giving me the space to be unapologetically ME. I never had that with Callum, not even close. I was too worried about winning him over, about what he wanted, what he thought.

Oh my stars—I think I’m falling in love with Rafe.

“I want you, Seraf. And whatever comes along with you, I’m willing to bear.”

“My list is one word. And it’s not a character trait. It’s a name.”

They say time flies when you’re having fun, but I think I’d change that saying.

Time is bent when you’re in love. The days are sometimes sweet and slow, and then gone in a flash, left only as memories. It doesn’t just move forward, but you move through it, like wading through gelatin—in the best way possible, of course.

“Daddy, you forgot the best part of the story.”

“What’s that, Ava-bird?”

“They all lived happily ever after,” she says.

I smile down at the two loves of my life, taking in the belly containing what will soon be another love who will elbow his or her way right into my heart.

“I didn’t forget,” I promise her, dropping one kiss on Ava’s cheek, one on Seraf’s forehead, and another on her belly. “I am living my happily-ever-after every single day.”

I give Lindy my most charming, hard-to-resist smile. “Last chance to run.”

Lindy’s eyes narrow. “Is that a challenge, Patty?”

“Nah. I just need to stretch if I’m going to have to chase you.”

But then Lindy looks up at me with a goofy smile that actually looks sincere. Romance, flowers, string quartets—who needs all that when I have her?