Page 92 of Knight With Benefits

“I’m serious!”

Chuckling, he caught my hand and brought it to his mouth, kissing my knuckles.

“Everything is going to be okay. You have everything ready, it looks wonderful, it smells wonderful, and they’re going to love it.”

I was hiding in the kitchen, scared to even peek out at the line that could be seen through the windows. I knew half of the people waiting were Knights, here to show their support, but there were other, new faces amidst the crowd.

Strangers.

People who would judge me and my café.

“This was a terrible idea. Why did I do this? Is it too late to reschedule?”

Carl laughed again, running a hand down my back.

“Maybe I should bend you over the counter and put my face between your legs. A few orgasms would help you relax.”

“Carl!”

My eyes flew up to his, my cheeks burning with the blush I knew graced them. I couldn’t deny we’d had some fun in the kitchen while we’d finished remodeling, but now there was food waiting, as well as Blake’s teen daughter and another girl I’d hired to help.

The snickers behind me told me the girls were no strangers to being around crude alphas and their mates, but there was still too much mom in me.

“You can’t say that in front of them!” I hissed. “Gah, now I need to clean again. What if they say something that makes people think we’re doingthatwhere their food was made!”

There was a chance I was going to hyperventilate. The room was growing fuzzy around the edges, my heart fluttering like it had wings. Only Carl’s touch was keeping me grounded, and as much as I wanted to really smack him, I also appreciated him keeping me distracted from staring at the clock.

“But it’s time to open the doors.”

Attention darting to the clock I’d hung on the bright yellow walls, I was sure I was going to have a heart attack. While I had planned to open at five on a normal day, I’d held off the grand opening until eight today, mostly at Carl’s encouragement so he didn’t have to wake up so early, and the clock said he was right.

It was time.

Sucking in a deep breath, I pulled on the constant flow of calm through our bond, glad again that I had Carl to lean on. Where he was reckless, I was caution, and where I was anxious, he was steady. He was everything I’d always wanted, and I knew he’d support me, even if I decided to turn and run out the back instead of opening the front doors.

A cheer went up outside as I pushed through into the dining room, so loud it echoed in the empty building. My cheeks burned hotter, but a smile broke across my face at the show of support. It hadn’t taken long for Hell’s Knights to pull me into their fold, and I knew each man out there wearing their vest.

Carl walked next to me until the final few steps, and when I looked back with a raised brow, he nodded toward the door.

“This place is yours. It was your dream, and you put in the work for it. Open the doors.”

If my heart swelled any more it was going to burst.

“I wouldn’t have it without you. You did most of the hard labor, and you defended it when I couldn’t. You gave me a reason not to give up.”

Love poured through the bond, his smile making my breath catch.

“It’s still yours. You deserve this.”

Biting my lip, I nodded. I could argue till I was blue in the face that I wouldn’t still have the café if it wasn’t for him, but he’d never accept it belonged to him just as much as me. I wouldn’t be the person I was now if I hadn’t had him.

Blinking back tears, I faced the crowd again and fumbled the key into the lock, pausing to take another steadying breath before opening the doors.

The cheers grew louder, familiar and new faces all mixed together as they stared back at me, and I choked up when I noticed every one of them held a book. I even spotted Logan behind the crush of Knights at the door, and I almost lost control at the sight of my youngest son.

I’d talked with Adam a couple times since the night he’d come with other Purists and attacked David and two of the Knights, but things were still bad between us, and I’d accepted it would likely never get better. The vile things he called me showed how little he thought of me, and for my own mental health, I’d decided not to contact him again. But I was overjoyed that Logan had come to help celebrate this special moment with me.

It took a few tries to swallow the lump in my throat so I could speak. I’d come so far since Anthony had died, my entire life morphing into something I couldn’t have dreamed of before, and I looked forward to every minute of the future. Being with Carl kept a target on us since the Purists hated him and the Knights, and thought I’d betrayed them, but nothing could have convinced me to regret choosing him. He was mine, and I was his.

Holding my joy tight and smiling so hard my cheeks hurt, I stepped aside and held open the door to my dream.

“Welcome to The Cozy Cookie! Please, come in.”