Page 142 of Faking it For Summer

“But wasn’t he so self-centered that he didn’t even bring it up to you again?” I ask. “You would have thought he would have questioned you to get to the bottom of it all.”

“You’re right. He didn’t say,I have no idea what you’re talking about, and try to get to the bottom of it.”

“I love you, but your brother really needs some work.”

“I know. And maybe one day, he’ll get the help that he needs, and he and I will have the relationship that I want. But right now, you’re all I need and want.”

I smile at her and kiss her. “Should we go back to the hotel?”

“What do you want to do?” she asks, a teasing tone in her voice.

“I don’t know. There are a couple of things I could think of.”

“And what are those?”

“Let me see … you.”

“What do you meanme?”

“I’d love to do you one time, two times, three times?—”

“What about the fourth and the fifth?” she says.

“If I have energy left.” I wink at her.

“I love you, Luke Haverbrook. You are the perfect man for me.”

“And you, Mia Bishop, are my beautiful angel—the love of my life, the key to my heart, the future of my being. You, Mia, are my everything. And please never forget that.”

“So, I’m not just another summer romance then?”

“No, my darling. You are the rest of my life.”

epilogue

mia

Six Months Later

“Man, it’s kind of cold today,” I say to Juniper as I pull on my sweater. “I feel like I need a coat, scarf, and gloves.”

“It’s not that cold, Mia. I suppose it’s cold for Coconut Beach. That’s because we’re in wintertime. We don’t have snow though.”

“That’s true,” I say. “Get in any new books this morning?”

“Yeah, I’m about to start unpacking them and putting them on the shelves. You want to help?”

“Sounds good. I think Wendy, Louisa, and Gigi are going to go to yoga, and they asked me if I wanted to come.”

“You’re not taking up yoga now, are you?”

“No. I may have a fiancé now, but that doesn’t mean I’ve completely lost my mind. I will never be into yoga.”

She laughs as I grab a box of books and start putting them on the shelves outside of our bookmobile.

Even though we’re no longer in the summer, the weather is still nice. It’s much cooler, but the snowbirds have hit town, and they love to shop at our bookmobile. I look out at the water and smile to myself.

I’m so glad Luke decided to move back to Coconut Beach. Ultimately, I loved him enough to go wherever he wanted to go, and if he had decided he didn’t want to be in Coconut Beach, I would’ve gone with him wherever he wanted to go. But this is where we met, where we fell in love, and this is where we are going to raise our kids.