He sagged at my side and kissed my temple. “Welcome home, Remi.”
Remi
“Would you stop?” I hissed, swatting Bowen’s hand from underneath my red strapless cocktail dress.
“It’s an elevator, babe. Grab-ass is practically required.”
He wasn’t wrong, but I was still reeling from the game of fuck-me-against-the-wall we’d played before leaving the house. “Keep your nerdy hands to yourself, Michaels.”
He chuckled and shifted his hand to my hip. “We’ll have to stop on the way home and pick up a burger.”
I curled my lip. “Why? Tyson said this place is incredible.”
“Yes, but it’s Tyson incredible, which means it’s probably snobby small plates where forty dollars gets you a carrot drizzled in carrot juice garnished with a carrot top. I’ll be starving.”
I rolled my eyes. He was right about the small plates, but I’d read the reviews and planned our entire dinner, course by course, before I’d agreed to a double date with Tyson and Jared. He wouldn’t come close to starving. He might possibly develop an eye twitch when he saw the bill though.
“Hey, did you bring your EpiPen?” I asked. “They have peanut butter dessert on the menu. I called to make sure it was prepped separately and they assured me cross contamination wouldn’t be an issue. But being that we’ll be on the forty-second floor, better safe than sorry.”
“Remi, you keep two EpiPens in your purse and perform weekly checks to make sure nothing has been damaged. Do we really need to carry a third?”
I shot him a scowl. “Fourth, actually. I slipped Jared one to bring tonight too.”
“You did not,” he breathed.
“You bet your sweet ass I did. Unlike some people I know who have had entirely too many brushes with death, he understands the seriousness of anaphylactic shock and didn’t bat an eye at the request.”
He shook his head, wrapped his palm around my wrist, and lifted my hand to pat the slight bulge hidden inside the breast pocket of his suit coat. “Relax. I brought it.”
“Damn, I felt that earlier. I just thought you’d been working out.”
He scowled, and I stuck out my tongue.
His hand went right back to my ass, where he pinched me. And that was our life together. Preparing for what we couldn’t control while still living each minute to the fullest.
In the three weeks since I’d come back to Atlanta, things had been blissfully quiet. I was still debating on whether I wanted to reopen Grey Realty. I loved real estate, but it was a busy career that demanded a lot of my time, nights and weekends included.
I liked our evening strolls around the neighborhood with the dogs.
Cooking dinner together in the kitchen while sharing kisses and a bottle of wine.
Working with him in the yard on Saturday mornings.
Sleeping late and lounging on the couch, our limbs tangled up on lazy Sundays.
We’d already lost so much time; I couldn’t fathom giving up more. I had money and savings, more than enough to live off for a while—and possibly forever if we were smart about it.
Besides, Bowen and I were building something again, which was fun and exhilarating. But we were also making repairs to a foundation that had withstood some of the toughest storms imaginable and had the cracks to show for it. A commitment and an engagement ring didn’t miraculously fix everything. It did take the sting out of hard nights when the past would rear its ugly head though.
After all, Bowen had quit his job to take care of me before the plane crash. It only seemed fair that I return the favor.
The elevator stopped on the forty-second floor and the doors slid open. Bowen swept his hand out for me to exit first, and as I stepped off, I slapped a hand over my mouth.
Oh, holy shit, the view.
And no, not the floor-to-ceiling windows that gave the most incredible show of the dancing lights on the Atlanta skyline.
The view I was talking about was infinitely better. A large “Congratulations Remi and Bowen” banner hung above the heads of what appeared to be every single friend and family member we had.
The entire Michaels crew. My dad and Crystal Dawn. Aaron and Emily. Jenna. Katherine Gates and her husband, Tim. Amber who used to work for me at Grey Realty and her boyfriend. Oh, and Oscar. I stifled a giggle when I saw him in the crowd.
There were more familiar faces, but I didn’t have the time to take them all in before everyone yelled, “Surprise!”
I tipped my head back to look up at Bowen. “Did you know about this?”
His face was a mirror of my own shock. “Absolutely not. Until now, I didn’t know it was possible for anyone in my family to keep a secret.”
“Well, well, well,” my dad said as he sauntered our way. “Look how the tables have turned.” He pulled me in for a hug. “I told you I’d get you back for that going-away party.”
