When the door was pulled open, I found myself staring at a little boy. He looked so much like Briggs that there was no doubt about who this was.
“Hi,” I said, stuffing my hands into my pockets to resist the urge to fidget nervously. I wasn’t even thinking about meeting his son yet. “You must be Sam.”
“Who are you?” he asked, eyeing me with suspicion.
“Sage?” Briggs’s voice made my head snap up and I spotted him approaching from behind Sam. “What are you doing here?”
“Uh…” My eyes landed on Sam again and Briggs nodded in understanding.
“Hey, buddy, why don’t you go fire up your video game,” Briggs told his son. “You can play for an hour.”
“Sweet!” Sam hurried away, as if he was worried that Briggs might change his mind if he lingered.
When we were alone, Briggs gestured for me to come in. I did, setting down my suitcase just inside the door.
“Did you come here straight from the airport?” he asked, his surprise evident in his expression and tone.
“Yeah...the thing is, I had to come here first and talk to you.” I flashed him my most charming smile. “You see, I’m looking for a boyfriend and I was wondering if you knew anyone that might be interested?”
Briggs got a glint in his eye as he pulled me closer to him with his arms around my waist. “Are you sure? You can handle all of my drama?”
“Absolutely.”
I flung my arms around him and pressed my lips to his, pouring everything I felt for into the kiss. I had fallen hard for this man on the island. The last thing he needed to worry about was his complicated life scaring me away. I had found a real connection with a pretend boyfriend, and that wasn’t something I would ever let go. I was here to stay.
EPILOGUE
Briggs
“Ithought you wanted to open your own shop because it would belesshectic than the restaurant,” I commented to Sage as I restocked the chocolate croissants for the third time in the last hour.
It was the grand opening of Sage’s pastry shop, and I had taken the day off work to help her out and support her. She had first told me about her desire to open this place almost a year ago, when we met at Michael and Faith’s wedding, and now it was a reality. The place was small and cute, with exposed brick walls, glass cases filled with goodies, and a beverage station with coffee provided by a local company. There were a couple of small metal tables with matching chairs, but most people were taking their pastries to-go.
“I’m sure it will be someday, but this is a good thing. You know I’ve had nightmares about no one showing up for my big opening.”
I did know that. We’d been living together for the past six months, so I had been there to assure her that her fears about the shop flopping were completely normal, but also not going to come true.
“Dad, can I have another eclair?” Sam asked, chocolate smudged on his mouth from the last one he’d eaten. He had insisted on being here today too, claiming he wanted tohelp out. But so far, he’d just talked me into letting him sample an eclair and a macaron while sitting on a stool behind the counter.
“Don’t you think you’ve had enough sugar for today?” I pointed out. “Besides, the pastries are for Sage to sell to her customers.”
“Oh, don’t worry about that,” Sage chimed in as she finished ringing up a customer. She looked at us over her shoulder and sent Sam a wink. “I always make extra for my favorite guys.”
I rolled my eyes, but I couldn’t help smiling. When Alyssa went to jail last year, I had finally gotten full custody of Sam, which meant that Sage got to know him quickly as the two of us started dating. When she moved in, I was worried that it would be a difficult adjustment for my son, but the pair of them got along just fine. They were partners in crime, and I loved that. For the first time in years, he had a positive female figure in his life.
“See, Dad? Sage says it’s fine.”
I sighed. “Well, if you guys are going to gang up on me…”
“Yes!” Sam cried out, rushing to the case with the eclairs and grabbing one.
“But this is the last one!” I said firmly, then added, “And you’re having broccoli for dinner tonight.”
“Justbroccoli?” Sam asked, his voice whiney.
“Yeah, that’s right,” I teased. “Just a big plate of steamed broccoli as your meal.”
Sam made a disgusted face and I laughed.