“I’m not sure I’d consider that a perk, but yeah, I can introduce you to Dom.”
“Good. I think I owe him a thank you.”
“For what?” Kellan asked.
“For convincing you to come back to me.” A wave of emotion crashed over me at the thought of what could have happened to both of us if Kellan had gotten on that plane.
“Don’t give him too much credit. It’ll go to his head, and his huge mug is already thick enough.”
I laughed and tugged Kellan toward an empty seat at a blackjack table. “Let’s get this over with. I’m getting eager to head home.”
For the next forty-five minutes, Kellan taught me the finer points of blackjack: when to ask for a hit, when to hold steady, and when to double down. Luck stayed on our side and when an announcement was made that the tables were closing and it was time for the auction, we’d more than doubled our chips.
Word had spread over the course of the evening about how Kellan put Gio in his place, so when it was time to bid on the prizes, no one bid against me. Kellan and I won every single item we bid on including all the trips donated by Gio’s family: three-day weekends in a beach house in Galveston, a week-long stay at a condo in Vail including travel and ski lessons, and the two-week stay in the Dominican Republic.
Every time I raised my hand to bid, the color of Gio’s cheeks turned a deeper, darker red. Finally, the auction ended. Kellan left me standing by the bar while he retrieved my coat from the coat closet. I had no desire to ever set foot in that small space again after what happened earlier in the evening.
“You think you’re so smart, don’t you, Blakely?” Gio asked. He had Candy on his arm and they were crossing the half-empty ballroom.
I rolled my eyes, eager to be done with him and his unrelenting bullshit. “Now what?”
He stopped as they got closer. “Enjoy the weekend because come Monday morning, you’ll need to start looking for alternate employment.”
“Gosh, Gio. I was planning on giving you two weeks’ notice, but if you want to fire me, I’d be more than happy to collect unemployment while I get my new business set up.” I held out my hand and pretended to examine my nails. I’d always wanted to pull off that move and being able to take him down a few pegs in front of his newly promoted fiancee provided me with more joy than I’d anticipated.
“What new business?” With his eyes narrowed and his lips pinched together, he looked like some sort of rodent. Or weasel. Yes, that was exactly what he looked like: a dark-haired, squinty-eyed weasel.
“Did you tell him the good news?” Kellan held up my coat so I could slide my arms into the sleeves.
“I was just getting to that part.” As I buttoned my coat, I looked at Gio. “Kellan and I are opening a new retail shop in downtown Broken Bend. Thanks to the relationships I’ve forged with our overseas vendors, I’m sure we’ll have no trouble growing our wholesale side as well.”
“You can’t do that.” I couldn’t tell what shook harder, Gio’s head or his fist.
“I can, and I will. We’re also gifting the stays we won at your father’s properties to some of our friends who could use a break.” I turned to Kellan. “Don’t you think Lulu and her mom would enjoy spending spring break at the beach?”
Kellan grinned. “Hell yeah. I bet that mom with four sons wouldn’t mind heading to the slopes.”
I loved that he could read me so easily and that we always seemed to be on the same page.
“Now, if you’ll excuse us, we have some celebrating to do.” I nodded toward Gio and gave Candy a sympathetic smile. “Good luck in your new position. You’re going to need it.”
Kellan draped his arm over my shoulders and led me out of the ballroom. We were walking toward a future neither of us had prepared for… a future neither one of us had dared to imagine before tonight.
As long as we’d spend it together, I couldn’t wait.
EPILOGUE
KELLAN
Iflipped through the radio stations, looking for something besides current pop tunes. We were on our way to the shelter in downtown Bourbon with a cargo van full of items donated by some of the vendors Blakely had been working with for the past few months.
“Told you we should have picked up an adapter so we could listen to your playlist through the speakers,” Blakely said.
I reached over and twined my fingers with hers. “It doesn’t matter what we listen to. We’re almost there, anyway.”
She was so excited, she practically vibrated in the bucket seat next to me. “Do you think they have any idea what we’re bringing?”
“Not a clue.”