Love After All

Bash leaned his forehead against hers. “Yeah, I think so.”

They went inside.

“So, everything’s okay now?” Emma asked.

Chelsea nodded. “Yes. Everything’s great.”

“Best birthday present ever.” Emma grinned.

They hung out for a while, then left early, Chelsea following Bash to his house. They barely made it inside the front door before he shut the door, locked it, then pushed her against the door and kissed her.

She felt every bit of his love for her in that kiss—a powerful passion that told her exactly how much he loved her.

They shed their clothes on the way to the bedroom and told each other without too many words how much they’d missed each other. She couldn’t take her eyes off of him, this perfect man who was now hers, and always would be.

Afterward, he held tight to her.

“Would you move in with me?”

She rolled to her side and faced him. “Are you sure you don’t want to think about that?”

“Actually, it’s all I’ve thought about since we’ve been apart. Even before that, actually. I envisioned you here, wanted you here. And after we broke up, I missed having you here, sleeping in my bed. I’ve missed waking up with you next to me. That’s what I want. If that’s what you want.”

She loved hearing him say the words, loved knowing he wanted her in his life. “Yes. I’d like that.”

He smiled, swept his hand over her face. “And at some point I figured we’d sell this place and you and I could pick out a new house together.”

“You have thought about this a lot.”

“Like I told you, I haven’t done much sleeping. But I have done a lot of thinking about you. And me. And our future together.”

She shuddered in a breath. Bash might not be a perfect man, but he was the perfect man—for her.

Epilogue

The past few weeks had been a whirlwind. Chelsea had given notice at her apartment and had been packing up and moving into Bash’s house. In addition, she’d kept busy helping Molly with wedding planning.

She and Bash were also talking about things they were looking for in their next house. It wasn’t coming up in the near future, but it was their next step.

“So I have a list,” Bash said that night as they climbed into bed together.

She assumed he’d made a list about their future house. They’d been debating whether to build a new house or look for an existing build, so they’d talked a lot of pros and cons. She told him to make a list.

“Is this about the house?”

“Not exactly.”

She frowned and looked over at his notepad. “Then what kind of list did you make?”

“It’s my list for the perfect woman.”

She laughed. “I see. I can’t wait to hear all about it.”

He scanned the list. “This is important. You have to follow this closely.”

She turned to face him, her legs crossed over each other. “You have my full attention.”

“Must like divorced men, because a guy has to learn from his mistakes before he can find the right woman for him.”

Her lips quirked.

“Must like a guy who has crazy ex-girlfriends, because a certain crazy ex-girlfriend will bring him the perfect dog.”

Since Chelsea had Lou on the bed with her, she ran her hands over their dog. “Yes, we can’t thank Gertrude—”

“Gerri.”

“Whatever. We can’t thank Gerri enough, because Lou is everything I could have wanted in a dog.”

Bash reached over and scratched Lou behind the ears. “That she is.”

“Okay, continue with your list.”

“Must like a guy who works at a bar, because you can do a lot of fun things on top of a bar.”

Chelsea felt herself blush. “Bash.”

He grinned. “It’s true, isn’t it?”

“Well … yes.”

“Okay, then. Continuing on. She has to be a redhead. I have a thing for redheads. No blondes or brunettes or raven-haired women need apply. A redhead is it for me.”

She took a deep breath, then sighed. “This is a very intriguing list.”

He looked over at her and nodded. “Right?”

“What’s next?”

“Must be willing to tolerate sports. And all my friends.”

She shrugged. “That one’s easy. I actually like sports.”

He cocked a brow. “You do?”

“Of course.”

“Then why did you have ‘must hate sports’ on your list?”

She shrugged. “Because I figured guys who were all into sports would be focused on just that, and not on me.”

Bash shook his head. “That’s ridiculous.”

“And you haven’t dated the kinds of men I did.”

“Obviously not.”

“Anyway, and I love all your friends because they’re all my friends.”

“That’s true. But back to you actually liking sports …”

“It’s not my fault you’re not paying attention to the fact that I like baseball and football.”

“I’m going to test your baseball knowledge during the game tomorrow.” He waved a finger at her.

“You do that.”

“Okay, moving on. Must like burgers and fries and the occasional onion ring love fest.”

“I like burgers and fries just fine. Just not every day.”