Page 106 of Love to Hate You

“They’re right. And it’s what the couple decides to do that matters.”

“What are you going to do, love?”

She cupped his cheek. “How can you ask that after giving me the best grand gesture a girl could dream of?”

“I love you, Summer. Today, tomorrow, and in fifty years I’ll still choose you. The question is, do you still love me?”

She threw herself into his arms. “I will love you until my heart takes its last beat. You’re mine, remember, babe?”

“And you’re mine, and I look forward to reminding you about that tonight.”

“My parents are staying with me.”

“Then we get a hotel. For them. I just want to come home.

She tightened her arms. “Then hold me tighter.”

“As you wish.”

Epilogue

a nod to nora ephron

Six months later ...

Summer pushed through the side door of her bookstore into Between the Chapters, the new coffee house that connected BookLand to All Things Cupid. The warm aroma of roasted coffee mixed with the spicy scent of pumpkin muffins wafted around her.

It was nearly closing and still the place was hopping. If you asked Wes, he’d attribute the shop’s unprecedented success to quality products and exotic coffee beans, but Summer knew it was the welcoming atmosphere of buttery leather sofas, barrel chairs, local art hanging on the walls, and framed bookcases filled with that week’s bestsellers, which whispered to sit down with a great book and stay a while.

In addition to the main door, there were two additional doors to the café—one led to Summer’s shop and readHAPPILY EVER AFTER, while the other led to Wes’s and readLET YOUR ADVENTURE BEGIN.

Tonight was Tuesday, which meant it was date night, and every date night came with its own unique meet-cute. Tonight, they were going with a nod to Nora Ephron with a blind date, so Summer had come with a book in hand—Pride and Prejudice,the enemies-to-lovers, opposites-attract classic by Jane Austen, to be specific.

Summer smoothed down her fuzzy sweater, took a seat at the furthest table, opened her book and delicately laid a single daisy on the spine, and waited patiently. She was ten minutes early, but she couldn’t help it. Even though they’d been doing this every week for the past six months, she always got nervous butterflies in her belly the day of. It was the surprise and sweetness of it all, because Wes planned every detail of every night. He said that he wanted to check off every meet-cute and romance trope in herCupid’s Guide to Love. So far he’d checked off so many boxes she could barely believe it. He’d even come up with a few she hadn’t thought of. He was as creative out of the bedroom as in.

A double Cupid’s ping echoed as a familiar British voice asked, “Excuse me. Is this seat taken?”

Summer couldn’t believe she’d ever thought his tone to be stodgy. It was smooth and silky as velvet.

When she looked up, she had to blink twice. Not only was he holding a book in his arm that held a single white daisy acting as a bookmark, but he was wearing a tuxedo. Cufflinks, shiny shoes, and all. And it wasn’t a rental either, it was too fitted to his muscular frame not to be custom.

His lips tilted up at the corners. “Unless I got the wrong table. You are Summer, aren’t you?”

He was going with the whole role-playing thing. He knew how much she loved a little role-play—clothing optional.

“Oh, you got the right table. I was just thinking I got the wrong memo. I seem to be underdressed.” She smoothed her hand down her fitted jeans.

He looked her up and down and flashed that mega-watt smile of his that had the power to make her panties melt off. “You look ravishing to me.”

“That’s a bold statement for a blind date.”

“According to my app you could be my soulmate.”

“Do you believe in soulmates?”

He hooked his foot around the chair and in a very manly way pulled it out and took a seat. “I do now.”

“Is that just the app talking? For all you know I could be some crazy-stalker chick.”

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