Page 70 of The Himbo and the Lord

“Thank you, Father,” he says quietly, and bows his head slightly, then he too goes back to eating. The grip he has on my hand, though, tells me he’s feeling a lot more than he’s showing, so I keep my silence like everyone else.

Petra breaks the silence again by asking her mother about a ball or something, and for the rest of the dinner it’s only meaningless chit chat.

It’s not the best case scenario... but also not the worst. I remind myself of that through the rest of the evening, and I’m back to being relaxed when we say our goodbyes.

“That was delicious, thank you,” I tell Ru’s mother and kiss her cheek. “And thank you,” I tell his father and offer him my hand. He doesn’t say anything, only nods, but this time he does look at me for a longer time when he shakes my hand.

That’s a win.

“I miss Carter,” I say on our drive back. Ru only sighs, so I know I’m going to have to pry the words out of him. “Right now he’d probably know exactly what to tell you to make you laugh. I mean, you’ve just been made CEO of a huge company before you’re thirty and you’re so quiet. And I know it’s because your dad’s an ass of epic proportions who has the emotional capacity of a rock, but I wish Carter was here.”

Ru doesn’t say anything back for a long moment, though I see his mouth curve up slightly.

“Carter would say the lord’s finally pulled his head out of his arse, but I don’t think I’d laugh at that.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’m pretty sure I’m having an existential crisis.”

“Why?” I demand, now worried. Any type of crisis mentioned isn’t good.

“Tonight, I achieved everything I’ve ever wanted. Everything I ever dreamed. And more than that, I got it while openly being in a relationship with an amazing man, which is something I never thought would be possible. The job, the company, those were possible as long as I kept in line, but everything else...” He shakes his head and now I’m the one keeping silent.

I have no clue what that would be like, achieving everything you’ve ever wanted.

Rewarding for sure, and I believe he’ll feel that at some point, probably when the official announcement of his new position comes. And if he doesn’t feel at least a little bit proud of himself by then, I’ll take matters into my own hands.

He parks the car expertly, and I get out right away to meet him on the other side.

“I’ve never had dreams,” I start in a low voice. “Not like that. All I’ve ever really wanted is to not be miserable.” I chuckle lightly. “I’m definitely not miserable, but I think it would be cool if we could dream up new goals, wouldn’t it? I mean, I’m sure Chase can help there.”

And they’ve been talking a lot since his father semi-passed the reins, even to the point that I think Chase has become a kind of mentor for Ru.

“He can help with the work goals, and you and I can figure out the rest, right? Nothing’s over, Ru.” I lean in to kiss him softly in the moonlight.

I see my future in his warm eyes when I step back.

“In fact, I think it’s just beginning.”

EPILOGUE

Ru

One Year Later

As I walk between the heavily laden fragrant vines, my hand clasped in Nate’s, I can’t stop a wide smile spreading across my face.

“What is it?” he asks with his own smile, the one that lights my world.

“I was just thinking how happy I am and how I’m the luckiest man alive.”

Nate shakes his head but I know he’s not disagreeing with me. “If I concede that you’re the luckiest then it makes my luck worth less.” He pulls me to a stop and cups my cheek with his palm. He presses a gentle kiss to my lips. “And we can’t have that, can we?”

He pulls back and I get lost in his green eyes for a moment.

‘C’mon, our host will think we’ve got lost.”

Even then we take our time as we walk back to the main house, where we’ve been invited to dinner.

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