Page 85 of Off-Limits Love
“Yes, I am,” she said, punctuating every word with another kiss he accepted with pleasure since he had to bend down just so she could reach him.
Emi ran toward them and wrapped her arms around both their legs. Finn lowered a hand to cradle her head, staring into Mak’s eyes with all the desire and intention he felt. Maybe it was too soon to put a label on it, but he knew exactly what it was all the same. He'd known from the first time he’d laid eyes on her.
“What happens now?” Mak whispered.
He bent and plucked Emi up from the ground, gently tossing the giggling girl over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. “Let’s go on a date.”
Emi let out a surprisingly loud whoop for such a tiny thing, and he and Mak laughed.
“Can Dash and Harriet and Max cometoo?” Emi asked.
“Would you mind a stay-at-home date?” Mak asked Finn.
He pulled her tight to his side and wondered if he’d ever feel like Mak was close enough. Now that he knew what it was to have her there, he knew he’d never want to be without her. He’d go to therapy if needed. He’d do the hard stuff. Whatever it took to make his family the best and happiest it could be. “Whatever my girls want.”
Epilogue
Two months later…
Mak stared at the glittering letters on the glass window and wanted to pinch herself as she pulled into the alley next to it. She parked behind the building and grabbed her purse, taking a deep breath.
She got out, and despite the anxious feeling to get inside and get started for the day—her first official day—she walked to the front and took out her phone, snapping a photo of the gorgeous window to put on social media to go along with the photos of her creations for the opening-day celebration. Thanksgiving was a few weeks away, and she had orders already booked.
“Not so fast,” Finn said, jogging across the street with a giggling Emi in his arms. He’d parked at the Blackwell’s rentals building so as to not take up the spaces directly in front. “You take this and give me that.”
Mak laughed as much as Emi when Finn pretended to toss the girl toward Mak before gently lowering her to her feet.
He snagged Mak’s phone from her hand, and as always, she felt that initial twinge ofughbecause a certain ex-someone had always had to comment on her pictures in the past and give his critique.
Then her gaze caught on Hudson heading their way, pushing Sam in the wheelchair he’d needed to make the trip, and she remembered what was most important. Despite the deep-dark circles under his eyes and the gaunt look to his too thin frame, Sam smiled from ear to ear.
It makes living your life all the more precious.
Zoey’s voice filled Mak’s head, and she blinked back tears. Mak shoved the thought of her ex aside along with the negativity and toxicity of their relationship. She was human. She’d made a mistake. Spent far too many years walking through that minefield. But that was over. And what mattered now was how she lived her life. That and how she loved.
“Smile.”
Mak lifted her chin with a wide grin as she posed with Emi in front of her bakery. Like her creations, the storefront was tiny and would barely hold a dozen people inside, but when it had come available, Sam had insisted she use some of the money he intended to leave her to lease the spot and make her dream a reality. And because she wanted Sam here to see it happen, she’d agreed, using the grant money to fund needed equipment and supplies.
Now the Itty-Bitty Bakery was a reality.
“One of us,” Finn said.
He wrapped his muscled arm around her as the three of them posed and took a selfie.
“And with the man of honor responsible for it all,” Mak said as Hudson swung Sam’s chair around to join them.
Mak leaned down to kiss Sam’s cheek and give him a hug as Emi climbed onto Sam’s lap. “Thank you.”
“No need for that. So happy to see this day, honey.”
She kissed him again, and Emi joined the fun, kissing his other cheek.
Sam laughed at their antics, and Hudson captured the moment with quick taps of his finger.
“The city officials will be here at ten,” Alec said as he joined them on the sidewalk. Mia followed a step behind, carrying their daughter. The girl’s leg rested atop Mia’s pregnant belly.
The rest of the Blackwells would be there too, along with Zoey and her husband and the Boardwalk Babes, who’d seemingly invited the entire island as well as Wilmington.
