Page 16 of Cheesecake
“He’s a good kid,” she says, giving Rob a wink before she moves to the other side of the bed and sits down too. “I actually came up here because a certain someone who’s closer to my age than yours is currently sitting on our front porch.”
“Oh, my god,” I gasp, grabbing both of her hands and gripping tight. “Are you for real? He’s here?”
She smiles and nods. “Yes, Corey is here. He called me this morning, and we had coffee at his lovely café—that I wish you’d told me about because his cheesecake isamazing—and we talked about what his intentions are toward you.And while you know how uncomfortable I’ve been over the idea of you falling for a man so much older than you, having such aniceconversation with amanwho obviously loves you very much made me realize that I hate the idea of some college-aged guy putting his filthy paws all over you.”
“Hey!” Rob objects.
“You don’t count because you’re lovely too,” she says, grinning at Rob who just laughs and shakes his head.
“Anyway,” she sighs. “He’s downstairs and I think you two should talk before I decideI’min love with him and we run away together. He’s actually really hot.” She says that last part behind her hand, and it makes me laugh.
“Thanks, Mom,” I say, wrapping my arms around her neck and hugging her tight. “Now, if you can please leave my room, I need to get changed because I’m a mess and I don’t want Corey seeing me looking like a troll.”
Mom laughs. “You could never look like a troll,” she says.
“Maybe,” Rob adds. “But she sure smells like one.”
My mouth falls open, and I throw my pillow just as he pushes Mom through the door and closes it. Then I jump out of bed and start getting ready. Corey is here.
Corey
“You look like you’re going on a date,” I say when Penny steps out onto the balcony wearing a pretty cream dress with tiny flowers dotted all over it.
“No,” she says. “I’m just meeting with someone I love very much.”
“Yeah?” I stand from the cane chair I was sitting in, filling my chest with the air that’s between us, just so I can feel closer to her. “Someone I know?”
She grins and steps a little closer to me, pushing her hair back behind her ear. “Just some guy I met in a cafe once. We were dating, but I kind of messed things up, so I need to find him and tell him how sorry I am. How much I miss him.”
“He knows,” I say. “He knew straight away how sorry you were. And he’s missed you too. He just needed some time to get his head straight and his life sorted.”
“How’d that work out for you?” she asks, tilting her head slightly, her eyes wary but hopeful.
I reach out and take her hand. “Well, I took a trip to the mainland and finally had a meeting with an investor who’s been on my back about taking the Hibiscustomainland USA.”
“What?”
I bite my lip and smile. “I couldn’t let you give up your chance to become a game developer to stay on this island to be with me, and I also couldn’t walk away from you if I tried—Ineedyou in my life, Penny—so I told him I was willing to expandifI could open the second location in Berkeley.”
“What?” Her voice rises in pitch and her eyes get wider.
I grin, loving her reaction. “And he said, yes.”
“Oh, my god!” She covers her mouth with her free hand. “Are you telling me that you’re coming to Berkeley with me?”
I nod and place my hands on either side of her waist, pulling her nearer. “Billy and I went house hunting over the weekend, and if you’re cool with it, we’d like to changeourlives to fit you, instead of you giving up yours to fit us.”
“I don’t know what to say?” Her eyes are shining with happy tears and she’s shaking her head as if she’s struggling to believe it. I lift a hand and brush the backs of my fingers against her smooth cheek.
“Say yes,” I whisper, moving my thumb so it brushes against her full bottom lip. “And while you’re at it, say yes to marrying me.” I reach into my pocket and pull out a velvet box, lowering to one knee in front of her while I notice the curtains shifting from the inside of the house. We have an audience.
“Ohmigod, ohmigod, ohmigod!” She bounces on her toes and flaps her hands, her face flushing deeply as it seems like maybe she’ll hyperventilate. “You’reproposing?”
“I know it’s crazy. When I asked for your mother’s approval, I thought I’d get a slap in the face. But I’m crazy about you, Penny. And I know you’re nuts about me too. We fit together like cheesecake and coffee—one of us is sweet, and the other is bitter, but together…we’re fucking perfect. And I’m not proposing we get married right away. I’m proposing that we get engaged while you’re at college, and I’mpromisingthat I’ll marry you as soon as you graduate. I want to spend my life with you, Penny Frost.”
“I want that too,” she says, sniffing as her tears fall and she holds out a shaking hand.
“Is that a yes?”
