Page 98 of Those Summer Nights (Sweet Cravings 2)

“Can we go back to the beach now?” I asked. It didn’t matter that Rehoboth could only be until the end of summer. I’d start my restaurant anywhere with him. But I wanted to soak in as much time as possible in the place where we met.

“You’re not going back to SMU?”

“I hate California. And like you said…I don’t need a degree to start a restaurant. I’m already a great chef.”

He smiled. “You know that business degree I thought you needed? I had a lot of time to think on the way back to you and…I already have that degree. We can start a restaurant together. I can handle that side of it and you can handle all the cooking. I think we’d make quite the team.”

That was what he was excited to talk to me about. A business proposal. Not a marriage proposal. I smiled. “You want to start a restaurant with me?”

“More than anything.”

“But what about your job?”

“I quit.”

“You quit?” I was pretty sure I was beaming.

“We both know it wasn’t exactly a good fit. Besides, I wouldn’t have enough time to do both. And I was kind of hoping we could open our restaurant in Rehoboth.”

The man of my dreams wanted to start a life with me in the location of my dreams. “Are you sure you want to give up your job?” I asked.

He nodded. “Are you sure you don’t want to finish up school at SMU?”

God, yes. He was offering me a life at the beach. The restaurant of my dreams. And most importantly…he was offering me his heart. And I’d never give up on us again. I stared into his eyes. I used to think I got lost in them. But maybe I felt more found than anything. “I’m so sure.”

“Then let’s go home. After all, we still have a few more weeks of summer left.”

I smiled up at him. He was right. And all those summer nights we’d shared up until this point hadn’t been on a timer. They’d been the start of us. I’d wanted to find myself this summer. And I had. Because of him. He encouraged me instead of bringing me down. He believed in my goals as much as I did. And he loved me for me. Quirks and all.

I stood on my tiptoes and kissed him. It didn’t matter that we were in a crowded airport. Or that neither one of us had slept last night. All that mattered was that we were together.

“I love you,” he whispered against my lips.

“I love you…Jaime Jamison.”

He groaned.

“My lifeguard,” I corrected and ran my fingers along his scruff.

“Better, Jellyfish girl,” he said with a smile.

I smiled back and the aroma of summer that clung to his clothes hit me.

Kristen had been right about a lot of things. But mainly that a man’s smell was of the utmost importance. One whiff of my lifeguard and I was a gone. And now no one would ever be able to erase the smell of summer from our skin.

Epilogue

9 Months Later

“I think I made too much,” I said, looking down at the piles of spanakopita. “Is anyone even going to come? Who comes to Rehoboth in May?”

J.J. rubbed my back. “I have a feeling we’ll at least get a few customers. Let’s go open up.”

“But what if we run out of Tzatziki?” I was spiraling. Opening a restaurant was the most stressful thing in the world. Now I knew how the contestants on Project Runway felt when they only had one day to design an avant garde outfit.

“It’ll be fine. Come on, our hungry customers await.” J.J. pulled me into the dining room of the Greek Jellyfish.

I took a deep breath and was about to flip the CLOSED sign to OPEN when someone grabbed my shoulders.

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