Ezra stared at Wyatt. “Who’s in the kitchen?”
“Killian’s saying goodbye,” Wyatt explained. “It was too emotional for me. All the crying and shit.” He looked at me. “From Killian.”
Nobody believed him.
The door opened for the fifth time and when Jo squeezed in, I knew something was up. “Okay, what’s going on?” Then feeling rude, I smiled at Jo. “Hi, Jo. Welcome.”
She smiled back at me and then told Ezra to shove over. “Hello, Vera Dear.”
I couldn’t help but ask her, “What are you doing here?”
She held out her hands. “I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. You’ve talked so much about the truck, I just wanted to see it for myself.”
“Okay, something is going on.” Glaring at each of my visitors in turn, I waited for someone to confess.
They just smiled at me like dorks.
The door opened and Killian finally stepped in. Obviously, this was his doing, but I didn’t know why. Was it just a thoughtful gesture because he knew how much Foodie meant to me? I’d been bugging him all week with dramatic tears and second guesses.
Foodie had been everything to me when I needed her to be everything, but now it was time to chase after what I really wanted.
This truck had healed me. And introduced me to this man I loved so much. And for those two things I would always and forever be grateful.
But I also couldn’t wait to see what else I could do.
Killian had given his notice to Ezra the day after I’d agreed to open a restaurant with him. He’d also recommended Wyatt to replace him. Ezra had been furious of course. And he had a right to feel that way since he still had to replace the head chef at Bianca too. Eventually Killian had convinced him it was for the better or at least that they should still be friends despite Killian’s abandonment.
We’d all been a little surprised when Ezra had agreed to let Wyatt take over though. It showed just how much Ezra trusted Killian after all. Even if Wyatt wasn’t totally convinced yet. Killian had spent the last two months training Wyatt in all things Executive Chef. Yesterday was Killian’s last official day at Lilou, although he had to tie up all the loose ends today.
Tomorrow we would officially be self-employed.
It was awesome.
And scary as hell!
Killian squeezed through the sea of surprise guests so he could stand by me in the middle of everyone. The second he walked in the door our gazes locked. I watched him as he moved, reading the excitement and worry on his face, reaching for him as soon as he was close to me.
God, I loved this man.
“Hey.”
He bent down to drop a quick kiss on my lips. “Hey.”
“You invited a lot of people to a very small space,” I told him.
“How do you know I invited them?”
I looked at our friends. “Because it would be weird if they just showed up.”
He smiled at me, his green eyes sparking with fire and love. He held up one of my cardboard to go boxes. I wondered when he’d grabbed that since I’d cleared the excess equipment two weeks ago. “I made you something.”
I stared at the closed box in his hand. The light glinted off the shiny cardboard. “You made me something?”
He shrugged, that one shoulder lifting and lowering with careless ease. “Kind of a last hoorah in the Lilou kitchen.”
A tingle of anticipation zinged up my spine. “Thank you?”
He held the box out for me to take it. “I need your advice, though.”
My eyes slid to Molly, but she gave nothing away but a huge, dopey smile. “About what?”
He leaned forward, our foreheads almost touching. “The flavor.”
I took the box from him with trembling hands. My mind couldn’t seem to make coherent thoughts. There was a part of my brain that suspected what was happening, but mostly I was numb with excitement and hope.
Opening the lid, I gasped, sucking in a sharp, needed breath of air. A glittering diamond ring winked at me from the inside, not food. He didn’t need my opinion on salt! That liar!
I looked up at Killian, the box violently shaking in my hands now as I tried not to pop.
Killian’s expression was filled with the kind of hope that cut straight through me, that settled in the air like a tangible, permanent thing. “I have another idea of something we can do together,” he said.
“Yes,” I whispered, my voice choked with emotion. “Yes, to everything.”
He cradled my face in those familiar, strong hands. “And I love you?”
“And I love you,” I whispered, my voice thick with emotion.
Our friends cheered and clapped, and a champagne cork popped while he swooped down to seal my answer with a kiss. Happy tears tracked down my cheeks as I struggled to kiss him through my smile.
It wasn’t easy! I wanted to do both things, but the smiling was winning.
He pulled back just enough to take the ring from inside the box and my trembling left hand. He slid it on my ring finger, unable to hide the quiver in his own hands. Once it was in place, I stared at it in awe for a long, heart-fluttering minute, then he kissed me again.
“You all knew!” I accused once we’d remembered there were witnesses and we could save the fun stuff for later. I pointed at Wyatt who was recording us with his phone. “Unbelievable!” I turned to Molly. “And you! No head’s up? You could have at least warned me to dress cute!” I patted my face. “Or wear makeup!”
“You’re beautiful,” Killian murmured, his face dipped close to mine as if he couldn’t pull away. “Always.”
I blinked away a fresh wave of tears, repeating, “I love you.”
He smiled, that full smile that was cocky and confident and adoring and everything I loved. “I love you too, chef.”
We celebrated with our loved ones long into the late hours Killian and I were so comfortable with. We made the truck home for one last memorable night, laughing and talking and planning futures that would be spent together.
And when our friends and family went home, Killian and I stayed, talking about our future together both as a married couple and as business partners. We shared hopes and fears. We laughed and held each other and then we came together on the floor of the truck unable to stay apart for a second longer.
Killian took me home on the back of his bike. I wrapped my arms around him, knowing he was everything I didn’t know I wanted. He was the opposite of my plans. He was the opposite of the kind of guy I thought I wanted.
But he was everything I needed.
Thank you for reading The Opposite of You! I hope you enjoyed Killian and Vera as much as I enjoyed writing them!
The second book in the Opposites Attract Series, The Difference Between Us, is coming this July. Each book is a standalone romance following a different couple! Keep reading to find out more about Molly Maverick and Ezra Baptiste.
The Difference Between Us coming July, 2017!
I’m cursed.
At least when it comes to finding Mr. Right.