* * *
I open the door to the coffee shop, scanning the room for Archer. He’s camped out in the corner, typing away on his laptop. Two steaming mugs sit on opposite ends of the small table.
“House roast, black. Right?” he asks as he gestures me into the other chair.
“That’s exactly right. Thanks.” I’m impressed he knows my order and consider it a good sign that he bought my drink. I slide into the chair, still confident that leaving Edge is the right decision, but curious as to what’s on Archer’s mind.
He closes his laptop, and his attention shoots squarely to me. “We didn’t get a chance to finish our chat Friday night, but I’m glad I’ve had the time to think through things a bit more.”
“I’m just glad you still want to speak to me,” I say, half joking, sitting up a little straighter.
He smiles, but his focus remains locked in. “I know you’re starting to branch out and do your own thing, and I respect that, but ownership had some exciting new developments to share during our camping retreat, and I’d like you to hear me out.”
“I’m listening,” I say.
“We’re opening two new spaces in the city, with additional plans to expand up the coast. These won’t be nightclubs—they’re going to be event spaces. Weddings, corporate events, birthdays, and such.”
Archer pauses to drum his fingers on the table. “What would you say to a contract position helping our company oversee bookings, communicating with clients, and organizing and staffing events? I speak for the owners when I say we’d be thrilled to have an exciting new start-up company under contract to help us manage these additional venues. In short, I want to know what I can do to make Edge Events a client of your new company.”
I part my lips to speak, but I’m not entirely sure what to say. I’m floored. I take a drink of my coffee, digesting this unexpected offer. It’s awesome, the chance to grow my business. Plus, the gig sounds like a ton of fun. But the best part is that Archer knows how I feel about London, and he still came to me with a work opportunity.
I look at my soon-to-be former boss, and my career worldview all clicks into place, and I see what I couldn’t see before. Tracy and her father burned me, but that family isn’t every family. Archer and I have a working relationship built on professional trust.
My love for London isn’t at odds with my career goals. It can live right alongside them. Hell, my relationship with the Hollis family is enhanced because we share the same passions.
I draw in a breath. “All Night Entertainment would love to be in business with you. It sounds like an exciting chance. I’m extremely grateful for the offer, Archer.”
“That’s great news. We’ll get a timeline organized and shoot you a contract by the end of the week. Sound good?”
“Sounds great,” I say, extending my hand to shake. “Thank you.” But as the words leave my mouth, they don’t feel like they’re enough. I search for what I really want to say, finding it in my heart. “Seriously, Archer. This opportunity rocks. I’m not sure I deserved this chance after leaving Edge, but I promise I’ll make the most of it.”
“You bet on yourself, Teddy. That’s always a strong play.”
But that’s not all I need to come clean about. I spent the better part of two weeks trying to have my cake and eat it too. Least I can do is let the guy know how much I appreciate his outlook, but also how much I intend to do right by his sister. “I’m also happy you’re being so chill about my dating London. I intend to treat her like she means the world to me, because she does.”
“I hope so,” Archer says, turning intense. “Because London may be a strong, independent woman who knows her own mind, but she’s also my little sister. So if you hurt her—cheat on her, lie to her, forget her birthday—I will end you. Understood?”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” I say as I sip my coffee, slightly afraid of Archer, but mostly thrilled that London has this kind of love in her life already.
* * *
That evening, London and I go on a date to the Greek Theatre, an intimate outdoor music venue nestled in the trees in Griffith Park. As the night winds down, the two of us drunk on music, holding hands under a blanket, getting lost in the stars, Ben Folds plays one of his signature hits, “The Luckiest.” I look over at London, and we share a knowing smile.
I flash back to the moment in the market when we heard this number. To when I wondered if I’d have a chance to tell her my philosophy about song timelines.
Now is that chance.
“Did I ever tell you my theory about certain songs?”
“You didn’t, but I’m dying to know.”
“Sometimes you need to hear a tune one more time and then—boom. It feels brand-new again. Tonight is that night for this song.”
“Are you feeling lucky?” she asks, a little flirty, a lot happy.
“No,” I say. “I’m feeling the luckiest.”
Her grin melts me as she leans in and drops a kiss onto my lips. “What do you know? I feel the exact same way.”
I squeeze her a little tighter and nuzzle into her. “I also feel like he wrote this song for us,” I whisper to London.
“Maybe he did.”
I gently kiss her right behind the ear.
Just the way I did on our first date.
Only this time, it won’t be our last.
It’ll be the first of many.
Countless, I hope.
38
From the Woman Power Trio, aka the text messages of London and her two besties, Olive and Emery
London: *sends pic of Mr. Darcy sitting on top of a stack of moving boxes*
Olive: Moving in with Awesome Boyfriend Day. That’s the best kind of moving day.
Emery: Yay! So happy for you. I knew he was the one—not just the dog, but the guy. I read enough scripts to know when the storyline is perfect.
Olive: Maybe their romance will become a book, and then we can listen to the Pegasus regale us with the tale of their courtship.
London: And Emery can sell it to Hollywood.
Emery: Dreams do come true! Especially since London found a man who gets all her beautiful sides.
Olive: It’s true. He gets her science-geek side and her dance-nerd side.
Emery: And her obsession-with-ice-cream side.
London: He gets my dog fixation too.
Olive: We all do, London. We all do.
Epilogue
Six months later
I look good.
Suit, tie, button-down.
Ready to rock it at Temple Israel later today.
After one last glance in the bedroom mirror, I head into the living room dressed for a Saturday afternoon gig. London is curled up with a magazine on the couch, bookended by two fur babies nestled against her thighs.
Those lucky dogs.
I’d be jealous if I didn’t have the same access to her.
But I do, so I don’t mind sharing with the two pooches I love.
Her eyes sparkle as I enter the room. “Ooh, look at you and your sexy tie.”
“Thank you,” I say, showing off my look with a spin. “B’nai mitzvah today. Figure two twin boys becoming men is a tie-worthy celebration.”
“Well, you look scrumptious.”
“Thanks, Lucky. What do you have on tap today?”
“I’m taking these two over to the dog run in a bit. Then, the Burlesque Brunch show I choreographed has two sold-out seatings, so I’m going to run downtown and check them out. Make sure everything looks good.”
I grab my phone and keys then head to the couch to give Bowie a high five and Mr. Darcy some scratches.
“Do you need a ride downtown?” I ask. “After I set up, I can come home and give you a lift if you’d like.”
“Nope. I’m good,” London says with a smile. “I’ll take the train. My boyfriend introduced me to the joys of public transit.”
“He sounds like a cool guy.”
“He’s all right,” s
he says, smiling. “Besides, this will give me a chance to look over my notes for André Davies’s music video shoot.”
“From the little I’ve seen, you’re going to blow them away. Like you always do. Like you did with the show at Edge,” I say, since her choreography has turned out to be a huge boon to business. Archer and the partners have been thrilled. I bend down to give her a kiss. “See you tonight, then.”
“Mmm,” she moans lightly, sending sparks all over my skin. “Indian food and MythBusters?” she asks as I head to the door.
That sounds like a perfect evening. “Sexiest Saturday ever.”
“It will be if you don’t lose that tie. I have plans for that tie. The tie-me-up kind of plans.”
Yup, great sex—I’m having it.
Leave it to London to make perfect even better.
Another Epilogue
One year later
It’s a picture-perfect Saturday with my woman and our pooches at the dog park. The park is full of the usual weekend crowd, four-legged friends playing in packs while their owners sip coffee or toss tennis balls. This has become a regular highlight of our week.
Only, this morning should be a little out of the ordinary. In a good way, I hope.
In the corner of the park, London gives Mr. Darcy some well-deserved belly rubs, and I scratch Bowie behind the ear to divert his attention from a squirrel in a nearby tree. Petting him has always settled my nerves, and I could use that calm right now.
I steal a glance at London, who’s cooing at her favorite little guy. Her love of dogs is yet another thing I adore about the woman of my dreams.
There are so many reasons I love her, and that’s why it’s time.
Today.
Now.
One more calming breath and I pull the custom-made hedgehog from my hoodie pocket and place it in my pup’s mouth.
He truly is man’s best friend. “David Bowie, go show London the hedgie,” I tell my boy.
Like a dog who’s rehearsed this dozens of times, he takes off across the park, rapidly closing the distance to London.
No going back now. But I don’t want to go back. With London, the only direction is forward.
I follow the dog, my eyes fixed on my favorite person, the woman who’s had my heart for more than a year now.
Bowie reaches London where she’s crouched down next to Mr. Darcy, and nudges her elbow with his nose. I take my time making my way over as my pittie sets the hedgie at her feet.
Good boy.
“Aww, Bowie. You brought hedgie to the run today,” London says as she picks up the toy. She turns it over, and her eyes land on the large words embroidered on the stuffed animal’s chest.
Her lips part.
Even from a few feet away, I hear her breath catch.
She mouths the simple two-word question that could change both of our lives. Marry me?
She stands and meets my gaze. My heart pounding wildly, my fingers tingling, I take one more step then drop to a knee. I don’t care if anyone else at the dog park is watching us. At this moment—hell, in every moment since I’ve met her—the only thing I care about is London.
I speak from the heart—words I haven’t written down, born of the feelings that have been running through my mind and soul for months now.
“London Hollis, before I met you, I was focused on my career and assumed that relationships would need to take a back seat for a while. Then I saw you air-guitaring by the bar at the club, and I swear, it was like my focus narrowed to only you, and everything else vanished.”
She smiles, and her grin has a life of its own, bursting with emotion. “I remember that night perfectly.”
“When I went home, I thought about you all night long. Everything we said to each other. Everything I wished I’d said. Then I saw you at the dog park the next day, and I stopped thinking about how to get lucky and started to feel like maybe I just was lucky. Seeing you again. Talking to you. Nerding out over Jane Austen and 90210, rocking from the 1790s to the 1990s.”
“Best dog-park visit ever,” she says, her eyes shining with tears.
“It was. Even our dogs liked each other. I love all the things we have in common, but this connection is more than that. You’re the most genuine person I’ve ever met. I admire your passion and dedication to your work. I appreciate the way you listen to me, and I adore the way you care for those dearest to you, humans and animals alike. And every day I’ve spent with you since the first time we talked, right on this spot, has been the best day of my life.”
Her bottom lip quivers, and her hand flies to her mouth. Her reaction spurs me on.
“So now, here I am, at the scene of the Best Dog Park Visit Ever, asking if you’ll give me a lifetime to continue getting to know you. What do you say? I don’t want to get lucky. I want to have Lucky. Forever. Will you marry me?”
Tears slip down her cheeks as her grin spreads even farther. “Yes, Teddy Lockhart. I would love to marry you.”
She drops to her knees, throws her arms around my neck, and plants a fantastic kiss on my lips.
One I will remember for the rest of my life.
But I don’t linger, because I have a ring to put on her finger. I dig into my pocket and pull out a small velvet box. We stand as I lift the lid of the ring box. London takes one look at the diamond, then locks eyes with me. “It’s so gorgeous.”
“So are you.” I slide the solitaire on her finger then give her a second or two to stare at it.
Or maybe gawk is a better term, and her reaction makes me so damn happy.
“I love this ring, but I love you more, and I love what this means. I can’t wait to be married.”
“I can’t either.”
I cup her cheek and kiss my fiancée—a kiss that lingers until finally we’re interrupted by other tongues. Dog tongues, licking our legs.
We laugh, then I look once more at the woman who’s going to be my wife, and I grin like the happiest guy ever.
Since I am.
Standing here now, with London in my arms and our dogs by our side, I have one final theory.
I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.
THE END
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