Finding You

by Stella Rainbow

  I covered my mouth with my palm as a gasp escaped me and tears gathered in my eyes. I’d known Scott loved me but I had not expected this. At all.

  “I know we’ve had some hurdles in the past and we’ll probably have many in the future too, but I’m ready to fight through them together if you are. I promise to always be there for you and to do my best to make sure you’re always happy. I want to spend forever with you.” Scott took a deep breath, looked into my eyes and then asked the question, “Luke Smith, will you marry me? Will you be my husband?”

  I took a deep breath and tried to get my emotions under control because Scott deserved more than a whispered yes. When I knew I wasn’t about to burst into tears, I grabbed his hand—the one that was holding the ring out to me—into both of mine. “Scott, this past year has been the best year of my life and it’s all because of you. I can’t imagine my life without you. I’d love to do all those things with you and more for the rest of our lives. You’re my safe space, my home and I never ever want to let you go. I promise to always be there for you too. I promise to bake you your favorite cookies when you’re down. I promise to love you with all of me for the rest of our lives. Scott Riley, it’d be my pleasure to call you my husband.”

  The tears were trailing down my cheeks by now and I’d never been happier. I steadied my hand and waited as he put the ring on my finger before he stood up and pulled me closer. I pressed myself against him, holding on tight as I buried my face in the crook of his neck. It had been a long, painful journey, but I’d finally found the person made just for me. I’d finally found my soulmate, my best friend, my fiance. And I was never letting him go.

  Hey Lovely!

  Thank you so much for picking up and reading Finding You! I really hope you enjoyed reading the book and loved Luke, Scott and Tressa as much as I did.

  It’d really help me out if you could drop by on Amazon and Goodreads and leave a short review for the book once you’re done reading. That way, other readers can decide whether Finding You would be a good pick for them.

  If you’d like to stay in touch with me and read teasers and excerpts from Finding Me while I write it, don’t forget to join my group on Facebook, Stella’s Stargazers. I’ll be looking forward to interacting with you!

  Cheers,

  Stella.

  Keep reading for a sneak peek into Book 2 of the Voice Out series, Finding Me!

  Is the guy who keeps coming into Brady’s coffee shop really a homophobic creep? Or is it just someone who wants to ask Brady out but doesn’t know how to?

  Check out Stella’s website and subscribe to updates if you’d like to be the first to know when Finding Me releases!

  1 | Brady

  My eyes narrowed as I watched Dane, the new part-time Barista snap at Mrs.Galloway, one of my oldest and sweetest customers. I should’ve known hiring someone who wasn’t a part of the Voice Out family would be a bad idea. If it hadn’t been for the fact that Dane was Kasey’s cousin, I never would have given him the job. But even so, a connection to one of my best Baristas would only get him so far.

  I walked over to him and tapped his shoulder as he was in the process of preparing Mrs.Galloway’s order. He turned around to face me, a pleasant smile on his face as if he could fool me. “Yes, boss?”

  “Go wait in my office, please. I need to talk to you.”

  His eyes widened before he shrugged his shoulders and left his spot to walk into the tiny office at the back of the cafe. If I hadn’t already decided to give him his last warning, that would’ve finalized it. You never leave your post with an open order, even if it was the boss calling.

  I gave Mrs.G a smile and listened to her cheerful chatter as I put together her box of cookies. Once she’d made the payment with her usual promise of coming back next week, I made my way to my office and found Dane sitting in the visitor’s chair, tapping his foot on the floor impatiently.

  He looked up as I came into the room, but I ignored him and walked around the desk, leaning my hip against it so I was facing him. Being barely five foot three inches in height, I’d always had to make sure I had a presence so people noticed me and once I’d discovered the kind of clothing I liked, it had been an easy feat. But my looks also meant that sometime, people mistook me for a flaunty twink and though I was a flaunty, glitter loving twink, that wasn’t all I was. And people, especially guys like Dave, needed to see that. I stared at him impassively, cataloging each of his twitches and waited.

  One.

  Two.

  Three.

  “What’s wrong, boss?” And he broke the silence.

  “Dane, I’d like you to remember that the only reason you have this job is because I adore Kasey. But I’ve just about had it with you treating my customers like shit because you don’t have your own shit sorted. Remember that these customers pay you. The tips you get from them will help you more than what you earn as a salary. And if I find you treating anyone, staff or customer, with anything but the utmost respect, you’re gone. Am I clear?”

  Dane opened his mouth and I could see that he was about to justify his actions with some shitty excuse so I raised up my hand to stop him from speaking. “I need a yes or a no, Dane. Nothing else.”

  He stared at me for a few seconds before sinking back in his seat. “Yes, I understand.”

  “Good. Now, get back to work, please.”

  Once he was out of the room, I relaxed and shook off the tension in my shoulders. I fucking hated acting stern and professional like that, but it was a requirement when running a successful business as I was, so it wasn’t like I could avoid it. After taking a few deep breaths to center myself, I left my office and headed back into the cafe. Despite being a decent baker, my favorite part of the job was working behind the counter and interacting with my customers. Talking to people, even if it was just a few pleasantries exchanged, fulfilled me in a way nothing else did.

  That, along with my drive to help others had first led me to the doors of Voice Out three years ago, and now it was as much a part of my life as Bean Yourself was. Talking to all those kids and helping them out in whatever way I could made me feel like I could do something, make a difference for someone.

  Add to it the fact that I’d made so many close friends through the NGO over the years and I couldn’t imagine a life where I wasn’t a proud member of Voice Out.

  “Boss, the stalker is back,” Kasey whispered to me as I stepped in beside her. I turned to look at the table he usually occupied and there he was. The man had been showing up at the cafe for the past week. He’d come, get a coffee and then sit at that table for hours. Now, that in itself wasn’t anything unusual, but a) He had no laptop or phone or anything that could possibly hold his attention for so long and b) I could swear it on my life that every time I turned around, he was staring right at me.

  When I’d told Luke—one of my best friends—about him, he’d said that the man could be a homophobe looking to hurt me and that I should be careful. But I’d spent a week trying to figure the man out, and nothing about him screamed homophobe or danger.

  With his baby blue eyes that he always kept lowered unless he was watching me, brown curls that framed his face in a mess of waves and a nicely trimmed beard, he looked everything but threatening.

  His good looks did not give him the permission to gawk at me, though, and I’d had enough of him watching me like a creep. This needed to end now.

  “Gimme a minute,” I told Kasey and headed toward the table. I heard her mumble something that sounded a lot like “run, idiot, run,” but I ignored her as I reached the table.

  The man looked up at me and his eyes widened when he realized who it was. Placing my palms on the table, I leaned forward and made sure he met my eyes as I spoke, “Alright, I’ve had enough. You have five minutes to explain what the fuck you think you’re doing by watching me for the past week. Are you waiting for me to walk into some dark alley so you can fuck me over for being gay or are you trying to build up the courage to ask
me out? Honestly, you don’t look like the second type but you also don’t look like the first type, so what do you want, exactly?”

  He opened his mouth as if he was about to say something but then snapped it shut. His cheeks flushed pink and he looked kinda adorable as he scratched his beard. “Holy shit, I’m so sorry. I didn’t even realize what I was doing or how it’d look like to you. God, I…” He trailed off, unsure how to continue but I could see the sincerity in his eyes, so I softened my stance and gave him a smile, switching into Volunteer-Brady mode.

  “Okay, so I’m going to go back there and get you a tea and a slice of my best chocolate pastry and then you’re going to tell me whatever it is that made you come here, okay?”

  The man nodded immediately, his shoulders slumping in relief as he returned my smile.

  “Stay here. And by the way, my name’s Brady Knight,” I told him, extending my hand.

  He shook it with a firm grip as he spoke, “Charles De Luca.”

  I walked back to the counter and set up a tray for us. I’d worked with a lot of people over the years, and I prided myself on being able to judge whether a person could be believed or not. And my instinct told me that I needed to hear Charles out. Maybe, he had a story to tell. And if he did, I’d only be too happy to listen to it.

  Stella Rainbow

  Stella Rainbow is the pen name of a twenty-something woman from India. Her heart is too full of rainbow colored stories to be limited by the lack of awareness in her home country.

  Stella spends her days cuddling up with her cat, typing out new stories, daydreaming and reading all the books she can get her hands on.

  She loves talking to her readers and other book lovers, so don’t hesitate in contacting her on any of her socials or emailing her at authorstellarainbow@gmail.com

  Check out her website and subscribe if you’d like to stay up to date with her newest releases:

  https://authorstellarainbow.wordpress.com

  Twitter: @AuthorStellaR

  Instagram: @authorstellarainbow

  Facebook Page: Stella Rainbow

  Join Stella’s Group on Facebook for exclusive teasers, excerpts, giveaways and much more: Stella’s Stargazers