Love Arranged (Lakefront Billionaires, #3)(120)

“What do you mean?”

“We want our kids to relate to their grandpa’s most important lesson too, right?”

My stomach flips. “A bit presumptuous of you to think these hypothetical children would take your last name.”

He grins. “It doesn’t matter if they share yours or mine, so long as the kids are ours.”

I sniffle, fighting against the tears building in my eyes. “How did you pull this off?”

He rubs the back of his neck. “An unhealthy amount of caffeine, working odd hours based on your schedule, and Manny.”

I shake my head in disbelief. “What did you offer him?”

He makes a face but is quick to smooth it out. “A weekend with my GNX.”

“Am I supposed to know what that is?”

Lorenzo looks at me like he might no longer want to be engaged to me. “It’s a car, Lily.”

“Wow. I never thought I’d see the day where you finally let him behind the wheel of one of yours.”

His gaze drops for a second. “I’m working on it with Doctor Martin.”

I hit him with an approving smile. “I’m proud of you, you know?”

“What for?”

“Investing in yourself for a change. You’ve spent so much time and money helping everyone else, and while that is fantastic, it’s nice to see you prioritize your needs too. Life is about balance, and I can see you working to find yours.”

Lorenzo blushes, and the sight of his rosy cheeks is glorious. He doesn’t let me enjoy it for long because he disappears, only to return with a small drawstring bag.

I pause. “What’s that?”

His smile is suspicious. “Open it and find out.”

My fingers are shaking as I reach for the bag and am surprised by the weight of it. No longer able to hold off, I slip my hand inside and pull out a gold coin.

I stare at it, my eyes wide as it catches the light.

“You got me…coins?” I close my eyes because I can’t cry twice in five minutes.

“I know this is something special you had with your dad, and I’m not trying to take anything away from that or replace his memory. I just know how important he is to you, and if this helps you feel connected to him…” He rubs the back of his neck. “And now I’m overthinking everything and wondering if I overstepped—”

If him being more vocal about his anxiety wasn’t reason enough to hug him, then him wanting me to have coins to make wishes is.

I throw my arms around him and kiss both of his cheeks before I press my mouth to his. “Thank you. For the garden and for the coins.”

He wraps his arms around me. “I know you said you wasted your last wish…”

“Yeah, I did say that, but it turns out he wasn’t the wrong guy after all.”

“No?” His grin is infectious, and I match it with my own.

“No. It took him a while, but he came around eventually.”

“Thank God he did, or else he would’ve missed out on being with the love of his life.”

My insides melt. “I like the sound of that.”

“Better than my future wife?” He reaches for my left hand and brushes his mouth over my knuckles.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself now,” I tease.

“Are you kidding? We have our sixty-year plan to get started on.”

“Our sixty-year plan?”

“Yeah. Thirty years isn’t nearly enough time together—don’t you agree?” His smile is infectious, and I return it with one of my own.

“Why stop at sixty years when you can have forever?”

“I always knew you were smarter than me.” His smile is infectious, and I return it with one of my own as I wind my arms around his neck and seal our new arrangement with a kiss.

A passionate kiss that promises a future full of wishes, dreams, and maybe if we’re lucky, a family to call our own.





CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX


Lorenzo


After two years of meticulous planning, it is hard to believe that election day is finally here. The November date on my calendar has always been a deadline I was looking forward to, but now that it is finally here, I’m dreading the day from the moment my alarm clock goes off.

The last couple of weeks have been a blur of campaign events, strategy meetings, therapy sessions, and dates with Lily, so time passed by quickly.

Today everything seems to be moving at a snail’s pace.

Besides the high school where voting will occur, the town is pretty much shut down for the day since people either need to cast their vote for mayor, watch their kids since school is canceled, or volunteer to man the voting booths.

I plan on dropping by Wisteria High later to vote, but this morning I keep to my routine by meeting with Doctor Martin at ten a.m. Therapy still sucks, but at least it is starting to suck a little less now that we’ve moved on from discussing my deceased parents and narcissistic, emotionally abusive uncle.

My compulsions are still a problem, but I’m working harder to combat the obsessive thoughts with Doctor Martin’s help. Lily and I even attended another cooking class, and I managed a few bites of my food this time, although I still struggled mentally.

But progress, however small, is still progress, so I’ll take it.