Neither of us speaks as Randy drives. I’m so confused at the moment.

“I’m sorry,” I finally say.

He quickly glances at me and then back at the road. Snow flurries have begun to fall. “For what?”

I look down and stare at my fingers on my lap. “I think if I’d stayed home the night of my birthday party, then…”

“That’s not true, Gina. Dr. Reinhart told me there’s nothing that could’ve been done.”

“Right,” I say, only half believing him.

“It’s true, and I never took you for a quitter.”

I stare at him with my head cocked. What does he mean by that? Does he want me to try and get pregnant again? I don’t think I want that right now.

“We started this restaurant together. You want to be a chef, and hell, you have it in you to be great. Don’t let this set you back.”

I sigh, relieved that he explained without my asking. “I know.”

Again, the conversation falls silent, although Randy keeps shifting nervously in his seat.

“So how’s it going with Deanna?” I say.

He shrugs. “She’s fine, I guess.”

I stare hopelessly out at the white snowflakes whisking in front of the headlights. “Good. Then you two are still going strong.”

“What?”

I face him, and he’s grimacing like the Grinch who stole Christmas.

“Your relationship is going good,” I clarify.

“What relationship?”

“Haven’t you two been in a relationship?”

“No. What made you think that?”

I widen my eyes and shake my head. That’s a complex question he asked. I have a list of actions that made it look as if they were together, but I keep it simple. “It just looked like you were a couple.”

“Well, no. I told you, I hired her to help us get our feet off the ground. She’s back in LA.”

I rub my ear, frustrated. Is Randy that clueless? “Randy, I hate to break it to you, but she was clearly into you.”

“And I was into you.”

I straighten my posture. I did not expect him to say that.

“Gina, I was always into you. You’re beautiful.” He grins. “And feisty as hell. When you told me you were pregnant, I was just confused. Hell, I didn’t want a kid. I wanted you, but I just thought we would take our time when it came to those things.”

Wow. That was a mouthful. But I still have my doubts. He pulls into the parking lot of Sauce, and even on a cold night like this, every space is taken. However, Randy drives around to the back and parks in one of two reserved spots.

“But remember how you left after I told you?”

He turns off the engine. “I had to process. Then you told me that you never wanted to have anything to do with me. That hurt like hell. But I don’t know, things got better, didn’t they?”

I nod, smiling. “They did.”

We’re now smiling at each other.

“So how do you feel about me?” he asks.

I take a deep breath and press my lips together. My heart is swelling. “Kind of the same way you feel about me.”

“Yeah?”

I nod.

Randy leans across the seat and comes in for a kiss. My lips are warm after finally being pressed against his again. Our tongues twist, and he tugs my hair gently to expose my neck. Very indulgently, he nibbles on my flesh.

“Fuck, I missed this,” he says with a passionate sigh. “Wait here.” After he blinks to steady himself, Randy gets out of the SUV, walks around the front of the vehicle, and opens my door.

He helps me down, and once my feet are planted steadily on the cold ground, he wraps me in his arms, and we kiss again.

“Um,” he says as our mouths pull apart. “Come on. You’ve got to see this.”

Randy takes my hand and leads me to the back door. Once we’re inside, the ambiance moves over me. We walk into the kitchen, and the staff members stop what they’re doing and, one by one, clap for me. Even Randy turns to me and claps.

I don’t know whether to smile or cry—I’m so happy—so I do both. Randy continues my tour into the dining room. The tables are set beautifully. The lighting is perfect—not too light but not too dark. Our patrons are having a good time and look to be enjoying the food.

“Welcome back, Gina,” one of the waitresses says as she passes.

“Thanks,” I quickly say.

The bartender welcomes me back. As we make our way through the room, every staff member that I pass welcomes me back.

Randy leads me into one of the private patio dining spaces. Creating this was my idea. I remember how he fought me on it but eventually gave in, and here we are. There’s one round table, in the middle of the room, that holds a small cream cake with one lit candle in the middle.

Randy pulls out a chair, and I sit. He gets on one knee in front of me. My heart is thumping. I surely hope he’s not going to…

“Gina. When we first met, I knew you were going to be something special to me one day. You’re my business partner and the woman I love. In the first three months, you’ll know if most restaurants will go belly up, but we’re making it. We’ve had a full house from the day we opened. Our dinner-reservation calendar is full for the next three months.” He grins big. “We did it.”

“Yeah,” I say, smiling nervously.

“So I’m on one knee asking you to be with me as a business partner for a long time. Let’s dominate the culinary world together. What do you say about that?”

I take a long sigh of relief.

Randy laughs. “Did you think I was going to ask you to marry me?”

I take another deep breath. “Kind of, yes.”

“One day, I will. But one step at a time, right?”

“Hey, we’re in no rush.”

Randy scoots closer. “Love doesn’t have an expiration date. Now I need your answer. Let’s work on making Sauce a national success. One day we’ll be in LA…”

“New York,” I say.

“Miami.”

“And even Las Vegas!”

His eyes shine with the same enthusiasm I feel.

“Yes, I’ll do it!” I say.

Randy pumps his fist in success. “She said yes!”

Suddenly the staff walks in, clapping and singing a song. “Congratulations, partner in love and life, we’re going to make it, never fake it, let’s fight, fight, fight!”

I laugh my head off at that cheesy song but not for long. Randy lifts me to my feet, wraps me up in an embrace, and plants a kiss on me so deep that I now know what happily ever after truly means.

* * *