EPILOGUE

One week later, Grady found himself back at the Youth Center, but he wasn’t exactly going reluctantly anymore. Grady Sinclair was throwing a party, and he was actually the host. He’d had very little time to arrange it, but he’d pulled off a pretty decent New Year’s Eve bash.

The party was in full swing, the band he’d hired filling the hall with music that had most of the folks of Amesport out on the makeshift dance floor.

He smiled as he watched Emily hugging her parents and laughing. God, she made him happy, and he felt every possessive instinct in his body stand at attention when he saw the flash of his ring on her finger, almost unable to believe she was really his.

Her mom and dad had been surprised when Grady’s private jet had picked them up at the airport, but they had taken everything in stride. They’d come to meet him and attend the party to make their daughter happy. Really, Grady thought that was pretty extraordinary. Maybe it was normal behavior for loving parents, but normal was something he’d never experienced with his own mother and father.

Honestly, his childhood had been fucked up, but Emily made up for all that and more. If he had to do it again just to find his way to her, he’d do it in a heartbeat. He’d moved to Amesport to finally try to find some peace. Since he’d already owned property on the peninsula, he’d thought the small town would be the perfect place to avoid people. But he realized that real happiness couldn’t be found in a location. His real joy was Emily, and he was quickly realizing that all people were not like his father, that he really didn’t need to isolate himself. He might never be a social animal, but he wasn’t afraid of people anymore. Emily loved him. If she could accept him, maybe others could as well.

Grady’s eyes strayed to the other side of the room, watching his siblings all gathered together, looking like they were actually enjoying the party, maybe because it had brought them all together again. Hope had come from Aspen, minus her loser boyfriend, and his brothers Evan, Dante, and Jared had all arrived together a short time ago. Even Jason had showed up, claiming he had nothing better to do for New Year’s Eve.

Grady’s eyes narrowed on Dante, noticing how exhausted his brother looked. Dante, a year younger than Grady, had taken his own path after he’d left the Sinclair home when he was eighteen. He’d gone to college for a criminal justice degree, joining the police force in Los Angeles, quickly and aggressively moving up the ranks to become a homicide detective. Was he happy? Grady noticed the dark circles under Dante’s eyes, and the weary expression on his face. Maybe Dante had just been working crazy hours lately, but Grady had a feeling that Dante probably looked exactly the same most of the time. How could he not? Dante worked homicide in the worst district in Los Angeles for murders, many of them gang related. That kind of job had to eventually take its toll on a cop.

His wayward thoughts were interrupted as Emily came toward him, her hips swaying in a red cocktail dress that he really thought should be illegal. It clung to her curves and exposed more skin than he thought she should be showing, but she looked so incredibly hot that he was hard the instant she smiled at him.

“I still can’t believe you arranged all this. God, you look gorgeous in a tuxedo.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and planted a soft kiss on his lips. “You’re amazing, Mr. Sinclair.”

Grady raised a brow at her, knowing a challenge when he was confronted with it. “I thought I told you that I’d make you pay for calling me that. There’s a lot of Sinclairs. I want to be special.”

“You never told me exactly how that punishment would work.” She’d moved closer, talking to him in her fuck-me voice, right next to his ear. “I might like it.”

Okay . . . the party had been a great idea, and it had made his woman happy, but he was ready to take her home now. “I’ll show you when we get home.” Thank God all of his siblings had their own places.

“Hope apologized. Poor thing. She was mortified when she heard what happened. You shouldn’t have told her,” Emily scolded lightly. “I like her. I like all of your family.”

“It seems strange, all of us together again.” Grady wrapped his arms around Emily’s waist. “I missed them.”

“Maybe they can stay for a while,” Emily said hopefully.

“Don’t get your hopes up,” Grady warned her with a frown. “It’s a miracle that we’re just all in the same place right now.”

“One minute to midnight,” a happy male voice pronounced loudly, making himself heard over the music.

Grady snagged two glasses of champagne from a nearby table and brought one to Emily. His siblings, Jason, and Emily’s parents all gathered around them, and Grady’s heart felt as full as it could possibly get. He was here with the woman he loved, all of their family around them. It just didn’t get any better than this.

“I can’t wait until later,” Emily whispered into his ear in sultry voice.

Okay . . . maybe it could get better later, but he was still pretty damned contented.

“Are you tipsy?” he asked Emily with a smile. She’d told him earlier that she got a little wild when she drank, so he’d made damn sure her glass was full all evening.

“Maybe just a tiny bit,” she admitted, holding up her index and thumb with a fair amount of space in between.

“Five.”

“Four.”

“Three.”

“Two.”

“One.”

The entire hall exploded with cheers, the New Year being properly greeted by the people of Amesport.

After Emily had hugged everyone in the family and bussed them all on the cheek, she grabbed Grady’s hand and tugged him onto the dance floor. “Dance with me,” she insisted, throwing her slightly intoxicated self into his arms without inhibition.

Grady swooped her up into his arms, letting her feet float slowly back down to the floor. “Happy New Year, angel.”

“Happy New Year, love,” she answered, her eyes glowing with happiness. “Tell me your New Year’s wishes and I’ll make them all come true,” she told him with conviction.

Grady smiled down at her. “I wish that you would love me forever.”

She smacked him playfully on the arm before letting him swing her into a dance to “Auld Lang Syne.” “You already have that. Think of something else.”

“Impossible, angel. You already made anything I could wish for come true.”

Her eyes started to shine with unshed tears. “I love you, Grady.”

He pulled her closer and whispered into her ear, “I love you too. Thank you for giving me back the holidays. What’s your New Year’s wish?” He wanted desperately to give Emily anything she wished for and more.

“I wish that you would kiss me,” she answered simply.

“I’m a billionaire, and that’s the only thing you wish for?” He smirked, but his heart was secretly singing.

“It’s what I want. You told me you’d try to give me anything I wanted,” she told him in a mischievous voice, tossing his own words back at him.

“Anything you want, sweetheart,” he answered, his voice amused.

Two seconds later, Grady had Emily bent over his arm, and he made damn sure that he gave her the sweetest, most passionate New Year’s kiss she’d ever had.

~THE END~