I wake up to the smell of bacon cooking in the kitchen. I stretch my arms above my head as I roll over onto my back. I smile at the memories of last night. Makeup sex with Easton is definitely worth the fights. Maybe deep down I just wanted to be mad at Easton because I knew what the outcome would be. No holds barred sex. And if it continues to be this way I might just need to find a way to be mad at him more often.

“What’s that grin on your face for?”

I look up and just about start drooling. Easton is standing in my bedroom door completely naked holding two plates of food in his hands. His defined muscles covered in a light sheen of sweat from the heat of the kitchen.

My grin turns into a huge smile. “You.”

He walks toward me and sets the plates down on the nightstand next to the bed. “And why is that?”

“Because I’m still mad at you.”

He folds his arms over his chest, “Oh really? I thought those, how many was it?” He counts on his fingers, “I think that was six orgasms last night didn’t prove to you I was sorry?”

A blush begins to take over my cheeks, six glorious orgasms was quite adequate, but I figure pressing his buttons would be more fun. I press my lips together and shrug.

Easton jumps on the bed, straddling me, his dick getting harder by the second. “Really? Six wasn’t enough? You are a tough girl to please.”

He trails his fingers up and down my arms, sending heat right to the apex of my thighs. I try to reach for him, but he keeps my arms pinned down as he leans into my neck. His hot tongue leads a trail up to my ear. “Maybe I do have one more in store for you.”

I let out a groan, anxious to see what he plans to do but my groan quickly turns into a screech as he tickles my sides. I am beyond ticklish and this is pure torture for me. I try to kick him away which just makes him tickle me more. I try to yell out stop, but I’m laughing to tears. One of his hands makes it to my feet while the other stays at my belly. I nearly kick him in the face trying to get free when Poe comes running in and jumps on the bed. He starts barking like crazy and jumping between the two of us. Just as Easton settles down, Poe jumps off the bed and puts his face right into our breakfast.

“Poe!”

He takes off in a sprint leaving us alone in the bedroom with no breakfast. Easton reaches over and grabs the one piece of bacon Poe managed to miss. “Peace offering?”

I snatch the bacon out of his hand and shove it into my mouth. “Fine. I forgive you.”

He smiles at me, barring his beautiful white teeth, a smile like I haven’t seen before. His eyes crinkle at the corners and there is a depth of emotion coming from them that scares the shit out of me. I wouldn’t call it love but it’s definitely the look of falling and that’s on a level I cannot deal with right now. I do my best to change the subject as smoothly as possible.

“Thanks for breakfast. I’m sure it was delicious. But that damn dog. I swear he acts like a sweet little pupples and the next he’s the devil incarnate.”

I watch as the grin on his face lets up a little. “Pupples?”

I smooth out a section of the blanket with my hand, a smile at my lips. “That’s what I used to call Poe when he was a puppy. It stuck because I still call him that sometimes.”

Easton grabs my hand that keeps smoothing out the blanket. “When did you get him?”

I swipe a piece of loose hair behind my ear. “Right after Drew and I moved to Chicago. He started his new job, the reason we moved out to Chicago after we got married, and I was still looking for work. He worked all the time and I was lonely. I had volunteered at a shelter and I met Poe and we fell in love.”

I look up at Easton and continue, “Drew wasn’t happy when he came home to a dog in the house. And I understood, we didn’t discuss it and we discussed all major decisions. I guess I went behind his back, as he put it. In all fairness, at least he was trained! It’s not like I brought home a dog that was shitting all over the carpeting.”

“So why did he keep the dog when you guys separated? It seems he was never too fond of Poe.”

I shake my head. “He wasn’t. And he was just being a dick. When I say we discussed all major decisions I mean we did talk but we always went with his choice.” Anger starts to well up in my veins as I think back on our relationship. “God I was such an idiot with him. I just dealt with it for so long it felt so normal for me to just step back and let him lead the way. My opinion didn’t really matter that much.”

Easton grabbed my chin and forced me to look up at him. “Don’t sell yourself short, Harper.”

I sigh and lean my head into my knees, shaking my head. “One of the most fucked up things is that I was offered an amazing job back in Boston, but he told me that his career was more important. He didn’t even have any job offers at the time but insisted we didn’t move to Boston. God, I am an idiot.”

“No, you’re not,” Easton says while rubbing circles into my back.

“You know, all I have ever wanted was a family. A big one because I was an only child with parents who weren’t always around. I wanted the sound of laughter in my house. And every time I brought up that we should try to have kids, he would brush me off and say maybe next year. Because he didn’t have time for them. It’s not like he would have raised them. He was too busy with his floozies to care about me or a family.”

My blood began to boil as I reflected on what I finally realized was the biggest mistake of my life, marrying Drew.

“Harp, hey, it’s oka—”

“I was pregnant,” I cut him off and his gentle circles still on my back. “I was pregnant, and he got mad. He said I planned it. It was some weird accident. The point one percent birth control doesn’t cover. He was so mad, angry for weeks at me.” The tears started pouring out as I let my heart open to this man. “He threatened to leave me. Said we weren’t ready for kids. In reality, he wasn’t ready, but at the time I couldn’t see past his bullshit. I planned on getting an abortion but the stress was so high I ended up miscarrying.” I sniffled and wiped my snotty face on my arm. Easton grabs a tissue off the nightstand and wipes my face with it. “Drew said it was for the best. I spent weeks crying and he never shed a tear. Not one. How did I stay married to him for so long?”

Easton pulled me close letting me release all my buried pain into the comfort of his arms. I don’t know how long I cried for or how long he held me. After a while, he broke the silence.

“Ashton didn’t want kids with me.”

I lift my face to look at him. I understood entirely what he meant, it wasn’t that Ashton didn’t want kids, just not with him. I couldn’t even form words as I tried to wrap my head around that thought.

“She said raising my sisters was too much of a burden to handle. We couldn’t afford everything we had and add babies to the mix. It’s part of the reason I divorced her.”

I was speechless. They were high school sweethearts; how could she not want a family with him.

“The worst part is that she has kids now, two of ‘em. I just wasn’t enough.”

I don’t know what to say to him. I don’t think there really is anything to say to someone who experienced as much heartbreak as he had. You learn to live and go through the motions, but it didn’t matter what anyone says to you, sometimes a broken heart just needs to remain broken. The only one who can try to mend it is someone who went through it too.

I glance up to look at his features, his defined jaw, his dark chocolate hair, tousled at the tops of his shoulders. His emerald eyes that look so lost staring off into space. But as he shifts them to meet my gaze, it’s like something clicks into place. A missing piece of a puzzle I never thought I would find. I’m battling with myself constantly because I know I shouldn’t be letting anyone into my heart. I locked that box months ago and I promised myself no one would get a key any time soon. But as I lean into him, the way he holds me, comforts me, supports me, and all the other little things he does, I can’t help but wonder if maybe it doesn’t matter the length of time I let my heart try to heal but the person I let heal my heart.

We must have dozed off because my ringing phone startles me awake. I glance over at Easton and see him still sleeping. I lean over him and grab my phone. “Bitch you better tell me you are on your way here and not snuggled up in bed with Easton.”

“Yeah, I was just about to leave the house,” I lie as I jump out of bed and look for pants. I glance at the clock and notice it is ten past nine. I should have been at the diner by nine at the latest for the renovation.

“Sure you are,” Ivy says as she yells at someone in the background. “Well, you better get your butt down here in the next ten minutes before I tell one of these contractors to paint the walls pink.”

“I know you would never paint those walls pink. Give me fifteen minutes, I’ll be there.” I hang up, pull up my jeans and throw on a shirt. I search around the room for paper and a pen to leave Easton a note. I lay it down on the nightstand, but he wakes up and grabs my wrist pulling me to the bed as he leans over me.

“Where are you going?” he whispers as he drags his fingers up my side under my shirt.

“Work,” I squeak out trying not to get turned on by his touch.

He continues to torture me with featherlight fingers all over my chest and stomach. “Hmmm. Well, I would hate for you to be late.” His fingers find the button of my jeans. His hand slowly slides between my folds, turning me on.

I let out a tiny whimper as he squeezes my clit then withdraws his hands. “Look at the time! I needed to open the shop fifteen minutes ago. Guess we better head to work.”

I glare at him for turning me on like that and not finishing. He gives me a sly smile as he gets up off the bed and pulls me up with him. “I know you’re still mad at me, so I want to make sure you’re ready to forgive me by the time you are done working?”

I button my jeans and fold my arms over my chest. “And why would I be ready to forgive you after work?”

He pulls me into him, his hard cock pressing into my stomach, his hand gripping my ass. “Because sweet cheeks, you’re going to be so turned on by the time you leave work you will be forgiving me by begging me to finish you off.”

“I think I will survive.”

Easton pulls me even harder into him, smashing his mouth into mine in an unforgiving, toe-curling kiss as he slides his hand down the back of my pants and shoves two fingers deep inside me. I whimper and try to pull back from him but his hold on me is so strong I just collapse deeper into his arms.

He pulls away again and as I look up at him, he’s wearing one of those panty melting grins. I push him to the side as I grab the plates and walk into the kitchen.

This man is unbelievable. He is demanding and rough but understanding and sweet. He is constantly throwing my emotions around and I hate to admit it, but I love every second of it. I love my time with him. And fuck, I think I might be falling for him because he may truly be that missing piece that I’ve unconsciously been looking for my entire life.

I walk into the diner with a welcoming eye roll from Ivy.

“So glad you could make it! I hope wild sex antics were not interrupted for work!”

I guffaw and walk toward the coffee pot. I can feel Ivy’s eyes on me as I make a cup. I turn around to look at her, my expression posing a silent question.

“It was soooo nice of Easton to drive you to work today, even if it was thirty minutes late.”

“Yeah, well I left the truck here last night.”

“Mmmhmmm.” Ivy folds her arms over her chest, popping a hip out. “And this has nothing to do with anything that happened last night at Sawyer’s? Because I bet it does, Miss Drunkie down at The Village Room. Was the makeup sex good? Because shit, if it wasn’t, I would find a new man in town to start bangin’.”

I laugh out loud at Ivy’s candor because I know she isn’t mad at me at all. I pick up a donut from the counter and throw it at her. She tries to duck, but it hits her square in the cheek.

“Fine. I deserved that. But seriously, are y’all plannin’ your wedding yet?”

This time she is smart and ducks under a table. I can’t stop laughing because she was right all along. She knew this would happen and I am pretty sure she can see through my façade, acting like this is only a fling. We both know it’s not. Even Easton knows. This is far beyond what I ever expected here. Yet for the first time in years, I feel happy. Truly happy. And I won’t let anything bring me down.

We spend the entire day giving the diner a facelift. Trace brings us dinner at seven as we finish up the last of the paint job. The contractors were able to install new benches and tables after opening up a few walls and building a new bar counter. It’s given the diner space for about eight more people at the bar and five more tables. It looks brighter and more welcoming. Tomorrow will be just enough time to add decorations to bring out the charm so we can open on Friday, brand spanking new.