be home late, but, boy, is she going to be surprised to see you.”
“What did you tell her about me?”
“Well, I only said nice things, of course.”
“Even though you came back early?”
“Yes, well, I know she wanted things to work out between us. I think moms have an instinct for young love, or at least they like to give you advice and pretend they do,” I say with a chuckle. “In the meantime . . . pizza?”
“Pizza? For breakfast?” He shrugs. “I guess I am in America.”
I hit him across the chest. “Hey! It’s leftovers, and I’m going to assume you’re on Paris time, and you look like you haven’t eaten a thing. So, pizza?”
“Lead the way.”
I take him over to the kitchen, and he eyes the broken coffee cup on the floor.
“Were you practicing your Hitchcock this morning?”
“Something like that,” I tell him, opening the fridge and pulling out the pizza, then heading straight for my bedroom.
“Where are you going?” he asks, following me. “Don’t you want to heat that up?”
“Cold pizza is the American way,” I tell him, and once we’re both inside, I close the door and gesture for him to get on the bed. “Take off your shoes, get on the bed.”
“This is very bizarre,” he says as he slips off his shoes. “Is this how you all eat breakfast?”
“No,” I tell him, climbing on the bed with him. “I just knew I’d ravage you after I had a few bites, so I figured I’d kill two birds with one stone.”
He grins at me. So damn beautiful. “Ravage me?” he asks, brows raised. He takes the pizza box out of my hands and tosses it across the room. “The food can fucking wait.”
Olivier pounces on me like an animal, and I let out a loud yelp and dissolve into giggles as he proceeds to attack me from head to toe with kisses, his hands trailing all over my body.
I feel nothing but relief with him on top of me.
I feel nothing but butterflies in my chest and love in my heart.
I let myself be ravaged by my Frenchman—mind, body, and soul.
EPILOGUE
OLIVIER
Six months later
“Bon matin,” I hear Sadie whisper in my ear.
I push the fragments of my dreams aside and slowly open my eyes to see soft sunlight spilling in through the windows. The light here in California is so similar to the light in the South of France, especially in winter. It’s pale, and it glows, just enough to give you warmth, enough to keep your spirits lifted.
But the light isn’t the only thing that keeps me up.
It’s Sadie.
My dear, beautiful Sadie, lying on her side in bed with me, positively angelic in this light, in every light.
When I decided to come to America and start over with her, in what she would call a ballsy move, I knew it would be a risk. I knew it would be a challenge. But I didn’t for a moment think it would be a regret.
It hasn’t been. It was worth it ten times, no, a million times over to take that leap with her and focus on creating a life together.
At the moment, our life is just starting to settle down, find its footing, put down roots.
We’re actually living in a guest cottage on Renaud’s vineyard.
His house is on the other side of the thousands of rolling acres of merlot and cabernet sauvignon. And in between us, nestled near the Dumont Napa Winery and production facilities, is the foundation for the Dumont Hotel.
People work fast in the US. We broke ground a month ago, and in a few more months, just in time for summer, the hotel just might be up and running.
I’ve never been so excited about a project in all my life.
Especially now that I have two projects.
The first is the hotel, set to be not only my first real boutique hotel with only twenty rooms, but also my first one in America.
The second is that I plan on making Sadie my wife.
I know on the surface we’ve known each other for only seven months, but the truth is, I’ve discovered more about myself in those seven months than I have in my whole life. And more than that, I’ve learned what it is to know my heart. To know what it is to love.
To know what it is to be loved.
With Sadie, I’ve found all that. I’ve found myself in her—the true Olivier who isn’t bound by contracts and deadlines and guilt. A place where