Epilog

Jacqueline sat in her swivel chair, it pulled back slightly from her desk that was just outside of her bosses office. She sat with her legs crossed at the knee as she bounced one of her heeled feet as she thought about the meeting she had just been in. She had been supposed to be taking notes during the meeting, but the paper on her clipboard was blank. She had been thinking about a few of the honeymoon options she had picked out and just wasn’t able to make a decision.

With the end of her pen in her mouth, she lightly bit the cap on the back of it, trying now to think of where to start. The meeting itself had been recorded, but listening to the recording after sitting through the meeting felt like a hassle when she had so much else going on. The wedding was four months away and she was supposed to meet up with Millie after work with Lil and Tab and could help feel excited about it.

While the blonde executive admin sat there pondering she had no idea her boss was watching her. Lincoln had gone to the restroom and had been stopped along the way to discuss something with one of his employees. Now he stood not far off admiring the young woman who had said yes to him. Today she wore a forest green short sleeved, low cut blouse, a short white skirt and matching strappy heels. Her blond hair had been pulled back into a low ponytail and with its current shorter length it added something he thought was adorable to an incredibly sexy office look that any HR department should have admonished her for, but that was one of the perks of working at Mega Corp. So long as the executives were happy and he was very happy, then there was no problem.

With the wedding coming up Lincoln didn’t feel like he got to spend enough personal time at home with Jacqueline, she was often spending time with her friends. A fact that made him feel happy, before… before he had pranked his friend in what felt like a lifetime ago they didn’t go out much. Not that either of them could really afford to, but still Jackson didn’t have many friends and now that they had come out of their shell, Jacqueline was surrounded by people she liked being around.

Their wedding coordinator, Mrs. Dunn felt like she was sent by God with how much she had done for them. Because of her planning for the wedding had been a breeze, because of her and her husband they weren’t having to pay for a thing. He still wasn’t sure why they were doing that, with his new salary they could afford a wedding, but maybe something less extravagant. She said it was a thank you and a wedding present, and he wasn’t going to argue himself into spending money. The best part was because of her the woman he loved worked directly under him instead of Dunn. That meant they got to have some fun in the office, making up for time they didn’t get to spend at home.

Not sure where to begin Jacqueline tossed the clipboard on her desk, looking up she caught Lincoln looking at her, his dopey smile bringing one of her own to her face. “What are you looking at?”

Stepping closer Lincoln tried to think of some clever line, but nothing came to mind, so he just said what he felt. “Just the woman I love, my best friend.”

A feeling of warmth blossomed in Jacqueline’s chest at that, any lingering self-doubt that would tell her it was wrong was gone. Soon she was going to be a married woman, she didn’t know how she got here. From a man stuck in a rut that had been tricked and trapped into pretending to be something he was not. Learning what it felt like to be looked at with desire, treated like she was worthwhile and to finally accept that truth and how happy it made her. “Well… Mr. Hatch, remember I’m going out after work today with the girls. What are you going to be up to?”

“Umm.” Lincoln knew the answer to the question, every night she had gone out he had been catching up on an anime. His girl was many things, but an anime geek wasn’t one of them. “If you must know Miss Hart.” He tossed back her mock professionalism. “Hit the gym, maybe do something bad like eat too many carbs and watch a few shows on my laptop.”

“A few shows?” Jacqueline raised an eyebrow at the man. “I bet it is those cartoons. You are such a nerd.” She said with a smile on her face and love in her heart.