Complete Me(75)

As the crow flies, it isn’t far to the village. Since we are not crows, however, we have to deal with the twisty, turny, tiny streets, and it takes about half an hour. I don’t mind. The area is charming, filled with A-frame houses tucked into the mountainside and spectacular views that take your breath away. The village is located on the lake, so technically we could have taken one of the boats moored at Damien’s dock. The restaurant itself—The Belgian Waffle Works—sits right on the water, with a huge patio of outdoor seating. I catch a whiff of batter cooked to a crispy golden brown as we approach, and breathe in deep.

“That’s more what I was going for,” Jamie admits. “But, hey, you can still thank me. If I hadn’t completely trashed breakfast, we wouldn’t have a shopping morning.”

“We’re deeply grateful,” Damien says, sliding his arm around my waist.

Thirty minutes later, I’m even more grateful, because we’re not only seated on the patio with a view of the water, but we each have a plate overflowing with a giant waffle, eggs, and enough bacon to feed a small army.

“I’m going to fall into a food coma,” I protest.

“We’ll work it off by walking the shops,” Jamie announces. She turns to Damien, her smile wide. “You really are awesome, you know. Thanks for inviting me. I was having a shit week.”

“Anytime,” he says, then leans over to give her a light kiss on her cheek.

She fans her face, making me laugh.

“Hang on, you two.” I pull out my iPhone and motion for them to scoot their chairs closer together, then take a couple of snaps. “I’d take some of the view, too, but the phone won’t do it justice.”

“I think I can assure you we’ll be back,” Damien says.

“Or you can just buy a new camera,” Jamie says. “For that matter, get one for each of his houses. That should ensure that Leica never goes out of business, right?”

“Not a bad idea,” Damien says, with a playful gleam in his eye. “I like the idea of spreading you around all my properties. Hell, I like the idea of you naked in all my properties.”

My face heats, and I widen my eyes and shoot a glance at Jamie, who has leaned back in her chair with a whoop.

“Don’t you guys ever give it a rest?” she asks.

“Not really,” Damien says, surprising me by pulling me to him and planting a bone-melting kiss.

“God,” Jamie says. “I am so freaking jealous. Do you have a brother?”

“Afraid not.”

“Figures,” Jamie says as Damien slides his chair closer to mine and hooks his arm around me. I lean against him, wishing things could always be this calm, this happy.

“It sounds sappy as shit, but you two know how lucky you are, right?”

“Yes,” Damien says sincerely. “We know.”

“Good,” she says, then sighs deeply. “Damn, but I needed this.”

“Why didn’t you tell me about getting fired from the commercial?” I ask.

She shrugs, looking embarrassed. “You were a little preoccupied, and it’s not like there was anything you could do, especially not from Germany.” Jamie had recently been cast in a national commercial, but before shooting began she started dating her co-star, an up-and-comer named Bryan Raine. When that ended badly, Raine apparently decided that Jamie’s commercial career needed to, as well.

“There’s something I can do,” Damien says.

She shakes her head firmly. “No, you helped me get the job in the first place. That was more than enough. They paid me for the gig anyway—they had to the way the contract was written—so I’m good. I just need to think about how I’m going to get my shit together.”