Giddy pleasure sloshed about in her stomach, rather like champagne on a Jet Ski. “Erm,” she squeaked. “At the risk of seeming overeager, I do believe I would.”

“Good.” Jacob sounded deeply satisfied. “Hang on a second.” He pulled his phone out of his back pocket, opened up the notes app, and started typing. She peeked over his shoulder and saw the words: NO ICE CREAM.

Then he tutted at her and closed the app. “Oi. Nosy.”

“Jacob, are you writing a proposal plan?”

“Nosy,” he repeated, but he was grinning. “Now, as I was saying before you disrupted proceedings—”

“Jacob.” Eve was smiling so wide her face hurt, and it was entirely this man’s fault.

“Eve,” he shot back, arching one severe eyebrow. “Listen.”

“Fine, fine!” She schooled her features and cleared her throat. “Yes, Mr. Wayne? How may I help you?”

“You already help me, Ms. Brown. Which is why I got you this.” Setting aside his phone, Jacob fiddled in his pocket again and produced . . . a name tag? It was burgundy and gold, rather like the one Eve already wore. He dropped it into her outstretched palm, and she examined it more closely.

Yes; this name tag was exactly like the one Eve had worn all year, except for a minor difference. Written beneath the familiar phrase HELLO, MY NAME IS: EVE was one teeny, tiny word:

MANAGER

Speechless, she looked up at Jacob. “This is . . .”

He offered her the smallest, sweetest smile in the world. “We already do the job together. I was wondering if you’d be interested in making things official.”

Old doubts—in her abilities, in herself, in whether she deserved this when it was something she wanted so much—tried their best to rise from the dead. But with the ease born of a year’s practice, Eve kicked them back into their graves and let the brilliance of this moment wash over her, uninterrupted.

“You want me to be a manager,” she said.

“I do,” Jacob replied.

“Like you,” she said.

“With me,” Jacob replied. “Always with me.”

“Because you love me?”

“Because you’re good at it,” he corrected calmly, firmly, “and because I need you. Your ideas, your energy, your care—all of it. You’re not just my sunshine; you’re the sun. You make my business better. You make it ours.”

At which point, Eve dropped her ice cream and kissed Jacob so hard, they almost fell off the bench.

“Fabulous, darling!” Gigi cried, and somewhere in the distance, Eve heard the camera whirr.