Epilogue: The Battle of Wills (Part 2)

They lay together, some time later. Limbs intertwined. Chests heaving. Cora closed her eyes, savoring the last remnants of the sensation as it faded. A small sigh slipped from her lips as he withdrew and handed her a towel.

"Jamie," she whispered. "What did you just do to me?"

His thumb brushed across her cheek.

"Say my name again," he murmured. His eyes were glued to her face. No more predator now. Looking up at her, eyes spilling over with naked adoration.

"Jamie."

"Again. Say it again." His hand curled around the back of her head to keep her from turning away. "One more time," he whispered.

She smiled at him softly. "I love you," she said instead.

Jamie gathered her against him and buried his face in the crook of her neck. She cradled his head, caressing the same hair she'd pulled a little while earlier.

He nuzzled his face against her neck, and she scratched behind his ears in the spot where she knew he liked it. He let out a contented sound.

Cora dipped her head to whisper in his ear. "You won."

He raised his face and gave her a crooked smile. "That's all right. You can have it."

"The rugelach?"

"You can have anything you want. You only have to say the magic word."

"Please?"

"No. The other one."

She gave him an arch look."The L-word?"

"Say it again."

"Ask me nicely."

He composed his face into a look she might have mistaken for a choir boy if she didn't know better. "Please?"

Cora laughed. "I love you, Jamie."

He touched her lips as she said it, tracing the shape of the words.

"Do you mean it?" he asked.

"Yes. I'll prove it." She took the rugelach and split it in two. "Here. Eat."

"I don't need food. I can live off this feeling for ages."

"Eat it, please. I need you to keep your strength up for the rematch."

He groaned and stuffed the pastry in his mouth. "That is good. Damn."

"Worth the battle?"

"I don't know yet." He eyed her thoughtfully as she consumed her half. "You're either going to bring me the most incredible happiness I've ever known, or the most incredible pain. I'm not sure which."

"Maybe both."

A strand of her hair had come loose from her ponytail, and he twirled it around his finger. He opened his mouth to say something but closed it again.

"What?" She extricated her hair and cuddled up to him, her head lolling on his chest.

"Dare I ask, what happens next? Once the flood recedes?"

She shrugged. "It's going to leave a big stinking mess."

"Metaphorically speaking?"

"No, I'm literally worried about my neighborhood being covered in raw sewage."

She felt his chest vibrate with silent laughter. "Right, but I meant what happens to us. A big stinking mess?"

She looked up at him. "A little messy. My friends don't think you're a very nice person."

He knotted the hair around his finger again and gave a gentle tug. "They're not wrong."

Cora stopped his hand and freed her hair. "Don't say that." She readjusted her ponytail to tie the loose strand back, out of harm's way. Then she popped another rugelach in her mouth and offered the bag to Jamie, but he waved it away.

"I'm all right. You have the rest."

"But you only had one!" she protested.

Jamie didn't answer. He pulled his boxers back on and got out of bed, lowering himself to the floor. He'd been using the rug next to her bed as an exercise mat to do his ab workout each morning. "Too many carbs," he told her between crunches. "I'll trade my share of rugelach for the tuna if you don't mind."

"Plain tuna fish? For breakfast?"

"Lean protein. I need to cut some weight."

"What?!" Cora squeaked, watching the way his muscles rippled as he worked out. He'd run through this routine every morning on the beach during their time in Mexico, along with a daily jog back and forth at the edge of the surf. Personally, she preferred to spectate rather than join him. And they'd both refrained from commenting on each other's exercise habits, or lack thereof.

They weren't so different, she had tried to tell herself in Cozumel. She had a gym membership and occasionally used it—just not when she was on vacation. And he obviously kept in shape, but she'd also witnessed him polishing off plates of pasta and chocolate cake, not to mention all the margaritas and pina coladas. He'd never turned down food during their stay in Mexico, so his refusal this morning took her by surprise. "You can't be serious."

He tossed an answer over his shoulder as he flipped over and pulled himself into a rigid plank. "Afraid so. Back to reality."

Cora scoffed. "Stop it. Your body is ridiculous."

"Not as ridiculous as it needs to be if I'm to go on booking underwear campaigns." He collapsed to the carpet to rest a moment before planking again. "My agency wants me below 8.5% body fat, as a general rule." His voice barely gave away the strain as he put himself through the exercises. "Part of the job."

"8.5%? Is that even healthy?"

He rolled over and began another interval of crunches. "I have no idea. The point is to look healthy in photos." He patted his toned stomach, and then pinched a bit of skin between his fingers. "See that? That wasn't there when we left. I've been letting myself go."

Cora looked down at her own stomach, rounded beneath the silk fabric of her robe. She adjusted the folds to cover the cellulite puckering her outer thigh.

"Don't do that." Jamie came back to sit beside her on the bed. He slid his hand back up the part of the thigh she'd tried to cover.

Cora met his eyes.

"I was enjoying that view. Don't hide it."

She scowled at him. "I've never been particularly into fitness."

"Neither have I."

She snorted. "No, you just track your body fat percentage down to the nearest decimal point."

"It's a job requirement. Believe me, I don't enjoy it." He stroked his hand up her hip, following its curve. "I certainly wouldn't recommend it."

"No?"

He brought his face close. She prepared for him to utter some cliché. I love you just the way you are, or something to that effect. He took her by surprise with what he said instead.

"You have no idea how much I envy you."

She blinked. Her forehead furrowed as she tried to follow what he meant.

Jamie stroked her thigh again. "Miss National Merit Scholar." Cora hid her face against his shoulder. Of course, he'd committed every word of her verbal diarrhea to memory, and now he would tease her with it mercilessly. But Jamie's voice was serious. He tucked his hand beneath her ponytail and tilted her head up to look at him. "Paid to think deep thoughts and run experiments. Your livelihood will never be dependent on the size of your thighs."

He eyed each of her legs in turn, with a look on his face she could only describe as wistful.

"You have plenty of deep thoughts," she said.

"None that anyone would pay to hear about. Quite the opposite. I'm paid to look the part and keep my thoughts to myself."

"Maybe you should get a different job then."

His lips thinned into a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Maybe you should get some liposuction. And grow two inches taller while you're at it."

Her jaw fell open. Had he really said—

"It doesn't feel nice, does it?" He interrupted her stream of thought before she could utter a word of protest. "Your thighs are lovely by the way. I'm just making a point."

Cora rolled her eyes. "How about you don't use my insecurities to make your points. OK?"

"But that is the point. Don't you see?" He peered into her eyes like he was looking through them, watching the gears turn inside her head, waiting for her to catch up with his latest train of thought. "You're not the only one with insecurities, sweetness."

"Having 8.6% body fat doesn't count as an insecurity."

He shook his head, and his voice betrayed his irritation. "I have no higher education. My career options are somewhat limited because of it." Cora pursed her lips, preparing to retort, but he went on. "So don't sit there with your double doctorate and tell me to get a job as a philosopher. Any advice from you on that front—"

"But I didn't mean—" she tried to interrupt but he overrode her.

"Any advice, however well meaning, will inevitably come across as condescending judgment. The same as if I advised you on various methods to shed an inch off your waistline."

She pressed her lips together. She wanted to argue with him. It wasn't the same thing at all.

"Love me as I am," he said. "Not some untapped potential you see in me—some person I'll never be."

But he did have so much potential! She wanted to take him by the shoulders and shake him. It made no sense to her. Why would he persist in a career he clearly despised? He could be so much more than a voiceless face on a billboard if he put his mind to it.

She'd surrounded herself with brilliant people her whole life, and Jamie could hold his own with any of them. That was why she wanted to be with him. Not his body. Not his face. His ideas, his way with words, the connections he made that she never would have thought of... Their conversations challenged her to keep up, the same way he pushed her physically to expand her boundaries in bed.

Cora sighed. "I do love you as you are, Jamie. You know I do."

"Then it's settled," he replied. "I won't bring up your flaws, and you won't ask me to improve on mine. Agreed?"

Cora bit her lip. She didn't agree. Not at all. But she would have to find a diplomatic way to make her point when the opportunity arose. For now, she nodded reluctantly. "Fine. Agreed."

She let him win the battle, but she would win the war. She made a silent promise to herself. She would push his boundaries, inch by inch, just as he did with her—and he would thank her for it in the long run.

Jamie hugged her close, and she wrapped her arms around him. "I just have one question," she said after a while. "What was the point of that whole battle of wills?"

"Mmm," he sighed into her hair. "To the victor go the spoils."

"But you didn't want the spoils! Why did you put me through all that if you didn't even want the rugelach?"

Jamie laughed and ran his hands up and down her back, swishing the silk fabric of her robe. "You're my rugelach. Soft and sweet." He pressed a kiss behind her ear. "And believe me, I enjoyed my breakfast. Every morsel."

Dear Readers:

I hope you enjoyed this epilogue! (Do people want to read the play-by-play of how exactly Jamie accomplished his victory in the battle of wills? I might be convinced to write some detailed Cora/Jamie spice if there is interest, so please let me know in the comments!)

For now, I'm getting ready to launch BOOK 2 for Cora and Jamie! I just posted a new book cover to my profile... What do you think?

Please add NO SECOND CHANCES to your reading lists for now, and give it a vote or comment if you're excited to read it. I'll be back with more details about the sequel soon!

Thank you and Happy New Year to you all! ❤️

Love,
Viv (A.V. Geiger)