The Plus Size Baker Rejected the Billionaire Crime Boss Thirty-Seven Times Until He Finally Understood Why She Kept Saying No

The morning after the wedding, the city woke up to a quiet, golden Sunday rain.

Clara stood inside Bennett & Flour. The shop was closed to the public for the weekend, but the light inside was warm and soft.

She had traded her ivory gown for her familiar blue apron over a comfortable sweater. She stood at her marble workstation, slowly kneading a fresh batch of cardamom dough, listening to the soft rain tapping against the front window glass.

The front door unlocked, and Damian walked inside.

He wasn't wearing a suit. He wore a heavy gray knit sweater, dark jeans, and leather boots, holding two steaming coffee cups from the small roaster down the street.

"You're supposed to be sleeping," Damian said softly, walking over to her workstation and setting a coffee cup beside her flour bin. "We have a flight to Italy at three o'clock."

"I couldn't sleep," Clara smiled, setting down her dough and leaning over the counter to kiss his cheek. "I needed to smell butter and flour. It keeps me grounded."

Damian wrapped his arms around her waist from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder, pulling her full, soft back against his chest. "You don't need to stay grounded anymore, Clara. You can fly wherever you want."

"I don't want to fly away from here, Damian," Clara said, resting her hands over his on her waist. "This bakery is where I learned who I was. It's where I said no to you thirty-seven times."

Damian let out a soft laugh, his chest vibrating against her back. "I counted every single one of them, you know."

"Did you?"

"Every one," Damian murmured, turning her around in his arms so he could look into her dark auburn eyes. "And every time you said no, I went back to my office and asked myself what kind of man I needed to become so that one day... you would say yes."

Clara looked up at him, her heart overflowing with a deep, unshakeable peace. She reached up, wiping a tiny speck of flour from his strong cheekbone.