SELENA WAS GLAD to be back in Maui, lying on the bow of the sparkling new boat her friend Kelli Ann had bought with her rocker boyfriend Tyger Li to do snorkeling tours around the Molokini Crater. Selena had her sunglasses on, and her towel rolled up under her neck.
Blaine was idly drawing patterns up and down her thigh with his fingers. He propped his head up on his hand and smiled down on her.
“Congratulations on your MBA,” he said. “I knew you could do it.”
“There are a few times that I wasn’t so sure.” She lifted up to press a soft kiss across his mouth. He could kiss her forever and she would still feel this giddy excitement. And that was just what it was going to be, forever.
“I got us reservations tonight for dinner,” he said. “But we don’t have to go, if you don’t want to.”
“As long as I don’t have to cook, I don’t care where we go.”
“I got us the chef table at Bolete Maui.”
Selena’s eyes went wide, and she almost choked on the laughter that bubbled up. She sat up, crossed her legs and leaned down over him. “Are you serious?”
“I can’t believe you didn’t even mention that he had opened up a restaurant here.”
“That’s because I didn’t know,” she said. “I stopped obsessively stalking him shortly after I met you.” She admired the flashing diamond engagement ring on her hand. “I had better things to think about. And I was a little busy this year.”
“I made the reservation just to be a smart-ass,” he said. “We don’t have to go if you don’t want to. Or if it will bring up bad memories.”
“No, I want to go. Hell, even if I didn’t have my master’s degree from Cordon Bleu, I’d go,” Selena said. “He can’t hurt me anymore. I no longer care what he thinks of me. The only people who have to like my cooking are you and my customers.”
“Well, you have nothing to fear on my end,” he said. “I love your cooking, even when you make me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.”
“That’s cream of peanut with a grape-jelly reduction sauce on artisanal brioche bread.”
“Do I get turnip chips with it or can I have the real stuff?”
“That depends on how good you are going to be tonight.”
“So, I’m not allowed to spit out my food and say that I have tasted better food from a vending machine. Or say that this chicken is so tough, I handed over my wallet, no questions asked?”
Selena thought about it for a moment. “No. If you do that, I’ll smother you with potato chips.”
“Sounds kinky.” He pulled her down for a sweet, long kiss. “I love you. I can’t wait until our wedding.”
“I love you too. But I am going to miss Paris when we move back to Michigan.”
“Actually,” he said. “I’ve been meaning to ask you about that.”
“Oh?”
“Stephens-Miller got an offer to develop our cars in France. I’m thinking of taking over the Paris team. That would mean staying there for part of the year. If I take that job, would you stay with me?”
“That’s kind of what married people do,” she said.
“I just didn’t want to make the choice without consulting you first,” he said.
“I just have to figure out where to open Chanterelle. But until I do, I think I could get used to living in France for a few months, as long as we could spend a few months in Detroit and maybe a few months in Florida.”
“I can arrange that,” he said.
“I just don’t want you falling back into your bad work habits.”
“If I do, I’m sure you’ll be able to put me back on the right track.”
“Yeah, ukulele lessons until your attitude changes.”
Blaine reached into his pack and pulled his ukulele out. He started strumming something that sounded like “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” if you really pretended hard. She let him play for a few minutes and then put her hand over the strings. “You need a lot of stress-relief practice, but I’m willing to help you through that. If you’re willing to take the journey.”
“Always,” he said, and he put the ukulele away in favor of taking her into his arms.
Keep reading for an excerpt from Corrupted by Cathryn Fox.