Outside The Lines (11 page)

“One-fifty!” shouted Mia, waving up at him from the crowd. Blake made a mental note to help her out with the next belligerent drunk who needed an IV.

“Two hundred!” hollered a brunette he didn’t recognize. The two went back and forth, raising the stakes to five hundred dollars before Mia tossed up her palms in a wordless approximation of
sorry
. A few more bids trickled in before the brunette crossed her arms in satisfaction, and even though the concept of going on a date with someone, even a pretty someone, made Blake want to wince, he wasn’t about to bow out.

“Seven hundred and fifty dollars! Going once… going twice…”

“I bid two thousand, nine hundred seventy-six dollars.”

What. The. Hell?

A collective hush fell over the crowd, and everyone turned toward the back of the throng to catch a glimpse of the generous bidder. She moved slowly toward the podium, the crowd hindering her progress, and Blake’s curiosity multiplied with each step.

But then he caught sight of the flame-colored hair and sassy ear-to-ear grin that could only belong to one woman, and he realized all at once
who the woman was.

Not just any woman.
His
woman. The one he loved with every cell in his body. The one he couldn’t live another minute without.

The one who was headed right for him.

“Blake!” The crowd parted in earnest, and Detectives Morgan and Blackwell swooped in to escort Jules the rest of the way to the stage. With a quick boost, she was at his side, flinging her arms around him and covering his mouth with hers.

“I love you. God, I love you so much. And if I have to give all that I have to prove it, right here in front of all these people, then that’s what I’ll do.” Jules turned to his mother, whose knowing smile told Blake she’d been in on this from the start of the auction. “I bid two thousand, nine hundred seventy-six dollars on Dr. Blake Fisher, please.”

“Sold. With pleasure,” added his mother, and the crowd burst into applause.

“Did you seriously
conspire with my mother to bid all that you have on me?” Blake asked, touching his forehead to Jules’s as he gathered her close.

She nodded. “I wanted to give you everything, the same way you did for me
, and once I told her that, she agreed to help. I love you, Blake. I never stopped loving you.”

“Well then it looks like we both got what we wanted. I love you, too, Jules.” Blake brushed a kiss over her lips, breaking into a mischievous grin as he led her off the stage.

“Now meet me in the kitchen in five minutes. I plan to keep you busy for the rest of your life.”

THE END

Author’s Note:

The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation is a very real organization that raises money for research to find a cure for this devastating disease. If you’d like more information on the CFF or to make a donation to the organization, please go to
www.cff.org

Jules’s Stuffed French Toast

Ingredients:

2 eggs

¼ cup milk (not skim, but 2% is okay)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 8-oz. package cream cheese (not fat free! Trust me on this, it doesn’t set up properly), softened

1 Tablespoon honey (I used orange flavored, but any will do)

1 teaspoon cinnamon (plus more for sprinkling)

1 teaspoon granulated sugar

½ cup orange marmalade (I just go from the jar and don’t quite measure this— it’s more to taste)

One loaf brioche, preferably a few days old, cut into an even number of one-inch thick slices

Cooking spray for the griddle

Directions:

Spray a griddle or non-stick skillet with cooking spray and set over medium heat, but no higher. While it warms, whisk eggs, milk and vanilla in a shallow bowl. Set aside. In a separate bowl, mix cream cheese, honey, 1 teaspoon cinnamon and sugar together until combined. Spread about 2 Tablespoons (-ish, you can eyeball this, really, but you want a good layer) of cream cheese mixture on one side of a slice of brioche. Repeat process with one Tablespoon (again, approximate, but as long as the ratio is about 2:1, you’ll be great) orange marmalade on another slice of brioche. Put both slices together like a sandwich (cream cheese facing marmalade). Repeat with remaining bread, cream cheese mixture and marmalade.

Just before cooking (and I do mean just!), dip each side of the “sandwich” in egg mixture to coat the outside of the bread completely, without soaking it through. Place immediately on the griddle. Cook for about 3 minutes on each side, or until the bread is golden-brown and firm to the touch, and the cream cheese in melted through. Repeat with remaining “sandwiches”. Sprinkle with a dusting of cinnamon. Serve with fresh fruit or maple syrup. Makes approximately five “sandwiches”.

Feed to the one you love, preferably as breakfast in bed!

Also by Kimberly Kincaid:

Love On The Line

Drawing The Line

The Sugar Cookie Sweetheart Swap
with Donna Kauffman and Kate Angell (Sept. 24, 2013)