Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 53466 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 267(@200wpm)___ 214(@250wpm)___ 178(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 53466 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 267(@200wpm)___ 214(@250wpm)___ 178(@300wpm)
“And what does a pop star need when she travels? A full-time bodyguard,” Dan spells out for me, a grin on his face.
“Son of a bitch,” I mutter, the solution so simple I am shocked I didn’t figure it out for myself. I glance at my boss, awe and admiration filling me. “You’re willing to lose me?”
“Well, hell, son. I received a call from the company that hired us in the first place. They want to keep you on as Summer’s security detail. It seems Jade Glow took a liking to your girl and wants to keep her safe.”
I blink in surprise.
“I’d call that a win-win, for you and for Alpha Security,” he says somewhat smugly. “Works for me. Can I tell them you accept the job?”
“Of course,” I say, my head spinning at the one-eighty I’ve done since walking into this office. I only want Summer to be happy and follow her dream, never thinking I could be part of it.
I walk toward Dan, who rises from his seat. “I don’t know how to thank you for getting my head on straight,” I say to the man who, in the short time I’ve worked for him, is often more like a father than my own parent has been.
Dan places an arm around my shoulders. “Nothing gives me greater pleasure than seeing all of you happy. I just wish the others would follow suit.”
Who’d have thought Dan is a matchmaker at heart? “You know I wish the same for you.” I pat Dan on the back.
Dan meets my gaze, his expression serious and sad. “I had my time. It ended too soon, but I couldn’t ask for better than the life I had with Katherine.” His eyes glaze at the memory of the wife he loved so much. “That’s why I’m willing to let one of my best men take a job that will send him to the other side of the world for half the year. Because you love that girl. I could tell by watching you two together.”
I think back to the time I brought Summer to Dan’s house for my birthday. “That was very early in our relationship.”
Which, I know, formed within the bubble of both a condensed time frame and close living quarters. But I don’t think that lessens what we feel for each other, but heightens our emotions instead. I love her, probably have for a lot longer than I want to admit. I’ve been fighting my past and myself.
“I’m pretty schooled in reading people. Now are you going to go get your girl?” Dan asks.
“Hell, yes.” I am planning to offer her everything I have. Which isn’t much considering where she is headed in her career, but I am discovering that I am a romantic at heart.
I love her. Everything else will fall into place. I’ll accept nothing less, I think, my anticipation heightened at the thought of being with Summer with no barriers between us, and my heart on the line.
* * *
Summer
Having achieved my dream, I should be on top of the world. Instead, I am sitting with a tub of cookie dough ice cream in front of me, a glass of white wine on the table beside me, and my best friend, who dropped everything to commiserate with me, sitting across the way.
I dig into the creamy dessert and savor the cookie crunch. “I promised myself this one night to mourn what might have been, and then I’m throwing myself into getting ready for the tour. No tears after tonight.” I place the ice cream down on the table and lift the glass of wine. “To the man I love and can’t have.”
Ivy shakes her head, clearly not happy with how I am handling my life. “Honey, if you love him, you need to tell him.”
I bite down on my lower lip. “I would, but telling him isn’t fair to him. What would I say? I love you but I’m leaving anyway? See you in six months? Or longer?”
“Exactly,” Ivy says on a nod. “If he loves you, he’ll wait.” She takes a sip of her wine, then asks, “Does he? Love you, I mean?”
Our past flashes before my eyes. The laughter, the fun at the carnival, the sensual looks… and at the end, there was that text… Love, Ben, he said. Was that a generic sign-off? Or a real expression from the heart?
His words when he was lost inside me, calling out, mine. Mine. I tremble at the memory that made me feel so cherished, so loved. Just like our last time together, when he relaxed me in the hotel room, him buried deep inside me, rocking against me, taking me to completion in such a tender … and, again, loving way.
“I think he loves me,” I whisper. “And I know for a fact that I love him.”