Virginal Headlines: Love Between The Headlines

by Knoebel, Candace

  I couldn’t sit still.

  I had to move.

  After locking up, I shoved my hands in my pockets and headed down the sidewalk. I needed to breathe. To do something other than watch time tick by.

  It was a breezy day, the heat taking the backseat to the possibility of rain. I moved with the flow of traffic, staring at my phone, reading through some of the comments on my article when someone jarred into the side of my shoulder.

  “I’m sorry—” I started to say, reaching out to try to save the phone that had catapulted out of my hand.

  “No, I’m—”

  We froze as the phone fell with a clatter against the concrete.

  It was Prim.

  She was there, just a hair’s breadth away.

  “Oh, crap,” she said as she bent to grab my phone. A splintering crack had spread across the screen. “Double crap.” She paused, her head tilting a fraction as she peered down at my phone.

  I put my hand out.

  She gently placed the phone in my palm with a, “Well, there goes my savings.”

  “How so?” I asked, pushing the power button to shut it down. The fall hadn’t stopped it from buzzing, chirping, and ringing its little battery-operated heart out. And the only reason I’d left it on was in case Prim tried to reach out to me.

  Her glasses slipped forward, and she reached up to push them back with the tip of her finger. “When you broke my Kindle, you replaced it with a brand-new one.”

  “And…?”

  “And now I have to replace your phone.” Her brows pulled adorably together when I chuckled. “What?” she asked when I shook my head.

  “Serendipity.” I gave a slight shrug as I tucked the phone into my pocket.

  Slowly, light spread across her lips, turning them up with my favorite curve on her body. “Serendipity.”

  Laughter, deep and rich and full of amusement, barreled past my lips as I pulled her to me. She didn’t resist. No, she fell into my arms as I squeezed her tight, vowing never to let her go again.

  Her head twisted in the crook of my neck as I whispered apologies in her ear. And when her lips curved up to mine, I closed the gap, tasting the salt coursing down her cheeks. Tasting the longing and the pain and the need.

  “I never want to lose you, Prim,” I said when the kiss broke. When I pulled her against me, my hand cupping the back of her head.

  “We really made a mess of things, didn’t we?” Her laughter was brittle as she wiped under her eyes.

  “A beautiful, crazy, insightful mess,” I corrected. “A mess that brought you back to me.”

  Taking her hand in mine, I pulled her to the side of an alleyway. Boxed her in as I placed a slow, yearning kiss to her neck.

  “I shouldn’t have ever believed that photo, Grayson. I’m so… I’m so sorry.”

  My kisses moved to her collarbone, then returned to her mouth where our lips reacquainted themselves.

  “I’ve been so scared.” Her words tried to fit between our dancing lips. “I thought… I thought maybe you decided you didn’t want to be with me anymore. I should have had more faith in us. In you.”

  I cupped the sides of her face, meeting her gaze. “There were so many things we should have done differently, Prim. I should have never left you that night. I should have called. I was on my way to you that morning, Prim.” Placing her hand against the center of my chest, I held it there. “You’re branded here now. Forever. I meant every word I wrote. I love you. Don’t ever doubt that.” Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, I added, “And I’m never going to let you go again.”

  And I sealed that promise with a kiss.

  A few minutes later, I asked Prim for her phone, then waved down a girl briskly walking past. “Hey,” I said, halting her. “Would you mind taking a couple of pictures of us?”

  She side-eyed me when I held Prim’s phone out to her. Taking it, still wearing a look of disagreement, she stepped away and waited for my signal.

  “Ready?” I called out to her.

  The moment she held up the phone, I spun Prim in my arms, kissing her as I bent her over. Kissing her as if we were the only two people on the street. And I didn’t stop kissing her until the sound of whistling and clapping broke through the moment.

  Prim’s cheeks were patched in the most brilliant scarlet when I took her hand in mine and then went to reclaim her phone. The girl smirked at us as she handed it over, then left without a word.

  “What was that about?” Prim asked as I waved to the surrounding gawkers.

  “You’ll see.”

  With a gentle tug to her hand, I moved us away, making it about a block before I pulled her to a stop and brought up Prim’s Instagram account. I chose one of the photos where I was holding her close. Her hand was buried in my hair, both of us smiling against each other’s lips.

  Prim giggled when I typed #serendipity, then tagged myself in the post before hitting publish.

  “I guess that’s one way to tell the world that all is right in our own,” Prim said.

  “It’ll be the only thing they get, so they damn well better enjoy it.” I handed her phone back. “You might want to shut that off for a bit, though, because I plan on taking up the rest of your day.”

  She powered it down without pause, then laced her fingers with mine. “What now?”

  “Now, I get to take you home and make up for all the days we’ve been apart. Afterward, you get to take me home and introduce me to your parents.”

  She laughed. “I suppose you’ve earned it.”

  “I suppose I have.” I let go of her hand, pressing her against my side as we continued walking. “Do you think they’ll like me?”

  “No… I think they’ll love you,” she answered, putting her arm around my waist.

  My heart expanded. Whole and complete for the first time in a very long time. All because of the slip of a women beside me. All because of serendipity.

  Epilogue

  “I called this meeting today because I have some news,” Quinn said from the head of the table in the conference room.

  “Don’t tell me… you went to the doctor and they diagnosed you with a touch of humanitis?” Poppy asked from beside me.

  Quinn’s lips fell into a flat line. “Ha-ha. Very funny.”

  “What? Don’t think it slipped past anyone here that it was you who sent those flowers to Grayson and Prim, congratulating them on moving in together. And you said you didn’t like sappy shit…”

  Quinn’s arms folded across her chest. “Yes. I sent the lovebirds flowers. I’d be lying if I didn’t admit I feel sort of responsible for them. I was the one who pitted them together, wasn’t I?”

  My smile rose. “Yes, Quinn. You were.” I left out all the other things she was responsible for because, in some sort of weird, twisted way, she was the reason we came together. The reason our careers took off. The reason we’d gotten to go on a small media tour to share our story with the world.

  Her chin rose a little. “You two are like my little relationship baby. Now I get to watch you grow up.”

  “You should probably run now. I’d be scared if she were my mother,” Poppy said with a snort.

  Quinn pinned her with a gaze that sucked the lingering laughter straight from the air. “Anyway… I called you in here because I’ve chosen a piece. I’ve selected two of my best bloggers to help with the content of the story. One to follow the bachelor on his journey to finding love. And one to follow the contestants.

  “Now, since this will be written in episodes spanning over the course of two months, I’ll need a promise of full commitment to this story.” Her gaze turned to me. “Prim, I’d like for you to follow the contestants. You have a trusting face. A sweet demeanor. Surely you’ll have no issue getting them to open up to you.”

  “Of course,” I said immediately. Ideas were already rolling through my head. This would be perfect for coming down off the Grayson piece. I wanted a break from the limelight. Wanted to dive into somethi
ng different.

  “And you,” Quinn said, eyeing Poppy. “I want you to follow the bachelor’s story. With your take-no-shit attitude, you should have no problem keeping him on track. I want him to find a woman and make her his by the end of this piece. Sound good?”

  Poppy snorted. “Sounds easy,” she said with a laugh.

  Quinn smirked. “Good. Bring him in,” she called to someone in the back. “Everyone, meet Finley Lynch. Our bad-boy bachelor.”

  My jaw fell to the floor as Finley strolled into the room in dark denim jeans and a black leather jacket. No shirt. Shoestrings loose on his boots.

  Poppy pushed away from the table. Stood as shock radiated off her. “Is this a joke, Quinn?” she said as she stalked up to her. “Because this isn’t funny.”

  “No? I thought you said it’d be easy. You want the piece, don’t you?”

  Poppy seethed. But then, like a light had been switched on, she pivoted, flattening out her smile. “Yes.” She made her way toward Finley, who hadn’t taken his eyes off her since the moment he entered the room. “This will be a piece of cake. Right, Fin?” She nudged him with her hip before she blew out of the room.

  “Finley, how about you introduce yourself to everyone? Everyone, get acquainted, because you’ll be seeing a lot of him around here.”

  I got up, giving a brief nod in my new roommate Fin’s direction. Stopping beside him, I placed a hand on his shoulder. “You could have mentioned this last night.”

  “But that would have spoiled the fun.”

  Poppy was pacing when I found her. “I’m so fucked, Prim.”

  “No,” I said, leaning against the wall. “It’s going to work itself out. You’ll see.”

  She spun so fast I flinched. “By watching him go on dates? What kind of mental hell am I living in? And with Quinn as the ring leader?”

  “I don’t know.” I dropped my gaze to the ground. It was low. But so was just about everything else Quinn did that—weirdly enough—always seemed to work out. Like she was some sort of evil cupid.

  “Poppy,” Finley said as he strolled toward us. “Guess we’ll be seeing a lot of each other.”

  Her smile was strained. “You just had to, didn’t you?”

  “It got your attention, didn’t it?”

  Her head shook as a blast of curses shot past her lips. “If you think for one second I’m jealous, you’re wrong. In fact,” she said, stalking up to him, “by the end of this, you’ll have yourself that girl who will settle down for you. I’ll make good on it.”

  She pushed past him, his eyes following after her, when she called, “I’m banking on it.”

  “Me too,” he muttered before Quinn called him back to the conference room.

  A second later, my phone rang. It was Grayson.

  “Hey, you. Ready?”

  “I’ll be down in a second.”

  He was waiting just outside the doors with a bouquet of yellow tulips in his hands.

  “What are these for?” I asked as I hugged him.

  “A just because.” He took my hand in his. “When I woke this morning with you by my side, everything just felt right, you know?”

  I squeezed his hand. “I do.”

  “I went and picked up the last of the boxes this morning. As of now, you are officially and completely moved in.” He pulled out a key ring with a key and a typewriter charm on it. “This is also for you.”

  My heart felt like it was going to expand out of my chest as I took my key from him. The key to my new home. Our home.

  “You sure Finley’s okay with it?” I asked, thinking about Poppy and the cluster that was about to come.

  “He’s more than okay. Actually, this morning, he told me he’s moving out. He got accepted to this bachelor thing, so he wants to have his own place before bringing the women around.”

  I cleared my throat.

  “What?”

  “That bachelor thing is being put on by Virago. I was just assigned by Quinn to follow the contestants’ story.”

  “Oh yeah?” He put his arm around my shoulder. “Then Fin will be in good hands.”

  “Actually,” I said as I slowed. “He’ll be in Poppy’s hands. Quinn assigned her to follow his take.”

  His bulging eyes matched how I felt. “She’s insane to think that’s going to work out.”

  I shrugged. “Sometimes, I wonder what goes through Quinn’s head.”

  “Don’t. That’s a dangerous path, no doubt.”

  We laughed.

  “So where to?” he asked as we fell into the flow of traffic.

  “Anywhere, so long as it’s with you,” I said, knowing we were finally on the right path. The right course plotted out and followed through by a silly little thing called serendipity.

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  ♥ Candace Knoebel

  Also by Candace Knoebel

  The Night Watchmen Series:

  The Gramm Curse (Night Watchmen, #0.5)

  Everlasting (Night Watchmen, #1)

  Evernight (Night Watchmen, #2)

  Everlost (Night Watchmen, #3)

  Everdeep (Night Watchmen, #4)

  Evermore (Night Watchmen, #5)

  The Born in Flames Trilogy:

  Born in flames (Book 1)

  Embracing the Flames (Book 2)

  From the Embers (Book 3)

  Steamy Standalones:

  The Taste of Her Words

  The Roots of Us

  The Risky Hearts Duet

  Ten Reasons To Stay

  Five Reasons To Go

  Love Between The Headlines

  Virginal Headlines