"Exactly," he said, hugging me. "Just talk to Todd or whoever I send by about the two-kitchen thing. We'll get a designer in here who will know what to do—how to tie the two together. You guys can make a plan."
"Okay," I said, feeling overwhelmed but in an excited way.
"And I guess when Charlotte and Mickey move out, we can take over the back apartment, too," he said. "If you want. Or we can keep it empty and save it for guests. We'll talk about it. We have time."
"I don't care," I said. "I just want the man."
He pulled me in, hugging me, holding me, wrapping his big arms tightly around me. He took a deep breath, and I could feel his lungs expand. I smiled as I leaned against him.
"My head's spinning with all the things I have to take care of and tie up in Nashville. I have so much property over there. I'm probably not even going to start selling it right away. I've got a lot to do and think about." His eyes met mine. "But I'm not doubting it for a second," he added.
"I hope not considering the construction you've already started," I said, gesturing to the hole. "Which… I’m sorry, mister Harper, but I'm not even sure if you had a permit for any of this."
He laughed and then ducked, kissing my neck and making me squirm and squeal. His smile faded and he regarded me thoughtfully as he pulled back.
"I cannot wait to be with you and not say goodbye again," he said.
"I'm so excited for that, too!" I was genuinely excited, and he smiled at my innocence.
He kissed me, his perfect mouth touching mine. "My girl, Tara, coming to Nashville to get married," he said, teasing me.
I smiled. "And to meet your parents. I'm nervous."
"They're going to love you."
"I love you, too." I said, misunderstanding him on purpose.
He paused for a second, but he knew what I had done. He smiled. "Yeah, well, I love you too, too," he said.
Epilogue
Trey
A year later
Tara absolutely loved that hole in the wall.
She kept it like it was for a couple of months, until construction on 202 had finished and it was time to join the two apartments. The contractors lined the other side with plastic so that she had privacy and so none of the dust from the construction could travel into her side of the apartment.
Tess had fallen in love with the hole the same way her daughter did. Tara told her mom the story of how it happened, and upon seeing the small area of destruction, Tara ran home, grabbed paints, and painted a frame around the hole itself, transforming it into a piece of art.
The plastic on the other side of the hole was blue, and Tess used contrasting colors and painted the frame and the background part of the wall within the frame.
Trey got the biggest kick out of that. He visited Galveston once during the time that it was still up, and he loved what Tess had done. During his visit, they left the barrier in place and Trey stayed on his side of the apartment as they had done in the past.
They didn't get married right away, but they began immediately moving forward with several different plans. They did some work on the pink building, and Trey purchased two other houses in Galveston.
Tara helped him with the deals and some of the property management while he was still tying things up in Nashville. They put off opening the ballet school until January, that way they could get through the construction upstairs and all the noise wouldn't be a nuisance during classes.
They got married in Nashville in December before opening the studio, and that was when Trey finally moved into the apartment. It was huge, and it felt empty without him there during those weeks before their wedding, but Tara had fun setting it up and getting it ready for him.
He was there to stay by Christmas, and it was the greatest relief ever.
That was almost six months ago. The couple passed a winter and spring as newlyweds, getting to know each other in all new ways while being thrown into the whirlwind of moving, buying property, and opening the studio.
They met up in the secret room at least a few times a week, because everyone knew that stolen kisses, secret kisses, were even better than the regular kind.
Trey had hardly come up for air since he met Tara. It was a wonderful whirlwind, but it was indeed a whirlwind.
But after tonight, he would be able to breathe a little easier. He had been anxious, not for himself, but for Tara. Tonight was her studio's first ever dance recital where her students got to show off all that they had learned during the academy's first semester.
Tara was new to being an owner, but she knew it was within her duties to speak to the parents as a whole and make announcements about each group of dancers. She had seen other people run recitals over the years, been a part of many of them, but she was extremely nervous about doing it herself. Tara was nervous, therefore Trey had been nervous.
But now he could breathe easy. In fact, he was breathing better than ever. He was outstanding. The recital had just finished, and Tara had done a perfect job. She had done so well that Trey had no idea why she was anxious in the first place.
She delegated jobs, put together a lovely program, and the dancers and instructors all did great. The whole night was a gigantic success. Trey felt so relieved and excited that he was pumped up as he walked back to the dressing room to meet his wife.
They had both told everyone goodbye after the recital, but Tara went inside while Trey helped her dad and brother load a couple of tables and some chairs into Billy's truck.
"Tara!" he called her name as he went into the dressing room to look for her.
"I'm in here!" she shouted back.
Trey came around the corner and saw her. She looked like she had just stood up. She had her back turned toward him and she was clearing the last few things off of the surface of the vanity in the dressing room.
"Thank you for helping Dad and Will," she said.
Trey caught a glimpse of her in the mirror as she moved to turn off the light, and it looked like she had black streaks running down her face.
"Tara." He said her name in a no-nonsense tone that made her turn to him instantly. "Baby. What happened to you?"
The vanity lights were now out, but there was still plenty of light in the room and he could clearly see that she had been crying. Her cheeks were wet and her makeup was smeared.
She set down the things she had just picked up, two bottles of hairspray and a comb, and turned to hug Trey.
"I'm fine," she said, hugging him gratefully. "I’m just… they're happy tears. Not just happy, but everything. Happiness, relief, just everything. I felt like I was holding my breath going into this, and I was just back here… letting it all out."
He used his finger to tilt up her chin. She was wearing a little black wrap-around dress, and her hair was put up in a neat style, yet there was fresh tears and streaks of makeup running down her face.
She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.
"You didn't seem like you were holding your breath," he said.
He held her, crowding her space, leaning her against the counter. She smelled like perfume and sweat. Tara worked hard that night and she smelled like exertion. It was like natural perfume—pheromones. Even her scent called to him. He leaned down and smelled her neck. He kissed her there, and the closeness drove him crazy. He felt desperate to get her home.
"You seemed like you had done it a hundred times," he added. He was so close that she sat on the edge of the counter.
She leaned in and put her arms around his neck. "I don’t know what I would do without you. You were the backbone of everything tonight."
"What? No. That was all you."
She let out a little laugh and shook her head. "Oh my gosh, not even close. Everything, Trey. The tickets, the tables, the decorations, the music…" she blinked at him with tears in her eyes. "Even the building where we meet to practice. You gave me this night, Trey. None of this would have happened without you. I need you to know how thankful I am."
Trey smiled at her. "You're welcome," he said, staring into her glossy eyes. "It's cliché to say it's my pleasure, but it actually is."
She gently ran her fingertips down his neck from the bottom of his ear to the top of his shirt collar. She bit the edge of her lip as she did it, regarding him shyly. She was flirting. She knew what she was doing.
"I know, but I just wish there was something I could do to pay you back for everything," she said.
That was it. She knew exactly what she was doing. She must not care about that hairspray because it was getting left. Trey ducked and picked Tara up, and she did not protest at all, not even about leaving things in there.
She held onto Trey, snuggling against him, making it easy for him to hold her.
"Thank you, Mister Steve," she said on the way out of the side door of the high school auditorium. "I left a few things in the dressing room, but I'll get them tomorrow when we come back to tear down that backdrop."
"Okay, sweetheart, I'll lock up. Are you okay?"
"Oh, yes sir," she said. "I'm not hurt or anything. He's just carrying me because he wants to."
"And they were happy tears," Trey explained, knowing Steve also saw her smeared makeup.
They only got as far as the truck before Trey kissed his wife for what must have been fifteen minutes.
They were parked in a secluded spot near the loading dock, and he couldn't help himself. She was too beautiful to resist. Steve and everyone else were gone from the parking lot by the time they drove through.
They were both insatiable on the way home, too. They kissed every time they had to stop at a traffic light. Tara leaned in and kissed him the first time they caught a red light, and from then on, Trey prayed they would catch more of them.
He knew where they were going and they knew what would happen when they got there. The tension between them was palpable. Tara kept a hold of his arm the whole time he drove. She was shaken with anticipation, relief, and a whole host of emotions.
It was a beautiful, balmy evening in May, but they were only outside for a few seconds, and neither of them will ever remember the weather because they were too busy kissing. The passion and excitement trumped everything else. They kissed as soon as she stepped out of the truck, and it was impossible for either of them to stop, even when they were walking.
There was no telling how they ended up inside the apartment. The trip from the truck to the door was one big passion-filled haze for both of them. They'd break apart and walk a few steps, being playful and smiling, and then they'd kiss again. Finally, they made it to the door. The whole set of apartments was now officially their private house. Charlotte and Mickey moved out when their lease was up, so the whole entryway was now private and kept locked. Tara and Trey considered the stairwell to be part of their house.
Trey locked the front door.
They were gloriously alone.
Tara grinned at her husband after he locked the door, and he gave her a mischievous smile.
She leaned against the railing, tilting her head downward and looking at him like she wanted in on his mischief.
And the rest, as they say, was history.
The End
(till book 5)
Other titles available from Brooke St. James:
Another Shot:
(A Modern-Day Ruth and Boaz Story)
When Lightning Strikes
Something of a Storm (All in Good Time #1)
Someone Someday (All in Good Time #2)
Finally My Forever (Meant for Me #1)
Finally My Heart's Desire (Meant for Me #2)
Finally My Happy Ending (Meant for Me #3)
Shot by Cupid's Arrow
Dreams of Us
Meet Me in Myrtle Beach (Hunt Family #1)
Kiss Me in Carolina (Hunt Family #2)
California's Calling (Hunt Family #3)
Back to the Beach (Hunt Family #4)
It's About Time (Hunt Family #5)
Loved Bayou (Martin Family #1)
Dear California (Martin Family #2)
My One Regret (Martin Family #3)
Broken and Beautiful (Martin Family #4)
Back to the Bayou (Martin Family #5)
Almost Christmas
JFK to Dublin (Shower & Shelter Artist Collective #1)
Not Your Average Joe (Shower & Shelter Artist Collective #2)
So Much for Boundaries (Shower & Shelter Artist Collective #3)
Suddenly Starstruck (Shower & Shelter Artist Collective #4)
Love Stung (Shower & Shelter Artist Collective #5)
My American Angel (Shower & Shelter Artist Collective #6)
Summer of '65 (Bishop Family #1)
Jesse's Girl (Bishop Family #2)
Maybe Memphis (Bishop Family #3)
So Happy Together (Bishop Family #4)
My Little Gypsy (Bishop Family #5)
Malibu by Moonlight (Bishop Family #6)
The Harder They Fall (Bishop Family #7)
Come Friday (Bishop Family #8)
Something Lovely (Bishop Family #9)
So This is Love (Miami Stories #1)
All In (Miami Stories #2)
Something Precious (Miami Stories #3)
The Suite Life (The Family Stone #1)
Feels Like Forever (The Family Stone #2)
Treat You Better (The Family Stone #3)
The Sweetheart of Summer Street (The Family Stone #4)
Out of Nowhere (The Family Stone #5)
Delicate Balance (The Blair Brothers #1)
Cherished (The Blair Brothers #2)
The Whole Story (The Blair Brothers #3)
Dream Chaser (Blair Brothers #4)
Kiss & Tell (Novella) (Tanner Family #0)
Mischief & Mayhem (Tanner Family #1)
Reckless & Wild (Tanner Family #2)
Heart & Soul (Tanner Family #3)
Me & Mister Everything (Tanner Family #4)
Through & Through (Tanner Family #5)
Lost & Found (Tanner Family #6)
Sparks & Embers (Tanner Family #7)
Young & Wild (Tanner Family #8)
Easy Does It (Bank Street Stories #1)
The Trouble with Crushes (Bank Street Stories #2)
A King for Christmas (A Bank Street Christmas)
Diamonds Are Forever (Bank Street Stories #3)
Secret Rooms & Stolen Kisses (Bank Street Stories #4)
Secret Rooms and Stolen Kisses: A Romance Page 15
