She covered her mouth, holding back a sob. If he was saying what she thought he was saying…
“I never really wanted to fall in love, but it happened, and like most people, I made some mistakes along the way, but I’m trying to own up to them, trying to be better. Because I found someone who makes me want to be the best version of myself I can possibly be. Tamsen, you make me laugh. You’re there for me when I need you even without having to say. You taught me that people deserve trust, that taking a leap of faith might be scary, but it’s so damn worth it when you’re with the right person.” His lips curled up in a devilish grin. “You introduced me to new and exciting forms of art.”
Heat burned her face, but she couldn’t stop the smile on her face.
“So I’m doing something else I’d never thought I’d do. I’m reclaiming another love. I’m going to play a song for you all.” His gaze moved around the room to the people gathered there. “And I apologize in advance for it. I’m a little rusty.”
A smattering of polite laughter rose a moment before Parker started playing. Tamsen stood stock still, rooted to the spot as she listened to the beautiful song. He didn’t sing, simply played the opening chords of a familiar melody. Soon the band behind him joined in, the lead singer taking the mic and softly crooning the sweet love words of the song.
He must have planned this days in advance. So all that time she thought he was avoiding her, he was really just planning something special. Something that would show her how serious he was. He played his guitar again. For her. No, not for her. He played it to show her that he had changed, that he was opening up.
When the song ended, the crowd roared with claps and cheers. The band accepted their accolades, but Parker placed his guitar on a stand and immediately moved off the stage, through the crowd, his sights set on her. He stopped an arm’s length away from her, his gaze wary as he stared at her. Everything in her screamed to grab him and kiss him the way she’d wanted to do for days, but she didn’t. He had things to say, and she desperately wanted to hear them.
“Hi.”
“Hi yourself,” she replied. “You’re late.”
The corner of his lips ticked up. “Technically, I was here before you. I’ve just been in the back the whole time.”
She nodded. “I wondered who set everything up before I got here.”
He took a step closer, until they were inches apart. Everyone had mostly gone back to mingling, but there were a lot of side-eyes focused on them, clearly wanting to get the inside scoop. Having had enough public attention today, she grabbed his hand and headed back behind the black curtain that just minutes ago had haunted her.
Once they were away from prying eyes and ears, she turned to face Parker. It almost hurt to look at his face after she thought she might never have this chance again. This chance to be alone with him. She wanted to say something, but she knew she had to let him start.
“I am so sorry, Tamsen.”
That was a good start.
“You played.” She couldn’t keep the awe out of her voice.
He nodded. “You were right. Music is healing, and I forgot that. When my dad left, it was too hard to play without feeling all that pain, so I pushed it aside. I thought if I never acknowledged it, it couldn’t hurt me. But the pain was always there. Underneath the surface. Running my life and decisions even if I didn’t realize it. I should have reclaimed what I loved for me. I should have trusted myself. My mother. Your father. And you.”
He took both of her hands in his. “You were right. I was letting my past color my vision of everyone. I wanted to protect my mother, but she can protect herself, make her own choices. I never should have started that stupid investigation or kept it from you once we…”
“Started having sex?”
“Started falling in love,” he corrected.
Oh. Her eyes welled again. Good thing she wore her waterproof mascara today.
“I love you, Tamsen,” he said, pulling her closer. “I know we promised to just have fun, but being with you is more than fun. It’s everything. And I know I screwed up and I know we have some stuff to work through, but if you could—”
She stopped his rambling by throwing her arms around his neck and covering his mouth with hers. Something she’d been dying to do ever since he stepped out from behind the curtains.
A moment later—or maybe an hour, time had no meaning when she was touching Parker—he pulled back with a grin.
“I guess that means you forgive me.”
There was that cocky confidence he wore so well. “Oh really? Wanna bet?”
His eyes heated. “Always.”
She chuckled. “What are the stakes?”
“If you’re right, we go back to my place and you let me worship every inch of you in slow, thorough detail until I convince you otherwise.”
She shivered; that sounded amazing. “And if you win?”
“We head back to my place and you let me worship every inch of you in slow, thorough detail.”
She threw her head back and laughed. Her heart lighter and freer than it had ever been before.
“I love you, Tamsen,” he said softly. “And I want to make all the promises in the world to you.”
She placed her forehead against his, brushing her lips against his mouth before speaking. “I love you, too, but…”
She felt him tense beneath her touch. “But what?”
She should feel bad for the slight tremor in his voice, but the man deserved a little payback. Not too much. Grinning, she finished, “But we can’t leave the party before it’s over. I promised Winston I’d clean up.”
Parker laughed. “Okay, I deserved that one. Fine, you win, we’ll leave after and head back to my place.”
“For the body worship, right?”
He pressed a kiss to her lips. “All night long, sweetheart.”
Sounded to her like they both won.
Epilogue
5 months later
Tamsen peeked out from behind the black curtain for the fifth time in the last ten minutes. A soft chuckle sounded from nearby.
“Sure you don’t want to go out there yet, sweetheart?”
She shook her head. “It’s not time. The show’s only been open for half an hour. Usually, I tell the artist to wait at least forty-five minutes. It adds to the air of mystery.”
But she’d never been the artist before. She never knew how nerve wracking it was to stand in the back of the gallery, knowing people were just a few steps away looking at your work, judging your work, hopefully buying your work.
Parker’s strong, warm arms wrapped around her waist. “It’s going to be great.”
“Easy for you to say. It’s not your soul out there on display for the masses to scorn. Why did I want to do a gallery showing again? Maybe it’s not too late to make a career out of the service industry. I’ve got the day manager job at work. I could move onto night manager, franchise manager, maybe even buy my own restaurant. I could—”
“Except you don’t want to work in restaurants forever,” he said, ending her rambling and turning her in his arms so she faced him. “You are an artist. You’re meant to create joy, inspire hope, challenge ways of thought. And you’re damn good at it.”
She smiled. He was right. Working at the restaurant didn’t fulfill her the way her art did, the way being with him did. She still couldn’t believe how quickly these past five months had flown by. So much had changed. Their parents had gotten married in a beautiful ceremony that left no dry eyes in the venue. She’d moved in with Parker about four months ago. While she missed Cora, she loved that she got to wake up next to the man she loved every day.
Almost every day.
She worried like mad whenever he was on shift, but she knew he was doing important work. Other than her intense anxiety over everyone out there hating her show, t
hings were good.
“Tamsen.” Winston poked his head through the curtain. “We’re ready for you.”
She took a deep breath. “Okay, here goes.”
Parker kissed her softly. “It’s going to be amazing, sweetheart.”
She wished she had his confidence, but she was grateful she had his love and support. She stepped out from behind the curtain, Parker slipping out after her and melding into the mingling crowd. Winston called attention and introduced her, garnering a soft round of applause. And then it was room-circling time.
It did go surprisingly well. Better than she could have hoped for. Her friends were in attendance, including a number of Parker’s firefighter buddies. Her dad and Victoria were there with a few friends. Tamsen told Victoria not to make a big deal of this, but she insisted that she knew some art connoisseur who would be absolutely devastated if they weren’t on the ground floor on new budding talent.
Everything seemed to be going well, and by the end of the night, every single piece of work had a red sale dot.
“I can’t believe it,” she said to Parker once they arrived back home. “Every piece sold. Like, every single piece!”
Her cheeks hurt from smiling so much, but she couldn’t stop. She’d expected four or five things to sell. Not every. Single. Piece. Even the broken chunks of her chest cast that she’d arranged into a piece called When Failure Meets Fate.
“You’re amazing, sweetheart. I keep telling you that.”
He did, and she usually believed him, but the hallmark of any artist was the self-doubt that came along with creation.
She tossed a smile over her shoulder as they walked down the hallway to their bedroom. The fancy silk dress she wore for tonight’s show was nice, but she couldn’t wait to get out of it and into some comfy leggings.
She entered the bedroom, smiling at the one piece of work not included in tonight’s exhibit. The large passion painting hung on the wall across from the bed.
“I still can’t believe you bought that.”
He tossed his suit jacket on the chair in the corner. “I wanted to be the first person to have a Tamsen Hayes original.”
“I would have just given it to you.”
He wagged a finger. “No way. No special treatment just because you love me.”
“I do love you.” She smiled, stepping closer to him, wrapping her arms around his neck. “You make me happier than I ever thought possible.”
He placed his hands on her waist, smiling down at her. “Bet I can make you even happier.”
“Oh really? What are the stakes?”
“Same as always.”
Since their bets almost always included sex, she nodded.
“Well then, I have to inform you the greatest work of art tonight was you.”
She snorted out a laugh. “Cheesy, way too cheesy.”
He gave her a mock scowl. “I was going for romantic. Now zip it.”
She mimed zipping her lips. Parker nodded, pulling away and moving to his dresser. He shuffled around in the top drawer for a bit before turning and heading back to her, hands behind his back. What had he grabbed out of there? She hoped it was a fun new toy for them to experiment with.
“There’s another piece of art tonight, but you didn’t make it. It was made a long time ago, and it’s been in my family for years. And now I want to give it to you, if you’ll have it.” He started to go down on one knee, pulling a black box out from behind his back. “If you’ll have me.”
She gasped. Tears filling her eyes as her heart leaped for joy at what she now knew was coming.
“Tamsen Hayes, you are the most talented, funniest, kindest, most beautiful person I have ever met inside and out, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Not just because of who you are, but because of who you make me. You make me want to be the best version of myself. You make me want to try harder, love deeper, and always see the good in those around me. It would make me the happiest person in the universe if you would marry me and let me love you for the rest of our lives.”
The beautiful antique ring nestled in the box shined, but nothing could be brighter than her love for this man. She nodded, unable to get the word past her clogged throat.
“That’s a yes?”
Finally, she managed to find her voice. “Yes! Yes, of course, I’ll marry you.”
He stood, lifting her into his arms and spinning them around. Her lips found his, this kiss filled with joy, love, and the salty taste of her happy tears.
“I love you, Tamsen,” he said as he laid her on their bed.
“I love you, too.”
He grinned. “Hey, do you think we could get a deal if we use the same venue our parents did? Like a family discount or something?”
She smacked his shoulder. “Ew, stop being weird.”
He laughed, his chuckles soon turning to moans as she pressed herself against him.
Life had a funny way of bringing people together. She never would have guessed that the handsome firefighter who rescued her all those months ago would turn out to be her stepbrother, turn into her lover, and eventually end up her husband. But, as they said, life was stranger than art. And she, for one, couldn’t wait to see the plans life had in store for her and Parker.
As long as they were side by side, with love and trust, she knew life would be beautiful.
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Acknowledgments
A huge thanks to my agent Eva Scalzo who always encourages my need to give my side characters a story and said, “the firefighters are getting books right?” All my appreciation to my editor Stacy Abrams, it is an absolute pleasure being one of your authors. Special thanks to Judi, Sunshine, and Wendy for catching all my mistakes and helping to make Parker and Tamsen’s story so wonderful! A big thank you to all the staff at Entangled Publishing for all their support and dedication on this book. Smooches and hugs to my kiddos for understanding when mommy needs to work instead of play, and as always, all my love to the guy who reminds me to “try turning it off and back on again” whenever my computer gives me a heart attack. Love ya, babe!
Special Shout out to all my BookTok friends and followers. 2020 was a rough one, but meeting all of you brought me so much joy. Thanks for appreciating my silly, sassy ways.
About the Author
Bestselling author Mariah Ankenman lives in the beautiful Rocky Mountains with her two rambunctious daughters and loving husband who provides ample inspiration for her heart-stopping heroes.
Mariah loves to lose herself in a world of words. Her favorite thing about writing is when she can make someone’s day a little brighter with one of her books. To learn more about Mariah and her books, visit her website, www.mariahankenman.com, follow her on social media, or sign up for her newsletter https://bit.ly/31yMv07
Also by Mariah Ankenman…
The Best Friend Problem
The Best Man Problem
The Roommate Problem
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