by Aven Ellis
I bite back the tears as I study Deke’s face. He’s silent for a moment, simply staring at me through his tear-filled eyes. He gently clears his throat and begins speaking.
“Dear Heartbroken Fashionista,” he says, his voice thick with emotion. “The guy you are talking about threw up a wall because he couldn’t believe a woman like you would want to be in his life. When he overheard that conversation, it reaffirmed his deepest fears. But then he realized,” Deke says, continuing, “that he was the biggest jerk on earth and was about to lose the only thing that has ever really mattered to him.”
“W—What?” I gasp, confused.
“Dear Fashionista, you might want to try answering your cell phone. It might contain the answers you need to know. Sincerely, Emily.”
I stare at Deke, stunned. “What do you mean?”
“Did you even turn your cell phone on this morning?” Deke asks, raising an eyebrow at me.
I shake my head. “I forgot to charge it. The battery is dead.”
Deke takes out his phone and shows me that he called me twice this morning, and then showed me two text messages he sent me:
I’m so sorry. Forgive me.
I love you.
I gaze up at him, and my heart leaps with joy. He loves me, too! I’m about to jump into his arms and smother him with kisses when he begins speaking.
“I was an asshole,” Deke says quietly. “I knew deep down you wouldn’t have said those things about me now. I know that. I was just afraid that I really didn’t belong in your world. So I did what I do best. I pulled back to protect myself from the inevitable, from you breaking my heart. But you’ve changed me. Don’t you see that? I don’t want to pull back anymore. I knew it the second the airplane took off for New York this morning. All I could think about was coming home. To you.”
Okay, I did really well about not crying until now. Tears are suddenly slipping from my eyes, but I make no move to stop them.
Deke lifts his fingertips to my face and slowly brushes the tears away. “You say I changed you, but you changed me. Being in a relationship isn’t easy. It’s a lot of work. But I’m not afraid of it anymore. Not as long as I know you love me.”
“I do,” I manage to say. “I love you.”
“Good. Because I’m in love with you, too,” Deke says, caressing my face with his hand. He bends down and gives me a kiss on the lips, and my heart sings with joy.
He lifts his head from mine and smiles at me. “Sorry. I’m on the clock so I really can’t kiss you like I want to. But I still can’t believe you’re here. That you flew by yourself to see me.”
I nod excitedly. He takes one of my hands in his and squeezes it tightly.
“You have to know how much I love you if I’m willing to fly here.” I say. But then I fix my gaze upon him and give him a stern look. “And speaking of time clocks, Mr. Ryan, you need to give Zach this assignment back. You are my videographer, and you belong in Chicago. With me.”
Deke sighs heavily and squeezes my hand tighter. “I can’t be your shooter anymore. There’s no way I can shoot you objectively. I actually asked Zach to flip with me while we were still in San Francisco. I had been losing my objectivity, and I knew after that trip I couldn’t work on your story anymore. Not when I was a part of it.”
“Deacon, that’s crazy,” I say. “Did you or did you not shoot that horrible e-mail Sasha sent me during the presentation? And the way I couldn’t get my slides to show? Those were embarrassing, but you shot them anyway?”
“Yeah, but—”
I cut him off. “Let’s compromise. You go back to being my videographer. After a couple of weeks, if you really feel you can’t do it objectively, then you can switch assignments with someone else. But I know you are the only person that can tell my story.”
Deke smiles at me, and warmth radiates down my spine.
“All right, we’ll give it a shot. But if I decide to switch, then Zach is the only videographer I want on the job,” he declares.
I wrinkle my brow. “How come?”
“Because I know damn well he won’t hit on you,” Deke teases.
I laugh loudly. “Is that what you did? Hit on the subject?”
He grins wickedly at me. “No, but I was taken the second you entered the conference room on day one.”
“You were not!”
“I thought you were gorgeous,” he says, sexily lowering his voice.
“When did you know that you were crazy about me?” I ask, really wanting to know this.
“Easy,” Deke says quickly. “When we were at Starbucks.”
“Me, too,” I say honestly. “How did you know?”
“Because,” he says softly, “when I talked to you, I found myself thinking that I would give up my passport and all my travel abroad if it meant I could spend the rest of my life having conversations with this girl.”
“I felt the same way,” I say, my voice thick. Then I furrow my brow. “Except for giving up the travel part, because I’ve never traveled.”
“You will now,” Deke says firmly. “We’re going to travel the world. I promise you that.”
I nod excitedly.
“But if I want to stay employed, I need to go to work,” he says. “I’m scheduled to leave here later tonight, because the flights were full this afternoon.”
Hmmm. He has to work all afternoon, and we can’t fly back until this evening, leaving me plenty of time to—
“And if you go shopping, my fashionista, just remember that you have to pay the bills next month when they come in, okay?”
I giggle happily. “You totally read my mind. But I should check out the stores here in the terminal, you know. Just to make sure I’m not missing something.”
Deke grins at me. “Go ahead. You can meet me back here for dinner when I’m done.”
“That sounds fabulous,” I say happily. I stand up on my tiptoes and give him a quick kiss on the lips. “So, Deacon, do you think Dear Emily has one last piece of advice for me?”
“I think,” he says, kissing me again, “Dear Emily would tell Heartbroken Fashionista that her love life is going to work out just fine.”
I laugh and so does Deke. And as I gaze into his eyes, I know my theory about supposed to is dead on. My fabulous life was never supposed to be like this, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
And Craig Potanski was absolutely right, too.
Everything worked out exactly the way it should.
Also from Aven Ellis and Soul Mate Publishing:
CONNECTIVITY
Overachiever Mary-Kate Grant (who is indeed named after an Olsen Twin) has followed every rule to the letter to pursue her dream of working in TV programming. Ripping a page from the “hard work pays off” playbook, she takes an assistant level job at a Chicago sports network to break into the industry.
MK has no time or desire for a relationship right now—she is totally focused on her career and being independent, unlike the other women in her family.
But MK’s plans are run through the shredder when she finds herself working for William Cumberland, a British media mogul who made his fortune with Connectivity, a social media site. William blows into Chicago just like the winds off Lake Michigan and purchases the group of networks MK works for—and makes her his personal assistant in the process.
Suddenly MK finds her career plans in jeopardy. William makes her question everything she has ever thought and has the uncanny ability to see right through her. And for the first time in her life, MK finds herself not only questioning what she wants for her career but for her personal life as well.
Available now on Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/npzdr6c
WAITING FOR PRINCE HARRY
Twenty-four-year-old Kylie Reed has always been a rule follower.
Organized and cautious to a fault, her dreams for life are often filed away for future use—when she has a house, when she meets her future husband, when she has been at her visual display job at a chic Dallas boutique longer. Kylie always has a reason for living her life in the future, not in the present, and fears not living her life to the fullest and reaching her dream of becoming a fashion designer.
The only exception to rules, of course, would be running away with Prince Harry. But living in Dallas and not knowing Prince Harry make this a non-option.
Or does it?
Because when Kylie accidentally falls into the lap of a gorgeous ginger guy—yes, even more gorgeous than the real Prince Harry—all bets are off. Kylie’s life takes some unexpected twists and turns thanks to this encounter. Could this stranger be the one to show Kylie how to live in the present?
Available now on Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/qyp23b6
