Holding Her Close
Page 20
My phone clatters against the table as it buzzes with a text. My gaze catches on Matt Hailey’s name flashing across the screen, and I read the text.
I know you didn’t want my help anymore, but I couldn’t resist. Hoping the article brought you and your beau back together.
“Damn you, Matt,” I mutter.
Cade takes the phone to read the message and smiles. “Occasionally that guy makes a good decision.” He lifts his eyes to mine. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”
I shake my head, unsure where to start. “That it wasn’t fair of me to compare you to Tom. You’re nothing like him. And that I shouldn’t have pushed you away when you really wanted to help me.”
“I fucked up,” he whispers. “And I’ve been paying the price. I love you so much that every day apart from you hurts more than the last. That ‘time heals’ crap is just bullshit. This isn’t getting any better. I love you and I need you, and I do believe in you. So much that I want to be with you in LA when you finally get to play the kind of part you want so badly.”
My breath catches and I have to swallow hard to clear the thickness from my throat so I can speak. “At this moment, this is the only part I want to play.”
“What part is that?”
“The part where the woman is given another chance with the man she loves.”
“That’s a favorite of mine.” He leads me out of the booth and stands before me, my hands in his. “Please tell me this is where the idiot guy is forgiven and gets to kiss the beautiful girl.”
I nod. And he does.
Epilogue
Cade
Three Months Later . . .
My steps echo through the foyer as I pace. The sound does nothing to soothe my nerves. “Janelle,” I call up the stairs. “The car is here.” I open the front door and signal the driver that we’ll be a couple of minutes. I need to talk to Janelle before we can go.
Jesus. These nerves. My stomach’s in knots and there’s a slight tremble to my hands. I’ve never been this nervous. Then again, nothing has ever mattered this much.
“How do I look?”
Turning, I watch my girlfriend descend the stairs, and I have to swallow hard. After three months of living together in her brother’s Hollywood mansion, her effect on me hasn’t changed. If anything, she’s more beautiful to me now than ever. Every day exposes another layer of her beauty—her loyalty to her family, her love for her nieces and nephew, her sass and wit and quirky sense of humor.
The sight of her calms me, and I draw in what feels like my first full breath of the evening.
“Well?” She takes the last few steps and comes to stand in front of me. “Do I look like a respectable actress?”
I pretend to consider her question. Her hair is pinned into a twist at the back of her head, and her floor-length black dress has a slit up the side that reaches the top of her thigh. My hands itch to slide under it. I already know the sounds she’ll make when I graze my knuckles down the center of her panties, but like an addict I want to hear them again. As soon as fucking possible.
She clears her throat. “You keep looking at me like that, and we’ll be late to meet Helen.”
Shrugging, I close the space between us. “We should make her wait. She deserves the torment.”
Helen Kerensky is taking us to dinner to grovel. She asked Janelle to take the role of Trista after all, and Janelle’s making her sweat before she accepts. Janelle’s agent said Helen can’t find anyone else who can pull off the emotionally complex role, and she’s offering a new, better contract. Apparently the producer values her art over her pride.
“You look beautiful,” I say softly. A small smile curves her pink lips, and I have to shove my hands into my pockets to keep myself from kissing her.
“I’m excited. Helen’s a bit temperamental, but she’s a genius. I can’t wait for you to meet her.”
I love seeing her this happy. She’s practically vibrated with nerves and excitement since she found out the part of Trista was hers for the taking. She’s been walking around with the aura of a woman who’s not just watching her dreams unfold, but who is in full control of how it will happen.
“Tonight, you’ll tell her you accept?”
She grins. “Yeah. I’m ready. This is going to be the biggest challenge of my career.”
“Your life is going to change.” My voice cracks on the words, my nerves showing despite my efforts to hide them. “You know that, right?”
She takes my tie in her hand and tugs, pulling me another step closer. “I hope some things will stay the same.” Her gaze drops to my lips, and when I don’t kiss her, she releases my tie. “I won’t let my career change you and me. Okay? This is too important.”
In my pocket, my fingers brush against velvet and my heart kicks up a beat. “What if I want things between us to change?” She flinches, but before she can speak, I drop to a knee and pull the jewelry box from my pocket, opening it so she can see the ring inside.
“Cade, what . . .?” Her eyes widen and fill with tears. “Oh . . .”
“Janelle Crane,” I say around the thickness in my throat, “your dreams are coming true, and you deserve them all.” I bring her hand to my lips and kiss her knuckles. “You’re truly the most amazing woman I’ve ever known, and the last three months have been better than anything I could have imagined. Tonight marks the beginning of the life you’ve wanted for so long, and no matter how your life changes, I want to be part of it. You already have my heart. Now I want you to have this ring. Will you marry me?”
Her lips part and she drags in a ragged breath. “You’re wrong,” she whispers, sinking to her knees in front of me. “The life I’ve wanted started the second you came back to me.”
“Is that an answer?”
She blinks away tears and giggles. “Yes. Of course I’ll marry you.”
Something washes over me—bigger than relief and more than love. Gratitude. For her. For this life. For second and third chances. I take the ring from the box and slide it onto her finger.
“Where did you get this?” she asks.
“I spent a month visiting every jewelry store in the city trying to find the perfect ring, and I couldn’t find anything that felt special enough. Last week, when I met with your brother to get his blessing—”
“You got Nate’s blessing?”
“Well, yeah. I like my balls and figured he’d cut them off if I didn’t.” She laughs and I grin. Fuck, she makes me happy. “He gave me the ring. He said it was your grandmother’s.”
She nods and a tear slips down her cheek as she studies the vintage piece—a French-cut diamond set in white gold and framed by three small pearls. “I didn’t know what happened to it. It’s perfect.”
“It looks beautiful on you.”
She lifts her eyes to meet mine. “You’re really going to marry an actress? A spoiled Hollywood princess?”
“I’m going to marry you, and you might be a fucking fantastic actress, but you’re a lot more to me than that. You’re my friend, my lover . . .” I slide a hand into her hair and brush my thumb across her cheek. “The future mother of my children.”
She draws in a ragged breath. “Cade . . .”
“No rush on the last one. I understand your career comes first right now.”
She shakes her head. “I can’t wait to have your babies. I’m just not sure there’s room for any more joy in my chest right now. You’re amazing. I love you so much.”
“I love you too. Forever.”
When I press my mouth to hers, she loosens my tie and unbuttons my shirt.
“We’re going to be late,” I murmur against her mouth.
My future wife just grins, unzips her dress, and lets it fall to the floor. “Is that a promise?”
THE END
Thank you for reading Holding Her Close, the second book in the Mended Hearts series. If you’d like to receive an email when I release a new book, please sign up for my newsletter.
Holdi
ng Her Close Playlist
“Same Old Love” by Selena Gomez
“Something Better” by Audien, Lady Antebellum
“Oblivion” by Bastille
“Ghost” by Halsey
“Fallingforyou” by The 1975
“Say You Love Me” by Jessie Ware
“Believe” by Mumford & Sons
“Nothing Without Love” by Nate Ruess
Other Books in the Series
Love Unbound by Lexi Ryan
If you enjoyed Holding Her Close, you may also enjoy the other books in Love Unbound, the linked series of books set in New Hope and about the characters readers have come to love.
Splintered Hearts (A Love Unbound Series)
Unbreak Me (Maggie’s story)
Stolen Wishes: A Wish I May prequel novella (Will and Cally’s prequel)
Wish I May (Will and Cally’s novel)
Or read them together in the omnibus edition, Splintered Hearts: The New Hope Trilogy
Here and Now (A Love Unbound Series)
Lost in Me (Hanna’s story begins)
Fall to You (Hanna’s story continues)
All for This (Hanna’s story concludes)
Or read them together in the omnibus edition, Here and Now: The Complete Series
Reckless and Real (A Love Unbound Series)
Something Wild (Liz and Sam’s story begins)
Something Reckless (Liz and Sam’s story continues)
Something Real (Liz and Sam’s story concludes)
Mended Hearts (A Love Unbound Series)
Playing with Fire (Nix’s story)
Holding Her Close (Janelle and Cade’s story)
_____________________________________
Other Titles by Lexi Ryan
Hot Contemporary Romance
Text Appeal
Accidental Sex Goddess
Decadence Creek Stories and Novellas
Just One Night
Just the Way You Are
About the Author
For more information about Lexi Ryan, please visit her website or find her on social media!
@writerlexiryan
LexiRyanAuthor
www.lexiryan.com
writerlexiryan@gmail.com