I stared at him, frozen with shock, my hands flying to my mouth.
“I love you too,” I choked out. But when was love ever enough? “But Cade, I understand that you like adventure, and I don’t want to stop you from living your dreams. I don’t want you to not go to Beijing if that’s what you want. But there's so much I need to do, so much, and if you can't—”
“Pick a place.”
“What?”
“Pick a place, anywhere in the world. I don't care if it's Bangkok or Paris or Ulaanbaatar. I don't care if you want to stay for a week, a month, a year, or even an hour. I don’t care about going to Beijing—I don’t care about going to any one place. It was never about going to Beijing, it was about going somewhere together, so we could have an adventure together. So we could start a life together. I understand why you think this is just like ten years ago, but I promise you I get it now. So name any place. I will take us there, and I will stay with you. Just...please, Mara. Believe me.”
I stared at him, and it all clicked into place. I could see now that my past hurt may have spurred my anger the night before—it had just felt so familiar. But things were different now—Cade was different now. I knew this wouldn’t be our last fight, and that we might each still have a bit of pain from our past to work through, but I couldn't resist him any longer. I threw myself into his arms, and all I could say was that I loved him over and over again. We could get through anything, together.
“Where to, princess?” he said, and his voice sounded as coarse as sandpaper. “Anywhere in the world, you name it. It's up to you, forever...”
“We can figure out a place together. That’s all I care about, that it’s you and me, together. Anywhere in the world, as long as I'll be with you,” I whispered, and I knew that that was the most important thing.
Two years later
Cade
“Are you going to stop looking at your reviews? We're landing in just about twenty minutes.”
Mara glanced up from her phone long enough to lean over and give me a kiss.
“Two more good ones, and one that's a bit meh, but the meh review belongs to some guy who actually thinks the earth is flat. But all right, just for you, I'll put it away.”
“My wife, the famous novelist,” I said with a grin. “Are you giving everyone a copy of your novel for Christmas this year?”
“It'd be easy enough, but no,” she said, snuggling next to me. “It's just gift certificates again. Call me boring, but nothing says love like convenience and cash.”
The private jet that was taking us from New York to Wisconsin was comfortable, but the truth was that I couldn't wait to be on the ground. After Paris, Milan, and Moscow, it felt strange to be excited by a little town like White Pines, but there it was.
“It's been an amazing time,” I said softly, stroking Mara's hair.
“What, listening to me bitch about reviews the whole way from New York?”
I thought about the last two years, the give and take that had grown between the two of us as we realized that instead of either of us being in charge, we could simply rely on each other. She had taught me more about love than anyone else in the world, and this was the reward—Mara curled up next to me, gazing at me with wry adoration and her signature brassiness.
“All of it,” I said with a grin, and I pulled her in for a long kiss that only ended when the flight attendant told us it was time to fasten our seat belts.
The End
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“The Dirty Doctor’s Touch”
Dirk
I am a master. An elitist. I am at the top of my field, and I know what I am doing.
Women want me. They worship me. They come to me to fulfill all their needs—all of them.
I can have any one of them I want. But I only want her.
A goddess with a perfect body. So pure, so vulnerable. She takes notice of me, but I obsess over her.
I know how this game is played, and I know she can have her pick of the lot as well. Anyone would be lucky to have her, and everyone knows it.
No matter what, no one else can have her. Everyone wants her, but only I can have her.
I will have her.
I need her.
Charli
I am young, strong and smart. I can make it in this world.
I know I am beautiful, and my beauty is the kind that the world finds captivating. I turn heads everywhere I go. I might not act like I notice, but I do.
Yet, life is a game. Love is a game. Beauty is a game.
I am beautiful, right?
Everyone is telling me to change. I’m not good enough as I am.
I need to be better.
I want to be on top of the world, but I feel knocked to my knees.
I will rise again.
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Destined Desires: A Second Chance Romance (Billionaire's Passion Book 2) Page 7
