In a flash, the past months I’d spent with King sped through my mind, and all I could do was grin.
“I can honestly say that I am extremely happy.”
“And that makes me happy,” my mother said, and I could hear the smile in her voice. “Well, I just wanted to check on you. Get back to what you were doing, and I’ll talk to you later. Just when you get the chance, call me and your dad.”
“I will.”
“We worry about you.”
“I know.”
“And we love you so much.”
“I know that too. Tell Dad I said hey.”
“All right. Take care, baby.”
“I will. Love you, and I’ll call you and Dad next week.” I hung up the phone and tossed it onto my desk. It had been good talking to my mother, even if it was just for that little while. Hearing her voice made me miss her all the more, and I made a note in my mind to check out flights for when I’d get a chance to go home. I didn’t want to wait until the holidays. Maybe I could do it one of the weekends when King was out of town.
And there it was again—another thought about King. I swear, I couldn’t go two minutes without thinking about him, and I really didn’t want to be in this office right now. Especially since he was leaving for Connecticut next week to film a new movie. I didn’t know how I was going to make it with him gone for so long, and I wanted to spend as much time with him as possible.
That was it. I had to call him. Grabbing my cell once again, I pressed TALK, but before I could dial his number, I felt a hand on my shoulder.
I jumped, startled, but before I could turn around, a voice whispered, “What do you say we get out of here and go someplace special?”
I didn’t even have to turn around, because the chills and the butterflies that I always got gave me every indication that it was my man.
His breath was hot against my ear, and I was so turned on, I wanted to scream.
But of course, I didn’t, since I was at work. So without turning around, I said, “Well, I don’t know. I’m sort of involved with someone at the moment, and I don’t think it would be appropriate for me to be whisked away by some strange man.”
King moved his hand down from my shoulder to my waist, lifted me from my chair, and spun me around all in one motion.
“Whoever you’re involved with is crazy.”
“Uh-uh,” I said, shaking my head and grinning at the same time.
“He has to be, because he should never let such a beautiful creature out of his sight.”
King and I were standing so close to each other, I could feel the heat coming off of his body, and I wondered if he could feel my heat as well. This man made me melt, and I wanted to go wherever he wanted to take me.
“Sometimes I think you should write cards for Hallmark.” I stepped back from him a little. Not because I wanted to, but because we were, after all, at my job.
He laughed. “I think I’ll stick to acting.” Then he added, “Listen, grab your stuff and let’s go. I want to take you somewhere.”
“You’re serious?” I couldn’t believe he was really about to have me leave work.
“Absolutely.” He glanced over my desk, which was pretty bare. “Were you doing something more important?”
I took a beat to think. For the entire twenty-five years of my life, all I’d wanted to be was a journalist. Well, maybe not the entire twenty-five years, but my very first memory was telling my kindergarten teacher that I was going to be a newspaper reporter.
As I got older, I made a commitment that I was going to do whatever I had to do to be the best, to get to the top. As I gazed into the most beautiful pair of light brown, seductive eyes, it was like my old dreams meant nothing. Without saying a word, King was so persuasive. He confused my whole world, turned my dreams upside down, and I was falling deeper and deeper.
“What do you say?”
Now his deep baritone voice was added to the mix, and I was gone.
There were lots of things I had to do, but all I did was grab my coat and purse, and without saying a word to anyone, I followed my King right out of the building.
Chapter 6
“I want you to come to Connecticut with me,” King said. He held my cheek in the palm of his hand as we sat on the rooftop of his condo.
All I could do was laugh, because of course this was a joke.
“Why are you laughing? I’m serious, Heiress.”
Now my laughter stopped.
He said, “I need you with me because six months is too long for me to be without you.”
Now my heart started beating so hard that I was sure King could feel it, even though he was inches away from me. Over the months that we’d been together, King had said some wonderful things to me, but I had never seen him in such a vulnerable state before. His emotions were written all over his face; he really wanted me by his side.
“Babe, what about my job? And what about my apartment? I can’t have Blair pay the rent all by herself. And what about—”
Before I could say anything else, his lips were on top of mine, stopping me from speaking.
When King let me up for air, he said, “I’ll take care of all of that.”
“Really?”
He nodded. “Whatever you need, whatever you want, I can provide it for you.”
“But what about my job?”
“I have a little bit of money.” He chuckled. “You won’t ever want for anything.”
“But . . .”
He pressed his fingers against my lips. “Just say that you’ll come with me.”
In an instant, so many thoughts flew through me. Like did I really want to leave my job? Did I really want to leave L.A.? What would my parents think? They had paid for my education for me to have a great career, and now I was running off with some man.
Many other thoughts came to my mind, but there was only one that stood out above them all. And that was that I loved King Stevens.
I threw my arms around his neck and kissed him with all the passion I could muster from the depths of my soul.
With my kiss, I wanted this man to know how amazing he was to me. I wanted him to know that all I wanted to do was be with him, and if it meant I had to do that in Connecticut, and give up everything, then I was more than willing.
My lips were still on his when King mumbled, “I’ll take that as a yes.”
I didn’t say a word as I leaned back on the plush sofa and pulled King with me. The sunset had turned the September sky pink and purple over the Los Angeles skyline, and I wanted to make love to my King underneath it all.
Hours later we stepped back into his condo, and I slept in his arms on his California king-sized bed.
I awakened to the magnificent smell of rich coffee, which came from King’s Keurig machine, and when my eyes fluttered open, I knew why the smell was so strong. King was standing over me with a tray filled with two coffee mugs and two Danishes.
“Breakfast in bed, baby,” he said.
I scooted up and pulled the sheets to cover my naked torso. “This is breakfast?”
“Yup,” he said. “Breakfast King style, for my queen.”
“Awww.” I took the tray from him and held it until he had settled back in bed with me.
I was sure that he was going to turn on the flat-screen television that was on the wall, the way he did every morning so that he could check out the news. But he left the remote on the nightstand, and in the next moments I knew why.
“I just want to make sure I wasn’t dreaming last night,” he said.
I smiled. “It feels like a dream every time I’m with you.”
“Yeah.” He chuckled. “That too. But I’m talking about what you said. You’re going with me to Connecticut, right?”
I nodded, and he hugged me.
“I just want you to know that I’m going to take care of you, Heiress. I love you. You’re not like any other girl I’ve ever known.”
He’d said that to me often, telling me that h
e loved me because I loved him—not the actor. Just him, the man. He loved me because he could be himself and didn’t have to put on any airs or play any games, because I wasn’t in the business. He knew that I didn’t care about any of that. I just cared about him, and he just cared about me.
“I promise,” he said, breaking through my thoughts. “I’m going to take care of you.”
“I know,” I said, excited and anxious at the same time about my new adventure.
This was going to be so different. I was going to be dependent on a man for the first time in my life. Not that I had lived all that long, but I had always imagined myself as an independent woman. And I was. But what was more important to me was being independent with King. I knew with him I would still be who I wanted to be. I was just going to be doing it in Connecticut for the next six months.
King wrapped his arm around me as we sipped our coffee and finished our Danishes. I wanted to stay cuddled under him all day, but he had a bunch of interviews to go to and I had to go home and tell Blair the news.
Like I expected, Blair was lounging on the couch when I walked in the door, doing her favorite thing—watching the Saturday morning cartoons. Yup, she might be twenty-five, but my best friend was still a kid in her heart.
“Welcome home, Mrs. King,” she said. She’d been calling me that since my first dinner with King.
“His last name is Stevens.”
“And you’re telling me this, why? You think I don’t know?”
We went back and forth like this every time, and for just a second, I knew I was going to miss my friend. I mean, yes, I was going to be away for just six months, but it felt like I was beginning a new phase of my life. And I wasn’t sure what I would be doing when King and I returned.
“I have some news,” I said, keeping my eyes on the TV.
Slowly, Blair sat up on the couch. “Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God!”
Now I faced her, and when I looked into her eyes, I knew what she was thinking.
“No, Blair, I’m not getting married,” I said as fast as I could, because I was afraid she was going to become hysterical.
“You’re not?”
“No!”
“Well, what?” Then she gasped and put her hand over her mouth. “You’re pregnant!”
“No!” I said. Now I knew I needed to just get it out before my overdramatic best friend came up with every scenario—except for the right one. “I’m going with King to Connecticut. While he shoots his movie. I’m going there with him,” I said as fast as I could.
Blair squinted, as if she didn’t understand. “You’re moving to Connecticut?” she asked in a tone that sounded like she wanted to strangle me. I knew her concern was financial, but I thought that she would be happy for me. I mean, it wasn’t marriage, but it was still King and I being together.
“It’s only for six months.”
Blair was silent for a moment as she glared at me. Then, with her arms folded across her chest, she asked, “So what am I supposed to do here by myself while you gallivant all over the country with the black Fabio?”
“Whoa!” Just a moment ago she was asking if I was getting married, and now this? It was like her attitude had changed in just a second. All because I was going away? “Blair, you’ll be fine. I promise. King said he would take care of my half of the rent and bills, and I’ll be back before you know it. Six months is not that long.”
She didn’t change her pose. Her lips were still poked out; her arms were still crossed in front of her chest. She was still mad. But then she said, “Can you at least slide my number to an actor on set or something? I mean, dang, how selfish can you be?”
I knew my eyes were filled with both amusement and confusion.
She said, “What’s the point of you dating someone rich and famous if you aren’t hooking your girl up? I’m not trying to bartend forever.”
Another second passed before we both fell out laughing. The thing was, I knew Blair was serious. My girl was always looking for a come up. When we first met in college, she was dating some football player, not because she liked him, and not even because he was fine. No, his only qualification was that he had promise. There was talk of him making it to the NFL, but as soon as he hurt his knee in the second game of his recruiting season, Blair was on to the next.
I was still buckled over with laughter, but once I caught my breath, I said, “I’ll see what I can do.”
“You better.”
“I’ll try for the director, because I know you’ll only take a man who’s high on the food chain.”
“Awww, girl, you know me so well.” Blair wrapped her arm around my shoulders and put her head close to mine.
This was one of those special best friend moments, and I hated that I was leaving my bestie like this. It had to be shocking, and it was such short notice. But I needed to be with King.
“Do your parents know you’re going?” Blair ended our embrace and jumped up from the couch.
“Where’re you going?”
“To your room.”
I cracked up again, but I followed her. I knew what Blair was going to do. She was going to go through my closet to see what she could take before I started packing. As if I was really going to let her do that.
“My parents,” I moaned.
From the moment that King had asked me last night, I’d thought about what my parents were going to say about this. It didn’t take a genius to know that they weren’t going to be happy. I didn’t care how grown I was, they would never approve of me moving to another state . . . not for a man.
“I gotta figure out what I’m going to tell my parents.”
“Well, whatever lie you come up with, you’re going to have to do it soon since you’re leaving next week.”
“What do you mean, lie?” I protested. “I’m not going to lie.”
Blair looked at me as if I was lying already.
I lay back on my bed and said, “Maybe I can tell them I’m doing an on-location assignment for the magazine.”
“In Connecticut?”
Blair was right. They’d never buy Connecticut. After a moment, I had the perfect answer. “I’ll say New York. They’ll definitely believe that.”
My best friend peeked her head out of my closet. “See? Lie.” Then she went back to whatever she was doing.
Blair was right. This was a lie, and I couldn’t believe that I was going to blatantly lie to my parents. I had always tried to be completely honest with them. This time there was no way that I could tell them the truth. I had to do what I had to do. My man needed me, and I needed him. I was going to Connecticut for both of us.
“I hope it’s all worth it, Heiress,” Blair said as she stood over my bed, staring down at me.
Her words cut deep. It sounded like she doubted what I was doing. As if she doubted my judgment.
But I pushed the feelings that were rising up inside of me back down. How could this not be the right thing? Here was a man who had given me so much in so little time. And I wasn’t talking about financially and all the gifts. I was talking about how King completed me. How he made me feel like a whole woman. How he satisfied me emotionally, and in some ways even spiritually.
I was certain that he was worth it, and I was going to make sure that everyone else knew it too.
Chapter 7
Connecticut was boring and was getting colder by the day. King was on the set for twelve hours every day, sometimes even longer, and I was stuck at the condo we’d rented, cleaning, cooking, and watching the OWN network.
I had no friends, no family here, and even though King had rented me a car, I didn’t know where to go to do anything. Of course, King gave me money and kept telling me to go shopping, but I’d never been a girl who just wasted money. My closet was filled with designer dresses, bags, and shoes. There wasn’t anything else that I wanted to buy.
I couldn’t believe how much I missed working. Without a job, I almost felt like I didn’t even have a purpose. Two mo
nths had passed, and besides strolling through the malls, the only thing I’d done was go out to dinner a couple of times with King and his costars.
This was not how I had envisioned Connecticut. This wasn’t what I’d imagined at all. I was supposed to come to Connecticut and spend wonderful days with King. I thought we would go around discovering the town of Greenwich together, but I guess I hadn’t really thought it all the way through. King was working. How was he supposed to have time to socialize and hang out with me? Even though I understood that, it meant that I had no one and nothing.
And now the reruns on OWN were getting old to me, and I clicked off the television. I sat in the quiet of the living room, glancing slowly around the condo. This place was nice enough, with the cream micro-suede sectional and the fifty-inch flat-screen TV. But unless some of the plants started talking to me soon, I was going to go crazy.
I jumped up and slipped into the four-inch Gucci pumps that King had bought me last week, then took a quick glance in the mirror. This jean set I had on was cute enough, and so I grabbed my coat, purse, and keys.
Sitting around and waiting for King to come home was over. I wasn’t going to sit at home anymore, and the only place I knew to go was the set. Watching King couldn’t be any more boring than sitting at home. Plus, I’d never been to the set to watch King. I’d gone with him on the day we arrived in Connecticut, just so he could see where he had to show up for work in the morning.
As I backed out of the development in which we lived, I started getting excited. The good thing was that I knew where I was going. Although the set was about five miles away, the drive entailed just three turns, and in ten minutes I was pulling into the parking lot.
I was shocked that there was no one there to stop me. I’d expected security guards roping off the area, checking people’s IDs, but I guess this wasn’t Los Angeles. I was able to drive right up close.
The moment I stepped out of the car, I knew I’d made the right decision. This was far better than staying at home. The park where the shoot was taking place was loaded with people, cameras, other equipment and trailers. As people dashed back and forth in front of me, I slowly strolled through the madness, just enjoying the energy.
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