“They brought this that day when they showed up here, didn’t they?” She settled the papers back in order and handed them to Ben.
“Yep.”
“That was only a couple of days after you floated the idea to me.”
“Right again.”
“So, this was their idea, not yours.”
“I would never dream of putting you in a position like the one they wanted to,” he said, honest as a priest…which was about the only way Ben could be compared to a priest. “They found out we were connected, and since they’ve been trying to use me to both make a fortune and get back at their enemies, they thought they could use you as leverage.”
Jo frowned. “But you didn’t give me the contract.”
“I wanted to protect you.”
She arched an eyebrow. “Did you tell those creepy twins no?”
“I haven’t told them anything,” he admitted. This time when he stepped closer to her, Jo didn’t back away. “They’ve been trying to call me all day, but I have no interest in talking to them.”
Jo frowned. “But these are the guys who destroyed your reputation in New York. Aren’t you worried they’ll do more damage?”
He shrugged, reaching for her. She let herself be drawn into his arms, relaxed into the familiar feeling of circling her arms around his sides, holding him close.
“They can spread whatever rumors they want,” he said. “I’m not going to be there to hear them.”
Her heart flipped in her chest. “Where will you be?”
He leaned closer to her, so close she had to tilt her chin up to look into his eyes. “I’ll be right where I belong, in the place where I can be myself and be happy.”
“But what about the other play? The new one that what’s-her-name was trying to get you to do?”
He brought his lips closer to hers, nearly brushing them as he said, “I think I’m going to take a break from theater for a while. I’ve got this television show to film, you see, and far more important things I want to put my time and effort into right now.”
The trembling warmth in Jo’s gut spread through her, sending her heart spinning and her core pulsing. “Won’t that hurt everything you’ve tried to make of your life?”
“I’m beginning to see that what I’ve made of my life is overrated,” he said, holding her closer. “I was hoping to work on learning to be something else.”
“What?” His lips were so close to hers that the word came out as little more than a whisper.
“I’ve decided that I want to learn how to be a romance novel hero,” he said, smiling. “Do you know of anyone who could teach me?”
Sunlight and fireworks burst in her chest together. “I think I might know someone.”
“Good.”
He kissed her, and at last she was able to let go and kiss him back. Their bodies fit so perfectly together, their mouths melded as though they were made for one another. Jo didn’t hold back. She poured every last bit of her crazy, irrational, love for him into their kiss, knowing that he was every bit as out of his depth as she was. It was a whole new world for both of them.
“I’m sorry,” he said again as his lips hovered inches above hers.
“What for this time?” she asked, squeezing him close. Whatever it was, her gut told her he wasn’t going to hurt her. He’d been protecting her in his own misguided way this whole time.
“For the fact that I have no idea how to be in a relationship,” he answered. “For all future screw ups I’m sure I’ll make.”
“It can’t be any worse than puking in my bathroom.” She laughed, the sensation filling her with light.
“Maybe not, but there is that whole ruined reputation thing to consider.”
Jo shook her head. “Yvonne thinks that will pass. Adelaide just came to your defense big time right before you showed up.”
“She did?” Ben’s brow lifted in genuine surprise. His eyes lit with appreciation.
Jo nodded. “And that cute barista at the coffee store told me she was glad she didn’t shoo me out of your spot that day, because the two of us looked like we were having a good time.”
“We were having a good time,” Ben hummed, then leaned in and kissed her again, as passionate as he’d been that day. His tongue slid along the line of her lips, curling against hers. When at last he let Jo come up for air, he said, “Why don’t we go upstairs and recreate the day we met?”
Jo laughed, “Because my brother and a bunch of our friends are in the kitchen.”
“Good point.” He held her close, laughing and planting soft kissed on her lips.
Just as Jo was ready to change her mind and drag him upstairs to her bed where she could jump him, Ben loosened his hold on her.
“I love you,” he said, sudden intensity in his eyes. “Like I never thought I could love anyone. And I mean it when I say I want you to teach me to be the hero you’ve been writing about all these years.”
“As long as you help me to be the heroine that I’ve been trying to be all this time.” She pressed up to her tip-toes. “Maybe now that I have you, I’ll actually get the chance to find that happily ever after I’ve only ever written about.”
He smiled, touching his nose to hers. “I’ll make sure of it.”
Epilogue
To say that Portland, Maine had never seen the kind of crowd that showed up for a local production of a play as set in the canon of theatrical classics as Eugene O’Neil’s A Moon for the Misbegotten was no understatement. It was only a regional production, wedged right at the beginning of the theater season in late September. But reporters from as far as New York came to cover the event. Because how often was a simple, local production directed by a man who had won both Broadway and television’s highest award for director?
“Mr. Paul, what made you decide to scale back and direct regionally instead of taking Broadway by storm after your award for Second Chances last week?” one of the reporters asked, sidling up to Ben and Jo at the reception in the theater’s lobby before the show.
Ben squeezed Jo’s hand, eternally grateful that she was right there by his side, still, always. “It seemed like the next logical step to me,” he answered the reporter with a casual shrug that masked his excitement. “Filming for Second Chances wrapped, but since I’ve decided to make this area my home,” he glanced at Jo with a smile that made his fingers and toes warm, “I figured it was time to contribute to Portland’s theater community.”
Jo grinned in approval at the answer. In fact, it had taken a bit of arm-twisting on his part. He’d been at a loss when filming was over and had teetered on the edge of going back to New York. The Pollards had stopped calling and threatening him every few days, particularly when they attempted to break a new story on him, only to have Clint Parsons and several other big names on Broadway come to his defense. Clint still had hopes that Ben would come back to direct his show, and while that wasn’t going to happen any time soon, the surprise show of support broke whatever spell the Pollards had cast over the New York theater world. Ben was free.
But that didn’t mean he was in a hurry to leave the peace and normality of Maine for Manhattan’s insanity. He had other plans, as Jo had so deftly reminded him.
“Congratulations on your engagement,” one of the other reporters added as she invited herself into the conversation. “You look very happy.”
“Thanks,” Jo answered, leaning closer and hugging Ben’s arm. “We are.” He never would have pegged her as the type to flash the diamond he’d bought her over the summer and slipped on her finger during a moonlit walk on the beach, but then again, Jo was continually full of surprises.
“How did you two meet?” the first reporter asked.
Ben and Jo exchanged a glance, trying hard to keep a straight face. Both were failing miserably. It wasn’t the first time they’d been asked that question, but they had yet to come up with an answer that didn’t make both of them blush.
“It was a rainy day in Manhattan,” Jo explai
ned, lips quivering. “I ducked into a coffee shop and accidentally sat at a table that was reserved for Ben.”
And that’s where the story ended when told in public.
“I’m grateful that she did,” Ben added. “It was love at first sight, like a romance novel.” He raised Jo’s hand to his lips and kissed it.
“Oh, and congratulations, Miss Burkhart, on hitting the bestseller list with your new series,” the female reporter went on, her eyes aglow as she glanced between Jo and Ben. “I read the first book, and I really loved it.” She leaned closer. “Is Mr. Paul the inspiration for your hero, Jake?”
Jo sent Ben a mischievous smile. “Ben is the inspiration for all of my heroes. He is my romance novel hero, in every way.”
“Every way?” the woman asked with a knowing wiggle of her brow.
“Every way,” Jo answered.
Ben flushed darker. Leave it to Jo to embarrass him in public. Him, Benjamin Paul, the man who thought he couldn’t be embarrassed. She’d shown him. She’d shown him a lot of things in the past few months, and he was grateful for each one.
What the reporter couldn’t know was how much Jo’s simple praise meant to him.
“I’m only a romance novel hero now because I have a bona fide romance novel heroine by my side.” He slipped his arm around Jo’s waist and kissed her lightly. “Without her, I don’t know who I’d be.”
“You’d be the same wonderful man you’ve always been,” she teased him, shaking her head.
“Don’t listen to her,” Ben told the reporters. “This woman is the making of me.”
“That’s so romantic,” the female reporter sighed.
“Yes,” Jo agreed. “It is. He is. Neither of us are perfect, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
* * *
There’s more in store for the cast and crew of Second Chances and the people whose lives they touch. Like Jo’s hunky photographer brother, Nick. What exactly is going on between him and rising starlet, Adelaide Townsend? Keep your eyes peeled for Shooting Star, coming next year. And if you’d like to be notified when Nick and Adelaide’s story, as well as other stories from the cast and set of the TV series “Second Chances,” are out, please sign up for my newsletter here: http://eepurl.com/RQ-KX
About the Author
I hope you have enjoyed Catch a Falling Star. If you’d like to be the first to learn about when the next books in the series come out and more, please sign up for my newsletter here: http://eepurl.com/RQ-KX And remember, Read it, Review it, Share it!
Merry Farmer is an award-winning novelist who lives in suburban Philadelphia with her two cats, Butterfly and Torpedo. She has been writing since she was ten years old and realized one day that she didn't have to wait for the teacher to assign a creative writing project to write something. It was the best day of her life. She then went on to earn not one but two degrees in History so that she would always have something to write about. Her books have topped the Amazon and iBooks charts and been finalists in the prestigious RONE and Rom Com Reader’s Crown awards.
You can email her at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter @merryfarmer20.
Merry also has a blog, http://merryfarmer.net,
and a Facebook page, www.facebook.com/merryfarmerauthor
Acknowledgements
I would never be able to do what I do without the help of some fabulous people. I’d like to thank my wonderful editor, Cissie Patterson, my amazing beta-readers, Kristine Medley Farmer and Patti Larsen, and the Mistress of Badass herself, my publicist Anne Chaconas, and the whole Badass Marketing team. And a special, special thanks to Butterfly Farmer and Jolene Stewart for additional “editing.”
Other Works by Merry Farmer
The Noble Hearts Trilogy
(Medieval Romance)
The Loyal Heart, The Faithful Heart, The Courageous Heart
Montana Romance
(Historical Western Romance – 1890s)
Our Little Secrets, Fool for Love, Sarah Sunshine,
In Your Arms, The Indomitable Eve, Seeks For Her
Somebody to Love
Hot on the Trail
(Oregon Trail Romance – 1860s)
Trail of Kisses, Trail of Hope, Trail of Longing,
Trail of Dreams, Trail of Destiny,
Trail of Redemption, Trail of Passion,
Trail of Aces (coming soon)
Trail of Chances (coming soon)
Trail Blaze – a prequel novella
Second Chances
(contemporary romance)
Summer with a Star
One Night with a Star
Catch a Falling Star
Shooting Star (coming soon)
The Advisor (Part of The Fabulous Dalton Boys trilogy)
New Church Inspiration
More Precious Than Gold
Deeper Than the Sea (coming soon)
Grace’s Moon
(Science Fiction)
Saving Grace, Fallen From Grace
Catch a Falling Star (Second Chances Book 3) Page 26
