Sweet Promise (The Grahams Book 1)

by Jennifer Woodhull

  “Yeah, a bad one. John was leaning over Helen. She must not have had on her seatbelt…she went through the windscreen. An ambulance came, and we all went to hospital, but she never woke up.” I shook my head as I felt the tears come to my eyes. “She was so lovely…brilliant, too. She was going to be a solicitor. She was like family to me, but to John, …he held the woman he loved in his arms as she died.”

  “Luc, I’m so, so sorry!” Georgia reached across and took my hands in hers as tears fell from her eyes.

  “John didn’t talk to me for a long time. Then he just showed up at my house one day and asked if I wanted to go to a football game. We never talked about the accident, but after that, things gradually got back to normal.” I looked at Georgia, her sweet face stained with tears. “So, you wanted truth? That’s our truth. That, and everything that came before and after is what binds John and me together.”

  Back at the hotel, I kissed the top of Georgia’s head and told her goodnight at her door before walking to my room. As I went to open my door, I realized that she was standing beside me. “What are you doing?” I asked.

  She took my hand and quietly said, “I’m coming in with you.”

  “Georgia, that’s a terrible idea. We’ll be leaving Paris soon…,” I started to object, and she cut me off.

  “Luc,” she squeezed my hand, “nothing will happen between us tonight, but I’m going to stay with you. We’ll keep our clothes on, but I’m going to sleep in your arms tonight, and with you in mine. It’s what we both need.” She gave me a small, sweet smile. I could feel my eyes become moist, and my heart swell with emotion. She was absolutely unreal. I nodded, opened the door and let her inside. I took off my shoes and brushed my teeth.

  In the bathroom, I changed into a pair of pajama bottoms and a t-shirt but kept my shorts on as well. I was utterly knackered but couldn’t seem to control my body when I was near her, so I didn’t want to take any chances. When I returned, she was lying on the bed in her jeans, and one of my undershirts, which she had apparently rifled through my bag to find.

  “If you’re trying to look unappealing, you’re doing a terrible job, Belle,” I said with a smirk. I climbed on top of the covers next to her, lying on my back, and pulled a throw blanket from the foot of the bed up over the two of us. She laid her head on my chest, careful how she put her body against mine.

  “It must be so hard for you to share what you did tonight,” she said as she rested her palm and face on my chest. I put my arm around her.

  “It was,” I replied.

  She suddenly shifted and looked up at me. “You’ve…you told her about that as well though. I mean, you were married.”

  “No, I didn’t. I’ve never discussed it with a soul. I barely talked to my parents about it, and I told you, John and I have never discussed it further since that night. I’ve never told anyone but you.” I gave her a squeeze with the arm that was wrapped around her and kissed the top of her head.

  She stared at me for a moment, then buried her face in my chest.

  Exhausted and feeling comforted by her presence, I immediately started to drift off. As I did, I thought I heard her say one more thing. "Thank you."

  CHAPTER 13

  Lucas

  The crew headed to Charles de Gaulle airport to fly out to Munich, our next stop. We checked our luggage and all the camera crew’s gear and went through security. As we walked toward the airline lounge, we passed a newsagent that had snacks, books, and magazines out front. There, in a rack at the front of the shop, John saw something that stopped him dead in his tracks. “Oh, fuck!” He said, running over to the shop. He grabbed up the tabloid paper which had two large photos on the front page, side-by-side. One photo was of my ex-wife, Simone. The other was of Georgia. The article speculated on the nature of our relationship. The page inside had additional photos. The first was of Georgia grinding against me in the nightclub the night we shot at Wanderlust.

  “That’s no big deal,” I offered nonchalantly, “Hell, we got half of that on b-reel.”

  “Yeah, but I don’t think the crew shot this, mate,” John said, pointing to a series of photos of the two of us in a steamy embrace, open mouths pressed together, my hands on Georgia’s ass as we sat on the pylon beside the Seine.

  “Oh, shit! Shit, shit, SHIT!” Georgia said as she peered between my shoulders and John’s at the paper. “If these come out back home, my Daddy’s gonna to have a heart attack.”

  “It’s fine,” I assured her. “They probably won’t publish it there. It’s just in the press here because Simone is here.” I scanned the paper more, and the clerk behind the counter eyed us suspiciously. “Pay the man, John,” I said, as I kept reading. “No, Georgia, it’s fine – it’s good, really. The article talks about me finding…,” I couldn’t bring myself to read the word they used. Love wasn’t something I was ready to admit to myself, let alone to her. “They say it’s good that I found someone after Simone mistreated me. There isn’t anything unkind here.”

  She looked worried, and I didn’t like it. I put an arm around her shoulders. “Come on, let’s go wait for our flight. We’ll all have a drink and relax.” We all went to the airport lounge, and I reserved one of the small conference rooms that they had so I could talk to Georgia privately.

  “Georgia, seriously, I’ll translate this for you word-for-word if it makes you feel better,” I said.

  “We need to call Tasha. We need to find out how this is going to look from the network’s perspective.” She shook her head. “I can’t lose this job, Luc. I’m the only one bringing real money into our house. If I lose my job…my Mama is buried on that farm. If we lose that property…” Her lip began to quiver, and she buried her face in her hands. I leaped up, pulling her into my arms.

  “No, no, no, Georgia, please, please don’t cry. It will be okay, I promise you,” I said. I was desperate to make this right for her – to reassure her everything was okay.

  “How can you promise that? I mean, what are we even doin’? What happens when we stop filmin', Lucas? What does that paper say we are because I damn sure don’t know,” she said. It was a fair question.

  She turned from me and crossed her arms. When she ignored me, I took her by the shoulders and turned her back to me. I cupped her face in my hands. “Georgia…look at me.” She raised her eyes to meet mine. “I can’t even fucking breathe without you. I don’t know what this is either, but I don’t give a damn what the newspapers or the network or your father have to say. I feel like I’ve been asleep for years. You woke me up, and now, I can’t go back. Look at my face. Really look. Do I look like I’m playing a fucking game to you?” My brow was furrowed, and my eyes were moist as I scanned her face for understanding.

  She put her palms on top of my hands and pressed her forehead to mine. After a moment she looked into my eyes. “I…,” she couldn’t say the words, but I knew what she was trying to get out. “Me too, Luc. Me too.” She kissed me desperately. After a moment, she nodded her head. “Go get ‘em,” she said, nodding toward the door, indicating we should talk to the crew.

  I stepped out of the little conference room and returned a few minutes later with John, Ian and the rest of the crew. I stood beside Georgia and put an arm around her. “We have something to say, guys. You know we’ve been putting on for the cameras. Flirting, things like that,” I looked at her, and she nodded, indicating I should continue. “Well, somewhere along the way something happened…we’re,” I moved my hand to hers, and she squeezed it. “It sort of…stopped being for show.” Georgia nodded agreement without looking up at the crew. She was too embarrassed. The team all started grinning and laughing as they looked at each other. Several of them said congratulations. Ryan said he knew it all along, and that Pierce owed him a tenner on their bet. All of them were happy for us. All except John.

  John looked straight at me, his jaw clenched. “You’d best call Tasha.” He said coolly and walked out of the small room.

  “Right then, tha
nks everyone,” I said, “Could you give us the room, guys?” Everyone walked out except Georgia and me. “Okay, you ready to make this call?” I asked her. “I mean, unless you don’t…there’s no point in making the call unless…,” I didn’t finish, but she knew what I was asking.

  “I don’t do things half-assed, remember?” She stepped forward and kissed me passionately, catching me off guard.

  “Okay, Belle, let’s do it.” I dialed the number from my cell and put it on speaker phone.

  “Bane Talent,” the receptionist answered.

  “Darling, it’s Lucas Nash and Georgia Graham. We’re both on the line, and we need to speak to Tasha immediately. Tell her its urgent.” I looked to Georgia who was tracing my jaw with the tips of her fingers, scratching my stubble with her short, red nails. I quickly pressed the mute button and said hastily, pressing my cheek into her palm, “I don’t care if she and the network both drop me. Worth it.” I winked, and she smiled in response as I unmuted the line.

  “Lucas? Everything okay? Is Georgia with you?” Tasha was audibly shaken.

  “I’m here, Tasha. We’re okay.” Georgia said.

  “Yeah, just something we need to make you aware of,” I added. “I’m sending you a couple of photos,” I snapped the cover story page and the photos of Georgia and me and sent them to Tasha’s phone.

  “Okay…,” she was clearly scrolling through the pictures. “Okay…, Oh shit! Damn, kids, that’s hot! Is this a filming still?”

  “Not exactly,” I started, “it’s from…,” Georgia cut me off.

  “Tasha, it’s Georgia. Those are from a private moment – well, in public, but we thought we had some privacy. The dynamic has…changed.” I looked at her with a little awe. She was incredibly intelligent, and savvier than people gave her credit for. She smiled back at me, cocking her head to the side with a smirk as she raised her shoulder a little in a half-shrug.

  “I see,” Tasha said, making some sort of sound which soon became an obvious snicker. “Well, that took longer than I expected.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean, exactly?” I asked her.

  “You didn’t think I’d put together two of the hottest people on the whole damn planet and expect you to keep your hands off each other, did you? Just keep it respectable in the press. Let me know if you see anything else in print or online. Oh, and just one other thing,” Tasha added. “I need you two to finish filming the season, so no glove, no love. Got it?”

  Georgia and I both laughed hard. “You’re asking a lot, Tasha, but I’ll see what I can do,” I said, winking at Georgia.

  “So, you’re not upset?” Georgia asked.

  “Are you kidding? This will put ratings through the roof! Just be prepared to answer questions, keep it light, and have some fun. I’ll try to get you on a couple of talk shows to discuss how you, Lucas, put your painful past behind you in Paris. It’s brilliant! Love both my stars – you kids have fun and stay safe! Oh – and saw some rushes of the first footage. Looks incredible! So proud of you guys. Bye!” Tasha hung up the phone.

  My eyes were wide as I looked back at Georgia. I laughed, first a small chuckle, then a huge full-body roar.

  I picked her up in my arms and twirled her around. I was giddy with excitement. “Bloody hell! What a relief! How’d I get to go from being the saddest sod in London to the luckiest bloke on the planet?” I put her down and took her face in my hands, kissing her softly over and over.

  “I feel pretty lucky too, ya know,” Georgia replied. “But, we gotta stay focused on the work, too. I have to see this through.”

  “Right. We will, I promise. And if anything, not having to sneak around, and being able to be more open will be good for filming, I think, don’t you?” She nodded her head in agreement, that megawatt smile as broad as ever. She tilted her head to the side, then, and furrowed her brow a little. “What is it?”

  “We…have to make another call.” She looked serious and raised an eyebrow at me.

  “Dad?”

  “Yeah, Daddy.” I looked over her shoulder as she texted her brother and sister.

  “Shit! Okay, you’re right, of course.” I said. The thought of meeting her father - like this, no less - was intimidating, to say the least.

  GEORGIA: hey ro. can u and daddy get on a hangout w me? something 2 tell ya’ll

  ROME: you ok?

  GEORGIA: yeah just have some news to share – all good. Celia - can you join?

  ROME: ok gonna go get him

  CELIA: yep

  Georgia and I sat at the conference table side-by-side. I sat up straight and smoothed back my hair. She could see I was a little nervous and kissed my cheek sweetly. She pulled up the hangouts app and added Rome and Celia. The screen blinked, and she saw her father and brother in one square and her sister in the other.

  “Hey ya’ll,” she said, her accent immediately becoming more pronounced when she spoke with her family. Hearing that sweet southern drawl normally drove me absolutely mad, but this was serious business, and it wouldn’t do to meet her father for the first time sporting wood, so I focused on the task at hand. “How are ya, Daddy?”

  “Better now I see my baby girl’s pretty face! How’s things?” Adam Graham gave a little smile seeing his youngest daughter looking happy and healthy.

  “Good, Daddy. Really good. Hey, Celia, you on too? Can you hear me?” She asked

  “Yeah, I hear you. Daddy, Rome, ya’ll look really good. Miss you guys!” Celia gave a wry smile, the guilt of not visiting home evident on her face.

  “So, I wanted to talk to ya’ll face-to-face, as it were because I want to tell you about somethin’ you might see in the press back home. Lucas is here with me. Daddy, he’s the one doin’ the show with me – the one I told you about.”

  “Hello, sir,” I said, mustering all my public school upbringing. “Rome, Celia, good to see you both. I’ve heard so much about all of you.” I ran my fingers through my hair, and tried to quiet the tapping of my foot under the table.

  “So, I wanted to talk to ya’ll because the press here has published some photos,” Georgia was scanning all their faces as she spoke. “Anyway,” she looked at me, grabbing my hand under the table. “They took some photos of Lucas and me and published them. Some of them are from the set, but some…well, some were of us kissing. See, Lucas and me…,” she paused, and I jumped in.

  “Look, Georgia’s not like anyone I’ve met before. We got on really well when we started working together, and one thing led to another. So, we’re sort of an item now, I guess you’d say?” I looked at her questioning, and she nodded, smiling.

  “How old are you, son?” Adam immediately spoke up, his strong voice a bit intimidating as he questioned the man who was seeing his baby daughter.

  “I’m twenty-eight, sir,” I said nervously.

  “I thought you was married? If you’re married…,” he started, and I cut him off.

  “No, sir. No, no. Divorced, unfortunately. It was a bad match.” My ears turned red and I slouched a little in my chair.

  “But you’re just seein’ Geo, right? Nobody else?” Rome asked protectively.

  “Rome, your sister, is…,” I looked at Georgia, then back to the phone, “She’s everything I need. I would never betray her.”

  Celia didn’t say a word but smirked the whole time.

  “Look, ya’ll, I didn’t call so you could give Luc the third degree. I called out of respect so you wouldn’t see somethin’ in the papers that you didn’t already know about. I’m a big girl – I can take care of myself and date whoever I please. I’m not askin’ for permission or blessin’, I just wanted ya’ll to know.” She crossed her arms curtly, frustrated at the lack of respect for her ability to make her own decisions. “And in case you're thinkin' it, this won’t affect the work, either. If anything, it’ll make it better.”

  I looked at my own phone and patted her arm. “That’s our flight, Georgia, we’ve got to go.”

  “Okay, our fligh
t’s leavin’ so we gotta go. I’ll be in touch soon though. I love ya’ll.” She said.

  “Wait a minute,” Adam said sternly. “I ain’t done. I know you’re a grown woman, Georgia. I may be old but I ain’t an old fool. Still, you’re my baby girl, and I’m always gonna look out for you whether you like it or not. Ya hear me? So, Lucas, I have a question for you.”

  “Yes, sir?” I asked nervously.

  “You do fully understand that if you hurt my girl, we’re gonna hurt you,” he crooked a thumb back and forth between himself and his son, “and I don’t care where in the world you are. You got that? So, you gonna act right by her?”

  “I assure you I will. She…she makes me better than I was. It’s hard to explain. I know you’ve probably heard all sorts of things about me,” he started.