“Can we go out on the balcony and talk?”
Devon’s head to shot up, causing several strands of hair to stick to her glossy lips. She quickly pulled them away.
“Sure,” she sputtered, following him toward the French double doors.
Once outside, Devon inhaled the cool air and peered out at the twinkling lights nestled within the hills.
“You look beautiful tonight,” Ryan told her. “It’s nice to see you outside of the office. I miss us hanging out.”
“Thank you. And yeah…me too,” she replied quietly.
Ryan raised his glass. “Let’s make a toast, shall we? To new beginnings, second chances and bright futures.”
Devon looked into his eyes, sensing a glimmer of hope and excitement that filled her chest with palpitating tingles.
“Cheers,” she said as they clinked flutes.
When Ryan leaned against the railing and looked out into the night, Devon moved in closer and cleared her throat.
“Ryan, I uh…I owe you an apology.”
He stood straight up and gave her his full attention.
“I’m sorry for the way I acted at the gala after you expressed your feelings for me. I know that couldn’t have been easy for you to do, and by no means did my silence mean the feelings weren’t mutual.”
Ryan’s expression softened. He reached out and took Devon’s hand in his as she continued.
“I was just so taken aback and hadn’t really sorted through my emotions at that point. And this isn’t easy for me to admit, but I let my self-doubts and past hurts cloud my ability to think straight. I guess my mental transformation hadn’t quite caught up to my physical one, and I couldn’t quite grasp the fact that someone like you was interested in lil’ ole small-town me.”
Ryan took a deep breath. “Wow. Thank you for telling me that, Devon. I appreciate your honesty. It says a lot that you feel comfortable opening up to me like that. And just so you know, I’d be lucky to have a woman like you in my life. Any man would.”
Devon gasped slightly. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. And um…I’m sorry, too.”
“For what?”
“For panicking when I saw you reconnecting with Jason at the gala, and as a result, springing something on you that should’ve been saved for a different time and place. I knew you were overwhelmed being back in Berman and having to face Jason and Lisa, and I shouldn’t have put that added pressure on you.”
Devon felt a lump of emotion rise up in her throat. She placed her hand over her neck while blinking rapidly in an effort to fight back tears.
“That’s exactly what I needed to hear,” she whispered. “Thank you. And by the way, there’s nothing going on between Jason and me. We’d reconnected as friends, but things just went left, so…bottom line is he’s a nonfactor.”
“Good. I’m glad to hear that.” Devon took a sip of champagne, watching as Ryan stared at her amorously. “So, you’re here alone tonight?”
“Yes. I am.”
“Hmm.” Devon waited for Ryan to elaborate. When he didn’t, she pressed on. “Laila couldn’t make it?”
“Actually, she was supposed to come with me, but I ended up telling her it’d probably be best if she didn’t.”
Devon’s glass almost slipped out of her hand. “You did? Why?”
Ryan took a deep breath. “Because I received a bit of intel that let me know my attention should be elsewhere.”
The unexpected response left Devon at a loss for words. Just as Ryan opened his mouth to elaborate, the balcony doors flew open.
“Dev!” Gabby screamed, rushing toward them with Vince two steps behind her. “Guess what!”
“What? What!”
“Vice Principal Robinson just sent out an email letting everybody know that we raised enough money to keep Berman High open!”
“She did?” Devon shouted, ripping open her clutch and grabbing her cell phone.
“Yes. And she said that if it weren’t for Ryan, none of this would’ve been possible. His meet and greet was the hit of the night and brought in a ton of money.”
Devon quickly scanned the email, grinning so hard that her jaws ached. She turned to Ryan and hugged him tightly, her lips pressing against his ear as she murmured, “Thank you, thank you, thank you,” over and over again.
Ryan wrapped his arms around her. “You’re very welcome. Glad I was able to help.”
“Um…okay,” Gabby said to Vince as the pair’s embrace lingered. “I guess we’d better leave these two alone.”
“I guess we should,” Vince agreed, following her back inside the party.
Devon and Ryan pulled away from one another. But he didn’t fully let go as his hands rested gently on her hips.
“So,” he said quietly, “back to that intel I received…”
“Yes, what exactly do you mean by that?”
“I don’t wanna blow up Madison’s spot or anything, so this is just between us. Cool?”
“Cool.”
“Remember that day you were in the conference room telling Gabby you’re done with Jason?”
Devon thought back for a minute, then nodded her head. “Yeah, I remember.”
“Well, Madison overheard you. And apparently you said something that gave her the impression you may have feelings for me. So, she shared that with me.”
Devon closed her eyes and moaned.
“Wait, don’t be mad at her, Dee. She wasn’t trying to be messy or anything. Madison actually told me because she cares about you.”
“Oh does she now? So because Madison cares about me, she ran back and shared a private conversation with you that she overheard about my personal life? That’s beyond messy if you ask me.”
“Okay, well, let me ask you this. Were you ever going to come and tell me how you feel?”
Devon looked up at Ryan and opened her mouth, but nothing came out.
“I didn’t think so,” he replied. “See, Madison knew you weren’t going to make a move. And even though I’d been hanging out with Laila, she knew I was feeling you, which is why she planted that little bug in my ear to let me know I may have a chance with you.”
Devon shuffled her feet from right to left, tingles of excitement shooting throughout her entire body.
“So what are you saying?”
Ryan pulled her in closer. “Well, let’s see. I’m standing out on this balcony with you, even though I’m afraid of heights. I came here alone tonight, after basically telling the woman I’d been dating that I can’t see her anymore. And I’m ready to profess my love for you, right here, right now, Devon. Does that answer your question?”
She felt her legs weaken underneath the weight of those words. But Ryan’s arms, which were now clutching her firmly, kept her steady. Devon’s gaze wandered from his eyes to his lips as she searched for the right thing to say. But she didn’t have to think for long as Ryan leaned in and covered her mouth with his.
Devon slid her hands up his chest and placed them on his shoulders, her body shivering with happiness while the kiss grew more passionate. After several moments, he held her face in his hands and leaned back.
“Listen, I don’t want to just be your colleague or associate anymore,” he said. “I want more than that. Much more. And I’m hoping you do, too.”
Devon held her breath, overcome with emotion. She felt as though she could explode at the thought of finally admitting to both Ryan and herself that she’d been harboring feelings for him.
“I definitely want more,” she declared. “But do you think we can handle working together and being in a relationship? I mean, there will inevitably be disagreements, and ups and downs. I don’t want our personal lives carrying over into the workplace. We both have too much at stake.”
“I absolutely think we can handle it. We’re both mature enough to maintain a professional rapport at the studio. Plus we don’t have to tell the world what’s going on between the two of us right now. We can do this at our ow
n pace. How does that sound?”
Devon’s lips curled into a sly smile. “That sounds like a plan.”
“Yes!” Ryan boomed, picking Devon up and spinning her around. “I knew I’d get my girl!”
She gripped his back and giggled uncontrollably, then kissed him once again. Even after Ryan put her down, she still felt as though she was floating on air.
“We should probably go back inside,” he told her. “I’m sure everybody’s looking for us, and we both need refills on our champagne so that we can make another toast. To us this time.”
“That sounds perfect,” Devon replied, unable to wipe the smile off her face.
“And please don’t beat Madison down when you see her.”
“I won’t. At this point, I just might thank her.”
“As you should.” Ryan intertwined his fingers with hers. “Oh, and by the way, I know I already kind of said this, but I want to make it clear that I really do love you, Devon Jacobs.”
She stopped and turned to him. The gleaming look of adoration in his eyes alleviated all the drama, heartache and struggle she’d experienced leading up to this moment.
“I love you, too, Ryan Roberts.”
The couple indulged in one last lingering kiss before he wrapped his arm around her waist and led Devon back inside the party.
The End
Want more? Check out Mina and Scott’s story in Love at the Icicle Café!
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If you enjoyed She Gets What She Wants, you’ll love the next book in….
A Fearless Fairytale series
Book 1: She Gets What She Wants
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Book 2: She Gets What She Deserves
Coming June 2021!
Book 3: She Gets a Happy Ending
Coming September 2021!
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About the Author
Denise N. Wheatley is a lover of happily-ever-afters and the art of storytelling. She has written (and ghostwritten) numerous novels and novellas that run the romance gamut, from contemporary to paranormal, sweet to steamy. Denise strives to pen entertaining stories that embody matters of the heart, while creating characters who are strong, colorful and relatable.
She is an RWA member and received a B.A. in English from the University of Illinois at Chicago, the city where she was born and raised. When Denise is not sitting behind a computer, you can find her in a movie theater, on a tennis court, watching true crime television or chatting on social media.
Visit Denise’s website at denisenwheatley.com
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