by Deanna Chase
“Kids? Really? You know I never was baby crazy,” she said. “I do want a dog though. Now that I’m here in Keating Hollow, it seems like it’s time for a puppy. Something small and cute like a maltese or a maltipoo.”
“Yeah, you’re definitely a dog person.”
Miranda snuggled against him and pressed a kiss to his palm. “That was a pretty good swerve, but don’t think I didn’t notice how you sidestepped my question.” She rolled over and pressed a palm to his cheek. “It’s just not possible that a man like you was alone all these years.”
Staring into her gorgeous kind eyes, Gideon said, “No. I wasn’t alone. I’ve had three semi-serious relationships since we broke up, but none of them worked out.”
“Semi-serious. What does that mean?” she asked. “Did you live together?”
He shook his head. “No. All three of the relationships crashed and burned about the time each of them was ready to take the next step from dating to cohabitating.”
Miranda frowned as she studied him. “You didn’t even want to try with any of them?”
How could he tell her that the only woman he’d ever wanted to live with was her? Now wasn’t the time to confess that none of them had measured up to her. He didn’t know what this was between them, and even if it was the start of a relationship, it was way too soon to be putting that kind of pressure on either of them. He settled for the simple truth. “I just wasn’t in love with any of them.”
“I see.” Her gaze dropped to his lips, and pure magic sparked between them again.
“Miranda,” he said so softly he wasn’t sure she heard him.
But then she raised her gaze to his and said, “Yes?”
“What about you? Has there been anyone special in your life since… well, since college?” He didn’t really want to know, but he hadn’t been able to stop himself from asking.
“Yes.” She pulled away from him and rolled onto her back as she stared up at her exposed-beam ceiling. “We were engaged.”
Son of a… dammit. That hurt a hell of a lot more than he anticipated. But she had said were, hadn’t she? As in past tense. “Who called it off?”
She chuckled. “You would ask that first.”
Gideon propped himself up with an elbow, holding his head in his hand as he gazed down at her. “Well?”
“I did. Are you happy?”
Yes. “No. While it would’ve been hard to see you with another man, I did want you to find someone to love.” That was the truth at least. He wasn’t so selfish that he wanted her to spend her life alone.
“I had people to love, Gideon.” She averted her eyes and her expression turned heartbreakingly sad when she added, “But they both left me.”
It was like an arrow to the heart. Both. She’d said both. He knew without having to ask that she was talking about him and Cory. He wasn’t romanticizing what he’d had with her. There was no doubt that they’d loved each other. Their breakup had been the hardest thing he’d ever gone through, and the real reason he’d never let himself fall for anyone else was because he’d never gotten over her. He squeezed her hand. “I am so sorry about Cory.”
“I know. I’m sorry, too.” She looked up at him with tears in her eyes. “Don’t think I didn’t know you two stayed friends.”
A lump formed in his throat, and he swallowed it down. “I was there, you know. At the funeral.”
She just nodded.
Of course she’d known. “I wanted to say hello to you, but I just… couldn’t. It had already been too emotional of a day.”
Her tears spilled down her temples. “I know, Gideon. I know.”
He gently wiped her tears away and then kissed both of her temples. “And I’m sorry I left. I’m so effing sorry.”
She let out a strangled laugh. “I know that, too.”
He didn’t know what else to say, so he laid down flat on the bed and pulled her into his arms where she belonged. Everything with her just felt right, even when they were talking about their pasts and ex-lovers. This, he thought. This is what was missing in his life.
She hugged him tightly and whispered, “I called it off because it just wasn’t right. It wasn’t… I know what it means to be head-over-heels in love, and at some point, I realized I was settling.” Miranda lifted her head and gave him a shaky smile. “Can you imagine a romance author settling?”
“Absolutely not, Mandy. You deserve your own epic love story.”
She sighed into his neck. “Yeah. I thought so, too.”
An ache formed in his chest. He was her epic love story, dammit. She shouldn’t have had to contemplate settling with anyone. Was it too late to change things now? After what they just shared, he didn’t think so. But after breaking her heart once before, he just didn’t know if he was too late to rewrite their history.
* * *
Miranda pulled away and sat up. “On that note, I need to get showered. I have somewhere to be in an hour.”
“Somewhere to be?” he asked.
After cloaking herself in her robe again, she glanced over at him. “I told Cameron Copeland I’d meet him for lunch today.”
“Oh. I see.” He sat up and reached for his clothes as she disappeared into her bathroom. She had another date with Cameron Copeland. Damn, he was a fool. Did he really think he could waltz back into her life, fall into bed with her, and then everything would be forgiven? It was more likely that she’d just had a moment of weakness.
Gideon yanked his clothes back on and trudged downstairs where he went to work on cleaning her kitchen. Neither of them had eaten much of the breakfast he’d made, so he put the french toast and bacon into a plastic container and poured out the cold coffee that was still in the coffee pot. By the time he had the dishes loaded in the dishwasher and the counters cleaned off, Miranda was headed back downstairs in a red and black corset dress. Damn, she looked good.
Doing his best to hide his jealousy, he grabbed his keys from the counter and moved to stand in front of her at the bottom of the stairs. “I’ll get out of your hair now.”
She glanced up and smiled at him. “Thanks for… well, everything. Taking care of me last night and this morning and…” She waved a hand up the stairs and blushed. “That was nice, too.”
He couldn’t help it. She was too freakin’ adorable. And if she was going to go off and spend time with Cameron Copeland, he was going to make damned sure she was thinking about him the whole time. “It was more than nice, gorgeous. It was incredible.” He wrapped one arm around her waist, pulled her in, and covered her mouth with his, giving her a deep, searing kiss that seemed to go on forever. By the time he let her go, they were both panting. “See you tonight,” he said. “Seven o’clock at Mystyk Pizza.”
She’d covered her mouth with her hand, and her eyes were wide with surprise. But still, she nodded and said, “Seven.”
“Good.” He gave her one last soft kiss on her lips and then left before she could say another word.
Chapter Fifteen
Miranda sat in her car, trying to get control of herself. What the actual hell had happened back there in her cabin? She couldn’t believe that not only had she fallen into bed with Gideon, she’d also just been kissed so senseless that she’d agreed to a date that she knew she shouldn’t accept. What was she doing? He was going to shatter her heart again, and it would be all her fault. She was the one who invited him to her bedroom, stripped, and then ordered him to join her.
“Ugh.” She held her head in her hands and vowed to keep her distance. They’d work on the Christmas ball together, but other than that, she had to stay away. She needed to find a way to keep herself busy. Otherwise, she knew she’d end up right back in bed with him. All of her self-control had flown out the window. She just couldn’t help it. That thing, whatever it was that was between them, hadn’t diminished. If anything, it felt even stronger to her because now she knew just how rare it was.
“Girlfriend time. That’s what I need.” Not that it was going to hel
p her later that night. Why had she agreed to dinner with him? Right. The Christmas ball. What had she gotten herself into?
She fumbled for her phone and called Shannon.
“Hey, Miranda. What’s up?” Shannon asked. “Any news from Tim?”
“Not yet. He’s working on getting my payments in order and establishing a connection with the studio so that I can give my input. But that will take a bit of time, I’m guessing.” She jammed her key into the ignition. “I was actually calling to see what you’re up to tomorrow night. Any chance of a girls’ night? I need a distraction.”
“Actually, I’m getting together with Hope to go over some wedding planning. You can join us if you want.”
Miranda swallowed a groan. Did she really want to hang out with two women who were planning their weddings? It wasn’t that she didn’t like weddings. She actually usually enjoyed them, but with Gideon’s reappearance she feared looking at wedding magazines would be pure torture. Still, it was better than the alternative. “Yeah, sure. Where? Your house?”
“Hope’s actually. If you bring the wine, I’ll bring the pasta.”
“Don’t you think we should check with her first?” Miranda asked, not wanting to intrude.
“Nah. She was already talking about asking Abby and Yvette to come, too. It’s mostly going to be wine and discussing menus.”
“All right. Thanks for the invite.”
“Anytime, Miranda,” Shannon said. “You’re one of us now.”
Miranda’s heart swelled with affection. She hadn’t had very many close friends over the years. Not the kind that lived in town and got together regularly, anyway. Most of her friends were writers, and they lived all over the country. It felt good to have a girl group that she really liked to spend time with. “Thanks. That means a lot.”
“Don’t mention it. See you tomorrow.”
Miranda ended the call, and feeling a little more in control, she put the car in drive and made her way into town, grateful it hadn’t taken days to get her car fixed. The problem had been some sort of sensor that hadn’t taken any time at all to change. She was just happy to have her car back.
Cameron Copeland was sitting at a table near the front window of Incantation Café. Miranda strode over and set her laptop down before shedding her coat and hanging it up on a nearby coatrack. “Hey. Do you want me to get you something? I need a coffee before we get started.”
“Sure.” He rattled off his order and immediately turned his attention back to his computer screen as his fingers flew over the keys.
Miranda smiled to herself and took off for the counter without another word. She recognized the signs of a writer engrossed in an idea.
“Hey, you,” Hanna said from behind the counter. She glanced at Cameron and pumped her eyebrows. “Hot date?”
“More like a grueling work session,” Miranda countered with a smile. “We’re collaborating together on a project.”
Hanna gave a slow nod, looking impressed. “Nice.” She eyed Cameron. “He’s kind of a big deal, right? Shannon said he’s had a few hit movies.”
Miranda let out a bark of laughter. “Yeah. He is. But who knows if this project will go anywhere? I’m just happy to get the experience.”
“Good luck. Whatever happens, it’s exciting.” Hanna handed her two drinks and two coffee cake squares.
“Thanks.” Once Miranda was seated, she set the latte and coffee cake in front of Cameron and then waited patiently for him to finish typing. His fingers were flying rapidly over the keys, and his look of concentration was one she knew well. It was what she called ‘the zone.’ And she’d be damned if she interrupted him.
While she waited, she opened her laptop and answered some business emails. She was just getting ready to open a Word doc to jot down some notes for her next novel when Cameron finally came up for air.
“Yes. That’s it.” He grinned at her. “I just figured out the season arc, a twist, and a cliff-hanger ending.”
“Wow.” Miranda sat back, impressed. “So that’s what all that intense writer energy was all about.”
He chuckled and glanced down at the paper cup in front of him. “Is that mine?”
“Yep. But I’m not sure you need it.” She gave him a lopsided smile. “Considering how you were pounding on the keyboard I’m guessing more caffeine probably isn’t recommended.”
He scoffed. “I’m a writer. There is no such thing as too much caffeine.”
Miranda couldn’t fault his logic there. On long writing days, she was known to go through a pot all by herself, too. “Fair enough. Are you going to show me your genius?”
Cameron pushed his laptop toward her. Miranda took a few minutes to read over his notes and by the time she was done, her jaw was left hanging open and her pulse had quickened. His treatment was amazing. Better than anything she’d seen on television lately.
“Cameron,” she breathed. “This is… I don’t even know what to say about it. It wrecked me. All the emotion. All the feels. Damn, you’re good.”
He gave her a slow smile, the kind that said he knew exactly just how great his work was. But then it vanished as he turned serious. “I have to confess that the idea came from something you said when we were at dinner the other night.”
“Oh, yeah?” A trickle of pride lit her up inside. “What did I say?”
“You said the arc should run deep within the family. That the curse should be tied to all four brothers and that each one of them would have to overcome something in order to break it. So I ran with that. Each season can feature the struggle of one brother trying to defeat his portion of the curse. For season one, I decided that the oldest brother falls for the daughter of the curse-maker and the second-oldest brother is the best friend of the same girl. Then the eldest brother will have to sacrifice his soul for the soul of one of the other two, and that’s how we end up here with the cliff-hanger. Will he save the soul of his younger brother or the girl he loves? It’s an impossible choice. And in season two, he can deal with the emotional trauma while brother two walks his own journey.”
Miranda loved the story. It was emotional, full of impossible choices and ambiguous morality, and ultimately was about love and the curse of the human condition. “This is full of everything I love to watch on television. I just hope there’s space for it in the market right now.”
“I guess we’ll find out.” Cameron moved his chair so that they were sitting side by side, their heads bent together while they filled in the details of his treatment.
Four hours later, mentally exhausted and overly caffeinated, Miranda sat back and stretched her arms over her head. “I think we’ve got it.”
Cameron nodded, his eyes lit with excitement.
Miranda chuckled as she watched him fire off an excited email to his agent. “I can’t believe you’re so energized. I feel like we’ve run a marathon.”
“I always get like this when I know something has come together just right.”
“And how do those projects usually turn out?” she asked.
“Do you mean, do they usually get picked up?” he asked, eyeing her.
“Yes.” She laughed. “That’s exactly what I’m asking.”
“Always. And trust me when I say that I’m one hundred percent confident this project will not be the exception.” He winked at her and fired off another email to a producer he’d told her he’d worked with in the past.
“Careful, Cameron. You’re going to get my hopes up,” she said, trying and failing to remain calm. It was impossible when he was so obviously giddy and confident. She couldn’t help the anticipation and euphoria of possibility. Working with Cameron, who was well respected and connected, had her believing that anything was possible.
His phone buzzed with an incoming message and Cameron’s eyes started to gleam as he said, “You should have high hopes, Miranda. There’s a ninety-five percent chance that your dreams are about to come true.” He turned the phone around so that she could see the message. It r
ead, Just saw your email. Call my assistant for a meeting next week.
“Who is that from?” she asked, barely able to get the words out.
“My producer friend. He works for SpellBound Entertainment. He told me last month they were looking for a paranormal drama. If he likes it, we’re in.”
Miranda just stared at him for a long moment, her mouth hanging open. Was this really happening? Was this real life? These kinds of things didn’t happen to her. Sure, she’d been published with varying degrees of success, but she’d spent most of her career flying under the radar and fighting for every book contract. And when that went south, she took control of her writing career and started publishing her books herself. It was a decent living, and she certainly was grateful for her modest success.
But having a movie in production that was based on one of her books and collaborating with Cameron Copeland on a series that might be picked up by SpellBound? Both were a complete fantasy come true. She let out a little squeal, threw her arms around Cameron, and gave him a big smack on the lips. “Cameron Copeland, I think I just fell in love with you.”
Chapter Sixteen
I think I just fell in love with you. The statement, along with the image of Miranda and Cameron locked in an embrace, ran through Gideon’s mind. He’d just stepped into the Incantation Café when he saw Miranda wrap her arms around the man.
His world shrank to just the two of them, and everything inside of him turned to stone. Hadn’t she just been in his arms a few hours ago? And now she was hanging all over Cameron. He cleared his throat and strode over.
“Miranda?” he said, coolly.
“Gideon.” She quickly pulled away from Cameron and her face flushed pink. “You’re not going to believe—”
“Can I talk to you for a minute?” he asked, cutting her off.
“Um, okay.” She glanced at Cameron and then got to her feet.
