by Vi Keeland
Bryan steps forward and kisses his new wife, as a tear of happiness slides down my cheek, and I sneak a look at the beautiful man in the third row, who’s already looking at me.
* * *
Later, the bride and groom dance as dusk falls, the rest of us joining them on the dance floor in that kind of hazy, lingering after-the-cake-has-been eaten way as the wedding party winds down.
“I know the bride is supposed to be the most beautiful woman here, but you’ll always hold that title for me,” Davis says, as he takes me in his arms for a spin on the dance floor. Strings of lights twinkle from the canopy above us. I can smell the salt water from the lazy ocean waves, rocking the shores gently after twilight.
“As it should be.”
“And I suspect you’ll be equally stunning tomorrow night on the red carpet,” he says. “Have I told you how proud I am of you?”
“Only twenty million times,” I say playfully, moving closer to him, because I am unable to stay away. He’s been back from London for several weeks now, and I can’t get enough of him. Even though I saw him once a week while he was gone, it wasn’t nearly enough, and we’ve been making up for all that lost time. Tonight is my first Saturday evening off since I took over as Ava on opening night. But I have a good understudy in Shelby, and I’m sure she’s kicking ass and taking names right now back in Manhattan. The theater will be dark tomorrow night, but Davis and I will be walking the red carpet into Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center for the 68th Annual Tony Awards since we were both nominated for Crash the Moon.
“And I’m proud of you. You’re still my favorite director,” I say as I play with the collar on his shirt.
He laughs. “Your only director.”
“Hey! Just because I’m still working my first job, doesn’t mean I can’t have a favorite.” Then my hands stray to the buttons on his shirt and I start to fiddle with the top one. As I do, I flash back to our first kiss in his office, to how I couldn’t resist touching him then either.
The mood shifts between us as he grips my hand, and tugs me tighter against him. His voice is rough and heated. “Jill, when you do that, it makes me want to undress you, too.”
A ribbon of heat runs through me. “Then we should get out of here because that’s my favorite outfit to wear with you—nothing.”
After we say our goodbyes, we duck into a town car that will take us all the way back into Manhattan and down to Tribeca where we live. Davis hits the button for the partition. “Such a long ride back to the city. Whatever will we do,” he muses as he fingers the short hem on my black and white dress.
“I have no idea how we could pass the time,” I say, as he grabs my hips and shifts me on top of him so I’m straddling him in the car. He brushes his lips against my throat, trailing his tongue between my breasts as he hikes up my skirt.
“Take those off,” he tells me, and I quickly shed my panties as he unzips the crisp gray slacks he wore to the wedding. I inch them down his hips, licking my lips reflexively as the boxer briefs slide down too.
Then he grabs me and brings me down on him, and I moan loudly at the delicious feeling of him inside me. I move on him, slowly, taking my time because it’s a two-hour ride back to the city, but even so it doesn’t take me long because he knows what to do to bring me over the edge. He always has, he always will, and we come together one more time.
Once we reach Manhattan, the car heads down Columbus Avenue and Davis leans forward and raises the partition to talk to the driver. “Can you make a stop at Lincoln Center?”
“Yes, sir,”
I give him a curious look.
“Getting a head start on tomorrow?”
“Perhaps,” he says evasively.
When we stop, he opens the door and reaches for my hand. I’m not quite sure what the plan is, but I go along with it, as we head up the steps of the plaza outside Lincoln Center. The fountain shoots sprays of water high above us in a majestic pattern, lit brightly on a summer night. We are surrounded by the ballet, the theater, the orchestra, the opera, and Juilliard. This is the heartbeat of the arts in New York City, and it’s always felt like a hamlet to me.
He stops at the fountain and pulls me in close. “I’ve always wanted to kiss you by the fountains at Lincoln Center. You don’t mind, do you?”
“Not at all,” I say, as he brushes his lips against mine, kissing me slowly at first, tenderly, then claiming my mouth with his in the way I love, the way that makes me feel like I’m his, because that’s all I want to be.
When he breaks the kiss, I am still stunned. Because kisses from him only get better, and I can feel this one in my knees, in my toes, all the way in my fingertips. “You’re such a romantic,” I tell him.
“You don’t know the half of it, Jill,” he says with a note of mischief in his voice.
“What do you mean?”
“This is what I mean,” he says, as he bends down on one knee, reaching for my hand. I gasp when I realize what he’s doing. “I fall more madly in love with you every day and it’s never going to stop. I want to be with you always, to laugh with you, and work with you, and love you more than any man has ever loved a woman. And when we come here tomorrow night, and walk that red carpet, I don’t want to go in as the director and the actress. I want to go in there with you as the man you’re going to spend the rest of your life with. Will you marry me?”
I fall to my knees too, wrapping my arms around his neck, and kissing him in between happy tears and my reply. “Yes, yes, yes,” I say as I plant kisses all over his beautiful face. “I don’t think I can stop kissing you right now.”
“How about for ten seconds so you can let me put this ring on you then?” he says with a grin.
“I almost forgot about the ring,” I say because I am overcome. I hold out my hand and he slides a gorgeous diamond onto my ring finger. I don’t know anything about diamonds, and I can’t tell the cut or carats, but I don’t care because it’s from him, and it’s about us, and it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever worn. “I love it so much. I love you so much. I love being yours.”
“You are. Now, and always.”
THE END
If you enjoyed this novel, you might like some of the other love stories in the CAUGHT UP IN LOVE series, such as CAUGHT UP IN US, the story of how Kat & Bryan fell in love. If you prefer the higher heat levels of PLAYING WITH HER HEART, then you’d probably enjoy the SEDUCTIVE NIGHTS series. The hero in the first three novels in that series is Clay, Davis’s best friend. If you’d like to receive an email when my new titles are available, please sign up for my my newsletter.
Check out my contemporary romance novels!
The New York Times and USA Today
Bestselling Seductive Nights series including
Night After Night, After This Night,
and One More Night
Caught Up In Us, a New York Times and
USA Today Bestseller! (Kat and Bryan’s romance!)
Pretending He’s Mine, a Barnes & Noble and
iBooks Bestseller! (Reeve & Sutton’s romance)
Trophy Husband, a New York Times and
USA Today Bestseller! (Chris & McKenna’s romance)
Playing With Her Heart, a
USA Today bestseller! (Davis and Jill’s romance)
Far Too Tempting, an Amazon
romance bestseller! (Matthew and Jane’s romance)
My USA Today bestselling
No Regrets series that includes
The Thrill of It
(Meet Harley and Trey)
and its sequel
Every Second With You
My New York Times and USA Today
Bestselling Fighting Fire series that includes
Burn For Me,
(Smith and Jamie’s romance!)
and Melt for Him
(Megan and Becker’s romance!)
Acknowledgements
I am grateful for the support of so many amazing people. First and foremost, I am in mad l
ove with all my readers. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for making this possible. I love you all like crazy!!! I owe a huge thanks to my early readers for Playing With Her Heart. My friend Cara tirelessly read draft after draft, chapter after chapter, sharing her feedback every step of the way and shaping this into a much better book. Melody Grace is my plot wizard, and without her as a sounding board I would have been lost. Love ya, girl! Violet Duke provided keen insight to smooth out the story. Kelly’s feedback made me smile, and I desperately needed it. And Michelle provided the final piece of the puzzle.
I am fortunate to work with the best cover designer there is in Sarah Hansen. I am grateful for Ryan Orange, whose fantastic photo graces the cover. And I must thank Steve Boyd’s parents for creating such a fine specimen. Steve, you’re gorgeous!
My publicist Kelly at Inkslinger PR is a cheerleader, a momma bear, a marketing genius, a shrink and a fabulous friend.
Big thanks as well to my indie besties—Violet Duke, Lexi Ryan, Emma Hart, Kendall Ryan, Sawyer Bennett, Kristen Proby, Michelle Valentine, Monica Murphy and, of course, Miss Melody Grace. (Go read Unafraid, it’s awesome!!) Tara Simone is a fab brainstorm partner and a helluva romantic comedy writer. (Her book Vacationista is hilarious!)
Then there are the bloggers who make my world go round. Bloggers rock! My books would quite simply not be in the eReaders in your hands without them. Thank you to Book Whores Obsession, Shh…Mom’s Reading, Rock Stars of Romance, Romance Addict, Little Black Book Blog, Flirty and Dirty Book Blog, After the Final Chapter, Britt Blabs Books, Two Crazy Girls with a Passion for Books, HEA Shelf Blogger, Fictional Book Boyfriend & Book Whore, Angie’s Dreamy Reads, Becky at Reality Bites! Let’s Get Lost, KellyVision, Geekery Book Review, Reviews by Tammy and Kim, The Book Enthusiast, Book Nerds Anonymous, True Story Book Blog, BestSellers & BestStellars, Chapter Break, LoveNBooks, Such a Pretty Face, Lovin’ Los Libros, Book Addict Mumma, All Booked Out, Just Booked and many more. Thank you Kim, for your eagle eye and your much-needed final save. Also, a big thanks to Michael Cerveris, the Tony-Award winning actor, who graciously let me give him a cameo in this book. Go check out his band Loose Cattle—it’s a real band! I also owe a thanks to my parents, who introduced me to the theater long ago. Like Jill, the first show I saw was Fiddler on the Roof and I fell in love with the theater. I have no talent for the stage, but Broadway remains my first love as a spectator. The inspiration for Patrick’s fictional two-day rehearsal for Guys & Dolls stemmed from Marcus Lovett, who learned the lead role in Carousel on Broadway in a similar time span back in 1994 when the star fell ill. I saw his performance in Carousel—he was magnificent.
Finally, thank you to my friends and family. My friends in real life put up with my madness, and my awesome family lets me spend all this time with imaginary people who feel so real.
Contact
I love hearing from readers! You can find me on Twitter at LaurenBlakely3, or Facebook at LaurenBlakelyBooks, or online at LaurenBlakely.com. You can also email me at
[email protected]
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