She met his gaze and held on, looking into his eyes. “I love you, Grey Kingston. I always have. And if I’ve handled everything thrown at me in the last few weeks, I think the future can only get easier.”
If eyes could truly lighten in color, his did. A slow, easy smile spread over his handsome face, and as she gave her heart completely into his hands, she saw he would take the very best care of it. And her.
“I love you too, Very.” He kissed her nose and the side of her lips before devouring her mouth and lingering long enough for her to drown in his taste and scent.
He broke the kiss, his hands cupped around her cheeks. “I loved you when we were eighteen, but when I met you again, I fell even harder. You understand me, and you make me want to be a better man. Less selfish, less concerned about the outside world, and more focused on you. And family. The things that matter, that I lost sight of for too long.”
She grasped his hands. “You’ve done the same for me. You made me want to push past the fears that bound me for my entire life. I faced my father for the first time, and I feel … free.”
She wasn’t stupid. She didn’t think that just because she’d expressed her feelings to her father her anxiety was gone for good. But she did believe she was more equipped to handle it now. And most importantly, she wasn’t running. “I’m here for the long haul. Whatever that may be.”
Before he could answer, Ella called out, “Is the ogre gone?” Her laughter broke the intensity of the moment.
“Later,” Grey whispered, his gaze holding on to hers. “We’ll define that long haul later.”
Her heart skipped a beat, and she nodded, finally ready for whatever life had to offer.
* * *
Grey didn’t trust silence. Especially when that silence came from Simon Colson. Over the next few weeks, things fell into place neatly. Almost too neatly and Grey was nervous.
First Dawn Mills replied to his message and, through
her representative, issued a statement along with pages from her deceased husband’s diary. All confirmed that Grey Kingston had done more than co-write the album with Alden Mills. While her husband had been extremely ill, Grey had done most of the work on their collaboration including writing the lyrics. Simon didn’t have another salvo, and he’d stopped messing with Grey’s life.
Whoever had defaced Avery’s apartment door hadn’t resurfaced. Ella moved back into their apartment, but Avery remained with Grey. Tyler demanded a bodyguard remain with each woman, and Grey insisted on covering costs. He didn’t trust Simon’s silence any more than he believed the stalker was a one-time thing.
But life went on, and Alden’s words from the grave turned Grey into even more of an icon than he had already been. Offers for collaboration and requests for him to write lyrics were piling up, so he had finally given in and hired a new agent to help him sort through things.
Every day he expected Avery to freak out and think he’d find a reason to leave town, but she was steady. As a rock. True to her word, the day after the confrontation with her father, she’d asked Grey to contact a reporter he trusted to put the correct spin on a story. And together, they’d sat down for an interview.
She’d held his hand and told about how her experience as a bone marrow donor as a young girl had led her to volunteer her time with the patients at the hospital today. She elaborated on the prom and explained how she’d like to do various events for the kids throughout the year, but the hospital lacked funds. And when Avery Dare, with Grey Kingston by her side, asked for money for the kids, contributions poured in.
The largest donor to the now-named Dare Fund for Kids was Robert Dare. His financial contribution was substantial … and promised yearly. And though Avery and her father’s relationship was by no means solid, the man was making an effort, and Avery was trying to meet him halfway.
As for Avery, between filming her upcoming videos, some of which she decided to do outdoors, and working on the prom, she had little time for worry. She did, however, make plenty of time for Grey. And he couldn’t deny that things between them had never been better. Which was why he’d planned his surprise as tonight’s main event.
The rest of his life hinged on this evening. And Grey Kingston, who performed in front of hundreds of thousands and was never nervous, had a raging case of stage fright.
* * *
Avery spent the entire afternoon setting up at the hospital, and she couldn’t wait to see the end result tonight. The normally staid, often sad hospital floor and its doctors, nurses, patients, and volunteers were buzzing with contagious excitement. Thanks to pressure by the kids, Avery and Ella agreed to dress up in gowns too. Avery left the kids with the makeup artists and hairstylists so she could go home and change.
She stood in Grey’s bedroom and straightened his bow tie, resisting the urge to undress him, button by button. The desire to pull this handsome man onto the bed and have her wicked way with him was strong, but they couldn’t miss the whole evening. One last tug on his tie and she finished and stepped away, heading into the bathroom to fix her makeup and put on her dress.
The door was open, so she talked to Grey as she touched up her mascara. “I’m so happy you invited your parents tonight. And they’re not just attending, they’re working.”
“They can’t wait,” he said.
She had planned to stay late and clean up, but to her surprise, Grey had arranged for his parents to come help with the setup, serving, and cleanup at the end. He tried to play down the significance, but Avery knew better.
“It’s a big deal, you asking them to help with the serving and cleaning. To know you are proud of them for who they are? Your mom cried,” Avery said, remembering the phone call from Susie.
Grey strode into the bathroom just as Avery had undressed. She stood in her barely there bra and panties, a formal white Grecian style dress hanging behind her.
“Something I can do for you?” she asked, unable not to sound cheeky. And happy.
Because she was. Happier than she’d ever been. Yes, the photographers who found out where she and Grey were and snapped pictures still sometimes freaked her out. But she was learning to ignore what the papers, online and print, and blogs had to say. She’d canceled her “Tangled Royal” and “Grey Kingston” Google Alerts so she wouldn’t see things that weren’t true and would only upset her. Her anxiety wasn’t miraculously gone, nor had she thought it would be.