Escorting the Actress (The Escort Collection 2)

Then she flashed me her megawatt smile—the one she saved for the press. "Why, Kyle Jordan, I thought you'd never ask."

She threw herself at me, and I put the ring on her finger, petrified of what her private reaction would be—but thrilled nonetheless to have her back in my arms. I pulled her tight against me.

"I love you," I whispered against her hair.

"I freaking hope so, because everyone thinks we're engaged," she whispered back.

We turned around and posed for the cameras, the ring front and center, my arms wrapped around her like a vise.

Lowell

"You have a lot of explaining to do, Kyle Richards." I stomped toward my couch and collapsed on it, spent from the performance on my front porch.

"Don't you mean y'all have a lot of explaining to do?" He threw himself into the chair across from me and grinned.

"Ha ha." I looked at the ring on my finger, temporarily distracted.

"Pretty, isn't it? Just like you."

I looked up and found him watching my face. "That was some stunt."

"It wasn't a stunt."

I raised my eyebrows, and he looked sheepish.

"Okay, it was sort of a stunt."

I winced as if he'd kicked me in the stomach and automatically wished that I hadn't.

He sat up s

traighter, watching my face. "Lowell, I meant it. What I said."

Which thing you said? I wanted to ask, but I couldn't, because I was holding my breath.

He came over to me and kneeled in front of me. My eyes filled with hot, traitorous tears, and I blinked them back. He pulled my left hand to him and ran his fingertips gently over the ring, looking so deep into my eyes I felt it in my stomach.

"I love you."

I still wasn't breathing. He looked at me, waiting for an answer. I finally gave up, blew out a deep breath, and roughly wiped the tears from my face.

"I love you too," I admitted.

He smiled. "You don't sound too happy about it."

I pulled my hand back and defensively put my other hand over it, as if to protect the ring. "That's because I'm not. What're you doing here? You're supposed to be at work. In Boston."

He looked a little wounded and went back to sitting across from me. "I called my dad last night. I told him that I love you and that I need to be with you for your premiere. Then I told him that I really, really want to come back to work for him and that I'm going to follow through as soon as I feel okay about coming back east."

"You know he's going to cut you off for good, right?"

I sounded accusatory, and I was—but not for the reasons he might think. I didn't care if Kyle had a lucrative career or a massive trust. I would take him shoeless and shirtless, just as he was last night. But I didn't want him to miss out on a great opportunity, and I didn't want him to lose the chance to mend his relationship with his father. Not because of me.

"I don't want you to give all that up. Not for me. I'm not worth it." My voice wobbled, and I inwardly cursed as I wiped more tears away.

"Lowell, knock it off." Kyle looked exasperated. "Of course you're worth it. But I don't have to choose—Pierce agreed to let me start after the premiere. He was surprised I had the balls to call him and tell him the truth. It was definitely a first for me."

"What about his app launch?"