“Sherlock Emerson!”
I still at the name. The name only one person would use other than my parents, and that deep, raspy voice is definitely not from them.
The voice is far away but still in this room.
The desk clerk’s mouth drops open, and I don’t even get the chance to give her a smug look because I spin so fast, I almost fall over.
There Cash stands, across the foyer near the elevator banks, looking a hell of a lot less messy than me.
Seb stands with him, pulling a guitar out of his case while Cash says something to him without taking his eyes off me.
My feet move closer to him but stall when he starts singing.
Forever was separated by distance
Thousands of miles
A decade of regrets
We tried living apart
But you’re locked in my heart
I blink and glance around the stanky-ass Vegas casino, wondering if I’m still drunk.
But no, this is definitely happening.
People crowd around us, creating a circle, and taking out their phones.
I suck in a sharp breath as Cash continues to sing about us.
The song about us he sang at Death Valley was cute and romantic. This … this is raw and emotional. It hurts because the truth is painful. But it is the truth.
He’s in my heart. He always has been. Always will be.
Seb continues to play, and Cash sings as they take steps toward me.
They keep coming, but I’m frozen to the spot.
You’re locked in my heart.
You’re locked in my heart.
The more he sings those words, the more I understand. I hurt him when I married Shannon, but as painful as it is, he knows we belong together.
He finishes the song, but I’m still frozen.
I can’t move.
I want to reach for him and beg and plead, but I want to kiss him more.
My feet take the smallest steps toward him. I cup the back of his head, my hand threading through his long hair. “Cash …”
He nods. “It’s okay. I know.”
“You know what?”
“That you love me.”
“Always have,” I admit.
“Always will.”
His lips touch mine, so strong and sure. And I have no doubt that if we try, we can make us work.
I don’t know the logistics right now, and I don’t really care so long as I’m with Cash.
I’m willing to do what I wasn’t able to ten years ago.
Even though cameras and people are all watching this play out, I don’t hold back.
I slip my tongue into his mouth and pour my heart and soul into every nip. Every lick. Every taste.
When he rests his forehead against mine and breaks the kiss, I breathe him in.
“I want to be with you,” he murmurs. “I know that might seem impossible right now, and—”
“I’ll follow you anywhere you go.”
He pulls back, his deep brown eyes wide. “You will?”
“The only time over the last ten years I have felt like myself was when I was traveling. But I still had a missing piece. You.”
Cash attacks my mouth again, this time even more forceful.
I feel it in the way he kisses me.
His promise of forever.
The thing that’s been holding me back for a decade is the same thing that will set me free.
Cash and I will never change.
It’ll be me and him always.
“We should probably go somewhere and talk,” I say against his mouth.
“No. Take me back to your room. We have forever to talk.”
The analytical side of me wants to sit us down and hash this out, but when the word “forever” falls from his lips, I believe him.
We’ll have tomorrow to talk through how we can make it work.
We’ll have the next few days to make future plans.
And we’ll have forever to love each other.
Right now, I’m going to take his hand and lead him back to my place, lay us down, and offer him everything I have.
I’m going to give him all of me, no holding back.
We push our way through the growing crowd, and Seb helps with keeping fans back.
There are cheers and applause from the audience that has gathered, some of them not entirely sober from last night.
Cash’s name is called out from every direction.
I’ve seen it happen in paparazzi videos and on TMZ, but being beside him as it happens is surreal.
This is the type of crazy I’m going to have to get used to.
And I’m here for it.
I wouldn’t change it for the world because it’s exactly what Cash set out to do. If he lets me be in his world at all, I’m the luckiest man that has ever lived.
In the bright morning of Vegas, the seediness of the city can’t even bring me down.
It’s a race back to my hotel room, and thankfully, we lose the crowd somewhere around the Bellagio.
By the time we get back to my room, it’s just Cash and me, our heavy breathing and wandering hands.
I’m dying to kiss him again, but I know if I start, I’m not going to be able to stop.