Protein Shake

She swallows hard, and she looks so distraught that I just want to take her in my arms. But I don’t. She needs to say this. And I need to hear it.

“Because I fell in love with you. I couldn’t walk away from you, even though it started under false pretenses. I needed to be with you. I love you, Carter. I really do. I don’t want the money. I don’t want anything. All I want is to be with you. You’re all that matters. And if a lie is what got me into this situation, I really don’t care because it gave me the opportunity to get to know you. To fall in love with you. And for you to fall in love with me too. None of that was a lie.” She looks up at me again, her gaze almost desperate. “You have to believe me.”

I wait for a long beat before speaking, letting her words sink in for both of us.

“I know.”

Ashley cuts her eyes at me. “You know?”

I nod, a smile breaking across my face for the first time since walking into the room. She’s said everything I hoped she would say. Everything I needed to hear. I know without a doubt that she’s telling the truth. But I had to know.

“I’ve known all along, Ash,” I admit.

She gasps, her hands flying to her mouth. “What?” she shakes her head. “I don’t understand.”

Taking her hands again, I bring them to my lips. “Don’t be mad. I had to know how you really felt. Lola came to me, trying to get the twist of me falling in love to move along. It was perfect for ratings. So she told me what she’d done—that she’d hired you.”

I glance at Lola, still angry at her. I don’t know what her deal is, but I swear she’s angry and resentful that Ash and I have found love. I’m sure it all goes back to her not wanting to pay out my incentive, but I can’t be bothered to give a fuck right now.

Turning back to Ashley, I say, “I was shocked at first. And I’ll admit, a little hurt. But it didn’t add up. I didn’t believe you could fake everything we had. I knew deep down that our love was real. But I had to wait it out. I needed to hear it from you. I knew if you came clean about all this then it would mean that everything you’ve said is true. That you really do love me for me and the money means nothing. Don’t be upset that I didn’t tell you. I just needed to hear it, Ash. And now I have.”

“You have to know that’s true,” she says, so earnest it makes my heart crack. “I do love you, Carter. All of this—everything we’ve had from the very beginning—it’s all real. My love is real.”

I pull her closer to me, so glad that this fucking show is almost over and that Ashley and I can begin our lives together for real. “No, Ash. Our love is real.”

And then I kiss her, ready for everyone to get the fuck out because I’ve waited long enough to claim my woman. No more waiting. Ashley is mine, heart and soul. And I’m going to show her over and over again until I’m sure she knows just how much I love her.

Ashley

How could he possibly have known about my deal with Lola after all of this time? And I’ve been stressing about telling him the truth, the betrayal tearing through me in the worst way, but he’s already forgiven me. All he wanted was to hear it from my mouth, and now that I’ve done that he looks on at me with an intense gaze of passion as I rush to him, our bodies colliding beautifully.

“I want you,” is all I can manage, overcome with emotion and desire.

“Everybody out!” Carter orders, turning to glare at everyone so they understand his level of sincerity.

“Oh, Carter, we’d be happy to film this,” Chase begins, but Carter moves forward, dropping me from his grasp as he physically pushes the crew out of his home.

“It could be an update special. You know the fans love this turn of events. They’ll be happy for an update,” he reasons just before he’s pushed over the threshold, the door slamming behind him.

“Now, where were we?” Carter asks in a low whisper, walking across the room slowly.

“I think you were about to make love to me,” I tap my chin as if I’m thinking deeply about something.

Wrapping me in his arms, Carter lifts me from my feet and I instantly clasp my ankles behind his back, my arms tightly draped over his shoulders as he easily carries me through his impeccably decorated apartment.

As we move through the luxury furnishings I just can’t believe how everything has played out. You couldn’t have paid me to believe that I would end up falling in love with Carter Blaine, the man that women around the world (including myself) have fantasized about regularly. I’m the lucky woman that can finally convince him to part with his precious V-card, and that’s beyond my wildest dreams.

As he carries me through his penthouse apartment, I feel all of the emotions boiling over, knowing we are finally going to experience each other in the best way possible. These past weeks have been torture, but they’ve also allowed me to get to know him in a way I don’t think I would have if we would have been sexually active. It’s already been too distracting knowing we can do with his mouth, the way he owns me without even penetrating my most sensitive spot.

“Where should we start?” Carter asks, a huge grin spread across his face.

“How’s the bedroom?” I ask in a teasing manner.

As he heads to the bedroom, I giggle to myself. I guess it's a bit ironic that I would want such a traditional start to our sexual relationship when everything else about us has been so nontraditional. I just want to focus on feeling him, and pleasing him for our first interaction. My heart rate is racing as we make our way into his bedroom.

“Here we are,” he says softly, gently placing me on my feet.

Turning, I see the passion from deep inside me reflected in his eyes as he looks on, his lips curling on one side to form the smirk I love so much. After all we’ve been through, there feels to be a bit of nerves in the air as we both prepare to finally feel what we’ve been fantasizing about for so long. I’d never even considered that it could fail to live up to my expectation, and that fear makes me a little apprehensive despite my desire.