Dream With Me (With Me Book 4) (26 page)

“I’ll never break your heart again,” he promises. “Being apart from you was horrible. When I realized that I really loved you, I feared it was too late—that I might not get you back.” Griff presses his forehead to mine. “Evie, I was lost. I thought there was no way you’d listen to me after what I did. But I knew I had to try. To get you to listen.”

“You certainly did that.” I run my fingers along his jaw and gaze into his eyes. “But you didn’t have to do that. I know how much you hate attention and—”

“Don’t you get it, Evie? I would do
anything
for you. I pushed you away because I was scared. I lost my parents when I was young. I was scared for the longest time that I would lose Jack, because of what happened to our mom and dad. And then I met you. It scared me how much I wanted you. Needed you. I had never felt like that about anyone.”

“I feel the same way.”

Griff gives me a tender smile, but regret tightens his mouth. “I broke your heart because I was stupid. I gave into my deep-seated fear that if I loved you I would eventually lose you like my parents. That near-miss with the car messed with me—you were in the truck and I was driving. I know it was a minor thing, but it brought up things for me. The thought of losing you terrified me. It still does. I thought . . .”

I give him a hug, needing to comfort him. “You decided to cut your losses because you thought you could control it.”

“Yeah,” he says with disgust. “I thought I could handle it. That pushing you away was in the best interest for us both. I kept telling myself
it’s been less than a week
. I kept going back to your confession of love and how
sure
you were. How strong you were. How you just knew and weren’t running scared. You’re so brave, Evie. And I need to be brave for you, too. I needed to show you that I could put myself out there for you. I love you, and I don’t care who else knows about it. I want people to know.”

“That definitely happened.” I pull away so I can look at him again. But when I do so, I catch sight of our friends. Our families. Of his brother, Jack. And another thought occurs to me. “I’m still going to L.A. The girls and I are leaving tomorrow.”

“Is there room for one more?” he asks. “Or, maybe, you’d rather drive with me?”

I must have heard Griff wrong. “What do you mean?”

“I’ll go to L.A. with you.”

I can’t wrap my head around this new info. “But what about grad school? What about Jack? You kept wondering why I couldn’t stay in Burlington—”

“Because I didn’t want to lose you,” Griff says. “Although I was still fighting it at the time. After you walked away, I was a moody jerk and drove home in a bad temper. Jack was home and I went off about what had happened to you. He said some stuff. I said some stuff. And it hit me like a ton of bricks how much I loved you. That I’m completely in love with you. And Jack told me that I would be the biggest asshole in the world if I didn’t go after you. If I didn’t try to make it work. Jack’s my brother, but, Evie . . . you’re my heart. Wherever you are is where my home is. And you were right, too. I have been living in one place for too long. And I want to go with you. See the world with you.”

“Your brother is awesome. I knew there was a reason I liked him,” I say. “But, again, what about grad school?”

“I don’t care about UVM. I’ll get into a grad school near you in Los Angeles. All I care about is being with you. Not being with you? Not sharing my life with you? I can’t imagine it. I don’t want to.”

“You don’t have to,” I say. “I want to be with you, Griff. I want to make our dreams a reality.”

He gives me a fierce, tender kiss. “I cannot wait for the makeup line—what’s the new name?”

“ETC. The first letters of our names,” I say.

“I cannot wait for ETC to take the world by storm—and that will definitely happen.” Another kiss. Softer. “I was stupid not to ask you to dance when we were freshman. I was stupid not to make amends back then. I was stupid to have wasted four years. And I was stupider than stupid to push you away. Evie?”

“Yes?”

“I’m asking you now to save all your dances for me. To dream with me. I love you,” he says. “Say you’ll dream with me. Say you’ll be with me, in the here and now. Say you’ll be with me forever.”

“I’ll say that and more.” I reach for his hands and entwine our fingers. “I’ll dream with you. I’ll be with you, here and now and forever. I’ll love you always.”

“I love you, Evelyn Grace Hart.” His kiss is a promise and a vow all wrapped in one sweet, sinful package. “Now, let’s go reach for those dreams.”

I smile up at him and kiss him again. “Yes, let’s. My parents will want to meet you.”

“We’ll celebrate this together,” he says. “A private room has been reserved at The Water Works—”

“That’s where we were headed!”

“Join us. There’s room for you, your family, and your friends and their families.”

I smile wide and kiss him. I hoped this would happen, but never dreamed that it would be possible. Griff loves me. He really loves me. “Yes, let’s go celebrate.”

Hand in hand, we walk back to the wide expanse of green, where our friends and families await. Happiness is evident in their smiles, in the way they cheer as we draw near.

The possibilities lie before Griff and me, all shiny and full of hope. With Griff by my side, I know I can achieve whatever I set my heart on. Because I have him, and he has me—and together, we can do anything.

Never did the future look so bright and wondrous.

The Guys’ Perspectives
5 Years Later

‡

Griff and Evie

“Nervous?” I ask.

Evie glances at me. “Nervous? Me? Why would I be nervous? Just because there might be millions and millions of people watching? Nah. That’s nothing to be nervous about.”

Behind her, Chloe and Taylor laugh, even as they wear matching expressions of anxiousness.

I step closer to Evie. My girlfriend. The woman I love. “You have nothing to be nervous about. None of you do. I’m so proud of you.”

Evie’s smile wobbles. “Really?”

“Really,” I say. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Chloe’s husband take her aside to whisper encouragement in her ear and Taylor’s fiancé grabs her to talk to her. Apparently the guys—who we’ve been friends with since moving to L.A.—have had the same idea as me.

“I am nervous,” Evie confesses.

“I know,” I say. “But look how far you all have come since starting ETC. It’s in Sephora and selling awesomely.”

Trust me, before I met Evie, if someone mentioned Sephora, I would have thought they were talking about a band. But now I know all about the stores, beauty lines, and what exactly exfoliation can do for skin.

I have been a guinea pig for many products. Including nail polish. But a little paint on nails never hurt anyone.

And since I now have my Master’s and am working as a research librarian, Evie and I have also traveled around to various cities and countries. Sometimes for research. Sometimes for her work. But no matter what, we always have fun.

“You’re in other stores, too,” I say. “ETC has been featured in magazines. And now, you’re going to be on QVC.”

“I know,” she says. “But it’s national TV.
Live.
What if I mess up? What if something goes wrong? What if no one buys anything?”

I make a sound to let her know how ridiculous I think that is. “People are going to buy it, Evie. Your dream is coming true.”

“It’s one dream,” she says. “But you have always been my main dream.”

“And you have been mine.” I dip my head. “But maybe I could take away some of those nerves for you.”

“With a kiss?” she asks hopefully.

It’s no problem to kiss her. And I do so, a light, sweet kiss that is over too soon. I want to continue it, but I have something to say. Something to ask.

“That’s not what I had in mind, though,” I say.

“What did you—”

I pull out a ring box from my pocket and go down on one knee. With trembling fingers, I open it up. A cushion-cut diamond ring glints and shines.

“Oh!” Evie covers her mouth. Tears fill her eyes. “Oh!”

“Evie, I love you,” I say thickly. “I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?”

“Yes! Yes. YES!” She doesn’t even wait for me to get up but jumps into my arms, practically knocking me off my feet. I kiss her, long and deep, letting her know how much I love her.

“Let me put this on you,” I say. “Where it belongs.”

I slide the ring on her finger. It fits perfectly.

Evie brushes some tears from her eyes. “Oh, Griff. I love you so much.”

I kiss her once more. “I love you, too. Now, go knock it out of the park.”

Evie gives me one more smile. One more kiss.

And then she follows the stage manager and gets in position with Chloe and Taylor and the host. They all “Oohh,” and “Ahh” over her ring. The guys and I stand off to the side, where we won’t get in the way, as the show starts to air.

And I watch my girl slay her presentation with Chloe and Taylor. The products sell out. The response is wild. It doesn’t surprise me in the least. ETC is an awesome brand, and they have worked their butts off to get to this point.

I’m so proud of Evie. I love her so much. And I can’t wait to make her mine.

Maybe I can convince her to elope.

Jamie and Zelda

I clip the harness on
Zayn, our two-year-old bulldog, that we adopted from the local no-kill shelter in Durham, North Carolina.

On our travels through Australia—where, I swear to God, their bugs look as if they could be monsters from a sci-fi movie—Zelda and I talked about where we wanted to go next and what we wanted to do in our future. It led us to a brief stint in Burlington while Zelda sent off college applications.

And that brought us here.

A condo in Durham. Five minutes away from Duke University, where Zelda has completed her freshman year. She’s now a few weeks into her summer courses, and on Tuesdays and Thursdays, she has a nice break between for lunch.

Since I’m currently freelancing and figuring out exactly what I want to do, I have room in my calendar to meet my girl for lunch outside.

Zayn and I get to our usual spot—a nice shaded table under a tree. Zelda’s still not here, but I figure that she’s running late. It gives me time to pour water in Zayn’s bowl and unpack the food from the basket.

Zayn stops slurping and lets out a bark. I turn around, but it’s not Zelda who I see.

There are two men in black suits. Shades cover their eyes, and they have a no-nonsense demeanor about them.

I pat Zayn’s head, letting him know it’s okay. I let out a laugh, realizing what’s really going on. After what I did to Jack in Burlington and Jack’s promise that he’d get me back, I’ve been waiting for that fucker to get me.

“So,” I say casually, “Jack put you up to this.”

The two men exchange brief looks.

“Jack Sinclair,” I add.

“We don’t know any Jack Sinclair,” the beefier guy says and lowers his shades. “But we have been watching you.”

“Sure, you have,” I say, not believing it for a second. “Listen, you can tell Sinclair that I’m sorry about the joke and that you guys got me. I mean, I already tried applying to the FBI a few years ago and didn’t get in. So, I’m not falling for this. Nope.”

“This is no joke.” The taller, rangy guy steps forward. “We’re here to talk to you, Jamie McAlister.”

“Nice try, guys. But it’s obvious Jack told you my name. It’s not like you know—”

“Once again, this is not a joke,” the taller guy says. “And like Agent Thomas is saying, we’ve been watching you closely.”

“Very closely.”

I look down at Zayn, who’s sitting calmly on his haunches. “Some guard dog you are, Zayn. I should have known better than to name you after a former One Direction member.”

Agent Thomas gives me a second look. “You’ve named your dog after a member of a boy band?”

“My hope springs eternal that one day Zayn will see reason and reunite with them.” I give a dramatic sigh. “One day.”

The taller agent glances at Agent Thomas. “Are you sure about this?”

“Positive, Agent Quinn.”

Now, this is just getting ridiculous. I clear my throat. “Listen, I don’t buy for one second that you guys are for real. I think I need to see some identification.”

They show me their IDs. Holy crap, they really are legit Feds.

“Ummmm.” I’m at a loss for words. “What exactly do you want with me?”

“Well, it’s quite simple,” Agent Thomas says. “We’re recruiting you to be in the FBI.”

I put my hands to my ears. “I’m sorry. I’m not sure I heard right. You want me in the FBI? Why?”

“The reasons are escaping me at this moment,” Agent Quinn says dryly.

A fellow smart-ass. I can respect that.

“Simply put, McAlister, we think you’d make a great agent,” Agent Thomas says. “But now it’s up to you.”

“Well, I need to talk this over with my girlfriend before I make any decisions,” I say truthfully. I have wanted to be a Fed. I can actually see it. Especially me saying to Zelda,
you have the right to remain sexy.

“That’s understandable,” Agent Thomas says and hands me a card. “I hope you’ll say yes. It doesn’t mean you’re in. You still have to go through Quantico—and don’t even mention the TV show—but yes, it will be hard and challenging. If you pass and are willing to serve, then you’re cut out for this life.”