InHap*pily Ever After (Incidental Happenstance) (28 page)

            Ryan plopped
on the couch and pulled up the menu on the TV. At first he’d been kind of
pissed that Lexi was staying an extra night in LA, but if he were in her shoes,
he probably would’ve stayed too.  In the end, Lexi had been right about the
bragging rights he got out of her personal invitation from Tony Granger—there
were enough of the ‘living dead,’ as Lexi so affectionately coined them, at his
parents’ dinner party who didn’t know anything about the story. A good number
of them had no idea who Dylan Miller was, but they sure as hell perked up when
they heard the name Tony Granger.  Ryan had been the center of attention for a
good chunk of the night, and for the first time that he could remember; he came
away from that dinner with a good taste in his mouth. It was holiday vacation,
it was nearly New Year’s Eve, and his girl was on television. Life was good.

            The theme
music started up, and Granger walked to center stage.
Must be nice to be
that dude
, he thought. The guy had more money than the Pope, and all he had
to do was walk out every night, tell a few jokes, and then sit down with the
rich and famous and let them brag about themselves. Tough life.

            He listened
attentively to the monologue in case he mentioned Lexi, laughed at a couple of
halfway decent jokes about failed New Year’s resolutions, and leaned forward in
anticipation when Tony announced who his first guest would be. Ryan hadn’t
thought to ask if she knew who else would be on the show with her…but he
selfishly hoped it would be someone way more famous than Miller had recently
become. 

            He sat through
the series of commercials that always followed the monologue; car insurance,
beer, a TV series, a sports car; and perked up when he heard the theme music
again. When Lexi walked out onto the stage, his heart nearly stopped. She
looked absolutely gorgeous; an obviously new and just as obviously expensive
dress draped over her figure like it was made for her, and she wore impossibly
high heels that showed off her incredible legs. It was hard for him to believe
that this was his girl, his fiancé, walking out onto that stage like she owned
it; accepting the applause of the audience as if it was something she did every
day.

            She was witty,
well-spoken, and downright modest about the whole situation, and she had the
audience eating out of her hand.
Maybe I was too hard on her,
he thought
as he crammed a handful of popcorn into his mouth. He watched with interest and
even pride as she handled herself with more class than some of Granger’s usual
guests exhibited. When the next round of commercials came on, he grabbed a Coke
from the fridge, poured some more popcorn into his bowl, and settled back in.

            He stopped
with the can halfway to his mouth when Granger introduced the next guest and he
watched as the band’s drummer, a huge black dude with a big white grin, picked
Lexi up and called her ‘beautiful.’ She was so excited to see him that her
smile about tore her face in half, and she practically sat in the guy’s lap
when they got to the couch. A spark of jealousy scissored around in his gut as
he watched the two of them talking—it’s not like the guy was Lexi’s type or
anything—hell, he was a far cry from Miller’s league, but it was obvious that
they’d forged some kind of bond while she was in Europe.
Another thing she
neglected to tell me
, he fumed as he slammed down the Coke and went to the
fridge to grab a beer. Just one more secret—one more freaking lie—how many more
things were there that he didn’t know? He took a pull of the beer and watched
as they laughed together, telling stories of shared times that he knew nothing
about and suddenly wondered if they were watching the show together somewhere;
and if he even knew Lexi anymore.

            Lexi hit the
send button on the text, and checked the bathroom once more to be sure she
hadn’t forgotten anything. She knew sleep would be impossible, so she figured
she may as well go home right now. Maybe the hum of the private jet would lull
her into some sort of rest. It was late—well, early actually—but she’d summoned
her courage and decided she was going to go see Bo before she left. She just
couldn’t leave with things between them uncomfortable, so she was just going to
say it…tell him that she hadn’t meant anything by her behavior, and that she
considered him one of her very best friends and wanted to keep it that way. She
didn’t even care if she woke him up—it was too important to her that his
opinion of her wasn’t tarnished. He was an honorable man, she knew that, and if
he thought she was behaving less than honorably tonight, she had to set the
record straight.

            With her bags
in tow she stepped off the elevator and knocked on his door. She waited a
minute before knocking again, in case he was getting out of bed. When he didn’t
open it, she pulled out her phone and called his room, hearing the shrill ring
through the door but getting no answer. Could he have already left, or was he
purposely avoiding her? She was about to knock again when her phone vibrated in
her hand. Her car was waiting at the front entrance, ready to take her to the
airport. Although she hated leaving things this way, she had little choice, and
she dragged her bags down to the lobby to head for home.

            Bo hadn’t
sweated this much since…hell, he didn’t think he’d
ever
sweated this
much. He had a lot of nervous energy—
no, sexual energy, damn it,
he
thought…
may as well be honest about it—
that he needed to burn off, and
he moved from the treadmill to the weight bench and started doing curls. Maybe
once he’d exhausted himself, a cold shower would wash the unwelcomed thoughts
from his mind.

            Lexi was his
friend, damn it, and a good one at that. They had a rapport he’d never had with
anyone else, and he wanted to keep it that way. There was no excuse for the
images that were suddenly sprouting and growing in his mind…images of her lying
on his bed, her golden hair spread around his pillow as he slowly spread her…
Damn
it!
He pushed himself harder, adding more weight to the bar and switching
to bench presses. Thank goodness the gym opened with his room key—he definitely
needed this distraction.

            Not only was
Lexi his friend, he reminded himself, but she was an engaged woman—forbidden
territory. He had no business thinking this way about her, and worried about
how she’d perceived his sudden move to the chair. Did she notice his blatantly
obvious ‘excitement,’ or did she think that all of a sudden, for no apparent
reason, he wanted to get as far away from her as he could? Either way made him
look like a complete idiot. Damn it, would she even care if he didn’t want to
be close to her? She was the one who’d patted the spot beside her when the show
was starting, but if she’d gotten a glimpse of the way the crotch of his pants
was vibrating…

           
Shit. Shit,
shit, shit
, he thought as he pushed his muscles to the edge of overload. He
couldn’t leave things like this, he just couldn’t. He needed to talk to her
before she left in the morning—tell her that she was still his princess and
that he was sorry he’d behaved like such a complete ass. He could make a joke
of it; make it a typical Bo statement. And if he went while he was still sweaty
from the gym, he wouldn’t be tempted to pull her into his arms and beg her to
stay. Then he could finish off with a cold shower and try and get some sleep,
although he had great doubts that he’d even catch a wink.

            He mopped the
sweat off his face with a towel and took a cautious whiff of an armpit. At
least he didn’t smell like he’d just sweated out a couple gallons of body
fluid.

            He made his
way to her room and knocked, the door swinging open when he hit it. Total
darkness greeted him, and he stuck his head in and called out her name. When he
got no answer, and heard no sounds coming from inside, he stepped in and turned
on the light; his heart sinking. The closet was open and empty, there was no
clutter of toiletries sitting on the vanity, and the bed was neatly made. No
suitcase sat on the little valet stand, and a stack of bills sat on the night
table—a tip for the maid, presumably.

            Obviously he
had offended her, he thought sadly, dragging himself back to his room. She
couldn’t even wait until her scheduled flight in the morning to get away from
him. Lexi was gone.

            The cooling
evening air washed over them as they sat on the balcony overlooking the bridge
and Sydney Harbour, sipping champagne and nibbling on chocolate-dipped
strawberries and truffles, and awaiting the start of the New Year’s Eve
celebration. They looked out over the bustling streets below them, all the
crowds heading toward the water’s edge for the best view of the spectacular
fireworks show that would mark the start of a new year.

            The city
simply hummed; Tia could think of no better word to describe it. Buildings were
ablaze with lights, music of all kinds wafted up to their balcony, and the
laughter and celebration of the people in the streets electrified the
atmosphere with an anticipatory feel. She smiled and sat back in her chair,
more than happy to participate in the party from a distance.

            As she did on
every New Year’s Eve she could remember, Tia reflected on the past twelve
months, hardly able to believe all that had happened in such a short time. She
recovered from the loss of Nick and made her way back into the world, found
Dylan, fell in love again, toured the entire continent of Europe, lost Dylan,
and somehow; whether by incidence or happenstance; reclaimed him into her life
once again. She was thrust into the media spotlight and hesitantly embraced a
new world; a new life with the man she loved. She very likely lost her
career—she’d been putting off making a final decision, but she didn’t see how
she could balance her old life with her new one. Tia Hastings—no doubt about
it—was a very different person than she had been just a year ago. She turned
and smiled at Dylan and without saying a word, he knew her mind and shared her
thoughts. It had been an unbelievable year, but in the end, it had been the
best year of her life; and it was all because of Dylan Miller. Sliding her
chair closer she snuggled into him, fully embracing the familiarity and comfort
level they shared. Just as much could be said in silence as can be said with
words, she thought.  Even Dylan was quiet tonight; preoccupied, almost; perhaps
lost in his own reminiscing over the past 365 days.

            He popped the
cork on a freshly chilled bottle of champagne as the clock approached midnight
and poured two glasses, setting them on the small table that sat on the
balcony. He looked at her and smiled; a look in his eyes she’d never seen
before—well, maybe once, at the top of the Eiffel Tower the night he first told
her he loved her. Rolling the memory around in her mind like a favorite dream,
she opened her arms to the love of her life.

            They heard the
music crescendo in the distance, and the countdown of the crowd below. Ten!
Nine! Eight! Seven! Dylan and Tia counted along with them, and kissed right
after they said, One!  Then came the first
whoosh!
that signified the
start of the fireworks display, which started with a bang off the Harbour
Bridge; an explosion of color and sparks that filled the night sky with fire.
Tia felt them more than she saw them as she was still attached to Dylan, their
tongues mingling as they started a new year filled with more promise than
either of them ever imagined.

            Dylan pulled away
and held her at arms’ length, looking deep into her eyes. There was so much
love, so much intensity in his gaze; that she caught her breath and smiled. “I
love you so much,” she whispered, her voice as light as the sparks that drifted
down from the sky. “Happy New Year, baby.”

            Dylan
swallowed, and smiled back. “I love you too, Tia,” he breathed. “I can’t even
form the words to tell you how much.” She leaned into him, but he held her back
and kept her captivated with his stare. “This year has been so crazy,” he said.
“I found you, I thought I lost you, I found you again, and now neither of us
will ever be the same. And I don’t want us to be the same. You’ve made me see
the world in a whole different light, and my favorite view is seeing it through
your eyes.  I’m a better man for knowing you, Tia Hastings. My life has been so
incredible since you walked into it, and I want to spend the rest of my life
making you happy.”

            “Oh Dylan,”
she whispered. “You make me so happy. Every day.” She smiled warmly, her eyes
full of pure and unadulterated adoration.

             “This is
going to be the year of us, Tia, and it’s just the beginning of a lifetime
together.” He raked his hands through his hair, and reached into the pocket of
his jacket, his gaze never faltering. “The next time the tabloids print a
headline that says ‘Engaged,’ I want it to have an exclamation point and a
picture of us under it.” He pulled his hand from his pocket, and Tia saw the
gold-embossed black box that he held and she inhaled on a gasp, unconsciously
bringing her hand to her heart as Dylan dropped to one knee.