Authors: Kate Perry
An empty bed.
Since you left—
Dreams of love have fled.
Hope of seeing your eyes,
My only saving grace.
Love leaves dreaming,
And all I have left
Is the echo of your laugh
In an empty heart.
“He’s doing a pretty good imitation of Ricky Hazard,” Titania said, snapping some more pictures.
“He
is
Ricky Hazard.” Seeing him like this, she was sure he’d agree with it for a change.
Titania stopped taking pictures and gaped at her. “You’re shagging Ricky Hazard, and you didn’t tell me? What kind of sister are you? You know I had a crush on him when I was a kid.”
“He’s mine,” Gigi said, her eyes on him.
There was the whir of a camera taking pictures. She glanced over to see the lens pointed at her.
Shrugging, Titania lowered the camera. “If you’re nice to me, I’ll give you a copy to blow up at your wedding. Mine will be infinitely better than theirs.”
Gigi looked to where Titania nodded. She blinked, noticing the sea of recorders and cameras for the first time. From the greedy looks on their faces, she could tell they were reporters. How had she missed them all?
Because she only had eyes for Merrick.
“Imogen,” her mother called, hurrying into the bedroom with Fran on her heels. “Are you hearing this?”
Titania stiffened next to her.
Gigi put her hand on her sister’s. “We have a front row seat.”
“That’s your young man?” Franny asked, wedging herself next to them in the window. “He’s a fine one, isn’t he?”
Smiling, she glanced at her mother, who hung back. She watched her youngest daughter like she was a skittish creature about to bolt. Gigi wished she could do something to mend the rift between the two of them, but that was part of Titania’s journey.
She, though … She went to her mother and took her hand. “I hope one day I can guide my child as well as you guided me.”
Jacqueline blinked, her eyes bright with sudden tears. Then she kissed Gigi’s forehead. “I just want you to be happy,” she whispered.
“I think that’s imminent.” She winked and then went back to the window.
Her mother cleared her throat. “Fran, perhaps we should go.”
“Make sure your young man knows I know how to use a cleaver,” her former nursemaid called out as she followed Jacqueline out.
Titania shook her head. “Franny’s never changed.”
“And she never will.” Gigi returned her attention to Merrick.
He finished the song. There was a breath of profound silence followed by thunderous applause. He flushed, just a little, looking like when they’d just had sex.
She leaned into the window and called down. “You must be ill.”
“Actually, I’ve recently been cured,” he called back. “Right now I’m not nearly as miserable as I have been.”
Her heart began to beat faster, but she managed a faintly interested expression. “Oh? Why were you miserable?”
“Because I was an idiot.” He took a step closer. “At least that’s what Valerie believes.”
She grinned. “I really like Valerie.”
“She likes you, too. A lot. She told me I should tell you I love you.”
Imogen blinked, her blasé act slipping as she glanced at all the paparazzi snapping photos incessantly. She had to swallow a couple times before she could reply. “She told you? What do you want to do?”
“I want to be photographed with you, and learn new languages with you, and play the piano for you, and be threatened by your sisters, and grow a gnome family with you.” He nodded. “Marry me, Imogen Summerhill. I want to love you. Forever, if you’ll let me.”
She tapped a finger to her lips, pretending to think about it. “Intriguing proposition.”
He smiled slowly. “You don’t sound intrigued enough.”
She shrugged, even though she was jumping up and down on the inside screaming
Take me! I’m yours!
“Well, then, I’ll just have to tempt you more.” He took off his suit coat and handed it to a reporter standing nearby. Walking to the building, she expected him to go to the front door.
Instead he went to the trellis attached to the side of the house. She watched, incredulous, as he looked for a toehold. “Merrick—”
But he found a niche and levered himself up. To his credit, he tested it before climbing up the rest of the way to her room.
But he did it.
Gigi kept her eyes on him, holding her breath, trying not to imagine him falling off. She could hear the whirring of cameras in stereo, and she wanted to rail at them for not helping him.
Though Merrick looked determined to do it himself. He agilely worked his way up and over to her window.
She grabbed his shirt and tried to help him in, though she knew he did it all himself. Then she glared at him. “
That
was idiotic. What were you thinking?”
“That I wanted you.” He slid his arms around her. “That I wanted the world to know I love you.”
“That’s my cue to leave,” Titania said, taking one last picture. She capped her lens. “I’d offer to stay and take more, but that’s what got you in this mess in the first place.”
Merrick chuckled as Gigi stretched for a pillow from a chair and tossed it at her sister.
With a wink, Titania left the room, closing the door firmly behind her. It opened two seconds later, and her sister poked her head back in. “Be happy, Gigi,” she said softly.
Gigi nodded, swallowing the emotion that rose in her throat.
“I’m going to make you very happy,” Merrick said as the door closed a second time.
Her heart melted. “Are you sure you aren’t sick? Because this is uncharacteristic.”
“I can assure you this is exactly in my character. Valerie can assure you I’m not feverish.”
Gigi wound her arms around his neck. “I’m glad you’re not feverish, because I’m not a great nursemaid.”
“It’s good that I don’t need one then.”
“I’m also not a good housekeeper.”
“I don’t want you for your domestic skills.” He brushed her hair back from her face and framed it with his hand.
“And I work, sometimes a lot. I’ll be on location again soon. I’m more a Marilyn than a Jackie.”
“Marilyn was hot, and I don’t care as long as you come home to me.” He kissed the edge of her mouth. “That’s all I ask.”
“That’s it?” she asked, sighing as he feathered kisses on her face.
“That, and that you love me.”
“I already do.” She wrapped her arms around him. “I’ve loved you from the moment you told me it was a bad idea to date me.”
“Did I mention I have lapses of judgment? I’m working on it.” He grabbed her by the towel, bunching it up. Then he lifted her and tossed her on the bed.
Grinning, she held her towel in place as he closed the curtains so there wasn’t a millimeter open to view. Then he faced her.
She reached for the bedside lamp and moved the dimmer so there was the softest glow.
He began unbuttoning his shirt. “How thoughtful of you waiting for me in a towel.”
“I’m considerate like that.” She watched him hungrily as he took his shirt off. He stood in front of her, bare, his tattoos beautiful against his skin.
His hand went to his belt buckle. “Take the towel off.”
She stared at his sprawled tiger tattoo. “If I do, can I kiss your kitty?”
“I think that’s my line.” His eyes followed her fingers, which dipped into the vee of her cleavage. “Take the towel off, Imogen.”
She heard the command behind the soft, husky words. She tipped her head, giving him a sultry smile. “I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.”
He dropped his pants.
She unwound the towel and tossed it on the floor. Then she reclined on the pillows at the head of her bed. “I like the view.”
“So do I.” He stalked toward her, crawling up the bed until he knelt on her waist. He took her head in his hands. “Do you know the best part of the view?”
“What?”
“I get to look at it for the rest of my life.” He lowered his lips to hers.
It was as passionate as all their kisses, but deeper—a promise. She held him to her, her heart expanding and full of joy.
A thought struck her, and she pushed him away from her enough to say, “Did I officially accept your proposal?”
“You didn’t, actually.” He kissed his way down her neck and took a nipple between his lips.
“Oh,” she said casually, gripping the sheets alongside her as her body bowed under his mouth. “Okay, I say yes.”
He lifted his head, his gaze feral. “I’m not playing games, Imogen. It was a serious proposal.”
“And I seriously say yes.”
He stared at her. Then he rolled off.
She sat up, frowning. “What are you doing?”
Without a word, he ripped open the curtain, opened the window, and leaned out. “She said yes!” he yelled.
There was a chorus of cheers below. He waved and then shut the window and curtains again.
“It had to be done.” Rejoining her in bed, he covered her with his body. “For the record, Imogen, in case you haven’t noticed, I’m done behaving.”
Laughing, she wrapped herself around him possessively. “You and I were always better at misbehaving anyway.”
“You bring out the best in me,” he said, kissing her shoulder. “I love you.”
“I heard a rumor to that effect.” She smiled, sighing happily. “Bold move, by the way, proposing in front of all these people. What if I’d said no?”
He lifted his head, a smile curving his mouth. “You can’t say no to me.”
She traced his lips with a fingertip. “Awfully confident of yourself, aren’t you?”
He sobered, taking her hand and putting it on his heart. “No, I’m confident of you.”
Epilogue
Titania sat huddled in a corner of the orangery, gripping her Nikon, watching everyone wearily. She didn’t want to be here.
Actually, that was a gross understatement. She could think of so many places she’d rather be. Like even on that trek she’d taken through a Kenyan forest, to find the Maasai leader she’d been sent to photograph by
National Geographic
. It’d been miserable—hot and grueling, made worse by her heavy equipment. Compared to being around her family, that Kenyan hell seemed like heaven.
She wrinkled her nose. It wasn’t that she hated her family. She preferred people, in general, at a distance. Through her lens, she had the space to understand them. Up close, they were messy.
Her family was especially messy.
It was fine, because she was leaving for another assignment the following week, to photograph the Pope. She’d have distance again soon.
Just the thought of working soothed her. From behind the lens, life was much more manageable. You controlled the outcome—you could highlight something or make it go away completely, depending.
“Tawny.” Gigi pulled a chair up next to her and sat down. “I’m so happy you came tonight.”
“I only came for you.” She’d do anything for her sister, and Gigi had insisted.
Gigi grinned, leaning into her shoulder. “You’re so self-sacrificing.”
Titania snorted, trying not to be amused.
“Remember how we used to run through here?” Gigi asked, her gaze soft with memories.
“You used to pretend you were on the set of a movie, and I liked to think I was exploring the jungle, looking for aborigines to take pictures of.”
Her sister laughed, the soft, genuine laugh she reserved for those she loved.
Titania lifted her camera and took a picture of it. She knew instinctively that it was going to be perfect. She’d frame it to give to Merrick for his desk.
She wasn’t sure about the politician when she’d first heard about him, but she was beginning to accept him. He certainly loved her sister. When Gigi headed to Barcelona to begin filming the Cole Porter movie in a week, Titania wouldn’t be surprised if Merrick stowed away in her luggage.
Lowering her camera, she looked over to where the men congregated. “The house is full of men. It’s odd.”
“They fit though, don’t you think? Have you met them all?”
She shrugged. She’d been introduced, but she hadn’t really talked to any of them. She preferred getting a feel of them through her lens first. Jackson and Luca were trying to outdo each other in their brash ways. At the moment, they were comparing Luca’s handmade Italian shoes to Jackson’s handmade Texan boots.
Nick, the tall handsome one who was Rosalind’s, goaded them both. Merrick watched their antics with barely veiled humor, all the while keeping a prowling eye on Gigi.
Titania took a picture of them. “How did Portia, of all people, end up with a cowboy?”
“It defies the imagination, doesn’t it?” Gigi shook her head. “But he’d give her the moon if she asked for it.”
“Like Merrick would for you.”
“Just like Merrick,” she agreed softly, her gaze going to her fiancé.
As if sensing her, he looked up.
There
. That was the picture Titania had wanted to take—one of the way Merrick looked at her sister, like he wanted to cuddle her and take a bite out of her at once. It was the perfect picture of love. It amazed her.
It made her the tiniest bit jealous, too.
She cleared her throat. “I know who Jackson, Nick, and Merrick belong to. What’s Luca’s story?”
“Luca is in love with Beatrice.” Gigi nudged her to look at where their oldest sister perched on the arm of a couch, her hand on Viola’s shoulder.
She snapped a picture of her oldest sisters, not certain yet how she felt about them. Growing up, it’d been her and Gigi—their older sisters were already living their lives.
Viola looked a little worn around the edges, as though she contemplated falling apart but didn’t have the energy to actually do it. Her daughter Chloe, who sat near her, watched her warily, as though she were afraid of the same thing. Gigi had said Viola was going through a messy divorce.
She’d never been seriously involved with anyone—she was on the road too much for that sort of commitment—but it seemed like
messy divorce
was redundant.
Her sister nudged her again. “Summer’s headed this way.”