He was the one to move closer now.
“I feel like me.”
“What are you saying?”
I heard the cautious hope in his voice and I took a deep breath. “I want to be with you. I like who I am with you. You don’t expect me to change or make me feel like I shouldn’t be me, you...”
He kissed me again, muffling the rest of my words against his lips. It was fierce, full of desire, but when I swayed closer, he backed away.
He nodded at my hand before I could ask. “Do you want me to come?”
“No,” I said with a sigh. “I think I need to handle this myself.” Grimacing, I glanced down at the ring before meeting Flynn’s eyes again. “I need to tell him…everything. Stay handy, though.” I gave him a half-smile. “I might need a ride if he kicks me out the door the moment I try to explain.”
“He won’t.” Flynn shook his head. His eyes were solemn. “Call me when it’s done. I’ll be there. For…whatever you need. Just, please, let me know.”
Throat tight, I nodded. Then I turned away. The longer I waited, the harder this was going to be.
***
Paul was quiet as we drove back to Edward’s house.
Edward’s.
It had never felt like mine and now I understood why. Gazing up at the elegant manor of stone and glass, I let myself acknowledge the truth. I’d been looking for a prince, a fairy tale, a castle, but that hadn’t been what I wanted. Not really. A princess might be happy to be tucked away safe where her prince could coddle and protect her, but that didn’t suit me. That wasn’t me. That life didn’t fit me. I’d been trying to force my round life into the square peg that was Edward’s world. It just didn’t work.
“I’ll be close by, Miss Gabriella,” Paul said as he stepped aside to let me climb out of the car. “Call me when you need me.”
When. Not if.
I hadn’t said anything to him. I didn’t know if he’d seen my bare ring finger or if he was just that good. Trying to lighten my mood, I said teasingly, “You’ve got to tell me how you picked up the mind-reading trick, Paul.”
He simply smiled and nodded at me.
The doors of the house had never seemed so imposing and I found myself fighting the urge to knock. The next time I came back here, if I ever did, I would be a guest for real, no matter what happened between Flynn and me.
Please don’t let him hate me
.
The low murmur of voices drew me towards the sitting room and, as I stepped into the entryway, I froze. I must have made some noise because they sprang apart as if burned. Kendra’s face flushed a deep red. As I stood there, she started to wring her hands, her expression a mixture of embarrassment, guilt and horror.
“Gabriella,” Edward said, his voice level.
“Edward.” I looked over at Kendra, but she didn’t look at me.
“Gabs!” My name came out in a bright and happy chirp, so totally at odds with the expression on her face. “How are you?”
“Um…well. Fine, I guess.” I glanced over at Edward. “I kind of—”
“We need to talk to you,” she blurted out.
“Kendra, please.” Edward moved to her, the gesture so natural, so automatic, that I wondered how I hadn’t seen it before.
Or—I remembered the way she’d leaned into him at the hospital—maybe I had seen it. I just hadn’t realized what it had meant.
He rested his hands on her shoulders and she took a deep breath, some of the strain leaving her face. “Maybe you should…?” A hesitant smile curled her lips.
He nodded at her and then looked at me. “We have something we need to tell you.”
Shifting my gaze back and forth between them, I saw the weight of something hovering there. “Okay.”
Kendra insisted on pouring wine.
I didn’t want any, but it seemed to make her feel better to be doing something so I accepted the glass and sipped from it as she took a glass over to Edward and sat down beside him. The way they sat together, the way they looked together confirmed what my instincts had been whispering for the past few minutes.
“Kendra and I…” He paused and looked over at her, his face softening in a smile. A smile I hadn’t seen directed at me, not like that. “We’ve fallen in love, Gabriella.”
“I’m so sorry, Gabs,” Kendra said, the words hushed. She stared at me, tensed. She looked like she was waiting for me to explode.
I almost did, but not in anger. I wanted to laugh at the sheer insanity of it all, but I had a feeling they’d think I lost it. Rubbing at my eyes, I struggled with the giddiness until it was under control and I knew I wouldn’t start braying with laughter the second I opened my mouth.
When I looked back at them, they were both watching me with worry. I bit my lip and then uncurled my left hand. I’d been clutching the ring ever since I’d picked it up.
“I came over here to talk to you, Edward.” I smiled. “Because I’m in love with Flynn.”
His eyes widened slightly. Kendra looked stunned. Neither of them said anything.
“And he loves me.”
Kendra looked at Edward, as if concerned about how he’d react. For a moment longer, he simply stared at me.
“You look—” He stopped abruptly and shook his head, chuckling softly. “You look happy, Gabriella.”
“I am.”
When I finally started laughing, Edward and Kendra joined in as well.
Chapter 25
“You make a beautiful bride.”
I stared at Kendra as I fixed the orchid to her hair. She’d decided against a veil, skillfully maneuvering around Claire’s protests with a talent that told me things had definitely worked out the way they were supposed to.
It was October and the wedding was taking place as planned, just with one small change. A different bride. Kendra was glowing and she’d sailed through the remainder of the wedding plans with such delighted happiness, I wondered how I hadn’t seen what was going on between her and Edward sooner. Then again, they hadn’t admitted it to themselves at first either.
After about a week or so, I’d finally gotten Kendra to tell me the whole story. She’d still been a bit stiff with me until I’d managed to convince her. Once she’d told it, things had gone back to normal between us. The story itself sounded a lot like what had happened between me and Flynn.
Okay, so not really. Theirs was definitely a PG version compared to my much more NC-17 series of events.
I’d already known that Kendra and Edward had started to talk before the accident, but while I’d been in the coma, they’d gotten very close and the affection between them had shifted into something much stronger. They’d found themselves leaning on each other more and more. Found themselves wanting to spend time together outside of the hospital. They’d just tried to ignore it...until they couldn’t anymore.
The door opened behind us. “Are you almost…oh.”
The very clear disappointment and irritation in Claire’s voice should have bothered me, but I just turned to her with a brilliant smile. It was much easier to do now that I didn’t have to constantly worry about how my relationship with Claire was going to affect the man I loved. Flynn didn’t give a damn how I talked to his mother. “Hello, Claire,” I said brightly. “Isn’t it a beautiful day?”
“We’re on a schedule, Gabriella.” She sniffed at me. “Why don’t you go down and be with the son you’ve stolen from me?”
If I’d thought for a moment that Edward and I breaking up would make Claire like me, she’d quickly dispelled that idea. When the four of us had gone together to tell Claire and Albert about the wedding—Edward and Kendra had insisted on it—Flynn had given her a very clear ultimatum. She could treat me with courtesy or he’d stop talking to her. She hadn’t believed him...until he’d followed through. He hadn’t said a word to her in five weeks, not since she’d commented on how much money she’d wasted on trying to plan a wedding I’d ruined and how I’d made her a laughingstock.
Edward had been trying to smooth it over ever since, but Flynn had told him not to sweat it. His mom was happiest when she had something to be unhappy about. Besides, if keeping most of the arrangements and trading out for a more appropriate bride hadn’t been enough to make her happy, nothing would.
“I’ve got to be in here.” I picked up my bouquet and wiggled it, allowing myself a bit of vindictive pleasure at the way Claire’s mouth tightened. “I’m the maid of honor.”
It was just me in the wedding party. Aside from not having any sisters, Kendra hadn’t wanted to try and rush through finding bridesmaids—or having them deal with Claire, she’d confided to me during one of our many wedding planning sessions over the past month.
Claire huffed and came further into the room, studying Kendra with critical eyes. Kendra ignored her and focused on me. She was much better at controlling her emotions than I was. “You and Flynn are leaving for California this week?”
“Yep.” I smiled, excitement burning inside.
He wasn’t setting up a studio out there. He was going to start focusing on the kind of photography he wanted to produce, the kind that meant something. And I was working on a screen play, my first serious one in years. It was a romantic comedy and even if I didn’t sell it, I was having more fun than I’d had when I’d been trying to write what I thought other people wanted. And things had just kept falling into place.
“Flynn has a friend in LA who’s a new agent at one of the big companies out there and he read one of my older projects. It was rough and not anything he had interest in, but he wants to look at something newer. We’re meeting at the end of the week.”
Kendra’s eyes widened and she squealed, rushing to throw her arms around my neck just as Claire started to adjust the flower in her hair. While Claire backed away in a huff, Kendra and I hugged, both of us ignoring her this time. We were still laughing and talking when somebody came and knocked on the door a few minutes later.
“It’s time.”
***
The wedding seemed to last for hours, but when it was all over, I felt like I could have blinked and missed it.
I’d had to admit, the colors I’d selected looked amazing and the cake Honey had done specially for the bride and her table was to die for. Claire had gotten her cakes from
Madame
as well and I’d laughed more than once as people had taken a bite and then put the fork down, pushing the plate away.
Kendra had apparently put her foot down about the majority of the menu. The food, aside from what Madame had inflicted upon everybody, was amazing and I’d all but glutted myself as I laughed and talked and sipped from an unending flow of champagne.
When the bride and her husband had finally left to a hail of applause, I’d curled my arms around Flynn’s neck and sighed with happiness. It had been a wonderful day, but I was ready to have my own happy ending. I pressed my lips against Flynn’s ear.
“Can we leave now?”
***
“The new tenants move in next week.”
Flynn stepped aside as I moved into the quiet studio. I hadn’t been in here since the day we’d talked. The day we’d finally made love. Not fucked. Made love.
A few packing crates still remained, but beyond that, the place was empty. It left me feeling sort of hollow as I stood there.
Everything that really mattered had started here. I’d found love. I’d found myself.
And we were leaving.
“Will we ever come back?” I dumped my purse on the counter and leaned forward, bracing my upper body on my elbows as I looked around. Flynn came up behind me, his body curving to fit against mine. Caged between his arms and the warmth of his chest against my back, I pressed my cheek to his.
“I don’t know. Not to here, no. The new tenants are already making noises about trying to buy if the first few years go well.”
“You’ll miss it.” I wiggled and shifted around until I was facing him. “You did some amazing work here.”
“I have a chance to do the things I really want to do.” He dipped his head and pressed his mouth to the sensitive skin behind my ear. “And you’re with me. For all I care, I could be snapping shots in J.C. Penney.”
I laughed and turned my head to kiss his cheek. “You’d never be happy with that.”
“Wanna bet?” His hair spilled into his eyes as he grinned at me. “Though it would get old after a while. Then again, even those kinds of pictures capture a piece of a person’s life. That’s what I’m good at. Fuck all that shit I did for Bouvier. I hated doing it for longer than you can imagine.”
I might have said something else, but he chose that moment to slide his hands under the hem of my sweater. A cold, steady rain had started sometime in the night and from the way it looked, fall was about to settle in fast, and his hands were still cold.
“Your hands are
freezing
,” I said, instinctively arching away from his hands and back into him.
“Mmm. You’re nice and warm, Tennessee.” His lips danced down my neck.
Hmmmm
.
I was more than warm as his teeth scraped against the side of my throat. I turned my head, tilting it so that he could take my mouth. His fingers curled around my neck and I knew he could feel my pulse fluttering wildly there. He did that to me.
One last time, I thought, as his free hand moved higher to cup my breast through my bra.