Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 46914 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 235(@200wpm)___ 188(@250wpm)___ 156(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46914 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 235(@200wpm)___ 188(@250wpm)___ 156(@300wpm)
When Weston walks onto the stage, the crowd applauds. I can hardly believe I’ve kissed that man, been intimate with him. I can’t believe it was on this very couch that he had his hands between my legs, his breath sexily moving over me.
Michael and Weston talk about one of his latest movies for a while.
B-O-R-I-N-G, Weston texts, and I laugh softly.
It’s not, I reply quickly. I love how passionate you get about your characters.
Not as passionate as I am about you.
Tempting fantasies captivate me. I’m trying not to let my mind leap ahead to impossible places, but I’m not sure what else to think when he keeps sending me stuff like that.
There are no other women.
He said he’s obsessed with me.
He asked Aurora for my number.
What else am I supposed to think other than he feels the same?
But no, that’s not right. Countless possibilities don’t indicate that.
“Well,” Michael says, leaning against his desk and gesturing with a flashcard. “We could make small talk until the cows come home, but the big question, Weston, is this… just how many women are you dating?”
The crowd laughs, though I can’t see the joke.
They hold up signs for the laughing, by the way, Weston texts, as if reading my mind, making me think of when he intuited that I’m a virgin. Just in case you’re wondering why his lame comments get so much laughter.
Ha ha, thanks. I was wondering, actually. You’re such a mind reader.
I feel Natasha’s eyes on me as though pissed at me for texting.
“One,” Weston says firmly, adjusting his cufflink.
He’s wearing a steel-colored suit, glimmering slightly under the bright studio lights, the same glimmering in his silver hair. He looks huge in the armchair, sitting upright, muscles swelling through his jacket.
“But it’s not the woman you saved on video a while back… that’s a new euphemism for kicking someone’s ass. Saved. I might save the next person who asks me for an autograph while I’m eating dinner.”
More forced laughter.
My phone buzzes.
I mean every word of this. But I understand if you think I’m crazy.
“No,” Weston replies. “It’s not her. It’s Alice… she’s the woman you saw in the photo.”
“The one where you were holding hands.”
“Yeah. But it’s not how it looked in that photo. It wasn’t a hookup or a meaningless thing. Alice is the most beautiful, most interesting, kindest woman I’ve ever met. We haven’t known each other for a long time, but I don’t care. I could’ve met her a minute ago and still said this.”
Michael waits as Weston adjusts his cufflinks.
I’m sure I can see his chest thudding with the force of his pounding heart. I want to be there, lay my cheek against his chest, and feel his heart thundering, causing his powerful chest to shift.
The pause lengthens as Weston looks directly at the camera.
“Maybe you’ll think I’m crazy, Alice, but the truth is, I wanted you the second I saw you.”
Beside me, Natasha gasps, but I can’t look at her.
I can’t look at anything other than the screen, at my man who’s staring at me with those intense hold-me-in-place eyes.
“I don’t just mean physically, though….”
He smirks, and the crowd laughs softly, but I don’t.
I’m filling up with so much heat it’s difficult to comprehend, so much affection that all I want to do is hold him. I wish he was back on the West Coast.
“I did want that,” he goes on. “But it was everything else too. The truth is, Alice – and this is going to make me sound insane – the second I saw you, I immediately started imagining having a family together. I immediately started thinking about the future. I was afraid to tell you the truth, afraid you’d only want me….”
For his money and fame, but he leaves that part unspoken.
“I’m done living in fear,” he says firmly. “I’m done worrying. Because if I don’t tell you the truth, I’ll spend the rest of my life worrying about what could’ve been.”
Another pause.
My phone buzzes.
I glance at it.
It’s true. All of it. This isn’t a PR stunt. I did it publicly because I wanted to make a definitive statement. I wanted to put myself out there, so I couldn’t save face. I couldn’t run from this. The whole world knows, and now so do you.
“I want you, Alice. I want every part of you. I want a future together. I want to be with you whenever you need me, protect and care for you… always, forever.”
“Always,” Natasha whispers beside me, her voice shaking like she can’t believe it. “Forever.”
I’m struggling to take his words in, my mind swirling, trying to figure out any way this could be a trick.
But it can’t be.
There’s no reason for him to lie about this… especially on national TV, especially when millions of people will see it.
It doesn’t make any sense.