Gary wipes the tears from his eyes too and lifts the baseball cap up from his face a little. ‘I’m actually in the UK for a shoot. I’m doing my friend Olive’s movie. It’s called Chuffed.’
‘The asshole brother character.’
Gary smiles widely. ‘You remembered.’
‘Of course I did,’ I say.
Gary nods slowly, his eyes travelling over my face.
‘I, um, didn’t know whether you were acting anymore,’ I tell him. ‘You seemed to… disappear. I mean, not that I’ve been tracking your movements or anything…’
Gary half-grins, a glint of amusement in his eyes. ‘I took some time out. Spent a while with my Pops in Texas, thought about what I was gonna do next. You know, things got… pretty overbearing in LA.’
‘Oh really?’ I say casually. ‘I wonder why? It’s not like you had a crazy stalker who maybe ruined your life.’ I immediately regret my stupid quip, but Gary laughs out loud again and rubs his hand over his stubbled chin.
‘You’re not a stalker, Nora. And you didn’t ruin my life,’ he says seriously, taking a step closer to me. ‘You just… shook it up a little.’
My heart quickens.
‘That’s a very generous interpretation.’ I respond.
‘I’m a very generous guy, I guess… Seriously, though, I reckon I needed a little shaking up.’
We stare into each other’s eyes for a moment and I realise that his are no longer the cold and distrustful eyes that last looked at me in LA. They are warm and curious and slightly nervous.
He reaches into the record bag he’s carrying and hands me a CD case. I take it from him and try not to jump on him as his fingers touch mine and a bolt of desire shoots straight to the parts of my body that bolts of desire tend to shoot to. I peek down at the CD.
Billy Fever Sings the Greatest Hits of The Iconic Adam Levine
On the front is a photograph of Billy Fever dressed in a shiny purple jumpsuit. His hands are clasped sensually around a microphone and he’s looking directly into the camera with a sexy smoulder. I burst into laughter. ‘My goodness,’ is all I can say. ‘My goodness.’
‘I know,’ Gary says. ‘He emailed me to say that he was giving me the first copy, seeing as I’m his number one fan. I mean, who even makes CDs anymore. Don’t get me wrong, I am very glad that Billy Fever does, but wow.’
‘Wow,’ I agree.
‘That one’s yours. He asked me to give it to you.’
‘You spoke to him?’
‘He emailed me after the garden party. Apologised for telling you the address. He told me you were his number two fan and he thought that maybe I should forgive you.’
‘And, um, what did you say?’ I ask, failing to keep my voice casual.
‘I said that it was really fucking weird that out of all the Lyft drivers in LA, we both got him, that we were the only two of his passengers to ever sign up for his newsletter.’ Gary points over to Kennedy, who is still signing Harcourt Royals. ‘And then your friend got in touch with me a day after that.’
‘Huh? What? You mean Kennedy? Kennedy got in touch with you?’
‘Yep. CJ West herself. I don’t know how she got my email address, but somehow she did and when I asked her how, she said she wouldn’t reveal her sources.’
Kennedy’s mad journalistic skills. I look over at her and shake my head in astonishment. She catches my eye and smiles widely as she notices who I’m talking to, giving me a double thumbs up.
‘What… what did Kennedy say?’ I ask.
Gary takes another step towards me and the nearness of him makes me weak. ‘She explained to me what really happened. She told me your side of the story from start to finish. How everything in LA came about after you saw me at the movies. How your sister challenged you to come and meet me. She told me that you were never stalking me. That you were planning to try to meet me once to see if there was something there and if not, you would leave me alone. She told me that you dropped the knife that day on the lot and the reason you had a knife was because you planned to make me a grilled cheese.’ The corner of his mouth lifts with mirth. ‘She told me how you got pushed when you fell into the cement. That, of course, you weren’t trying to attack me.’ He lowers his voice. ‘She told me how much you were struggling with this weird, crazy feeling for a total stranger, but that you felt you needed to take a chance in case you were right about… us.’
I nod and look at the floor, my cheeks heating up. ‘She told you a lot then.’
Gary brushes a strand of hair away from my face and I have to try very hard not to literally swoon. ‘Nora. You were right about us…’
I look up sharply. ‘W-What?’
Gary smiles tenderly and shakes his head as if he can’t quite believe what he’s saying. ‘I… I felt the same way. I felt it the first time I saw you being taken away from the lot by John Alan and, well, I only saw your back. I felt it when I saw your little face print in the concrete. I knew it when you bandaged my arm so shittily. And then that day at Santa Monica Pier… I just… I didn’t know what to think. And I definitely didn’t want to acknowledge that my life could change like that, so quickly and without warning. I thought maybe it was pre-marriage jitters? That I was overwhelmed by everything that was going on with my career. I wasn’t as sure as you that love just happened like that. In an instant. And I wasn’t brave enough to see if it could.’
‘And now?’ I ask tentatively, still not quite believing that any of this is happening.
‘And now I’ve had time for my head to catch up to my heart.’
I get a flashback to the night I talked to Mum about finding soulmates. It might not be obvious at first, she had said, and sometimes it takes a little while for your head to catch up with your heart.
Gary touches his hand to my cheek, his thumb lightly brushing the corner of my lip. ‘I know that you’re not crazy, Nora. Just that a crazy, unlikely thing happened to you. And, you were fearless enough to follow through on an instinct. Not many people would do that.’
‘No,’ I agree. ‘It’s pretty bonkers behaviour.’
‘It’s pretty incredible. I reckon you’re pretty incredible, Nora.’
‘Oh,’ I say, a wide grin spreading across my face. Wow. Wow.
Gary gently lifts the crown off my head and kisses it, which makes me burst into laughter.
‘I think that makes me an official Crown Kisser,’ he says seriously.
‘I could see how much you enjoyed kissing that crown,’ I reply.
‘Best crown I ever kissed.’
Gary places the crown back on my head.
‘So… I think… I’d like to kiss you now, Nora,’ he says, his face now mere centimetres from mine, his eyes travelling hungrily from my eyes to my lips and back again.
‘That would be cool,’ I say, my voice cracking.
He pulls me firmly towards him, wrapping me in his strong, sturdy arms. His lips meet mine. I weave my hands into his hair, knocking off his baseball cap. He pulls my hips closer to his and presses against me. Then slowly, he eases away and smiles, touching his forehead against mine for a moment and whispering my name.
I am breathless.
I knew it.
I freaking knew it.
Gary Montgomery is my soulmate, the one, my true love. And it is everything. It is my whole heart. It is a big thunderbolt. Right through the belly.
To a soundtrack of corny 90’s pop, the pair of us kiss and kiss and kiss like we’re already running out of time.
Turns out my mum and dad were absolutely right. Fate undeniably loves the fearless.
You’ll see…
THE END
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Dear Reader,
Hello! Thank you so much for reading HE WILL BE MINE. I wanted to write something that was sweepingly romantic and escapist, while still keeping a firm hold on the bonkers scenarios, quirk
y characters and outlandish laughs that you have come to expect from my books. I hope I managed it and that this story took you away from your worries for a little while. I hope it made you smile and feel optimistic that life can and will be extraordinary again.
It always feels a bit weird to request reviews in these reader letters but I’m going to cringe and do it anyway because they really do make a massive difference to authors. If you enjoyed reading Nora’s LA adventure, sharing a few short sentences on Amazon, Goodreads or Bookbub would mean the world.
Some other things to know: You can sign up for my newsletter to get access to a couple of free short stories and bonus material for my books, including a ‘six months later’ chapter for this one! I also use the mailing list as the main way to let you know about new releases and what I’m up to. I send an email about once a month and I am never ever spammy.
Oh, I also have a reader group on Facebook! It’s called Kirsty Greenwood’s Literary Darlings. We do behind the scenes posts, giveaways and a monthly book club on there. It’s a great group of friendly bookish women all nattering about love life and the pursuit of funny books. We’d love to have you join us on there!
Okay. I have more writing to do and you surely have other books waiting to be enjoyed.
Thanks again for reading HE WILL BE MINE.
I send love and good wishes your way.
Until next time,
Kirsty xx
Acknowledgments
Books take me a long time to write. I’m working on getting quicker, I promise! They wouldn’t exist at all if not for the awesome support I receive from the following people. Thank you to:
Caroline Hogg who edited the living crap out of this book and helped turn it into something I’m really proud of. You are the best.
Hannah Ferguson for the always lovely encouragement and support.
Jade Craddock for the excellent copyediting.
Tina Snider for awesome PA-ing.
Angie, Net and Edd for the proofs.
Grace Frösén for the beautiful cover lettering.
Cesca Major for being my sounding board, confidante, early reader and general delight of a friend.
Cressida Mclaughlin for being such an open-hearted, cool and hilarious friend to me.
Elizabeth Keach, Victoria Stone and Keris Stainton for your friendship and chats.
Holly Martin for the super patient and very clever advice.
The awesome Bookcampers – what an incredible group of talented women. I can’t wait for our next meet up.
Kirsty Greenwood’s Literary Darlings. We’re still only just getting to know each other but you’re already making my days brighter!
The brilliant readers, authors, bloggers, bookstagrammers and bookclubs who buy, share, shout about and review my books. I am so grateful! You are the best bunch of readers a woman could hope to have.
My beloved family: Mum, Dad, Net, Nic, Tony, Mary and Will. I love you all more than you will ever ever know and can’t wait until we can hang out again safely.
Edd – Thank you doesn’t begin to cover it.
About the Author
Kirsty Greenwood is a top ten bestselling author of funny, fearless and fast-paced romantic comedies about extraordinary love.
When she’s not writing books she composes musicals, cooks new recipes with varying success, walks the blustery hills where she lives, buys too much glittery eyeshadow, sings to her dog, kisses her husband and reads all of the books she can get her grabby hands on.
To sign up for new release updates, monthly giveaways and more from Kirsty, add your name to her newsletter. The signup link is on her website.
www.kirstygreenwood.com
Also by Kirsty Greenwood
YOU CAN READ MORE KIRSTY GREENWOOD BOOKS (and they’re all available in Kindle Unlimited too).
Yours Truly
Big Sexy Love
It Happened on Christmas Eve
Jessica Beam is A Hot Mess
To sign up for new release updates, monthly giveaways and a free short story from Kirsty, add your name to her newsletter! The link is on her website.
Copyright © 2020 by Kirsty Greenwood
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Cover illustrations © 2020 by Edward Jordan
Created with Vellum
He Will Be Mine: The brand new laugh out loud page turner! Page 31