by Ashley Blake
He looked at me his eyes full of remorse. “I just hope that I didn’t screw it up.”
I tore my eyes away from his, looked down at the ground and then out over the lake.
“You really hurt me, Lucas. You were the one person that I was counting on to never hurt me.”
“I know, Sophie, and I am so sorry. I am such an idiot. The fact that you let me go and do what I needed to do to figure things out showed me just how much you love me. Thank you for doing that. And your emails were perfect. You didn’t ask anything of me. Your emails made me feel like you never left, like everything was still normal between us and I realized that I never wanted you to be out of my life.” He grabbed my hand as his eyes searched mine with yearning. “Can you please forgive me?”
I was silent for a minute. I couldn’t just automatically say yes, I wanted more information.
“What did you do for that week and a half that we were apart? Were you with Ellie?”
He looked at me and gave me a firm answer.
“No. I spent a lot of time by myself. I was working on something very important to me and if you have time, I would love to show it to you.”
“Trisha told me that she saw you having lunch with a woman.”
He took a few seconds to think and then I saw something register.
“That was Leah, she was in town for a couple of days. I didn’t take time away from you so that I could spend it with Ellie. I was genuinely confused and I needed to be able to think straight. You are intoxicating and I knew I would not be able to think clearly if I was around you. I didn’t understand why I was having second thoughts, and it would not have been fair to you for me to continue seeing you like nothing was wrong. I want our relationship to be 100 percent honest 100 percent of the time.”
“Is Ellie still working at the gallery?”
“No. I had a long talk with my father and we decided that it was best if she worked somewhere else. She’s going to work for my dad’s friend in Los Angeles.”
I nodded slowly as I let it sink in. She was gone and I was so happy. I gave him a pointed look, my gaze locking with his.
“So are you clear on what you want?”
His eyes were sincere.
“Yes, I only want you and I just hope and pray that I am not too late. I’m so sorry I put you through this. I love you Sophie, and I never want to be without you.”
I don’t know if I had ever been happier in my life. Once he said those words, everything in my world was okay. I looked at him and smiled.
“I love you, too.”
A huge grin spread across his face and he wrapped his arms around me and gently kissed me on the lips. I wrapped my arms around him and buried my face in his shoulder and we sat there, very still as the city went whizzing by us. After a couple of minutes I gently pulled away from him and looked at him.
“Please don’t do this to me again.”
He gently held my face in his hands as his eyes searched mine.
“I won’t, I promise. I love you.”
I smiled at him. “Ditto.”
“Do you have some time to come take a look at something?”
“Sure.”
A grin spread across his face as he stood up and reached for my hand.
“Come on, I want to show you something.”
We went back to his place and he led me to the room with the closed door, the room where he painted, the room that he didn’t show anyone. I looked around and he had turned it into a really cool art studio.
“Lucas, this is amazing.”
“Thank you, this is where I like to create and it’s where I come to think.”
He stood in front of a canvas with the sheet covering it.
“My father finally agreed to let me show one of my paintings in the gallery. He said I could choose a permanent piece to show as part of the décor. He said if it was received well by patrons I can offer a couple of items for sale.”
“Oh my gosh! Lucas! That’s amazing! I know how long you have wanted that and how much it means to you. Have you decided which painting you are going to show?”
“Yes, this one.”
He pointed to the canvas and when he lifted the cover I was blown away. Staring back at me was a picture of me in that beautiful room in Urban, the first night I met him. The painting was stunning and I had no idea that he was so incredibly talented.
My eyes filled with tears. “Lucas, I don’t know what to say.”
“Do you like it?” He sounded a bit worried.
“Like it? I love it! But how did you…when did you?”
“I was captivated by your beauty the first night I met you, Sophie, and I couldn’t get you out of my mind. I captured the first time I saw you so that I would remember that moment forever. I was able to finish it this past week. This is what I was doing as I was sorting things out. So even though we weren’t together you were still with me and I could not stop thinking about you. I can’t wait to show it in the gallery.”
I walked over to him and wrapped my arms around his neck.
“It’s amazing.”
He wiped away my tears and wrapped his arms around my waist.
“You’re amazing. I love you more than you’ll ever know.”
I smiled, feeling that happiest I had ever felt. “I love you too.”
EPILOGUE – THREE YEARS LATER
My morning show segment went better than expected that morning and I was really nervous about that one. I introduced my new clothing line and I wasn’t sure if people would like it, but I got a lot of great feedback from the audience and people I worked with at the station.
You’re probably wondering how that all came about. My agent, Candace, who is super awesome, followed through on her idea for a morning show. I had so much positive feedback that a few different companies contacted me offering to collaborate on a clothing line, a jewelry line and a shoe line. It was all kind of overwhelming but where I felt most comfortable was creating a clothing line. I was still working with Glitz on an exclusive bracelet line, but I didn’t want to take the jewelry thing further than that. My blog was still doing really well and I was seriously loving life.
Lucas was often the featured artist in his gallery and he was selling his paintings like crazy. His dad was pleasantly surprised by the buyers’ feedback about his work. People were constantly asking to see more of his work. The painting of me still hung in the gallery, often admired by many people.
Lucas met me after my morning segment and offered to take me to brunch. We were having dinner that night with his family but he said he couldn’t wait that long to see me. We had dinner with family once every couple of months and I really loved them. His mom was like a second mom to me and we had the most incredible relationship. I loved both of his sisters and his brother, but his sister Ariana was one of my best friends and we always had dinner whenever she was in town. Ariana, Gigi and I were like the three musketeers.
Speaking of Gigi, I’ll let her tell you about her story with Dex another time. I don’t know if I have ever met two people who are more perfect for each other who let too much other stuff get in the way.
My family was doing really well. My brother married Amanda the year before and she was pregnant with their first child. Mom and dad loved Lucas and so did Jeremy. Lucas’s parents hosted my parents a couple of times and it was so much fun. It was such a relief that both sides of our families liked each other and we all got along. We know we got really lucky there.
When Lucas arrived at the studio he kissed me hello and laced his fingers through mine as we walked down the street.
“How did it go?”
“It went really well, people liked the stuff and want to know when and where to buy it. It’s so crazy, Lucas. I never imagined I would be here. People were tweeting like crazy wanting to know where to buy my designs. It’s so weird.”
I was so busy telling him about my morning that I didn’t notice that he had stopped walking until I took a step and he gently p
ulled my hand.
“I need to stop here for a second.”
“Oh, okay.” I looked down and straightened my skirt, completely oblivious to where we were until I looked up and my breath was literally taken away. I would recognize the Tiffany & Co. storefront anywhere. I looked at him, nervous, confused, and excited all at the same time.
He gave me a soft smile. “Come on, let’s go in.”
My heart was pounding, in a good way, and I clutched his hand tightly in mine as we walked in. A beautiful sales woman came over to us, greeted Lucas by name, and escorted us to a private room.
I whispered to Lucas so she would not hear me.
“Where are we going?”
He just looked at me, said nothing, and gave me a wink.
She brought us into a beautiful room and closed the door behind us, leaving us alone. I was shaking. I looked up at him with my nervous smile.
“What is going on?”
Without saying a word, Lucas got down on one knee and pulled a little blue box from his jacket and opened it. The ring was beyond beautiful. My hands flew up to my mouth as the tears welled up in my eyes.
“Sophie Elizabeth Night, you are my best friend, my everything, the reason I breathe. You make me a better man and I want you by my side for the rest of our lives. I cannot imagine life without you and I love you more than I ever knew was possible. I want you to be the last person I see at night and the first person I see in the morning, for the rest of my life. Sophie, will you marry me?”
The tears were streaming down my face as I nodded my headed.
“Yes!”
Lucas slipped the ring on my finger and gathered me in a huge hug. Tears were in his eyes as he looked at me.
“I love you so much, Sophie.”
“I love you, too.”
The End
Gigi and Dex’s story coming soon!
Books by Ashley Blake
The Billionaire’s Desire
The Billionaire’s Desire 2: Dubai Confidential
The Billionaire’s Desire 3: Ultimate Bliss
The Billionaire’s Desire Bonus Book 4: Breakable Bonds
The Billionaire’s Desire Bonus Book 4: Always and Forever
My Forever is You: Reunited
My Forever is You: Resolution
Beautiful Sky
Beautiful Sky 2 – The Conclusion
Hearts on Fire
Someone Unexpected
My Heart Says Yes
Jealous Billionaire
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