He leaned his back against the wall and she scooted beside him. His knees drew up and he draped his arms over his legs. He looked straight ahead, unconsciously picking at a fingernail.
“When my dad got sick I paid the best doctors in the country to examine him. He had the best treatments available and every time my mother cried I promised he’d be okay. I gave her my word I’d get him through it. But I couldn’t. I offered more money and was willing to try anything. But in the end, my dad said it was enough and refused any more help. He told me to be there for my mom … because he was ready to die.”
“Oh, Elliot.” She rested her head on his shoulder and looped her arms around his. “Some things can’t be fixed. It’s not your fault. You did everything you could.”
“I know. I’m not an irrational man and science is the one thing that makes sense to me—science and numbers. But … my heart…” His brow creased and his gaze swung away. When he looked back to her, stark grief showed in his eyes. “I didn’t want to lose him. I wasn’t ready to give up fighting for him, but I couldn’t force him to stay in the battle.”
Hearing the strain in his voice, she shifted to her knees and caught his face in her hands. Tears shimmered in his eyes and he blinked them away.
“I’m so sorry you lost him. I wish I could have been there for you during that time. I’m sure your father appreciated everything you did for him to the very end.” Her lips brushed his. “You honored his last wish, Elliot. Do you know how noble that is?”
He nodded, his lashes now hiding his eyes. “But it still felt like failure, only worse, because it was heartache. It’s hard for me to cope with loss. That’s why I preferred to be alone. I always hoped I’d find someone. But after losing my dad…” His hand rubbed over his chest as if an old ache still pained him there. “It hurt so much. I felt like part of myself died with him, and yet, I knew my mom hurt even more. I couldn’t imagine the pain of losing someone you woke up next to every day for over thirty years. I never wanted to love anything that much. Never wanted to be that vulnerable.”
Her heart cinched as his words sliced through all her tender hopes and emotions. She understood his fear but also didn’t know where that left her or their relationship. She loosened her hold. “I see.” As she pulled away he caught her hand.
“I don’t want to be alone anymore, Nadia.”
“You don’t?” Her heart fell into an erratic rhythm, unsure where this was leading. She needed to be more to him than mere company.
“No. I can’t lose you because I love you, and the thought of living without you for even a day is more than I can bear.”
She sucked in a long breath. “You love me?”
He nodded. “Falling in love wasn’t something I planned or calculated. That night I ran into you was purely accidental. I had no intention of intruding on your situation, but when I saw you were upset…”
“You wanted to save me.”
His brow pinched. “I just wanted to make it better for you. I didn’t like the way that man spoke to you.”
“Elliot, you did make it better. You are always making situations better. But that’s not why I love you.”
“Why then?”
She wasn’t sure, only that she did. “I suppose I love the curiosity in your eyes, the way you analyze everything. I love the way you know every word in the English language. I love that you can do magic and that you’re always so patient with me when I try something new. I love that you hate jeans but will wear them for me.”
“They’re not so bad once they’re broken in.”
She glanced at his disheveled appearance. “You look very hot right now, all wrinkled and messy.”
His smile was strained. “I should have told you how I felt. The truth is I’ve felt this way for a long time, but I didn’t want to scare you.”
“You could never scare me, not when it comes to this. Knowing you share my love and that I’m not crazy and alone in feeling this way… It’s a relief. I almost did something drastic, but changed my mind because I want to be the woman you love, Elliot. I want that more than anything else.”
“You’re the only woman I’ve ever felt this way about.” He touched the strap of her dress, his brow creasing. “Where were you tonight?”
“Everywhere I shouldn’t have been. My life is a mess and I’m afraid if I tell you how messy, you’ll run away screaming.”
“I can handle it.”
“Are you sure?”
He was finally opening up and she didn’t want to spoil it.
He nodded. “Realizing everything I had to lose made me stronger. I can handle it, Nadia. For us, I can handle anything.”
Her lips formed a thin line and her brow pinched as she met his stare. “I can’t seem to straighten my life out. I had to get rid of my studio and now I don’t know if the deal is going to go through with Steve on the new property. You were right. We should have made a contract before I made any changes, but I didn’t listen. I just assumed everything would work out and now things are worse off than before.” She forced out a harsh breath. “You’re afraid of failure and I feel failure is the only thing I do right.”
“That’s not true. Why won’t you let me help you, Nadia? I want to see you succeed. That’s all I’m trying to do in terms of your business—just help.”
“Because I’m prideful and stubborn, but now I think I’m ready to wave my little white flag and admit defeat.”
“You’re not defeated. You just need a little guidance. You have the bones of a practical business. You just need to beef up your practices a little. When more experienced people offer guidance, it’s good sense to at least hear them out.”
“Says the man who refuses to accept failure.”
“I’m working on that and you can work on this. We both need to learn to depend on others a little bit more than we do.”
“But I don’t want our relationship to change into a business one.”
“Nadia, you’re the first girl I brought into my home. The first woman I’ve let into my life. The first person I’ve ever opened up to this much. Trust me when I say I want to do more than business with you. Besides, this is your business. I just want to help you achieve everything you’ve dreamed of doing with the company. Let me help you.”
“You’re very charming when you want to be.”
“It’s a gift reserved solely for you.” He kissed her lips, “It would help me a lot if we could start looking at things in the long term.”
“How long?”
He laced his fingers with hers. “Forever works for me. I love you. Now that I’ve admitted it, I see no sense in playing down my emotions. I don’t ever want to lose you.”
“I love you, too.” And losing him wasn’t an option. Nothing made sense without him. “I think you’re a drug to me.”
“I feel the same about you. It’s…”
“Intense,” she supplied.
“Very.” He let out a breath. “But I’d rather have that intensity than nothing at all. The other night I freaked out. I have no basis of comparison, and I was embarrassed by my actions. I saw tears in your eyes and… I never want to hurt you. I lost control of the situation and—”
“Sometimes losing control in the heat of passion is a good thing, Elliot. I told you I was fine. You make me lose control all the time. I hunger for it.”
“You do?”
“Yes! It’s freeing and exhilarating.” It wasn’t like they were the first couple to do something a little rough. “I think next time we watch a movie, I’ll pick it.”
“A foreign film?”
“Sure, we can find one with foreign actors if you like. I want to broaden your horizons. I think you will thank me.”
“Okay.” His expression quickly returned to a more serious one. “Do you forgive me?”
All humor faded with her smile. “Don’t ever shut me out like that again. I love you, Elliot. And while I like to play rough, my heart is breakable. I’m trusting you with it.”
He s
wallowed and nodded his understanding. “You can trust me with it.”
She believed she could. If anything, Elliot knew how to take care of the things he valued. Her hand slid into his, their fingers lacing once more. “Then I forgive you.”
He kissed her, soft at first and then hungry. Relief flooded her when he pulled away and her chest felt as if a weight had been lifted.
“Will you take me to bed, now?”
He stood and helped her off the floor. “My pleasure.”
Together, they walked up the stairs, leaving the past behind and stepping into their future. There were no guarantees, and it was scary tying her heart to someone else’s, but for them, it was right. For them, it was beautifully messy, intensely addicting love. And they wanted all of it.
Epilogue
“The future is worth it. All the pain. All the tears. The future is worth the fight.”
Martian Manhunter
“Don’t forget your costumes for the spring show,” Nadia called as the rambunctious junior ballerinas fled the studio to greet their waiting parents. They were going to make adorable dandelions.
She gathered up the recital props and cued up the music for her next class—a private lesson for a new client. Her roster was full since moving into the new studio, and why wouldn’t it be? Elliot had designed a state of the art facility, one that no other dance academy in the area could compete with. He also provided her unlimited advertisement on GeekPeek, which created an invaluable buzz way before their grand opening. And of course—because he was Elliot—everything was secured by a top of the line security system. He truly was a magician, because with him anything was possible.
In the months it took to get the studio off the ground, she and Elliot truly got to know each other and fell more in love with every passing day. He no longer pulled away when the intimacy tightened around them. Instead, he pulled closer, knowing that the intensity was a shared gift they should relish rather than fear. She’d thought this sort of happiness only existed in romance novels, but it turned out to be very, very possible in real life.
And while her outcome had been an unpredictable one, Elliot showed her that a good partnership didn’t involve one person leading the other. Her independence remained. She was stronger than ever, and her success had flourished since falling in love with a man who emotionally supported and encouraged her.
Switching her pointe shoes for a pair of heels, she awaited her new client. They’d probably run through the basics, maybe touch on a tango or foxtrot if he wasn’t too inexperienced. Then she’d go home to her man.
As she twisted her hair into a bun, a breaker blew and the entire studio went dark. “Oh, no.” Pinning her hair in place, she headed to the hall to check the breaker box, but before she made it across the dance floor violins began to play and she frowned.
The stereo glowed as Etta James crooned the slow intro to At Last. “Hello?”
She jumped as twinkle lights suddenly illuminated the rafters like stars. Turning, she searched the shadows. “Who’s there?”
Elliot stepped through the doorway, holding a single long stem rose. She smiled, unsure what he was doing there. “I thought a breaker blew. What are you doing here?”
“I have an appointment.”
“You…?” She laughed. “You’re my new client?”
He nodded. “I was hoping you could teach me how to dance.” He crossed the floor and handed her the rose.
“You hate dancing.”
He shook his head. “Not anymore. Not since I found the perfect dance partner.”
Pressing her nose into the bloom, she smiled. “And where will you be dancing?”
“My wedding.”
She stilled, unsure if she heard him right. “Your…?”
“Wedding. I’m asking her to marry me tonight.”
Trapped in some sort of trance, she blinked at him. “I can’t feel my feet.”
He laughed and took her hand, dropping to a knee. “I won’t let you fall.”
Her heart raced as she stared at him, kneeling before her. “Oh my goodness.”
“Wait, there’s more.” He looked to the door where something buzzed. A small robot with tank-like wheel treads and big eyes rolled onto the floor.
“That’s your robot.” She recognized it from his collections. But she’d never seen it out of the box.
“His name’s Wall-e. He’s a hopeless romantic.”
She laughed as the little robot rattled its way across the floor. A little velvet box was affixed to its head with a red bow.
Elliot untied the ribbon and opened the box, revealing a stunning diamond ring. “I want to dance with you for the rest of my life, Nadia, you and nobody else. I want to be your partner, your lover, your best friend, and the man who makes all your dreams come true. I’ve loved you since the moment I met you and I plan on loving you for the rest of my life. Do you think you could put up with me that long?”
Her vision blurred and when she blinked twin tears fell. “You’ve already made my dreams come true, you silly man.”
“Is that a yes?”
She nodded, her fingers covering her mouth as she lost control of her emotions. “Yes.”
He stood and pulled her hands away from her face and kissed her. When they broke apart, she was wearing the ring. “You’ve made me very happy,” he whispered, kissing her again. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.” She burst into happy tears, blindsided and still in shock. “I didn’t know any of this was happening today.”
He laughed. “That’s how it’s supposed to be.”
She looked down at the little robot. “You took it out of the box.”
“It was worth it.”
She admired her ring, leaning into his chest. “I’m stunned.”
His fingers closed around her hand, the one holding the rose. He pulled the other to his shoulder. “I was promised a dance.”
She laughed. “Now, I’m sure I’m dreaming. What have you done with my boyfriend?”
“I traded him in for a better model. This one’s called a fiancé. Now, dance with me. I paid a lot for this lesson and in a few minutes we’re going to be interrupted.”
She let him lead her in a slow turn. “Who’s interrupting us?”
“Just those who knew this was happening. The guys, Lettie, my mother.”
“They all knew?”
“I’ve been obsessing over it for weeks. They’re all going to be relieved you said yes.”
“Was there ever any doubt?”
He met her gaze and smiled. “Do you know how out of my league you are, Nadia? The fact that you even look at me is amazing.”
She tsked. “Do you know something, mister? I feel the exact same way about you.” She wiggled her fingers, flashing her ring in the twinkle lights. “And now I get to look at you forever. I’m never letting you go, Elliot.”
“Promise?”
She nodded. “Promise.” They sealed it with a kiss.
THE END
If you enjoyed this story, please leave a review so others can enjoy it, too. Thank you!
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I must first thank my amazing readers for their patience and feedback during this journey. You’re responsible for this story and your love for my nerds is what reminds me these books must be written. I’m sorry it took so long for Elliot to find his happy ending, but he’s damn stubborn and set in his ways. Believe it or not, this book actually had five different endings and it took me over a year to decide which was the right one. As Nadia would put it, we had to wait for the stars to align—and they did.
To my beta team, Perrin, Tammy, and Loren, your feedback helped so much! To my editor, Ally, thanks for putting up with me and giving me so many maternal nudges when I need them. And last but certainly not least, to my amazing publicist, Salima, you rock my world. Without you I’d be lost.
As for everyone who wants more Mastermind books, drop me a line and tell me whose story you’d like to read next!
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About the Author
Lydia Michaels is the Award Winning and Bestselling author of over thirty-five contemporary romance novels. Her favorite things are coffee, the Jersey shore on off-season days, snuggling, and unforgettable love stories inspired by real people.
She’s the winner of the 2018 Author of the Year Award by Happenings Media as well as the 2014 Best Author Award from the Bucks County Courier Times. Her work has been featured in USA Today, Romantic Times Magazine, and more. As the host and founder of the East Coast Author Convention, the Behind the Keys Author Retreat, and Read Between the Wines, she continues to celebrate her growing love for readers and romance novels around the world.
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Untied: A Mastermind Novel Page 29