What was happening?
Then Chase walked out from behind the huge Jeopardy! board, looked right into the camera, and said, “Zoe, open your front door.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
“Do it, Zoe!” Lexi bounced up and down in her seat, grinning at me.
As if they had a mind of their own, my feet took me to the front door. I opened it and saw Chase standing on the other side. “Hi.”
“Hi.” I stood back and allowed him into the apartment. I just stared at him, unable to put together what was going on.
“And that is my cue to exit stage left,” Lexi said behind me. She pulled a DVD out of the player and left it in a case on the coffee table, and that was when I realized she’d been in on whatever this was.
Chase said, “Thanks,” and she nodded and gave me two thumbs up before she closed the door. Leaving us alone.
My heart pounded so hard I was sure he could hear it. I wrapped my hands around my arms, afraid to say anything. Afraid I had somehow misunderstood what was happening.
He spoke first. “I know I’ve said it before, but I’m sorry you felt like I don’t trust you. I do.”
“I didn’t do it. I would never betray you.” The words slipped out.
“I know. I know you didn’t. One-F told me what happened. The thing is, even if you had? I don’t care. Because it doesn’t matter. You’re what matters.” He took a step closer to me, and I stayed put.
“That first night when you stayed over, I already knew I was in love with you. And it scared me to feel that way, but it was okay because it was you. I woke up with you in my arms, and it was the best thing that had ever happened to me. I want that. Every day. For the rest of my life. To fall asleep at night holding you and wake up to you every morning and everything that happens in between.”
Another step toward me.
“I wish I could promise to never hurt you again. But I’ll hurt you. And you’ll hurt me. That’s what happens when people love each other. What I can promise is to never act like such an idiot again. To trust you completely and never give you a reason to doubt me, either.”
One more step and we were almost touching.
“I am committed to you. I’m committed to us. You’ve made me want things I never thought I wanted. I want you to be my family. I want you to be the mother to a houseful of our kids. I want you to be my first and only love. I want you to be my wife.”
He got down on one knee, and even though I’d figured out where this was headed, it still made me gasp.
“You told me once that people get married because they have hope that they’ll get their happily ever after. That’s what I want with you. Zoe, will you marry me?”
He took out a light-blue ring box, opened it, and nearly blinded me with the massive diamond inside.
“Did you hire someone to write all that for you?” I asked in a whisper.
Chase rewarded me with a smile even brighter than the diamond. “No. That was all me. I wanted to come here and tell you everything you make me feel.”
I knelt down in front of him and wrapped my arms around his neck to hold him tight. He crushed me against him so firmly that for a second I couldn’t breathe.
I’d thought we didn’t have a future, but Chase had just offered me the best possible one. And I knew he meant every word he’d just said. This wasn’t some Band-Aid he was using to fix us. He loved me and wanted a life with me.
Just like I loved him and wanted a life with him. I knew our lives wouldn’t be perfect, but we would be perfect for each other, and that’s what mattered. As long as we trusted and loved each other, the rest of the stuff would work itself out. I would figure out a way to deal with the paparazzi and privacy invasions and harassing Internet trolls or him going on location.
Because I loved him, and he was worth anything I had to go through in order to be with him.
“You still haven’t given me an answer,” he said against my shoulder.
I leaned my head back and looked deep into the eyes of the man I loved so much. “Have you ever actually watched the show? You don’t give answers. It’s in the form of a question. And I say, what is yes?”
That made him laugh, and he pulled me into the most loving, amazing kiss I’d ever had in my life.
And as Lexi liked to say, the best kind of happy endings were the ones that also came with a gift.
We were married three months later. Chase didn’t see a point in waiting, and to be honest, neither did I. We hired a wedding planner, Madison LaRue, who charged us an arm and a leg because of the short notice, but she was famous among the Hollywood set for keeping everything private. And we both wanted that. A private day that was just for us and our loved ones.
Except for my immediate family, One-F, and Lexi, our other guests thought they were coming to a summer barbecue at Chase’s house. Chase’s mom sent her regrets, as she was on her honeymoon with Husband No. 10. But it meant our guests dressed casually, and it fit perfectly with what Chase and I wanted. Something low key and informal. Which made Madison nuts, as I kept vetoing her ideas (which included, among other things, swans, ice sculptures of us, fireworks, a gospel choir, and a fifty-piece orchestra). I did give in on the air-conditioned tents. I didn’t want to be sweaty and gross on my wedding day. Honestly, the details didn’t matter that much to me. I asked only that I have pink tulips, that she not go completely overboard, and we followed her lead. Even with the dress—I just said okay to the sketch Madison showed me.
Because it wasn’t the wedding that mattered. Only the marriage.
Right after we got engaged, a part of me had worried that my friends and family might hold a grudge. But when I forgave Chase, so did everybody else. Even Zia. After she’d hit him once as promised, she was good.
In fact, during the ceremony my mom had to pull her off Chase’s leg when she realized she was the flower girl and I was the one marrying him.
Zelda was the other flower girl, and Zander and Zane served as our ring bearers. Lexi was my maid of honor, and Chase asked One-F to be his best man. And that was the entire wedding party.
My mother walked me down the aisle, and just before we started, she hugged me tightly. “I am so proud of you. You look so beautiful.”
And I thought I felt beautiful until Chase turned and saw me, and the expression in his eyes was one I’ll never forget. He looked at me like I was a goddess, one he worshipped and adored. The ceremony was short and traditional, and the minister told Chase to kiss his bride.
“Why do the bride and groom kiss at the end?” Chase whispered, with everyone watching us.
He wanted to know this now? “Because Romans used to seal all their contracts with a kiss,” I whispered back, my eyes flicking toward our guests.
“I love it when you talk nerdy to me,” he said, finally doing as he was told. He dipped me back and kissed me soundly.
We were officially husband and wife.
I thought Zoe Covington had a rather nice ring to it.
We danced and ate and laughed with all the people we cared about (which included a huge number of celebrities I can’t mention by name because of nondisclosure agreements). And everywhere I went, I felt my husband’s gaze on me.
Lexi twirled me around in a circle as we danced to an old Spice Girls song. “Could you ever have imagined when we were twelve years old that someday you’d be Chase Covington’s wife?”
No, I couldn’t have. I looked up to see him dancing with Zelda, who stood on his shoes as he turned her in a circle. Every time I thought I couldn’t possibly love him more, he did something to prove me wrong. The reality of being his wife was so much better than I could have ever dreamed up.
We cut our cake, which was not gray but a beautiful traditional white buttercream with pink edible tulips. I had warned him a bunch of times not to shove it in my face. Smart man that he was, he listened. Then it came time to throw the bouquet, and to my satisfaction, Lexi caught it.
Which worked out well, considering Gavin
planned on proposing to her after the reception with the ring I’d helped him pick out.
Then my new husband hinted that it was time to go, and we made the rounds to say goodbye. One of his classic Porsches was parked out front, and we were showered with pink tulip petals as he picked me up and carried me out to the car.
“You’re not supposed to carry me yet,” I said, unable to contain my laughter.
“We were already in the threshold, so I figured carrying you in this direction works, too.”
Chase had a director friend who owned a private island in the Bahamas, and now that I owned a passport, we were going to spend our honeymoon there. But tonight we were checking in to the Viceroy L’Ermitage in Beverly Hills. It was gorgeous, had views of the Hollywood Hills, and best of all, a private entrance for celebrities so no one would even know we were there.
“Let’s go upstairs and slip into something a little more married,” my husband said. He nuzzled my neck as the bellhops grabbed our luggage.
The suite was amazing, and I had only a second to take in the expensive furniture, the dark grays and white onyx marble, before Chase picked me up again and carried me into the bedroom.
“Are you nervous?” he asked as he set me down, turned me around, and pulled me flush against him, my back to his front.
“A little,” I admitted. “But I’m glad I waited.”
He kissed my neck where it met my shoulder, making shivers dance along my skin. “I’m glad the waiting is over.”
I felt his fingers run along the hundred tiny pearl buttons that fastened my wedding dress. He went to the top button and unhooked it. I heard him let out a sound of frustration. “How much did this cost?”
“Like ten thousand—” I didn’t even get to finish my sentence before Chase ripped the buttons apart.
“I can’t believe you just did that!” I protested, laughing. “I think that was handmade silk lace. Vera Wang is going to punch you in the face the next time she sees you.”
“It’s not like you’re going to wear it again. I’ll buy you a dozen more,” he promised as he undid the last few buttons.
“What am I going to do with twelve wedding dresses?”
“Don’t know, don’t care. But I have been waiting to rip your clothes off for months.”
Then he was placing a trail of warm kisses down the top of my exposed spine that made me slump against him and my eyelids flutter shut. “Wait,” I said, out of breath. “I have something I want to change into first.”
“Really?” That got his attention. “I guess I can wait a few more minutes.”
I grabbed the bag from my purse. Just before I went into the bathroom, Chase said, “Just a second. I have something for you.”
He pulled a ring box from his tuxedo jacket.
“I already have one of these,” I said as I opened it, waggling my left ring finger at him.
But there wasn’t a ring inside. It was a set of keys. I held them up. “Is this for the house?”
“For your new car. Now that you’re my wife, I get to buy you one.”
That was so Chase. “I love you, Mr. Covington.”
“I love you, Mrs. Covington.”
I kissed him as a thank-you, and his intoxicating lips almost made me forget my plan. Breathing hard, I promised him I’d be right back. I closed the bathroom door behind me. Considering I was able to step out of my unfastened wedding dress, it didn’t take long to do as my new husband had suggested and slip into something a little more married.
When I came out, he’d taken off his vest, tie, and jacket and was in the process of undoing his cuff links. He stopped cold when he saw me.
“Like it?” I asked, twirling around in the awful blue Little House on the Prairie nightgown I’d worn the first night I’d stayed at his house. I put a hand on my hip, posing. “I was thinking tonight maybe we could just cuddle. Or get a bundling board.”
“That is not funny.” He crossed the room in a few long strides, picked me up, and tossed me on the bed while I giggled.
“Don’t rip this one,” I warned him.
“I won’t. I plan on taking my time,” he said as he climbed onto the bed next to me. “This nightgown seriously drives me crazy.”
And then, to my great delight, he proceeded to show me just how crazy it made him.
Two years later
“Are you nervous?” I asked him.
“I’m fine,” he said, squeezing my hand. “I’m really glad you’re here.”
“Where else would I be?” I leaned over to kiss his cheek and then wiped away the lipstick I’d left behind. “What do you think about Zeth?”
“I am not naming our son Zeth,” Chase said, but my distraction seemed to be working. His grip felt less tense.
“You don’t even know if I’m having a boy.”
“I know. And he’s not going to be named Zeth.”
I had no intention of using that name, either. I just liked to tease Chase with outlandish possible boy names like Zadam or Zefron because of how panicked he looked each time I did. He was partial to Oscar, his maternal grandfather’s name, and I thought it was cute. Especially paired with Zev, my grandfather’s name. But I let him sweat it out a little. Considering I was the one doing all the puking and peeing, he deserved some suffering.
My phone buzzed with a text from the CEO of the nonprofit Chase and I had started together dedicated to ocean conservation. She was wishing him good luck. I was the CFO and had raided Ocean Life Foundation for the good, dedicated employees for our staff, and things were going really well. We had a fund-raiser planned for next month.
I showed Chase my phone, but he just nodded, distracted. He was nominated for Best Actor for the movie Spectrum. It was the one I’d encouraged him to do while we were dating, the one he’d invested his own money in that had almost fallen apart. It had been a long labor of love, and Chase desperately wanted it to succeed.
It had already won Best Director and Best Original Screenplay. Chase’s category was up next.
The presenters came out and ran through the list of nominees. Chase’s fingers tightened around mine.
“And the award goes to . . . Chase Covington!”
The audience erupted around us in applause. He leaned over to kiss me, his face full of shock and excitement.
“You have to go up there!” I said, beaming at him. He kissed me again and then went up to accept.
He started by thanking the Academy, and the producers, writers, director, cast, and crew—everyone involved with the project. I saw one of the mobile cameramen point his camera at me, wanting my reaction. After we’d announced our wedding and how we met, social media turned in my favor. Suddenly I was the poster child for every girl out there who’d ever had a crush on a celebrity. Which meant I got a lot of unwanted attention, too.
I ignored the camera, focusing my attention solely on my amazing, talented husband.
“And finally, I want to thank my wife. She encouraged me to make this movie.” He looked directly at me. “You make me a better man. I love you, Zoe. I wish I could say that winning this award was the best thing that’s ever happened to me. It’s not. The best thing that has ever happened to me is sitting in the audience, pregnant with the second best.” As if he’d realized what he had done, his eyes went wide. “I think I just let the cat out of the bag. Sorry, babe. Although now we have a pretty good reason to name him Oscar. Thank you!”
Honestly, I was surprised he’d lasted this long. Chase was so excited to become a dad he wanted to tell everybody he came across. The clerk in the grocery store, the flight attendant, our gardener, etc. He was also the most overprotective father-to-be I’d ever seen. After he’d talked to the press backstage and returned to his seat, he turned to me and said, “Let’s skip the after-parties.”
“No,” I protested. I would hate them, but I wanted him to have every moment in the spotlight he deserved. “I don’t want you to miss any of the celebrations of how amazing you are.”
&nbs
p; He took my hand and brought it up to his lips. “I already have the only person I want to celebrate with.”
So instead of going to a fancy hotel or someone’s decked-out mansion for an elaborate party, we went home. My feet had started to hurt, so my husband insisted on carrying me up the stairs. He laid me in our bed.
“There’s something I haven’t told you.”
Chase stopped pulling off my shoes to look at up me. “What’s that?”
“Yesterday while you were at rehearsals, I had some light spotting.”
He abandoned his attempts and climbed onto the bed next to me to take me in his arms. “What? Are you okay? Is everything—” He put one hand on my stomach, as if he couldn’t bring himself to say it.
“Everything’s fine,” I reassured him. “We’re fine. It’s totally normal. I just wanted to get checked out. Just in case. And before you ask, I didn’t tell you earlier because I wanted today to be about you.”
Chase waved one hand, as if winning the most prestigious acting award in the country was no big deal. “And?”
“And they were able to see the sex of the baby.”
“I thought we had to wait another two weeks?” He read more books about pregnancy and babies than I did.
“Sometimes they can tell this early.” I gave him a neutral smile, hoping he couldn’t guess what I was about to tell him.
“You’re not going to make me cut open some blue or pink cake, are you?”
“I’m not.” I put my hand on top of his where he rubbed my swollen belly. “You were right. We’re having a boy.”
“I knew it!”
I couldn’t wait to see his face when I told him the next part. “And a girl.”
NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR
Thanks for coming along on this journey with me. I hope you enjoyed reading Chase and Zoe’s story. If you’d like to find out when I’ve written something new, make sure you sign up for my newsletter at www.sariahwilson.com. I promise not to spam you. It’s all I can do to get a newsletter sent out even once a month.
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#Starstruck Page 27