This was, in that moment, the closest thing to exactly what Brooke needed to hear. It didn't make things better, but she found herself wrapping her arms around Owen, and thankfully he conceded to hug her back.
“I'm sorry,” he whispered into her shoulder. “This is just how it has to be. The least I can do is arrange to have an apartment set up for you across town, where you can live rent free. That way you can focus on doing what you need to do. No strings. I just can't be there with you.”
They held each other for a while longer, but didn't kiss. Brooke turned away from him at last, paying him a last sad glance. Then she headed to her room, heartbroken, and began to wearily pack up her things.
Owen stared after her, hating himself for having made such a decision but knowing all the same that is was one that had to be made.
13
“Hey Mom, it's Brooke. Yeah. Yeah, I'm good, how are you? Uh-huh... Oh yeah, I heard about that. Hey, not to interrupt, but guess what? Guess what I found out today? I just got my first part in a play, and rehearsals start next Monday!”
Brooke scrunched her eyes up, and held the phone away from her ear as her mother cheered loudly in celebration on the other end of the line. Brooke couldn't help but smile, even though her mother had been one of her harshest critics in this whole pursuit, every damn step of the way it seemed. She realized now that sometimes that was just how mothers were. They didn't really want you to fail, they just didn't want you to be hurt. Clearly, all along they wanted you to succeed, even if they hadn't really believed you had a snowball's chance in hell of doing so. Brooke decided this was a forgivable trait, and imagined that she would be the same if she had a daughter. She couldn't help but smile a wry smile as her mother bragged about how she knew she could do it, and better thought of correcting her.
Brooke continued to chat to her mom, filling her in on the details of the play and the celebratory drinks she intended to have that evening.
Brooke's situation had improved vastly in the ensuing weeks since her fallout with Owen. It had taken her some time to get over the whole affair, and she'd experienced a deep sadness afterward that she felt she might never climb out of.
Eventually it was her passion for acting that saved her. She remembered how Owen had told her that her destiny rested safely within her own hands, and that what she did with that power was up to her to decide. Adventure, success, romance... They were all still there for the taking, and now, with the change in her circumstances, they were more easily within her grasp than ever before.
Having her apartment covered provided her with an immense level of freedom that she'd never before known up to this point. She didn't have to work a shitty job just to make ends meet in such an expensive city, and she wasn't obligated to stay indoors throughout the day and remain a virtual prisoner. That was one of the only things she didn't miss about living with Owen.
Instead, she continued to study acting; improving by leaps and bounds through intensive training. It helped, she supposed, to have dramatic real life experiences from which to draw for inspiration now, although it felt strange exploiting Fletcher's tragedy or her failed, bizarre relationship with Owen in such a manner.
The improvement in her performances was enough to catch the eyes of casting directors, and even though this was her first part, word of her talent had gotten around. She'd since found herself part of a new, better group of friends. Guys and girls who truly cared about the art of acting, and not just the pretentious pricks she'd encountered previously throughout the course of her stay.
She kept her distance from Abby these days. They'd never been especially close and she felt uncomfortable around her after what had happened with Fletcher. Abby had asked once how the date had gone, and whether she'd heard from him since then because no one else had.
Lying to her had been painful, but she couldn't betray Owen by giving away the truth.
All in all, Brooke tried to avoid thinking about her past months with Owen. The hole Owen had left behind in her life was undeniable. She missed him. She dreamed about him. And as much as he'd done for her by way of turning her entire life around, she wondered what it all really meant without him by her side.
As she was lying on the bed and pondering all of this, the doorbell rang, and she sat up in alarm. She looked at her watch—her ride was here almost forty-five minutes early. Theater types, if anything, tended to lean way more toward late than they did early when it came to being on time.
That was fine with Brooke, though. It wasn't like she was doing anything anyway, and so she hopped toward the door, and answered it without thinking.
The individual who greeted her there wasn't quite the one she'd been expecting, and she felt the wind drain out of her at the sight of him.
“Owen!” She gasped, and stepped back to let him in.
“Brooke, I-I'm sorry. For everything. It's taken me way too long to say but... I'm so, so sorry. All I've been able to think about, for these past several weeks, is how much I miss you. How big a mistake I made.”
Brooke gaped at him, not having expected this in a million years.
“I-I don't know what to say,” she said, astonished.
“Say you need me, just as much as I need you. And not just to lock me up every night, like I hired you to do. Not as some slave, or prisoner - I need you, Brooke Lockhart. I need your love in my life. You're what I've been missing for all these years, and I realize that now. As long as I have you, I know there's no reason to fear that I'll ever lose control. I love you...”
“Oh... Oh Owen, of course I need you,” said Brooke, tears welling up in her eyes.
The two of them rushed into one another's arms, and instantly their lips were locked together. Neither of them had kissed anyone since the last day they'd been together, and to be reunited in such a way was like having their thirsts quenched after having wandered aimlessly in the desert for weeks on end. They held on tightly to one another, their bodies pressed together, Owen's massive arms wrapped so tightly around her that nearly all the air was squeezed out of her, and she loved feeling so completely dominated by this alpha beast of a man once again.
“Oh Brooke. All I want—the only thing in the world—is to spend the rest of my life with you.”
She stared intensely into his eyes, getting lost in them, and after one last kiss on the lips, she stepped away from him, pulling out her phone.
“Hey, it’s Brooke... Let's reschedule for some other night, okay?”
She ended the call, then took Owen by the hand. With a smile on her face, she led him along into her bedroom, and closed the door behind them.
* * *
THE END
About the Author
Linda Mathers is an emerging writer who pens paranormal and science fiction doused in steamy romance. When she isn’t writing, she loves to spend time in the outdoors. Whether it’s hiking or traveling, she can’t get enough of nature.
Connect with Linda online:
@FieryDesires
FieryDesires
fierydesires.com
Big Bad Bear: Billionaire Shifter Romance Page 8