Faking It

by Christina Ross

  And when it was over—when he swung his arms around me, turned me onto my side, and held me close to him as he came up behind me and told me again that he loved me…

  I thanked God that we were here.

  EPILOGUE

  San Miguel de Allende, Mexico

  Two months later

  After nearly two months in San Miguel de Allende—a gorgeous, majestic city in the mountains of Mexico—Austin and I spent a final night out on the town before our return to New York.

  Our first stop was the rooftop bar of the famed Rosewood hotel, where we enjoyed cocktails, tapas, and the colorful mix of languages that surrounded us, while taking in dramatic, sweeping views of the sunset and the city we’d come to love during our seven-week stay. When it was time for dinner, we took the elevator to the first floor, which housed the hotel’s five-star restaurant, 1826.

  There, in a large, warmly lit room that could have served as a romantic movie set, we sat at a table for two, where we shared a bottle of champagne, an amuse bouche tinged with frothy flavors of the sea, a first course of tuna tartare, and a host of other mouth-watering delights, all of which made for a fitting end to our time in San Miguel.

  After dinner, we walked hand-in-hand from the hotel into the busy, cobblestoned streets, which teemed with people as this city—much like Manhattan—was one that never slept.

  When we reached the city’s central Jardín, we stopped and shared a bittersweet final look at La Parroquia—the towering parish church that dominated the Jardín with massive pink spires that stretched high into the sky.

  “Would you like to take a cab home?” Austin asked. “Or would you rather walk?”

  That was no small question, since San Miguel was located in a deep valley surrounded by hills and mountains. The walk home was so steep, it was ridiculous.

  “If you’re up for it, let’s walk,” I said. “I want to savor every last moment of our remaining time here.”

  “I don’t want to go back to New York,” he said as we left the Jardín and began the uphill walk home.

  “Neither do I. This place is a hidden jewel, and experiencing it with you has been one of the highlights of my life.”

  When I said that to him, he wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me close. “I love you, Sienna.”

  “I love you, Austin.”

  “You know what?” he said.

  “What’s that?”

  “We’re pretty lucky.”

  “We are,” I agreed. “In so many ways. But I’m curious. Which ways are you referring to now?”

  “I’m not sure where to begin.”

  “Anywhere is fine.”

  “Then I’ll start with how well Jackson, Harper, and Mimi took the news that we’d fallen in love with each other.”

  “I can see them now,” I said. “Six eyes turning into the size of saucers as they looked at us in disbelief.”

  “Once the shock wore off, they seemed genuinely happy for us—especially since none of them ever had a clue about our feelings for each other. The fact that we were able to keep our feelings from them proved that we’d done our best to honor your contract with Jackson. I think they respected that.”

  “Harper told me herself that she did. She said that I was a better actress than I had any reason to be.”

  “Jackson’s been good to us,” he said.

  “Jackson’s the best.”

  “I’m going to miss spending time at his home here.”

  “I couldn’t agree more. After the People story hit, Jackson’s the one who told us to get out of the States and let him deal with the fallout of his coming out on his own. It was beyond kind of him to send us here.”

  “And he was right to do so, because since we arrived, no one has bothered you.”

  “That’s because people don’t know me here.”

  “Whatever the reason, spending nearly two months in his house with you has been something I’ll never forget, Sienna. I’ve enjoyed living with you. Waking up with you. Spending each day with you. Cooking for you. Going shopping with you at the mercado. And especially having complete and total access to you in the bedroom.”

  “I think that’s been my favorite part,” I said.

  “Just so you know, I’m making love to you tonight.”

  “You don’t say, Mr. Black?

  “I do say. And you have no idea what I’m going to do to you.”

  “What else can you do to me that you already haven’t done to me?”

  “Plenty,” he said. “You’ll see.”

  * * *

  The next morning, I woke to find a note on Austin’s pillow. After wiping my eyes, I picked it up and read it.

  I was going to make breakfast for us, but we’re out of eggs. I’m going down to the mercado to grab a few things.

  I’ll be back in a flash.

  —A.

  I sat up in bed and wondered when he’d left. I couldn’t be sure, but when I got out of bed to use the bathroom and caught sight of my reflection in the mirror, I knew that I needed to shower before he got a good look at the fright wig my hair had become. Last night, he’d torn me up—and right now? With lipstick and mascara smeared across my face? I needed to go into full repair mode.

  Five minutes later, I was in the shower when I heard Austin call out to me that he was home.

  Crisis averted, I thought as I scrubbed my face.

  “I’m in the shower,” I said. “Give me ten minutes, OK?”

  “No problem—I’m going to make omelets. How hungry are you?”

  “After what you did to me last night? Famished!”

  “I’ve got your back, babe.”

  You’ve always had it, I thought with a deep sense of love and gratitude. Thank God for you, Austin.

  When I got out of the shower, I put on a white terrycloth bathrobe, ran a comb through my damp hair, and brushed my teeth before I applied one type of moisturizer to my face, and another type to my body. When I was finished, I looked at myself in the mirror—and smiled in relief.

  From monster to human. Congrats!

  When I joined Austin in the kitchen, I realized that I must have slept through his own shower, because it was clear that he’d already had one. He was freshly shaven, his dark hair was parted on the side and slicked through with gel, he was wearing a pair of black Nike running pants that hugged his ass in all the right ways, and he wore a black, V-necked T-shirt that looked so sexy on him, I wanted to say to hell with breakfast and just haul him back into bed with me.

  “Look at you,” I said as I walked over and kissed him on the lips. “So handsome.”

  “Handsome?” he said.

  “And hot.”

  He reached for my hands. “When a guy like me has the good fortune of being with a woman like you, he takes none of it for granted.”

  I blushed when he said that and then I glanced over at the countertop, where there were eggs, cheese, onions, and all sorts of colorful peppers.

  “I love your omelets,” I said.

  “Which is why I’m making them for you. Today, we leave on the highest of notes.”

  “Do you need help with the prep?”

  “I love to cook with you at my side,” he said. “How about if I take the onions, and you dice the peppers?”

  “Done and done.” I shot him a mischievous look. “Hand me the big blade, big boy.”

  “I’m assuming you mean the butcher knife?”

  “You can take that however you want to take it.”

  He laughed when I said that, and then handed me the knife I wanted.

  “You need to get some food in you,” he said. “We can talk about the other blade later if you want.”

  “Oh, I think I’ll probably want to do that,” I said. “It’s only eight o’clock. And we don’t leave here until three…”

  “Then let’s be efficient,” he said. “Start chopping.”

  I saluted him.

  “Yes, sir.”

  * * *

 
; After a delicious breakfast, Austin asked if I’d like to check out the view from the third-story terrace.

  “I want to see it one last time,” he said.

  “Same here,” I said. “Let’s go.”

  When he reached for my hand, our fingers intertwined as we started for the staircase that led to the third-story terrace. With each step we took, his grip tightened against mine in a show of love that was so palpable, I couldn’t believe for the life of me that I was I was here again—that I was in love again—but I was. And this time love felt different. Years ago, when I fell in love with Eric, love had felt sweet. But love with Austin? This love felt charged and alive, as deep as it was profound. It was the real thing—a lasting thing. I started thinking about what our future together would look like when we returned home just as we stepped out onto the terrace.

  And when we did, it wasn’t the views of the city that captured my attention. Instead, everywhere I looked were vases filled with red roses.

  “Oh, my God,” I said. “What have you done?”

  “It’s our last day here,” he said. “I wanted to make it special.”

  “Well, you’ve certainly accomplished that,” I said as I admired the flowers. “They’re stunning. How did you ever manage to get all of this up here? Did you do this while I was in the shower?”

  “I did,” he said. “I can be very productive when I need to be.” He took hold of my hand. “I need to talk to you,” he said.

  “All right…”

  “Last night, after you fell asleep, I thought about a lot of things. I thought about leaving here. I thought about not living with you. I thought about how hard that would be for me, and also hopefully for you. What I’m going to ask you is something I’ve never asked another woman.”

  My breath caught when he said that, and I just blinked at him. Was he about to propose to me? As my mind started to race, he started to speak.

  “Sienna, I know that when we return to Manhattan, you want to find a new apartment for yourself, but I have another idea.”

  “What idea?”

  “What if you were to live with me?” he asked. “You’ve seen my apartment—it’s huge. There’s plenty of room for each of us. And together, we can change whatever things you don’t like so we can make that apartment our home, because that matters to me. I want our home to be a reflection of us. So, what do you say? I now know what it’s like to live with you, and because of that, I don’t want to live without you. I don’t want this to end. Will you live with me?”

  My heart slowed a bit when he said that, because this wasn’t about a marriage proposal—it was about us living together. That I could handle. Still, before I answered him, I needed to be sure that I wanted the same. So, I gently eased away from him and moved to the balcony that overlooked the city. As I looked out at all of the colors that defined San Miguel, I realized that after living with Austin these past seven weeks, waking up without him next to me would be hell. It wouldn’t feel right. We’d grown too close.

  Then live with him…

  I turned to look at him as a breeze caught hold of my hair and lifted it off my shoulders, as if it were meant to take a weight off me.

  “Of course, I’ll live with you,” I said.

  “You will?”

  “I love you, Austin. I also don’t want this to end.”

  “I’m glad to hear that,” he said. “Because neither do I.”

  And with that, he stood before me and dropped to one knee. Shocked, I just looked at him, knowing what was coming next but not quite believing it.

  “Sienna,” he said. “I have another question for you…”

  Choked with emotion and with my eyes brimming bright with tears, I tried my best to steady myself as he took hold of my left hand.

  This can’t be happening to me, I thought. It can’t!

  But it was, and I felt my body literally trembling in the face of it. I looked down at him, and saw in his eyes not only his love for me, but also his need to have me completely to himself.

  “Yes?” I said to him.

  He let go of my hand, reached into his pants pocket, and removed a small black velvet box, which he held out to me before he opened it. And when he did? I pressed my free hand to my mouth, because inside was a massive diamond solitaire engagement ring that glinted against the sun, and set fire to my eyes as this moment claimed each of us.

  “Marry me,” he said. “Give me the chance to make you the happiest woman in the world. I want to build a life with you. I want to grow old with you. I want to have children with you. And I want to experience a lifetime of happiness with you. Will you marry me?” he asked. “Will you be my wife?”

  As I looked at him kneeling in front of me with his heart on his sleeve, I knew that he and I were right together. That we were meant to be with one another. So, why deny it? Why throw up walls where there should be no walls? What I knew in that moment is that all I ever wanted was Austin. Always and forever.

  I extended my left hand to him, and when I did, I smiled at him.

  “Put a ring on it, Austin,” I said. “I’d be honored to be your wife. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”

  When Austin slipped the ring onto my ring finger, I admired it for a moment, I felt the weight of what that ring meant for us as a couple, and then he suddenly lifted me off my feet and kissed me hard on the lips before he carried me down to our bedroom and made love to me again. And when he did?

  He left no part of me untouched or unloved.

  And the following year? When I won the Academy Award for Best Actress for my role in Lion? As happy as I was at that moment, I was happier still that Austin Black—a man who, in reflection, I now realized I’d fallen hard for during that long ago evening when he’d helped me into my shoes—had come into my life for a reason. With him forever and always at my side, I knew in my heart that together we could bear the full force of life’s blunt winds, its glorious surprises, its many disappointments, and also its ridiculous highs.

  Soulmates did exist—and Austin was forever mine.

  # # #

  BELOW ARE THE US LINKS TO ALL MY BOOKS:

  ANNIHILATE ME, VOL. 1

  ANNIHILATE ME, VOL. 2

  ANNIHILATE ME, VOL. 3

  ANNIHILATE ME, VOL. 4

  ANNIHILATE ME, HOLIDAY EDITION

  ANNIHILATE ME: OMNIBUS

  ANNIHILATE HIM, VOL. 1

  ANNIHILATE HIM, VOL. 2

  ANNIHILATE HIM, VOL. 3

  ANNIHILATE HIM, HOLIDAY

  ANNIHILATE HIM: OMNIBUS

  ANNIHILATE THEM

  ANNIHILATE THEM: HOLIDAY

  Also by Christina Ross:

  UNLEASH ME, VOL. 1

  UNLEASH ME, VOL. 2

  UNLEASH ME, VOL. 3

  UNLEASH ME: BOXED SET

  UNLEASH ME: WEDDING

  Stand-alone novels

  CHANCE

  IGNITE ME

  A DANGEROUS WIDOW

  FAKING IT

  Thank you for reading Faking It! I hope you enjoyed it. Look for Making It and Killing It to appear wherever e-books are sold in 2018.

  Can’t wait for my next book? More are on the way, and finding out when is easy! Join me on Facebook here, and especially join my SPAM-free email blast here. By joining my email blast, you’ll never miss another book—or the opportunity to receive a free ARC to review a book before it goes live to the public.

  I love to hear from my readers! If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at mailto:christinarossauthor@gmail.com. I hope to hear from you soon!

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  XO,

  Christina