Julian sat back down and smiled, looking completely at ease and relaxed. It was such a transformation for him that she couldn’t take her eyes off him.
“Tell me what you’ve been up to,” he said, reaching for her hand and caressing her palm.
How in the world was she supposed to concentrate on forming words when his touch was already turning her inside out?
“Nothing at all like what you’ve been up to,” she said, hoping to move things along. “You know, work, sleep, work again. Nothing exciting at all.”
“Hmm…”
“I saw the improvements at the shelter, you know.”
He nodded, but he was studying her hand and running those talented fingers over her wrist now. “And what did you think?”
There were zero thoughts in her head other than feeling his hands on other parts of her.
“Julian?”
His dark eyes looked at her and she saw all the heat and want and need that she knew were mirrored in her own. “Hmm?”
“I think I’d very much like to take this conversation inside,” she said boldly, coming to her feet. “To the bedroom,” she added for clarification.
In the blink of an eye, she was scooped up in his arms as they strode from the room.
“Thank God,” he said with a husky laugh, and it was the greatest sound in the world to her.
* * *
Having Charlotte back in his arms, his bed, his life was even better than all the success Julian had ever had. Nothing had ever felt as satisfying.
He had promised himself he’d bring her home and they’d spend time talking, and he wouldn’t pressure her or push her for more than she was willing to give. If that meant taking things slow and starting over, then he’d be okay with that. But judging by the way she was tearing at his clothes with the same fervor he was moving hers aside, he felt pretty confident that slow was out the window.
And he’d never been more thankful in his life.
They rolled onto the bed—each vying for the top position but Julian eventually won out. His prize? He got to gaze down at his beautiful girl with her hair sprawled across the pillows and wearing nothing but ice-blue lace. She simply took his breath away.
She panted his name and it sounded like a plea. He understood completely because he wasn’t above begging right now either.
He wanted to savor this and make up for lost time, but the need for her was too great, his desire too strong.
“I promise round two will be better,” he vowed. “But I can’t wait, Charlotte. I’ve missed you so damn much.”
Her long legs wrapped around his waist as her arms circled his shoulders. “No one’s asking you to wait. I was ready about an hour ago. I wasn’t sure how much longer I was supposed to wait.”
That was his girl. His sweet, sexy, sassy girl.
“The wait is over, sweetheart,” he said gruffly, reverently.
What followed was wild and frantic and so perfectly them, and when he held her close afterward and helped her shimmy under the sheets with him, he felt like the happiest man in the world.
He was home.
He was healed.
“Do you remember the night I saw you on the beach?” he asked softly, kissing her temple.
“Which one? There were two of those nights.”
“The night a few weeks ago.”
She nodded. “I do.”
“Do you remember what you said to me?”
“Right now, I can barely remember my own name, Julian,” she teased. “You’ll have to refresh my memory. I was so mad at you, I’m sure I said something bratty.”
He laughed and hugged her close. “There were a couple of bratty comments, but that’s not what I was referring to.”
Pulling back slightly, she looked at him, her brow furrowed and confusion on her face.
“From the moment I met you, Charlotte, you never asked for anything. You gave, and you gave selflessly. No one’s ever done that for me before. Ever.”
“Julian…”
“I’m serious. At first, I had no idea what to do with you or about you. I kept waiting for you to do or say something that would prove you weren’t who you seemed.” He paused. “But you’re the most sincere and genuine person I’ve ever known.”
She sighed and looked like she was about to say something but stopped herself.
“But more than that, you felt my pain like it was your own. I didn’t…I didn’t get that. It wasn’t until you told me you loved me too much to end up being one more person with expectations and demands on me that I realized that. I know I don’t deserve you, Charlotte, but I love you. I want to be the man who is worthy of you.”
Stopping because, for the second time today, he couldn’t believe how emotional he was feeling, he kissed the top of her head and smiled when she relaxed against him.
“Then I started thinking about that and realized I felt the same way about you too—I see how hard you work and how much of yourself you give to the things you believe in and how you try to ease people’s burdens. Most of the time no one thanks you for it or you don’t get to see how thankful they are. I wanted to do something to help you so there would be fewer expectations and demands on you. So maybe you could relax a little at work or have a night off where you weren’t feeling stressed about a family you’d helped or the shelter.”
“No one’s ever done that for me before,” she admitted quietly. “I mean, I get volunteers, and my friends and family help out or donate to a cause that I suggest. I think they do it more to make me stop talking about it than for the people they’re helping. What you’ve done in the last two months, Julian? The effects of that are going to be felt for years. And that makes me both happy and sad at the same time.”
He knew exactly what she meant and loved her all the more for it.
In each other’s arms, they seemed lost in their own thoughts for several long minutes before Julian spoke again. “So you were in trouble with your boss, huh?”
She laughed softly. “Jennifer has two moods—neutral or fully annoyed. I think you can guess which she was today.”
“Would it help if I said I was sorry?” he asked with amusement.
Playfully swatting him, Charlotte said, “I guess I figured it was one thing for reporters to show up at the shelter—after all, it was the place you referred to. And then today I thought everyone would be at the press conference. I’m not newsworthy enough for them to track me down at the office.”
“Well, to be honest, they followed me to your office.”
Lifting her head, she looked at him.
“When I was leaving the building, there were a few reporters outside who asked if I was heading to the studio to start working on the new music, and I told them no. I had to go and get the girl first.”
Her eyes went wide. “You did not!”
But he nodded and grinned. “Sure did. So we had a bit of a caravan following us that somehow grew along the way. I hope some people stayed to the end of the conference. Our PR team had a ton of information to share and answer questions about. I certainly thought that would be more interesting than me showing up and taking the woman I love to lunch.”
And yeah, he’d said it twice now and she hadn’t, and he wasn’t sure how much more prompting she’d need to say it to him.
He really wanted her to say it to him.
“Hmm… I wouldn’t find that particularly interesting either,” she said mildly. “Except maybe they were hoping for a little PDA for their video.”
“You think they followed me all that way just to see a kiss?” he asked, totally amused by her theory.
“It’s a possibility. You never know.”
Shrugging, he did let his mind wander to that, but it still seemed crazy to him.
“Here’s something I can tell you about the average person—yo
u know, the ones who don’t live in mansions on the beach or who tour the world as a rock star,” she added for clarification. “We all have a mild curiosity to watch a train wreck. I don’t know why, but it seems to be a fact. And when that train wreck comes in the form of someone’s downfall, the more interesting the story becomes.”
“Great,” he murmured.
“However,” she quickly went on, “we all love a happy ending. For years the press has been watching you and the guys have your own versions of train wrecks. Now they’re ready for all those happy endings.”
His chest tightened at what she was implying.
“And you think this here—us—is going to be one of those happy endings?” he asked cautiously.
“Oh, yeah,” she said softly, practically purring as she leaned in close. “I believe that very much.”
Now he was desperate for the words.
“Why, Charlotte?” His voice was so low and so unsure he almost didn’t recognize it.
“Because I love you, Julian Grayson. I loved you when you were being completely unlovable. I want to watch you step back into the music world with confidence. I want to be by your side when you have amazing success and I want to be by your side when you come home at the end of the day or at the end of a tour and hear all about it.”
It was possibly the most amazing thing anyone had ever said to him.
Ever.
“You’re mine, Charlotte Clark. And there isn’t another woman in the world I want with me as this new phase of my life begins, because you make me want to be a better man. You make me want to do more on a completely different level than I ever knew existed. I love you.”
The kiss they shared was soft and reverent.
Just like their words.
“This was what the reporters wanted to hear,” she said, smiling sweetly at him.
“Well, too bad. They’ll have to wait and hear it another day. Your boss told you to stay home until Tuesday, so if anyone wants a sound bite from us, they’ll have to wait until then.”
* * *
The sun was rising and Charlotte didn’t think she’d ever get enough of watching it from this vantage point—wrapped in Julian’s arms with a blanket around them while they sipped coffee on the sand.
“You know you’re spoiling me, right?” she asked softly as the coffee warmed her on such a chilly morning.
“You deserve to be spoiled. And you can’t really put this on me. Mother Nature is the one doing all the work here. I’m just along for the show.”
“And what a show it is.”
“I don’t know, I kind of like the show we had going on inside—you know, where it was warm and we had a big bed and more blankets and no audience.”
She laughed. “It’s only us and the seagulls out here right now.”
“Yeah, well…they’re watching,” he grumbled and took a sip of his own coffee.
“That’s ridiculous.” But then one of those seagulls started to walk by and stopped to study them. “You’re not helping here, bird.”
“Told ya.”
They laughed and Julian hugged her close as they enjoyed the peacefulness of the early morning.
As much as Charlotte would love to have this feeling, this view, every day, she knew it wasn’t possible. For starters, this wasn’t her home, and technically, it wasn’t Julian’s either. For all she knew, in the last few weeks, he had decided on where he was moving to and it wasn’t going to have an ocean view address.
Then again, neither did hers.
Last night they’d stayed up all night talking, making love, and eating, and she knew they both needed some sleep, but that didn’t stop her from touching on the topic.
“How much longer is your lease on this house?”
“Mick said I could extend it if I wanted to.”
“That was nice of him.” She paused and drank a little more of her coffee. “How has the house search gone?”
Behind her, he shrugged. “I’ve seen a couple of places online that interest me, but I haven’t been motivated to go look at any of them.”
He went quiet and she had a feeling he had more to say, so she waited him out.
“I was going to look at places on the East Coast,” he said quietly, and Charlotte stilled. “Without you, there wasn’t anything keeping me here. I grew up out there, and Riley’s got a vacation house there, Matt’s living there full-time…it was an idea.”
Charlotte had been born and raised in Malibu and never considered living anyplace else but here. Even when her family vacationed, it was to other parts of California or in the Pacific Northwest.
“I’ve never been to the East Coast,” she said casually. “I hear there are some beautiful beaches there.” As she rested her head back on his shoulder, she could almost feel him smiling. “Then again, you can’t believe everything you read, right?”
He chuckled. “Depends on what you’re reading.”
“I have some vacation time coming. Maybe I’ll have to go find out for myself if what I’ve read is accurate. I may even ask Riley about his brother’s resort on Hilton Head. That might be nice to see.”
“Oh yeah?”
She nodded. “I trust Riley more than I do a travel brochure. And I doubt he’d brag about the place just because his brother owns it.”
That made Julian laugh. “Then you don’t know Riley very well. He’s got a lot of siblings and if you listen to him, they’re all brilliant.”
“Well, his twin brother is, isn’t he?”
Nodding, Julian said, “Owen. Who is now the father of two sets of twins.”
Charlotte gasped and turned in his arms, smiling. “They had the babies?”
“Last week. They induced Brooke and she and the babies are fine—perfectly healthy.”
“And? What did she have?” she asked excitedly.
“One of each this time.”
“And they have twin boys already, right?”
“Three boys and one girl. They’re going to have their hands full.”
Charlotte was actually a little envious. Not that she was eager to have multiple sets of twins, but thinking about having a big family and knowing that the entire Shaughnessy family must have been there to celebrate the twins’ birth made her feel hopeful. She would love to experience something like that for herself. Even if she didn’t have the big family, she did have a lot of friends.
“What are you thinking about right now?” he asked as he nuzzled her neck, his breath warm yet causing chills.
“Thinking about how lucky they are. All that love and new babies and…” She stopped and sighed. “It just sounds like a lot of happiness.”
“How would you feel about that kind of happiness?” he asked with a little more nuzzling.
She could play dumb and make him spell out exactly what he was trying to say, but this was far too important of a topic. Twisting all the way around in his lap so she was straddling him and being very careful to keep the blanket in place and not spill the coffee, Charlotte met his very serious gaze.
“I want that kind of happiness. Very much.”
A slow smile spread across his face. “How soon?”
So much joy bubbled up inside her that she couldn’t help but wrap herself even tighter around him. “How soon are you offering?”
“Sweetheart, I’m ready to take you inside right now and get started if you’re up for it.”
Was she? Were they seriously talking about this already? Were they being just a little impetuous?
Julian must have sensed her inner questions because he pulled back and looked at her before reaching up and cupping her face. “There’s no rush, Charlotte. We don’t have to decide right now or today or even tomorrow.” His thumb stroked her cheek. “Just promise me something.”
“Anything.”
“That we wil
l make those plans someday. Because baby, I don’t want to waste one more moment of our lives.”
“It’s the same for me, Julian. Always.”
Slowly he maneuvered them so they were both on their feet. “How about this, we go inside and catch a couple of hours’ sleep and maybe start making a few plans over brunch out on the deck.”
“That sounds like the best plan yet.”
Taking her hand, Julian began to lead her back to the house. “Sweetheart, that’s just the beginning. You ain’t seen nothing yet.”
And she truly believed him.
Epilogue
Two months later…
“I’m nervous. Is anyone else nervous?”
“I’m doing okay.”
“Never better.”
Charlotte took a deep breath and accepted the glass of wine Savannah handed to her. “Thanks.”
“You need to relax. This is all a good thing. Trust me.”
“How can you be so sure? The last time something like this happened was, what—years ago!”
Paige laughed softly as she sipped on a glass of water with lemon. “Personally, I’m excited. I’ve watched old footage and it was amazing. And kind of a turn-on. Dylan had no idea why I jumped him that night.” And with a naughty grin, she moved away to greet some people.
“I saw them live years ago. It was the night I managed to sneak backstage and kissed Matt for the first time,” Vivienne said, sipping her own glass of wine.
“Seriously?” Charlotte asked. “That’s kind of cool!”
“Nah, not so much. Turns out he didn’t remember it,” she said blandly.
“He did eventually,” Savannah prompted. “But yeah, no points for Matty on that one.”
“Ladies!” Mick called out as he strode toward them. “You all look beautiful, and I have an usher here to escort you and the rest of this massive VIP group out to your seats.”
They were standing in a grand lounge along with most of the Shaughnessy family, Dylan’s parents, Matt’s father, stepmother, and little sister, Vivienne’s brother Aaron and his fiancée, Emilie, and Julian’s parents. Tonight was the first public performance for Shaughnessy in years. The anniversary gala was a star-studded event, but Shaughnessy was the headliner and the media had been buzzing about it for weeks.
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