by North, Cara
Her eyes widened as a diamond solitaire surrounded by smaller black diamonds was slid onto the ring finger of her right hand. She gasped out his name.
“It’s modest enough you might wear it every day, right?” He looked at her. She looked at him. She was on the verge of tears. She nodded, unable to speak. It was a beautiful gift. Something she could and would wear every day.
“Good. I had it made for you, like the others. There is not another one like it in the world, like you.” He waited a moment for her to collect her senses. He gently lifted her left hand and stroked over her fingers before he slid the ring he had still hidden in his other hand on her left ring finger. “I figured you might be more inclined to wear that one every day, and this one on special occasions.”
She gulped. The ring was spectacular, a larger version of the one on her right finger. She looked at him, trying not to hope beyond hope…
“So what do you say?”
“What’s the occasion?” she asked tentatively. She wasn’t about to reveal her heart for him to break it even if every fiber of her being knew this was just a Jed Gunner way of proposing.
“You don’t know?” He quirked his brow.
“I’m…”
“Nervous?” he smiled. Her nerves settled a bit and anticipation moved in. “Me too. There’s a chapel just down the road, what do you say?”
“Don’t you want your family here?” she asked and half expected them to jump out from somewhere. He had made it clear that he was not expecting to win and did not want any of them there. She didn’t understand it then, she did now.
“No.” He got up from his seat and moved to stand before her and held both of her hands in his. He looked down at her. His blue eyes smoldering with passion, love, and tenderness like she had never known before. “You saw that circus my brother had. My sister had the same scene. They will have me a few months out of the year now. I agreed to that. Right now, I just want us, for now, for forever. Do you want me, Shay?”
She sniffed, nodded. The word yes slipped breathlessly from her lips.
“Mmmm,” he hummed and nodded. He leaned in to kiss her. Brief, gentle, but powerful all the same. “Let’s go.”
Epilogue
Prologue to Get a Grip
Ivy had wanted to do this the right way. Over thirty years had passed and she was tired of doing things the right way. Tired of waiting, tired of patience, she was doing this one way or another. She wasn’t dragging him down the aisle, he was walking there willingly. On the way in, she saw a familiar pair of faces coming out.
“Shay!” Ivy smiled as the woman who used to be her enemy greeted her with a warm friendly smile of genuine happiness. Ivy was certain the man practically aglow standing next to her had everything to do with it.
“What are you doing here?” Shay asked. Her hand was held firm by one of the best documentary film makers around, Jed Gunner.
“Same thing you’re doing I suppose.” Ivy shrugged.
Then something unexpected happened. Jed spoke to Bo as though they were friends.
“What have you been up to? I came by the studio when I was in LA, but they said you were on set somewhere working.” Jed extended his free hand and Bo took it.
Bo, a quiet guy, seemed a bit flustered. He said, “I’ve uh…been working as a grip for a while. They don’t need me there every day. I just…uh…”
Jed took one look at Bo, and then looked at Ivy. She was looking at Jed so she knew what his reactions were. He let a slow, knowing smile spread across his lips. He nodded and said nothing more about it. They had communicated more with that simple nod than most conversations she had had with people she knew for years.
“Well congratulations!” Shay said and then let go of Jed’s hand to step forward and embraced Ivy.
“To you, too!” Ivy returned the hug. It was nice to be accepted by an old enemy as a friend.
Jed and Shay made their way towards the exit and Ivy looked at Bo. She gave him one last chance to escape. “You’re sure you want to do this?”
“Absolutely.” He nodded.
Her heart thumped fast and hard against her chest. This was it. They were going to get married. She was going to marry a guy she barely knew. He was going to marry her. This good girl, was finally going to be bad!
Read how it started with Frankie and Jonas in Personal Assistant
Don’t forget about Ivy and Bo in Get a Grip
Burn through those hot, Hollywood Nights faster when you check out these short stories:
Lights
Camera
Action
This Christmas
Mosel Behavior
Behind the Scenes
Magic Hour