Bet Me to Stay

by Candace Havens

  “No idea,” Tansey whispered. “Checking out the competition?”

  Unless Liam had invited them here. Doing this in front of her parents was the worst. Her palms sweat. She’d obviously told him too much if he was going to use them to hurt her.

  Bile rose in her throat.

  Had he asked them here to humiliate her? To say something to them that would embarrass her?

  God. Did he have pictures?

  Everything they’d done together flashed through her brain.

  She glanced up, and Finn gave her a smile and a wave. Why was he being so friendly? None of this made sense. She nodded toward him, not sure what to think about any of this.

  “What are you guys doing here?” she asked as she slid in next to her dad. Tansey sat on the other side of the rounded booth, next to her brother.

  “We were invited by the owner,” her father said, “to check out their new music on Friday nights.”

  “Uh. Again. Why?”

  Her mother smiled. “No idea. Something about local businesses supporting one another for some neighborhood initiative. There was a flyer, and if you look around, the gang from the bakery down the street is here. And oh, that’s Mr. Hanlin from the bodega.” Her mother waved at their neighbors.

  Something was most definitely up. That was some fake-ass bullshit. It was one thing for him to embarrass her when they’d fought in private, quite another to humiliate her in front of her family and friends.

  She didn’t think he’d stoop so low. She was about to get up and head for the door when someone rushed past her and jumped up on the stage.

  Liam, dressed in a Henley top and those jeans that fit him oh so well. His hair was flopping over his forehead. Then he sat down. He picked up his guitar and positioned the mic in front of his mouth.

  This was it.

  Wait. He was going to sing?

  He closed his eyes and then opened them, looking directly at her. There was no anger or hate there.

  She held her breath.

  “I’m an arsehole,” he said.

  No way had she heard him correctly.

  “You said it, brother,” Finn shouted from the back of the bar.

  Liam chuckled—and that smile.

  “Breathe, honey,” her father said beside her.

  She did. Or at least she tried.

  But Liam was still looking at her. “I had something so precious and I let it go. Sometimes love comes on nice and slow, like a warm summer rain. And other times it’s brilliant and scary, like a hurricane in the fall. And sometimes, if you’re really, really lucky, you find a woman who’s a weather system all her own, both soft and gentle and reckless and wild, and she keeps you on your toes. I’m dedicating this song to you, Cassie, love of my life. You are everything and I’ll never forgive myself for not realizing that before you walked away from me. This song is dedicated you, lass.”

  A shiver of pleasure ran through her. And relief. And something…more. Something she thought she’d never feel for him again. He didn’t have any intention of suing her, that bastard. Sexy fucking bastard. This had been his plan all along—not public humiliation, a public declaration of his feelings for her. If he went any further she might just melt.

  Then he sang in a soft baritone about love and loss, and the words hit so deeply that tears fell of their own volition. He was apologizing. Singing for the first time in years to her. In front of all these people. Her hands clasped in front of her chest, and he sang of true love and forevers.

  Life can be a hurricane, but with you by my side, we’ll be fine

  Come rain, come shine, you’ll always be mine…

  Tears burned the rim of her eyes. She was definitely melting now.

  When he finished there was a brief pause, and then the place went wild. She lost sight of him as everyone jumped up and yelled and clapped.

  And then he was there in front of her, taking her hands in his.

  “I love you,” he said. “I was a fucking idiot and didn’t realize it until too late, but my life is shite without you.”

  “You hurt me,” she said. It wasn’t what she meant to say, but it was the truth. She wouldn’t take it back. “In the worst way, Liam. I trusted you. You made me feel—like I could do anything. And then…”

  He kissed her fingers. “You can do anything, luv. You’re the most incredible woman I’ve ever met. And I’ll spend the rest of my days making that up to you. I’m just so used to the darkness in life, I forgot to protect the best thing that’s ever happened to me. You.

  “I’ll get on my knees, lass, and beg. Whatever it takes. I’ll love you until the end of time, so I can wait as long as you need me to.”

  He wouldn’t have to wait. He wouldn’t have to beg. Just tell him.

  “You Irish are kind of dramatic,” she said, her voice barely a whisper.

  “That we are.”

  Say it. “I love you, too. You big jerk. But I swear if you ever treat me like that again, you’ll be ball-less for the rest of your life, because I’m ripping those suckers off and feeding them to the dog we’re going to have.”

  “A dog?”

  “Yes. And maybe kids someday, but not soon, because my career is important to me. And I want to travel, so you’re going to have to figure that out with Finn, how to run the pub without you always here. Because I need to see the world, with you. Even though you make me fucking lose it sometimes. Were you really going to sue me over a book?” She knew the answer, but he needed to own up to that, too.

  “About that, no. I needed you here, so I might have hatched a plan with your friend Tansey. Tracking her down wasn’t easy. You thanked her in one of your books, so that’s how I found her. And I read them all, your books. Did I mention you’re fucking brilliant? I want you to know I’m willing to be your inspiration for anything you might need. Anything. Tell me you forgive me, lass.”

  Happiness streamed through her blood, lighting her on fire.

  She smiled. Wasn’t it obvious?

  “Yes, I forgive you.”

  He whooped and swung her around in a circle.

  “What was that about books?” her mother asked.

  “No more secrets,” Cassie said to him.

  “No more secrets,” he said.

  He held her hand as she turned to face her family.

  “This guy, Liam, is my boyfriend,” she said. “That is my friend Tansey. You know her, but what you don’t know is she’s also my agent. I’m a successful author. I have been for years. And now”—she took a deep breath—“I’m writing super sexy romance. Dirty books. Maybe even filthy and not anything you’d want to tell your friends about. But I love what I do. I’m good at it. And while I know you can’t understand that, I want you to know the truth.”

  She held her breath, waiting for the barrage of negativity.

  “It’s about time,” her brother said. “Mom already has all your books. She’s been wanting to have a release party for you for years.”

  The room spun a little. It was a good thing Liam was there to hold her up.

  “What?”

  “Honey,” her father said, “we were just waiting for you to be ready to tell us. That’s why your mom’s been bugging you about coming home to work with us. We thought maybe the author life was too stressful. You’d been so depressed and sad.”

  “Did I step into a portal into another world?” She turned to face Liam. “I think I might need to lie down.”

  “We love you, darling girl,” her mother said. “We just want you happy. And the big guy has promised us he’ll spend the rest of his life loving you.”

  She glanced up at Liam. “You talked to my parents?”

  That’s so romantic.

  “I did.”

  Music started in the corner, and Liam’s friend, Fiona, began playing. She was good, but not as good as Liam.

  “This night so didn’t go the way I thought,” she said, so filled with love she might burst with it.

  “It’s pretty perf
ect for me, lass.”

  “It’s real, right?”

  He pulled her into his arms and kissed her. Her nerves calmed and all was right with the world.

  “Lass, we’re as real as it gets.”

  Epilogue

  “Ms. Meadows, why do you think romance is so important in today’s society?”

  Cassie stood on the small stage in the pub, doing her first press conference. Today they were revealing the mystery author behind the number one bestselling book. Liam had just held her hair up in their apartment upstairs while she puked her lunch out. Nerves had very nearly done her in, but there she stood poised and professional.

  The press had been assembled by Tansey and her team for the release of Cassie’s new book, which had hit the New York Times list the first week it was out.

  Liam had never been prouder of anyone in his life. It was fucking overwhelming how much he loved her.

  “I think the world can use all the happily-ever-afters it can get,” she said. And then smiled. “Even when we have them in real life.” She glanced over at him and gave him that sweet smile of hers. “We all need hope, and romance provides that, and if it entertains us at the same time, bonus.”

  His cock twitched. Down boy, she’s busy right now.

  The questions went on for another twenty minutes until Tansey pulled the plug. He and Finn had set up a refreshment buffet on the bar for the press. He doled out drinks and kept an eye on Cassie as she made her way through the crowd to him.

  She made a cross-eyed funny face, and he couldn’t help but chuckle. And then she was beside him.

  “I did it,” she whispered. “I can’t believe I made it through.”

  “You were fucking brilliant,” he said and then chastely kissed her on the cheek. He didn’t want the press to witness their love and turn it into something sensational. “When everyone leaves, I have a bit of a surprise for you up on the rooftop.”

  She smiled. “I got that surprise like three times last night, but I’ll never say no.”

  He chuckled and squeezed her hand. “That might come later. You go schmooze and do your thing. They love you.” Pride swelled within him.

  “It’s the press,” she whispered. “They love me today. But what will they say about the next book in the series, or now that the first one is being made into a movie—that’s weird, right?”

  “Lass, you deserve all of the goodness coming your way. It’s a brilliant book. And I’m not just saying that because I’m your boyfriend. The reviews are nothing but stellar. You broke barriers down and made it a story that leaves readers breathless.”

  This time she was the one who laughed. “You’re totally quoting reviews now, but I love you for it.”

  “That I am. Now, shoo. You visit with your adoring public, so we can get upstairs.”

  Four hours later, he put a blindfold over her eyes and carefully led her up the stairs to the rooftop. Nerves buzzed around his head, and his hand shook a little when he took the blindfold off her.

  “Surprise!” Her family was there and Finn, too. Even Tansey was standing with the crowd.

  He and Finn had decorated the rooftop with more fairy lights, as she liked to call them.

  Her hand went to her chest and she gasped. “It’s beautiful, but I don’t understand.”

  Then she turned around to find him on one knee, holding out a ring. She gasped again.

  “What are you doing?” She laughed, and tears trailed down her cheeks.

  Emotion clogged his throat as if a thousand frogs were dancing. “I thought it might be obvious,” he said softly. “But I’d like to make a bet with you.”

  She rolled her eyes but smiled sweetly. “Uh. Huh. And what would this bet be?”

  “I bet that I will never stop loving you or wanting you beside me for the rest of my life. I warn you, if you go against the bet, you won’t win. I love you more each day and I’ve never been so proud and humble to have the love of someone such as you, luv. I’m the luckiest fucking bloke on the planet.”

  The family and friends laughed at that.

  “Will you marry me?”

  She nodded and then sobbed. “Yes.” And then she was on her knees with her arms wrapped around his shoulders, kissing him. Love hammered through him. She was his. They stayed like that for a good minute, and Liam had no desire to be anywhere else in the world. She was the greatest gift of his life, and she’d agreed to be his wife until the end of time.

  Someone cleared their throat, and he glanced up to find everyone circling them. That happened when he kissed her; he tended to forget anyone else existed.

  “Congratulations!” they all yelled.

  Her mother hugged him, and he shook hands with her dad.

  “We’re having the wedding in a church, right?” her mother asked.

  Liam glanced at his soon-to-be bride. “Whatever you want, lass. As long as you and I are wed soon. Tomorrow would be good.”

  Everyone around them laughed. “I could pull off a wedding in a month,” her mother said. “It won’t be the fanciest affair, but we can do it.”

  “As long as we can have the reception in Liam’s pub, you can plan the rest. But simple, Mom. Super simple.” She hugged her mother.

  “That sounds like a plan,” her mother said and clapped her hands together. “As long as we can have a shower at The Rustic Pig.”

  “I think that’s a great idea,” Liam said. Honestly, he would have agreed to just about anything. He was happy to have their family around and couldn’t wait to call his mum and dad and introduce them to his fiancée. Life was better than he could have ever imagined, and now he had the woman of his dreams to share it with him.

  “Oh,” she said, turning back to him. “I’ll take that wager, but my side is that I will love you until the end of time. And I’ll show you every day just how happy I am you bet on me.”

  He stuck out his hand. “Deal.”

  Acknowledgments

  This book would not exist without my publisher and editor Liz Pelletier. Thank you for an amazing idea and for helping me see it through. Also, thanks to Lydia, who helped me clean this baby up. And a special shout out to the whole Entangled team. I know how hard you guys work and I’m so grateful. Thanks to our production manager Curtis who kept things moving along, and to the publicity team for their hard work.

  I have to do a shout out to my friend Lizzie B. who read this for me and said, yes, it’s a real book. And a big shout out to my Bella Lunas, who are always there for me every step of the way.

  And many thanks to the readers, book bloggers, and everyone who had a part of getting eyes on this book. It’s a special one for me, and I’m grateful to you all.

  About the Author

  Bestselling author Candace Havens has published more than 25 books. Her novels have received nominations for the RITA’s, Holt Medallion, Write Touch Reader Awards and National Reader’s Choice Awards. She is a Barbara Wilson Award winner. She is the author of the biography Joss Whedon: The Genius Behind Buffy and a contributor to several anthologies. She is also one of the nation’s leading entertainment journalists and has interviewed countless celebrities from George Clooney to Chris Pratt. Candace runs a free online writing workshop for more than 2000 writers and teaches comprehensive writing classes. She does film reviews with Hawkeye in the Morning on 96.3 KSCS, and is a former President of the Television Critics Association.

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