by Alexa Davis
“So, this is your room, is it?” Blair wandered inside as if she’d been there a million times before. “I can tell because it’s just so you.”
“I haven’t always lived here, you know.” I laughed as I followed her inside. “But, yes, this has been my most constant room. I guess I leave the stuff here because I know I can always move back. But in my defense, Paul keeps his room the same here, too, and he has his own life. He has his own home, but he spends a lot of time here, too.”
“I wasn’t judging you!” She held her hands above her head in a surrendering gesture. “I was just asking.”
I took her over to the window where she could see the massive expanse of land surrounding the house, and just as I knew she would, she gasped loudly with joy. “Oh, my goodness, I would love to take some pictures here...” She trailed off quickly as if she’d realized her mistake. “Not that I would. I mean, this is probably private land.”
“You know I trust you, don’t you?” I spun her back to look at me, and I pressed my lips against hers. “I only freaked out because I thought I’d been betrayed by the one person I gave my heart to. I know now that you would never do that. You can take all the pictures you want – that’s why I showed you this.”
“I... I have my camera with me, if that’s okay?”
“You want to go now?”
She grabbed her camera bag and gave me a grin, and I followed happily behind her. I could watch Blair take photographs all day long; this was hardly going to be a hardship. Plus, the sun was making a rare appearance for London, and it’d be nice to catch some rays.
***
“I officially love it here!” Blair declared as she ran her fingers through the flowers beneath her hands. “This is the best place in the world – you know you had the luckiest childhood ever, right?”
“It isn’t like you were so hard done by!” I declared teasingly. “You have always been privileged, too.”
“Oh, no, not prince privileged.” She wasn’t about to let me off the hook that easily. “You have a castle, a royal house, all of this wonderful greenery to play in. Paul...”
“You have Cameron, and Cameron is awesome!” That was a topic we were never going to agree on. Blair wasn’t going to see how annoying Paul was, and I was never going to see any bad points about Cam. “Have you spoken to him recently?”
“Yeah, I’ve chatted to him since I’ve been in England; he’s totally happy for us. You don’t have to worry about him anymore. He’ll be totally cool next time we see each other.”
I hoped that would be soon. I couldn’t wait to get back to New York. In a weird way, it was as if I had two homes, and much as I liked each one, I missed the other, too. I didn’t know how that was something I could make work, unless we eventually split our time between the two.
“Anyway, thank you so much for bringing me into your life. It’s been awesome to see the other side of you. I got so used to the Marcus I met in America, it’s weird to know that you’ve got this whole life here.”
“It’s great to see you here, too. I think you suit the English weather; you’re a bit like an English Rose.”
“Don’t be so crazy!” She shoved me playfully, causing me to fall back into a lying position in the grass. Once I was down, I didn’t bother to move. I simply remained there, looking up at the stars above. “I could never be a proper little English girl.”
“No, I know. And that’s why I like you so much. You’re nothing like anyone I’ve ever met before.”
Blair collapsed on top of me, and I wrapped my arms around her, holding her close. Love swelled in my chest, and I felt like it was finally the time to say it aloud. It had been between us for a while, I was quite certain that Blair felt the same way that I did; now it was just time to say it.
So why did I feel so nervous?
My heart hammered noisily in my chest and my breaths began to come out labored and thick. Nerves tore up my veins, but I forced my vocal chords to get the words out before I wimped out. Blair needed to hear it, just as much as I needed to say it.
“I love you, Blair,” I gasped, a tremor running over me as I said it. “I hope you know that.”
“I love you, too,” she replied, sounding far more easygoing than I felt. “I love you endlessly.”
As our lips connected, I felt the love coming from her. She really did mean it, just as much as I did, and for the first time in my life, I felt settled and calm. I could feel Blair’s body pressed up against me, succumbing to me, giving me her everything. I did the same for her. I was willing to give her absolutely everything.
“Come on, it’s getting cold,” I whispered, sliding my arms off her. “Let’s get back inside. We have that warm bed to climb into and much as I’d love to ravish you here, I don’t think my dad would like it if he wandered out here to find us in the middle of it.”
Blair’s face flamed as she giggled gleefully. “Yeah, you’re probably right. I’m all for fun adventures with you, but I don’t think getting arrested on the royal grounds is a good idea right now.”
I grabbed hold of her hands, and we ran inside like crazy school kids on a fresh air high. I loved Blair, she loved me – it really could be that simple. We’d spent such a long time complicating things unnecessarily, but there was no need for that anymore. Now we could just be. Blair and Marcus, Marcus and Blair, did it get any better than that?
“I love you,” I muttered once more as the door crashed behind us, locking us inside in the warmth of my home. “I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of saying that.” It made me feel warm and fuzzy inside, exactly the way love was supposed to make me feel.
“Well, I’ll never get tired of hearing it, that’s for sure! I love you, too. It feels good to finally say that. I’ve felt it for ages.”
“Yeah... me, too. Ever since I first laid eyes on you, actually.”
Chapter 38 – Blair – One Month Later
“I feel a bit nervous,” I told Marcus gleefully as the plane landed on my home soil. “It’s weird, isn’t it? I’ve got so used to being in England, that this is now really strange.”
“I’m sure you’ll get used to it.” He kissed the top of my forehead and held me protectively against his side. “And, aren’t you looking forward to seeing Cameron?”
I had missed my brother; there was no doubt about that. It had been a long month without him, when I was so used to seeing him often during the week, so I couldn’t wait to have one of his hugs again.
Admittedly, I was a little afraid that everything would be different now. The dynamic was bound to have shifted now that I was in love with his best friend, but he didn’t seem too mad about it when I spoke to him on the phone.
“Oh, look, there he is!” I exclaimed, pointing in the direction of my goofy, lovable brother with his very expensive baseball cap pulled down over his eyes. “Hey, Cam! We’re here. This way, Cameron!” Okay, maybe I was acting like a crazed fool, but it felt so good to see him.
As he glanced up and his eyes met mine, his entire face burst out into a beaming grin. I raced toward him and jumped in his arms, that feeling of safety and home washing over me. New York hadn’t given me that feeling, but my brother had.
“Hey, Sis, how’s it going?”
“Oh, my God, you have me crying already!” I chuckled into his chest. “I held it together for so long and now... Now, I’m a mess.”
I stepped back and dabbed my wet eyes as the two main men in my life greeted one another. They patted each other’s backs and grinned like idiots at one another. I could tell that they wanted to hug, but they were too busy trying to be cool. It took all that I had not to roll my eyes at the pair of them.
After a brief moment of reconnecting, they began discussing the sale of Marcus’ New York apartment. The thought made me a little sad. Of course, I knew that he would eventually, there wasn’t much point in keeping it when I had mine here for us to stay in during our time in America, but still... It was an end of an era. We’d met and gotten t
ogether during his time living in that house, and now it belonged to someone else. It didn’t fully matter, because I still had Marcus, but still there was no nostalgia anymore.
As we walked toward the car, Cameron turned to face me, to include me in the conversation once more. “You are still okay to see Dad today, aren’t you? He’s been excited about this lunch for ages. You know what he’s like; he’s utterly desperate to know what’s going on in your life, but he’s too proud to ask.”
“I’m ready. I’m looking forward to it, too. I’ve missed Dad.”
I couldn’t wait to tell him that I was still doing the photography and that I’d expanded a little into the area that I really wanted to work in: beautiful landscapes. I even had some copies of the magazines that had printed my pictures. Maybe one day I would go back to working with models, I wasn’t saying never, but for the time being I was very content with what I was doing.
“Are you guys ready to go? It’s just that your plane landed a little late...”
“It’s fine, we flew private jet. I don’t think I look too terrible.” I glanced at myself in the mirror in my bag, noticing some signs of exhaustion there, but nothing that would keep me away from Dad.
“We’re going to that French place again. I hope that’s okay with you.”
As soon as Cameron said that, I felt out of the loop once more. I had been so wrapped up in my own bubble of love with Marcus that I didn’t know anything that was happening here. Dad could’ve moved on, as far as I knew. I wasn’t too happy with the idea of him with someone else, but the idea didn’t sting quite as much as it had before.
If I could be happy, so could he.
As we pulled up outside of the restaurant, I jumped out like a crazed person and threw myself at my dad. I knew I was acting like I’d been away for years rather than months, but it really had felt like a long time now that I was back. Marcus and I hadn’t really discussed where we were going to live full time, and I honestly wasn’t sure how we’d do it in a way that made us both happy, without killing our families in the long run.
There had to be some solution, I just hadn’t found it yet.
“Oh, Dad, I’ve missed you like crazy.”
He laughed loudly and led me inside. “Come on, you fool. Tell me how much fun you had in England.”
This time as I walked through the doors to the French restaurant, I felt like I could feel Mom’s happy spirit surrounding us. The sadness of her no longer being around was still there, it always would be, but I felt like she’d be proud of us for how far we’d all come. Somehow, we’d all just about managed to make it to this point without her here, and I hoped she’d be looking down on us with love and admiration.
***
If Marcus thought that I got on well with his dad, then he had no idea how well he’d got on with mine. They were like a house on fire, laughing at one another’s jokes, teasing each other, discussing business and golf... It was going incredibly.
“I think you’re safe on the Dad front,” Cameron hissed into my ear. “They’re like best friends already. Look at them, talking about golf like seasoned professionals.”
He squeezed my hand, and I smiled gratefully at him. “Thank you so much for being so supportive of me,” I told him honestly. “I don’t know if I could’ve done it without you. I never would’ve braved going all the way to England.”
“Well, aren’t you glad you did?”
“Yeah, of course, I am.”
As I glanced at the man I was now wholly in love with, I was more grateful than anything else in the world. If Cameron hadn’t brought this man into my life, if he hadn’t practically forced me to get on that plane, then I never would’ve found the one person who made me truly happy.
Sure, I’d had to lose some stuff along the way, and I still felt sad about that, but that was just the way that life worked sometimes. You had to weed out the bad to get to the good.
“Anyway, do you guys have plans tomorrow?” Cameron whispered to me. “Do you mind if I take Marcus out for a round of golf?”
“Oh, of course not.” I was happy that they wanted to hang out still after everything. “I can hang out with Dad for the day and get some stuff of my own done.”
There was a small part inside of me that made me want to go and see Maddie, just so that I could see if there was anything I could do to fix things even if I was still mad, but I wasn’t totally sure that I could follow through with that.
“Sounds great. Thank you.”
“I haven’t forgotten that you and Marcus were friends first... Just don’t lead him astray, okay? I know you were once wing men, but those days are over now.”
As Cameron’s face flushed brightly, I couldn’t help but wonder if there was something else going on in his life that he hadn’t yet shared with me. He would, eventually. I just had to be patient.
***
“Wow, it feels weird to be back here,” I exclaimed loudly as I clicked on the light. “It feels like I’ve been away forever.”
“Either you have, or you’ve always let dust pile up,” Marcus teased me playfully, running a finger along one of my sides. “Still, at least you can pack up some of your stuff now for when we go back. If there’s anything here worth keeping now...”
Go back...
I needed to address it now, before it became something much bigger than it already was. “So, you want to go back?” I asked. “I guess we’ve never really talked about where we’re going to stay permanently. I suppose we need to make a plan eventually. I don’t want to make things difficult for you and your dad.”
“I have been thinking about this,” he confessed, nodding. “And, I think that if you’re okay with it, we might have to split our time between the two. Spend some time in America, then back in England when I have duties to complete. I know it won’t be ideal, it won’t be the easiest, and we might not be able to do it forever, but at least for now that would keep us all happy, right?”
Wow, that was a really good solution, one that I hadn’t even considered yet. We could split our time between both countries. I could easily continue to do my photography that way, and I could still spend time with Cameron and Dad. Marcus would also be able to see his family whenever he wanted, and he could still do what he needed to do.
“Yeah, I like that idea,” I told him slowly. “That actually sounds perfect.”
I couldn’t believe it, we’d made a very grown up, sensible decision that benefited everyone.
“I love it here in New York. I want to be here just as much as you. This will be good for the both of us.”
“Oh, speaking of good things, Cameron asked me if you wanted to go golfing with him tomorrow, and I volunteered you for that. I hope that’s okay.”
“Of course, that sounds amazing.” He smiled and grinned at me. “Thank you. You don’t mind, do you?”
“No, of course not! I have stuff I need to do anyway.”
As Marcus kissed me, I felt my spirits soar. The only issue I’d been worrying about was where we would go from here, how we could keep everyone happy, and now we had that. Honestly, communication was so much simpler. I couldn’t work out why it had taken us so long to work that out. We’d spent far too long not talking, not saying how we really felt.
“Oh, God, I love you,” I groaned as he began pulling off my clothes. “You really are the perfect man for me.”
“I love you, too.” His hands worked their way all over me. “So damn much. You’re truly incredible. I’m so glad to have you in my life.
I had never felt love before, but now I knew it for sure. Marcus really was the one. Even after our intense month of being together, living his life in the public eye, my opinion of him hadn’t changed. We still had that sizzling chemistry, I still felt just as strong. I couldn’t see any of that ever going anywhere.
This was it for me – the day I met Marcus was the first day of the rest of my life.
Chapter 39 – Marcus – Next Day
I inhaled deeply a
s I stretched, breathing in the calming American air. It had been a stressful month in England trying to prove to my dad that I wasn’t a total screw up. I was just lucky to have Blair by my side the entire time. I wasn’t sure that I could have done it without her.
She’d been so supportive, by my side when I needed her, in the background where it was appropriate. She’d even managed to deal with the media intrusion well, which I’d been incredibly worried about. It was never easy to have people poking around in your life, especially when it was out there for the world to see, but Blair had handled it with dignity and poise, like a real pro. She didn’t seem to bat an eyelid, even when I found it particularly cringe worthy.
“Morning, gorgeous,” I heard her murmur underneath my arm, which caused me to flick my eyes down to stare at her. “How are you this morning?”
“Look forward to seeing Cameron!” I exclaimed with a grin, my thoughts now on the interesting day that lay ahead of me. “I could really use a day of blowing off some steam. How about you? What do you have planned today?”
Blair pushed herself into a sitting position, and she gave me a pensive look. “I don’t know yet. There’s something I want to do, but I’m not sure if it’s the right thing or not.”
“Oh, yeah? And what’s that?” I felt a little weird, like I wasn’t about to like what was going to come next. The way that Blair was chewing on her lip did nothing to dispel my fears.
“Well... Maddie. I think I need to speak to her.”
My heart inflamed with rage. I felt sick to my stomach at the mere mention of that horrible woman’s name. I hated that I was used as a pawn in her game, in her career move... But it wasn’t really my place to have an opinion. About that, yes, but not about her and Blair.
My knowledge of Maddie was short and highly unpleasant, but Blair had years of friendship under her belt. There had to be something that made them remain in each other’s lives for such a long time. I didn’t have to see her again, but Blair could do whatever she wanted.