Fairytale Love - Becca & Brian(32)

She was determined to do everything in her power to help Brian walk away with that five hundred grand.

Even if it meant that her heart got chewed up and spit out in the process.

It was Brian. And she'd do anything for Brian.





Chapter Sixteen





"Is everything okay?" Gavin asked nervously as Brian walked down the dock.

"Yeah," Brian said, making his way down the pier to where the crew was setting up.

"All right." Gavin clapped his hand above his head as a look of relief washed over him. "Let's get you mic'd up."                       
       
           



       

Brian didn't kid himself for one minute that the relief Gavin was  experiencing had anything to do with Brian's dad. He knew that the  producer only cared about whether or not Brian was going to remain on  the show.

Last week, after the live elimination show, Becca had told Brian that  her parents had seen his dad at the shop and he hadn't looked like he  was doing well. Brian had immediately called his mom, and sure enough,  his dad had been at the shop every day since Brian had been up at  Whisper Lake. When Brian said that he was coming home that night, his  mom had pleaded with him not to and his dad had gotten on the phone and  guaranteed that he wouldn't go back into the shop if Brian would just  stay and finish the show. He knew that the decision to leave was a big  one, but the consequences if he stayed could be even greater.

Brian had been torn. He hadn't made any promises to his parents either  way. When he'd gotten off the phone, he'd told Gavin and Sabrina that he  needed to talk to Becca without cameras, without mics. They'd fought  him on it, at first, but finally agreed when he'd explained that, if he  didn't talk to Becca, he was leaving that night. If he did, there was a  chance he'd stay.

He and Becca had gone for a walk in the back of Stone Castle property-no  mics, no cameras following them-and they ended up sitting on the  drop-off overlooking the lake. He could have stayed there forever. The  moonlight shining down over the dark waters, causing the surface to  sparkle. Becca sat next to him, looking so good that it had taken his  breath away. Her hair had been pulled up in a ponytail, and she'd been  wearing black sweats that were rolled up on her calf, a White Sox  T-shirt, and black flip-flops; she'd never looked more beautiful. He  honestly had no idea how he'd spent so many years looking at her and not  seeing her like he did now.

They hadn't gotten to talk as long as he'd wanted. After what seemed  like a few minutes but had probably been an hour, Jennifer had been sent  to find them and bring them back. After talking to Becca, he decided to  stay. She listened, like she always did. Then she'd made a few really  compelling points.

Becca had pointed out that, since his dad had promised to take it easy  the rest of the time Brian was away, how much could he really do for him  if he went home? It wasn't like the shop would fall apart without him.  Josh was doing a great job. Brian knew that his cousin had everything  under control. But if Brian stayed, even if he only received the  guaranteed twenty grand, it would help, and he had a chance at a much  larger sum than that. And if something happened and he needed to get  home, he was only a few hours away.

He'd known that Becca was right. She usually was. Still, it felt wrong not to be with his parents.

Brian had agreed to stay but on the condition that he checked in with  home several times a day. He knew that the only way he'd be able to stay  and, even remotely, have his head in the game was if he heard his dad's  voice for himself and knew he wasn't at the shop.

As he reached the end of the dock, Jennifer took his phone as the sound  engineer began putting the mic on him and taping the wire down on his  skin. He saw that Jax, Madison, Natalie, Andrew, and Becca were all  waiting at the end of the pier. He and Colton were the only two getting  wired up.

"You a'right, man?" Colton asked with genuine concern.

He wasn't trying to be an asshole. He was being a nice guy, but it  bothered Brian to think that he might know what was going on in his  life. Had Becca told him? No, she wouldn't have done that.

Would she?

"I'm good," Brian answered, his tone tense and clipped.

Colton gave him a strange look and then nodded his head.

As Brian waited for these guys to finish up, his eyes did what they  always did-they found Becca. She really was the flame and he was a moth.  He was just drawn to her. Even before he'd had any kind of romantic  feelings for her, he just wanted to be around her all the time.

As a matter of fact, that undeniable attraction was how they'd met in  the first place. It was the first day of school, and Brian remembered  that he'd been so excited. The entire summer before, he'd been planning  all the things he was going to be able to do when he made a bunch of  friends at school. Most of the things four-year-old Brian had envisioned  were sports-related. He planned on playing baseball, football, soccer,  and basketball with his yet-to-be-met friends.

But the second he'd laid eyes on the dark-haired, porcelain-skinned,  red-lipped Becca Sloan, all desire to get to know anyone else in his  class had fallen by the wayside. He remembered that he followed her  around the playground at their first recess, just trying to figure out a  way to talk to her. He had just about given up when fate had stepped in  and her yellow-polka-dotted dress had gotten stuck in the slide. Using  his mad ninja skills, he'd been able to stop and free her and they'd  been joined at the hip ever since.                       
       
           



       

Now, he wanted to be joined to her hip in a totally different way.

She was talking to Natalie about something she was happy about. He could  tell because she was using her hands in big gestures. Becca only did  that when she was really excited or happy about something. As he watched  her with the rest of the cast, he realized that there was something  different about her-a confidence she didn't have even two weeks ago.

She was standing in a two-piece, red bikini in front of a camera crew,  the rest of the cast was about to shoot a segment she knew would be  televised, and she couldn't have looked more relaxed and … happy.

It wasn't that Becca was timid or shy, necessarily; she was just  sheltered. To Brian, it made sense-she'd grown up with three older  sisters and five older male cousins. Seeing her now, exuding so much  confidence, made him fall in love with her even more.

He felt like he was witnessing her become the woman she was always meant  to be. His heart swelled with pride. Lower parts of his anatomy filled  with something else.

The bikini she was wearing was not even close to as revealing as the  ones Madison, Natalie, and Brooklyn were wearing, but it was about a  thousand times sexier. His eyes followed the line down the slope of her  waist that dipped in right before the swell of her hips. He continued  his visual journey across the line of fabric that lay perfectly against  her flat stomach. His eyes then ran straight up over her belly button,  between her ribs, then on to the triangles that covered her full mounds.

His heart beat wildly in his chest as he drank in her physical perfection. Damn. She was like a walking wet dream.

"She's pretty amazing." Colton's voice sounded strained, which told  Brian that the cowboy had probably been doing a little visual inspection  of his own.

"Yeah, she is," Brian agreed.

"Whoever ends up with her is one lucky SOB," Colton said with reverence.

"Yeah." Brian couldn't argue with that.

Whoever got to fall asleep and wake up next to Becca would, by far, be  the luckiest man alive. Stealing a glance at Colton, he realized that,  as much as he hated the thought of Becca being with anyone, Colton  really wasn't a bad guy. In fact, if Brian had met him under any other  circumstance, he was pretty sure they would have been friends.

"All right. You guys are live." The sound tech gave them the thumbs-up  sign before moving back behind his equipment cart and putting a large  pair of headphones on.

Brian and Colton joined the rest of the cast for today's challenge. When  he took his place behind Brooklyn, Becca's eyes caught his and she  smiled widely. The kind of smile that healed his pain, restored his  faith and saved him from any darkness he might feel. And he knew in that  moment that, yes, they both might end up with other people. Yes, he  might, someday, even be able to love someone else, but Becca was his  one. His soul mate. His other half. His light.

She was his heart.





Chapter Seventeen





Becca's palms were a little sweaty, but her heart wasn't racing nearly  as much as it had the first time she'd had to do this. Each time, it had  gotten a little easier. A little less scary. A little less  intimidating.