Meant to Be (Whisper Creek #5)(104)

"Exactly." He smiled. "But without the unicorns and … other stuff."

"I get it. All right, then. I also have an opening for personal masseur. Mine quit back in New York."



       
         
       
        

Cooper raised his eyebrows. "I have no training."

"It's one of those on-the-job-training sorts of positions. Not really a problem."

"You seriously have a personal masseur?"

Shelby rolled her eyes. "No, I don't have one. But I would like one. And I've already sort of-interviewed you for that job."

"Have you, now? I wasn't aware I was being graded."

"Oh, no worries. Total A-plus. You're a shoo-in for the position."

"So this masseur? He'd travel with you?"

"Yes."

"In your bus?"

"And in my hotel room, yes. I keep my masseurs close at hand, at all times."

"I see."

"Never know when I might need a-you know-massage, right?"

Cooper nodded seriously. "I understand."

"I know it sounds like kind of a lousy job, but there are perks, too."

"Oh?" His eyes crinkled again. "Like?"

"Great food. The craft tables backstage are ridiculous."

He nodded again. "That's important. Good to know."

"Good after-show parties, too." She cringed. "Or so I'm told. I don't actually ever go."

"To your own parties?"

"No." She shrugged. "Not really my scene."

"You'd prefer to head back to your room, with your masseur?"

"You are a quick study, Mr. Davis. I may have to hire you, whether you want the job or not."

"Oh, I want the job." Cooper stood up, reaching down to grasp her hands in his. "I want that job more than I've ever wanted anything in my entire life … but let's maybe go with the security thing as my official job title. I've only recently gained back my self-respect, and heading out on tour as a diva-masseur? Not really going to help me there."

Shelby laughed as she let him pull her to her feet. "You'd really come with me on tour? Really?"

"Well, you just offered me a pretty plum job. I'd be an idiot to refuse the opportunity."

"I agree." She looked over his shoulder, at the skyline of downtown Boston, and felt a pang of guilt. Could she really ask him to give this up? To be with her? Would he end up resenting her, ten tour stops from now?

"What's the matter?" He tipped up her chin with his finger.

"I just-I want you to come with me for the right reasons. For the right job. I don't want to take you away from your life, Cooper."

He looked at her then, long and hard, his eyes traveling her face, her hair, her hands in his. Then he took a deep breath and squared his shoulders before he spoke. 

"Shelby, I think-and I don't understand it, so don't ask me to explain it-I think the one thing I've realized over the past month is … I want you to be my life." She swallowed hard, feeling the prickle of happy tears at the corners of her eyes. "And if that means we spend the next five months living out of a bus and random hotels while we figure out what's next, then that's okay with me. It really is."

"Really? Really really?"

"Really," he whispered as he cradled her face in both hands, then leaned down to kiss her gently. Her knees went wobbly as his lips touched hers, and she wrapped her arms around him, unable to hold him tightly enough.

When they finally pulled back, a little dazed, a lot breathless, she traced his jaw with her fingertips, hardly able to believe she was living this dream, and wasn't waking up.

"Thank you, Cooper. For looking for me … for finding me."

He pulled her close, tucking her head under his chin as his arms held her tightly.

"I told you I've never lost a princess." He kissed the top of her head. "And I never will."





Epilogue


"Denver, you've been the perfect place to end this tour!" Five months later, a breathless Shelby used her hand mic to give a final shout-out to the roaring crowd. She was in her final set, and had changed into a long, flowing dress for her last few songs. It was a change she'd requested six cities ago, and they'd tried it once, then tried it again, then cemented it when the audiences had obviously eaten it up.

Her songs. She was singing her songs. Yes, she was also singing Tara's for the majority of the concert, but at the end, just before the encores, her team had approved her doing three of her own.

One of those was a song she and Cooper had written on a layover in San Diego, after a long day driving down the coast, and it promised to be the first song she recorded for her new album next year. The first song they recorded, she corrected herself, practically giddy with the knowledge that in only a few days, she'd be her own boss, with her own label.