The Movie Star's Red Hot Holiday Fling(30)
His brave, beautiful Marine held her head high, moved with grace and dignity, refusing to shy away from the group’s unwavering attention.
Heart pounding, Blake pushed through the thick crowd, making his way toward her as she penetrated the throng and walked to him. Soon they were standing face-to-face. The noises and sounds of the party faded until a bubble of expectation cocooned them.
“Jessie,” he said, wanting to touch her, afraid she would evaporate if he did.
“I read the story.” Jessie opened her matching clutch and withdrew the note he’d written. “You still willing to stand by your promise?”
Jessie’s voice cracked and a light sheen sparkled in her gaze, but challenge glinted there as well. His chest constricted. “Yes. I’ll kill the script.” He grabbed her hands, the paper crumpling. “I was a first class fool for hiding the truth from you.”
“What about the franchise’s offer to let you direct?” She raised her chin as the people in the room seemed to take a collective gasp. “Isn’t that what you wanted so you could prove that you’re not some Hollywood Hottie with shit for brains?”
He glanced around the room. Read the shock in his entourage’s raised brows and slack jaws. Never had anyone spoken to him like this in public, but he didn’t give a rat’s ass about what Hollywood’s elite thought tonight. All that mattered was Jessie.
She wasn’t about to make it easy. Not his Jessie. “I’ve spent my entire life proving that I was better than people gave me credit for. Years of perfecting a persona that garnered me fame. But I’ve never belonged anywhere until I met you.”
Her beautiful smoky eyes filled, and the paper she held dropped to the ground. “I know what it’s like to lie to yourself about what you want.”
Blake closed the remaining distance between them, inhaled her scent, and felt as if he’d come home. He framed her face and caressed her cheeks. “I believed I was helping you get over your trauma. The truth is that I got the better deal.” He willed her to see the love that flowed through his veins. Prayed he had at least one more chance with this strong, sexy woman. “You offered your heart to me. Not because you wanted something or because of the power I wield. But because you recognized who I am and loved me enough to force me to face that guy in the mirror. I’ll never deceive you, or myself, again.”
“You believe you can be that man always?” she asked. “’Cause I need to know if you can be honest with me—and with the people in this room—about what you really want to do with your script.”
…
Though the resort’s ballroom thumped with a pounding bass beat, all Jessie heard was the sound of her blood rushing through her veins. Oh, how she loved the man standing in front of her, but she had to hold her ground. If being with her was where Blake belonged, then he’d have to trust her completely.
His palms, so strong and yet so gentle, framed her cheeks. And she watched the play of emotions on his face, the uncertainty about what the right answer should be warring with what he hoped would bind her to him forever.
What seemed like hours passed in a few seconds before he replied. “Jessie.” Blake’s voice cracked. “I want you. I want what we can have together because I love you, but I don’t want to tear up that script. Not because I want to direct or prove that I’m not a body without a brain, but because this story needs to be told.”
A floating sensation seemed to lift her feet from the ballroom’s parquet floor. Emotions long held at bay blurred her vision. This bold, handsome man bound her to him with his touch and his brave, honorable answer.
The words she fought to speak struggled to the surface. “I love you, Blake Johnston.” She ghosted her fingers along his face’s strong jaw. “I love you for helping me move past my injuries and the guilt I carried for so many months. I love you for making me believe I’m the most beautiful woman in the world. And I love you for writing a beautiful screenplay that deserves to be filmed.”
“You love me?” he asked. “And the script?”
“You’ve given me everything I could ever want,” she said. “And I want to be a part of this story becoming a movie. I’m accepting the position.”
“I should have asked you to come with me because I wanted you, not just offered you a job with a let’s see where this relationship takes us crap lack of commitment.”
“True,” Jessie said. “But I’m the one who instigated a no-strings holiday fling.”
He smiled, his trademark dimple and devil-may-care charm sending electrical zips of pleasure to all her female zones.