Page 96 of #Moonstruck

“I’ve been told.”

“And the most humble.”

As his arms tightened around me, holding me close, I decided that life couldn’t possibly get any better than this.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

For the next few weeks I traveled from city to city with my family and the man I loved. I knew Ryan had his faults. Like how he was temperamental, refused to eat food with flavor, and was sometimes prone to yelling. But there were so many good, amazing things about him that the bad stuff didn’t seem to matter. All those years I’d spent avoiding musicians—his musical side was easily among the things I liked best about him.

And he totally tolerated my quirks. He didn’t care if I wanted to lock myself in a hotel room all day to write. I’d seen how many relationships my brothers had lost over things like that. Their girlfriends always felt less than. But Ryan got it.

Sadly, though, the tour came to an end. We did our last concert in New York City, and after the performance Ryan promised that early the next morning, he would take me to his SoHo apartment and afterward show me all the touristy sights like the Statue of Liberty and Broadway. Then tomorrow evening the buses would be heading back to California. My brothers and I would put our house on the market when we got home while Ryan ramped up the publicity for his upcoming album and presumably planned his next tour.

He told me he already had a good idea who the opening act should be and advised me to clear the band’s schedule.

The next morning he brought me to his apartment. Which he should have called a penthouse, given how ridiculously big it was. On the top floor of a building that housed everyone from movie stars to athletes to foreign royals, it had the biggest windows I’d ever seen and the most amazing view. Exposed brick along the one interior wall, some industrial piping across the high ceiling, and a kitchen so bright and beautiful it looked as if it had never even been used. There weren’t any inside walls, just a large open space broken up by furniture.

“How many homes do you have?”

“Seven,” he replied.

“That may be part of why you went broke,” I told him.

Ryan smiled and shook his head. He wasn’t broke any longer. This tour had netted him a fortune. Not only in ticket sales but also in merch, downloads, and preorders for his next album. Thanks to his new business manager handling his finances, he no longer had to worry about the bottom falling out from underneath him again.

“This place is so huge. Do you live here alone? Or do you have a housekeeper or something?”

“I have a service that comes in to clean once a week. But today it’s just the two of us.”

“Just the two of us?” We hadn’t been completely alone together since the music awards.

He slid his arms around me. “Yep. Any suggestions on what we should do?” He began nuzzling my ear, which made my eyes roll into the back of my head. While Ryan had remained respectful of my boundaries, he reminded me of an explorer traveling up and down a river, looking for a place to ford it. If I let the waters recede just a little, he’d happily cross over.

But I didn’t let him. Because despite how much I liked kissing and touching him, there always came this moment when we were together when I froze up, like I’d slammed into a massive iceberg. When we had reached a point where we had to stop because things could get out of control. Yes, I loved him, but I didn’t feel like I had to prove it. I loved myself and the decisions I’d made about how far I would take things physically.

Not to mention that, given my father’s fertility, I was pretty sure despite whatever precaution might be used, I’d wind up pregnant. Much as I adored my own single mother, I was in no hurry to be one.

“I think,” I said, wrapping my arms around his neck, “that you should take me sightseeing like you promised.”

“Not nearly as fun.” He sighed. He held on to my waist and put a bit of space between us.

“I know. I have thought about what it would be like. How it might feel.” I already had some indication from what we had done. I wanted him to know he wasn’t totally alone in this.

At that, he let out a soft groan, lowering his forehead against mine. “You can’t say things like that. I’m not made out of stone.”

The muscles in his arms begged to differ as I trailed my fingers along his biceps. “I’m not trying to make things harder for you. I want to be honest.”

His lips pressed against my forehead. “Sometimes, for my sanity, it’s okay to keep your honesty to yourself.”

“Noted. But I’m grateful to you for how respectful you’ve been.”

“It has been a massive sacrifice, because every time I get close to you like this, my brain turns off completely, and I can think of only one thing.”

His words sent a series of delicious chills through me. “HowSay Anythingis the best movie you’ve ever seen?”

That got me one of his wickedly charming smiles. “No. I think about touching you. Holding you. And a lot less clothing being involved.”

The chills turned into streams of fire. I gulped, hard. “You could maybe keep some of your honesty to yourself, too.”

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