Page 59 of Until the End

If this album does as well as we think it’s going to, we’ll likely have to adjust the security plans, but for now, this works for us.

Ginny and I sit across from each other at a table. Our stuff gets spread across the two extra chairs as we make ourselves at home.

“Can I talk to you about something?” Ginny’s hesitant question has me straightening.

“Of course. Anything.”

“Well…two things, actually. The first one is that I don’t want you to go back to your house. I…” She swallows. “I really like living with you, and I don’t want to feel as if we’re moving backward when we get home.”

I exhale a relieved breath. “Thank god. If you hadn’t brought it up, I was going to ask after we got settled at the house. I don’t want to go backward either. Waking up next to you every morning has become an addiction.”

Ginny’s shy grin makes my heart palpitate. “Okay, I’m glad we’re on the same page. The second thing is…I want to help you find your passion. I’m grateful you joined my security team to help with this stalker issue, but I don’t want you to feel like you have to do that every time we go anywhere. And to be honest, I don’t want you to become another one of my bodyguards. I want you to be my partner first and foremost. I love the way you protect me—it makes me feel safe—but I don’t want it to become something you think you have to do. You were bored in LA, and if we’re going to make this work, you’ll have to find something to fulfill you.”

Words get stuck in my throat. I should’ve known Ginny would pick up on the reason why I started working with Daren. Is she worried that I didn’t want to be there with her? “You know I loved being in LA with you, right?”

“Yes, I do. But we both know you’re too active to be sitting around a house all day doing nothing. If that means we have to get you into kickboxing classes or pottery or something, then we will.”

I chuckle. “I don’t want to learn how to do pottery unless you want to do it, too.”

“You know what I mean.”

“Yeah, I do. I don’t know, Goose. I’ve been thinking about it since the first week I got to LA. It’s not like I can go out and get a regular job. The paps are already sniffing around us. There’s no way I could work a nine-to-five even if I had a college degree.”

“You could. We could figure itout.”

“I’m not sure I want to.”

Devastation lines Ginny’s face. “You don’t?”

“Ah, shit, Goose. I meant I didn’t want to work a nine-to-five, not that I never wanted to figure something out. After working with Uncle Levi, I can’t imagine doing a desk job or something with regular hours. And besides, we’ve got plenty of time to try new things. For now, I’m just happy to be by your side. I swear, I won’t let this fester until I’m unhappy. We’ll team up and find what works best for us.”

Thankfully, the lines marring her face ease. “Okay. I just don’t want you to give up your life for me. Going back and forth between Sonoma and LA will make it hard for you to have a normal routine.”

“Maybe, but I joined Levi’s crew because it made the most sense. You know I wasn’t the college type of guy, but I had to make money somehow, so I jumped at the offer he gave me. I enjoyed working on his crew, don’t get me wrong, but it wasn’t a lifelong dream of mine.”

“What were your lifelong dreams?”

“You. You’ve always been the one thing I wanted most in the world. And now that I have you, everything else is just a cherry on top of the sundae. I’ll find something to keep myself entertained, Goose, I have no doubt about that, but right now, I want to bask in the sheer glory of getting to have you in my life as more than just my best friend.”

Ginny reaches across the table and grabs my hand. “It’s annoying that you’re this smooth. How am I supposed to respond to that?”

I bark out a laugh. “I love you, Goose. Now and forever.”

“I love you, too, Duck.”

Chapter 35

Ginny

“Huh.” I squint down at the page in front of me. Am I going crazy? Why would these two seemingly different letters from different people have the same phrases within them?

“What’s wrong?” Carson’s question pulls me from my focus.

“Nothing, I’m just looking over those old letters Lottie found, and I think there’s a pattern.”

“A pattern?”

“Yeah, look.” I hold out the pages to show him. Lottie scanned and emailed them to me several months ago, but I never got around to actually reading them. Now that the album’s finished and the execs are putting together a marketing plan, I’ve had plenty of downtime to fill.

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