Page 63 of Marry Me…Maybe?
He just kept staring at her, barely able to believe what he was hearing. He’d thought he’d lost her for good – that the newspaper article and his mother’s supposed wrath had been just a good excuse for her to leave without giving him a way back to her. To keep him at arm’s length forever.
‘I need to warn you, though: I’m not going to be easy to live with. I need a lot of attention. A lot.’
He couldn’t help but let out a huff of pained laughter. ‘Yes, I noticed that.’
She nodded slowly and made her way over to him, stopping a foot away, still keeping a small distance between them.
‘I just wanted to be adored, Theo, for so many years, and I thought being in the public eye would fill that need. But it never did. Not the way I wanted it to, anyway. It made me more egoistic, more self-centred, and I found myself doing more and more outrageous things to get attention. After a while I lost all sense of what was and wasn’t reasonable behaviour. I’m talking about using people and casting them off before they could get too close. Not the sex, though. I’ll never apologise for enjoying sex,’ she said, flipping him a tentative grin.
He smiled and rolled his eyes in jest.
‘Anyway,’ she said, shrugging a shoulder. ‘It seems that all that narcissistic behaviour well and truly came back to haunt me, and I was terrified about it affecting you too, knowing you as I do now.’
He frowned and shook his head. ‘You know, you’re the best thing that ever happened to me. You forced me to stop hiding, and experience life again. I wouldn’t be half the person I am now if I hadn’t met you. I finally started living again.’
She dropped her gaze. ‘I want to deserve you, Theo. I want to be the woman to make you happy. I’m just afraid I’ll fail and hurt you, and that’s the last thing I want to do.’ Looking up, she locked her gaze with his again, her expression open and sincere and her bottom lip trembling slightly. ‘Because I love you. I’m in love with you.’
Stepping forward to close the gap between them, he cupped her face in his hands, drawing her forward and kissing her hard, attempting to relay his utter joy at hearing those words as relief poured through him.
It seemed he might have succeeded, because when he drew away from her again her eyes were bright with tears and happiness.
‘I’m willing to risk anything if it means I get to have you, Emily Applegate. Because I love you too,’ he said, looking deep into her incredible golden eyes and feeling the connection with her deep in his soul.
‘We’re a proper pair, the two of us,’ she said, her voice thick with emotion.
‘That’s exactly what we are – a pair. Two halves of a whole.’
She grinned and raised both eyebrows. ‘There’s a dirty joke in there somewhere.’
‘Let’s leave it for another time,’ he said with a good-humoured frown, pulling her in for another kiss.
There would be plenty of time for jokes later.
EPILOGUE
ONE YEAR LATER
Their wedding venue was perfect.
It wasn’t flashy or cool or grand – it was select and tasteful and comfortable.
At least comfortable enough for the small gathering of friends and family who had come to see Theo and Emily get married.
After some discussion they’d agreed to keep it simple and had invited only Lula – who was her bridesmaid – and Tristan, of course, Theo’s mother, Emily’s brother, and a good friend of Theo’s, whom he’d known since university and who had gamely agreed to be best man.
It was just right for them; exactly what they’d both wanted in the end.
No press. No fuss. Just the people they loved.
It had been tough, keeping the secret of their engagement and then their impending nuptials from the press – especially as Emily had to remember to take off her engagement ring whenever she was filming in case anyone caught on.
The show she was now hosting and also executive producing – where budding inventors of innovations to help humans to livebetter lives were pitted against each other and competed for the prestigious Humanitarian Inventor of the Year accolade – had steadily and resoundingly beaten the ratings ofTreasure Trailwith Daisy Dunlop since the day it had launched.
Not that she was gloating about that fact.
Much.
More importantly, because of the power she wielded on the show as executive producer, Emily knew she’d never have to go through the stress of waiting to see whether she was going to be usurped by someone younger and more hungry for success than she was.
